OT- FORMULA 1 LENOVO CHINESE GRAND PRIX 2024; 4/18-21 OT

lousubcap

Race schedule below.  All times EDT.  Sprint weekend.  Broadcast channels listed.

21APR

Race

03:00 (ESPN)

20APR

Qualifying

03:00 - 04:00 (ESPN2)

19APR

Sprint

23:00 - 00:00. (ESPNU)

19APR

Sprint Qualifying

03:30 - 04:14 (ESPN2)

18APR

Practice 1

23:30 - 00:30 (ESPNU)

Shanghai International Circuit

Once again- DVR for the win.  
Enjoy!

Ozzie_Isaac

Looking forward to this, especially with an eye towards 2025 driver shuffle.

lousubcap

Here are the first ten places on the Sprint grid for the Sprint race this PM:  Rain had quite an impact on Q 3. 

POS	NO	DRIVER	CAR	TIME
1	4	Lando Norris	MCLAREN MERCEDES	1:57.940
2	44	Lewis Hamilton	MERCEDES	1:59.201
3	14	Fernando Alonso	ASTON MARTIN ARAMCO MERCEDES	1:59.915
4	1	Max Verstappen	RED BULL RACING HONDA RBPT	2:00.028
5	55	Carlos Sainz	FERRARI	2:00.214
6	11	Sergio Perez	RED BULL RACING HONDA RBPT	2:00.375
7	16	Charles Leclerc	FERRARI	2:00.566
8	81	Oscar Piastri	MCLAREN MERCEDES	2:00.990
9	77	Valtteri Bottas	KICK SAUBER FERRARI	2:01.044
10	24	Zhou Guanyu	KICK SAUBER FERRARI	2:03.537

Ozzie_Isaac

Should be a fun to watch race.  Based on the track surface, chance of rain, and Lando and Lewis starting P1&P2

lousubcap

Here are the points winners for the Sprint:

POS	NO	DRIVER	CAR	LAPS	TIME/RETIRED	PTS
1	1	Max Verstappen	RED BULL RACING HONDA RBPT	19	32:04.660	8
2	44	Lewis Hamilton	MERCEDES	19	+13.043s	7
3	11	Sergio Perez	RED BULL RACING HONDA RBPT	19	+15.258s	6
4	16	Charles Leclerc	FERRARI	19	+17.486s	5
5	55	Carlos Sainz	FERRARI	19	+20.696s	4
6	4	Lando Norris	MCLAREN MERCEDES	19	+22.088s	3
7	81	Oscar Piastri	MCLAREN MERCEDES	19	+24.713s	2
8	63	George Russell	MERCEDES	19	+25.696s	1

There was some great racing for the last spot on the podium.
Verstappen and his car are the class of the grid, gaining an average of 0.7 seconds per lap.  

And here are the starting positions for the race:

POS	NO	DRIVER	CAR	Q1	Q2	Q3	LAPS
1	1	Max Verstappen	RED BULL RACING HONDA RBPT	1:34.742	1:33.794	1:33.660	18
2	11	Sergio Perez	RED BULL RACING HONDA RBPT	1:35.457	1:34.026	1:33.982	19
3	14	Fernando Alonso	ASTON MARTIN ARAMCO MERCEDES	1:35.116	1:34.652	1:34.148	15
4	4	Lando Norris	MCLAREN MERCEDES	1:34.842	1:34.460	1:34.165	15
5	81	Oscar Piastri	MCLAREN MERCEDES	1:35.014	1:34.659	1:34.273	16
6	16	Charles Leclerc	FERRARI	1:34.797	1:34.399	1:34.289	20
7	55	Carlos Sainz	FERRARI	1:34.970	1:34.368	1:34.297	17
8	63	George Russell	MERCEDES	1:35.084	1:34.609	1:34.433	20
9	27	Nico Hulkenberg	HAAS FERRARI	1:35.068	1:34.667	1:34.604	21
10	77	Valtteri Bottas	KICK SAUBER FERRARI	1:35.169	1:34.769	1:34.665	15
11	18	Lance Stroll	ASTON MARTIN ARAMCO MERCEDES	1:35.334	1:34.838		12
12	3	Daniel Ricciardo	RB HONDA RBPT	1:35.443	1:34.934		12
13	31	Esteban Ocon	ALPINE RENAULT	1:35.356	1:35.223		15
14	23	Alexander Albon	WILLIAMS MERCEDES	1:35.384	1:35.241		14
15	10	Pierre Gasly	ALPINE RENAULT	1:35.287	1:35.463		15
16	24	Zhou Guanyu	KICK SAUBER FERRARI	1:35.505			8
17	20	Kevin Magnussen	HAAS FERRARI	1:35.516			6
18	44	Lewis Hamilton	MERCEDES	1:35.573			6
19	22	Yuki Tsunoda	RB HONDA RBPT	1:35.746			9
20	2	Logan Sargeant	WILLIAMS MERCEDES	1:36.358			7

Absent any issues Verstappen will cruise to victory.  Hopefully some good down grid wheel-to-wheel racing.

Ozzie_Isaac

I have much to learn.  Didn’t realize they qualified for position in the sprint race?  Then the sprint race determines starting grid for Sunday?  This F1 stuff is complicated and don’t get me started on DRS.

lousubcap

@Ozzie_Isaac - The Sprint qualifying and Race supplant Practice 2 and 3 of the race weekend.  Basically every F1 race weekend comprises 3 days of two hours (+/-) of racing.  Non sprint weekends have two (one hour each) practice sessions on Friday (time zone of the race), final practice (one hour) and then race qualifying (one hour) on Saturday and the race Sunday. Each session on Friday and Saturday are scheduled around 4 hours apart.  
With the Sprint ( 6 this season and China leading off and roughly 1/3 of the laps of the full race) ) the format changes to one practice Friday, then the Sprint qualifying Friday, Sprint race Saturday followed by race qualifying Saturday then the race Sunday.  
Schedule above adjusted for the time zones lays it out.  
Next up Miami  (with a Sprint) KY Derby Weekend-schedule below- (Times EDT)

05MAY

Race

16:00

04MAY

Qualifying

16:00 - 17:00

04MAY

Sprint

12:00 - 13:00

03MAY

Sprint Qualifying

16:30 - 17:14

03MAY

Practice 1

12:30 - 13:30

Just google DRS (Drag Reduction System) as you will immediately comprehend.  

Ozzie_Isaac

@lousubcap so they have a sprint race for points, then still qualify for the main again?

This is like when I used to pit for a friend running the local 3/8 mile track.

lousubcap

You've got it re the points.  Go 8 deep with the Sprint-10 for the full monty.  
Given the length of the season I'm surprised with the back to back Sprints on the calendar.  Always remember It's all about the $$ and eyeballs on the product.  China and a Sprint after not racing there since 2019 made sense-Miami and the $$ drives that one.  
Here are the Sprint races for 2024:
China and Miami make the Sprint line up for the first time, joining Austin and Qatar which both return to host their second Sprint events. Austria (hosting their third) and Brazil (hosting their fourth) complete the exciting 2024 F1 Sprint roster.

lousubcap

Here are the top ten following today's F1 race:

POS	NO	DRIVER	CAR	LAPS	TIME/RETIRED	PTS
1	1	Max Verstappen	RED BULL RACING HONDA RBPT	56	1:40:52.554	25
2	4	Lando Norris	MCLAREN MERCEDES	56	+13.773s	18
3	11	Sergio Perez	RED BULL RACING HONDA RBPT	56	+19.160s	15
4	16	Charles Leclerc	FERRARI	56	+23.623s	12
5	55	Carlos Sainz	FERRARI	56	+33.983s	10
6	63	George Russell	MERCEDES	56	+38.724s	8
7	14	Fernando Alonso	ASTON MARTIN ARAMCO MERCEDES	56	+43.414s	7
8	81	Oscar Piastri	MCLAREN MERCEDES	56	+56.198s	4
9	44	Lewis Hamilton	MERCEDES	56	+57.986s	2
10	27	Nico Hulkenberg	HAAS FERRARI	56	+60.476s	1

On to Miami May 3-5. Separate thread to follow.   (KY Derby weekend).  

Ozzie_Isaac

Lando only being 13s back seems like a good result.

lousubcap

Well, that gap was as narrow as it was due to two safety car incidents in the latter half of the race.  Once that happens, the field closes up while following the safety car until the safety car pulls off the track.
With a virtual safety car (VSC), the car spacing remains the same as it was when the VSC was initiated (nominally 30-40% of race speed) as everyone is moving at the same pace.  

HeavyG

Prior to the Miami event some of you might want to give this a look - 

Abu Dhabi Autonomous Racing League - A2RL on April 27th.

Could well be interesting in a serious way or turn out to be rather comical. Regardless, I'll give it two years before the racing overlord "robocars" can beat Verstappen. Or, maybe in two years they'll all still just be crashing into each other at the start.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=SjuoHqlEvLg&pp=ygUiYWJ1IGRoYWJpIGF1dG9ub21vdXMgcmFjaW5nIGxlYWd1ZQ%3D%3D

Ozzie_Isaac

HeavyG said:

Prior to the Miami event some of you might want to give this a look - 

Abu Dhabi Autonomous Racing League - A2RL on April 27th.

Could well be interesting in a serious way or turn out to be rather comical. Regardless, I'll give it two years before the racing overlord "robocars" can beat Verstappen. Or, maybe in two years they'll all still just be crashing into each other at the start.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=SjuoHqlEvLg&pp=ygUiYWJ1IGRoYWJpIGF1dG9ub21vdXMgcmFjaW5nIGxlYWd1ZQ%3D%3D

I am not sure when AI will become faster in all scenarios, but it seems fairly difficult task.  Here is an interesting video detailing attempts at a world record for a game called "Trackmania".  It is fairly interesting look at AI and racing.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Dw3BZ6O_8LY

Mark_B_Good

You mean due to the safety car incidents, Max was unable to lap half the field, and even lap some of the top 10 (point makers)?  It's getting boring ....