I think right now everything is fair discussion. I do think last season alot of the downtime between race was spent talking about who is the GOAT or why Hamilton is great/not great etc. Almost got the thread close to being locked which was annoying.
I think for now it should be alright but once the season starts maybe open a 'non-race F1 discussion' thread
Might be a nice central place for Hellrazors reviews to sit
speaking of which
Canada, Berger takes surprise win while Wendlinger impresses.Senna took what was his only pole of the season, he held the lead from Mansell at the start but the Englishman spun off attempting a rash overtake. Senna missed out on another chance to close the gap when an electrical failure robbed him of a win. Patrese suffered a gearbox problem allowing Berger to lead. Martin Brundle looked a potential winner but two laps after passing Schumacher for 2nd the Englishman retired with transmission issues.
Berger took his first win of the year with Schumacher 2nd, Alesi was 3rd and Karl Wendlinger was a magnificent 4th for the beleaguered March team who struggled financially, the team even advertised for sponsors on a local radio station resulting in some local sponsors appearing on the car. Andrea De Cesaris was 5th for Tyrrell ahead of Erik Comas in 6th, Ligiers first points in 3 years. Ukyo Katayama was a superb 5th for Larrousse late on until a blown engine saw him retire.
Oh and Andrea moda? Well after Monaco the team came back down to earth, having not paid engine supplier Judd, the team wasn’t given engines so actually borrowed some from Brabham, McCarthy was never even allowed on track while Moreno failed to pre qualify.
France: Mansell back in the swing.Mansell was on pole but Patrese passed his team mate at the start, as the Williams duo squabbled over the lead further back Schumacher crashed into the back of Senna taking the Brazilian out. The race was run on aggregate after a long stoppage due to heavy rain. During the stoppage Senna confronted Schumacher who was still in the race with Senna allegedly claiming to have rattled Schumacher, he may have been right as at the second start Schumacher clattered into Modena’s Jordan and was out of the race.
Patrese defended his lead vigorously until he suddenly waved Mansell through, Patrese denied there were team orders (or rather refused to answer if there were) but it did seem clear to everyone that’s exactly what it was. As the rain returned Mansell finished nearly a minute ahead of his team mate for yet another Williams 1-2. Martin Brundle was 3rd for his first every official podium. Brundle had previously finished on the podium twice for Tyrrell before their results were annulled.
Mika Hakkinen and Johnny Herbert gave Lotus a double points finish with 4th and 6th sandwiching Comas’s Ligier.
Before the race the teams were given a logistical nightmare as French lorry drivers staged a blockade, all teams bar one made it to the race however, the one team that didn’t make it? Yes you’ve guessed it, FERRARI, only shitting you, it was Andrea Moda.
StandingsDrivers: Mansell 66, Patrese 34, Schumacher 26, Berger/Senna 18
Constructors: Williams 100, McLaren 36, Benetton 35, Ferrari 13, Lotus 6, Footwork 5
Britain 1992, stroll in the park for Mansell whilst a famous Brit debuts.Pre-qualifying would have been rejigged around this point but given that two cars were eliminated its really not worth going into too much detail as Andrea Moda usually were the two cars. Perry McCarthy alleges his sold 1000 “let Pel out” shirts that weekend with the team simply using his car for spare parts. The team relented and let Pel out for pre qualifying but for some stupid reason did so on wet tyres on a dry track. McCarthy once quipped “it ruined any chance I had of pole.”
In truth his chance was as good as anyone elses other than Nigel Mansell who took pole by nearly 2 seconds. Indeed only 12 cars were inside the 107% time (not that that rule was in place then). Patrese did pass Mansell at the start but a few corners later Mansell was back infront. Mansell and Patrese were 1st and 2nd throughout the race. Martin Brundle was 3rd again, he was there for much of the race apart from a brief moment when Senna passed him only for the Brazilian to again retire.
Schumacher passed Berger for 4th on the final lap while Hakkinen was 6th. Mansell had by far the best car but there was no doubt that at Silverstone he always pulled out his A game, his fastest lap late on was almost 2 seconds quicker than anyone.
Meanwhile Damon Hill qualified for a race for the first time for the struggling underfunded Brabham outfit, Hill finished 16th, 4 laps down at a track where he would win in 1994.
Germany: Mansell within touching distanceMansell started on pole although during pitstops he briefly lost the lead to Patrese and then Senna who attempted to go through the race on one set of tyres. Mansell picked off both men and paced him to win his 8th race of the year opening up a 46 point gap with just 6 races and 60 points left on the table.
Senna courageously held off Patrese who with a few corners to go lunged wildly down the inside and spun off. The home crowd was delighted as this allowed Schumacher on to the podium in 3rd just ahead of team mate Brundle. Alesi was 5th with Comas 6th.
Standings:
Drivers: Mansell 86, Patrese 40, Schumacher 33, Senna 24, Berger 20
Teams: Williams 126, Benetton 49, McLaren 44, Ferrari 15, Lotus 7
