2023 British GP [QUALIFYING] discussion thread

This is starting to get embarrassing for Checo. I thought people were exaggerating how precarious his position was but if he keeps performing like this RB might actually be forced to take action.

Imagine if RB had an actual competitor, Checo couldn't support Max at the front at all if he keeps going like this.

I also thought the "Checo washed" comments and discussion about his seat being in jeopardy were an overreaction a few weeks ago. At this point though, I'm expecting Redbull to drop him any moment.
- I’m still thinking he’s going to end out his contract, but he’s not getting a new one
- The Red Bull 2nd driver position seems to be cursed.
Just compare him to Bottas at Mercedes--never missing Q3 during his time there. And how many times has Checo not made it to Q1 this season?
Ricciardo must be grinning
- When is Ricciardo not grinning? 😁
  That lad deserves an emoji of his own!
Yuki to RB please
- I really don't think Yuki would be an improvement. He's been inconsistent and his highs haven't exactly been amazing. They'd be better going for Riccardo or the Hulk or Sainz imo.
- My hot take is that Yuki is pretty much set to take the second RB seat pending Perez’s overall performance. If Perez continues to be abysmal, I’m sure that RB will drop him using a performance clause in his contract.
  Everyone likes to rag on Yuki but since Gasly has left, Yuki stepped out tremendously. Not to mention that he’s been dragging that shit box to mid-field a handful of times. Helmut Marko even commented on Yuki’s performance and Marko never compliments anyone unless you’re Max and Vettel.
  De Vries is going to get dropped to make way for Liam Lawson.
  RB/AT seats is going to make silly season fun.
EL PLAN
Perez was leading the pack on a damp track. It was a bad call to put him at the front. And the gap between him and tenth shows it.
- He was .5s slower than Albon, the car right behind him
Insane how great Max has been running it’s really overshadowed how poorly Checo has been
Makes you wonder how fast the racing point actually was in 2020 lol

Norris: "Max ruins everything for everyone"

Ahahaha preach it

Max drinking his water during that section of the interview to stop from smiling that shit-eating grin of his 😂

McLaren wtf Zack is so fucking pumped, proud of that guy. What a performance from Norris and Piastri.

He put a shit eating grin on my face watching him charge around the garage damn near punching everyone with those high fives!
- I'm right there with you, I was grinning the whole time watching him. So happy to see those upgrades coming through for McLaren. Lando deserves a good car.

Really impressed by Piastri, magnificent for a rookie

Perez, what the hell man

Lol 5 times in a row missing Q3
Danny Ricc rock hard atm..
This time, I honestly can't blame him. Being put completely at the front was the worst position to be in, and that is on the team.
The previous 4 races though, those are on him, and are embarrassing as fuck.
- Albon was directly behind Perez, like crossed the line within a couple seconds at most, and was .5 of a second faster. Half a second. I'm sorry for Perez fans because he has shown before that he can do ok at qualy, enough to keep up, and he's shown he can defend like a lion. But there's no excuse here. He got beaten by Sergeant in a Williams FFS, who was right behind Albon. They all drove the track in the same conditions.
- Curious, how do you know the team put him on that spot at the front? Maybe Checo is so nervous and anxious he 'asks' for those kind of actions as he thinks that will help him? I have seen panic in people before and they make the wrong calls all the time. And I have seen some that get worse when it just keeps on getting bad for them; they will force others in the team to make mistakes because he will 'demand' the action for he thinks it will help him.
  I see this as a typical panicky move by a guy who has lost his way and the team is starting to give in because there is no helping a panicked man that will trust none from where the help might come. Classic mistake to make and that is all on Checo.

Danny Ric trying to hide a smirk
Absolutely rediciulous. That red flag gave him a second chance and he blew it
He seems completely out of it currently.
Hopefully he can somehow recover during the summer break. They gave Albon the boot for less
He’s just not looked impressive recently. Even his race pace when you take into consideration the performance of the car. I’m not sure I want to see Albon back in given how well he’s doing at Williams, but I feel like we need to see someone else in there sooner rather than later.
What happened?
This comment was relevant for the whole of Q1!

Petition to make Max drive a formula 2 car to keep races competitive.

We can leave Perez in the Red Bull, it’ll be fine.

Norris and Piastri going 2-3, just as we all expected.

Just as expected...

Lol How does that happen. Facepalm moment for Max

I'm excited to see how DTS will portray this catastrophic blunder by Max. Perhaps it's him and not Checo whose really at risk for losing his seat
It's uh the injury from simracing... haha how bizarre

LET'S GO LANDO

Lando is ok 🎵

Don't worry, they'll both get screwed by Ferrari on race day. All in due time.
- As is tradition.
- I think we're all tyred of it, no?
It's so weird, especially when Sainz has been way more consistent this season.

Damn McLaren. That was an exciting 2 seconds on Lando on pole lol

I saw Max with a yellow sector two and I thought Lando had it. So excited for those two seconds before Max ruined it as always.
- The same as Monaco. :(

Love to see McLaren back at the front, very interesting to see so many teams getting competitive. Just ignore Max and it’s a bloody interesting season.

Perez confidence looking like Max's front wing in the pit lane

A very interesting quali, and hopefully an interesting race tomorrow as well.

Delighted by the surprise performance by the two McLarens, happy for Piastri especially. Up until this point I was feeling none of the rookies were making much of an impact. I don't usually root for McLaren but I definitely will tomorrow.

Perez needs to get his shit together or it might be curtains for him...

McLaren and Albon making me really happy right now

I'm really hoping there's no rain tomorrow. Their dry performance looks great!

Damn McLaren are on it.

Feel like printing some "FREE SAINZ" shirts lol Ferrari have locked him in 2nd place driver spot, but he's looked at least equal to Leclerc this season.

He's more consistent in delivering results than Leclerc has been, at least so far this season.
- That's what I'm saying. Absolutely no reason for Ferrari to favor Leclerc right now

That was a good Quali. Pumped for McLaren.

I'm amazed Albon is still scrapping in the top right now

Honestly, good for him. He's matured as a driver and it seems like Williams has finally figured out how to make a decently fast car.
The Williams is legitimitely good this weekend.

Max parking between the two McLaren’s: chef’s kiss

Holy Norris, McLaren is in there today

McLaren what???????

After struggling to log in for twenty minutes, the qualifying thread has been pinned! Let's go!

Would you consider adding a mod or two so someone else can pin threads when you're not here?
I feel like it would help the community grow a lot if there were multiple mods.
Thanks
👍

Can we now bet on Perez's replacement?

Tsunoda pls

Perez out, again lol

Waiting the whole season for Max to make a single mistake and when it finally happens it's in a Q1 that doesn't matter

“I understeered and there was no traction”
- See, people need to cut Checo some slack. Even Max can't drive this car /s

Zak Brown amped

Tattoo #2 incoming?

holy shit mclaren!

McLaren! Chrome is the way to go!

See if they chromed the whole car they would have gone 1-2

Lol Sainz and Leclerc are NOT happy with each other, team ordered them to swap places again at the pitlane exit!

Sainz seems so done with Ferrari

I don't know how sainz hasn't ragequit. If I was red bull I'd be tempted to try and engineer a trade for Perez.

Horner: We think you need a change of scenery, so we've traded you to Ferrari for Carlos Sainz.
Checo: Not like this. Please, not like this.
- Ferrari: thanks, we'll use him as tyre blanket
- Sainz w RB would be devastatingly good. Change my mind.

Somebody put Perez on suicide watch, mans got the yips bad.

Would Yuki be better than Perez in a Red Bull?

Need to see more Max and Norris up and the front.

Perez’s saving grace is that he is in the fast car and can come back through the pack to reclaim some points or a podium.

Luckily for RB Max is winning all championships on his own so whilst not great it’s not terrible.

If his race performances were off too he would have been gone before now. RB dropped Gasly and Albon for less however more was at stake then when they were not smashing everyone else.

People need to stop voting him driver of the day though.

Pumped for McLaren. Loved Zak’s reaction in the garage.

It is really best case scenario for Perez to have an off period. Max is winning everything and there is a large fight for second best so the rest of the available points are being spread around every race. As long as Checo has an occasional good race, there is absolutely no risk for the constructor's for Red Bull.

We all know Norris is great but Piastri looks the real deal too. Exciting future for McLaren if they can build on this, especially with the new wind tunnel coming online soon.

Lol, Sainz sounds so depressed.

It's great to see promising McLaren performance a second race in a row!

This season will get spicy if McLaren becomes the second fastest car

Or Williams (if they can obey track limits).
- It's refreshing to see Williams actually turn these good quali's into points this year

Absolutely manic ending to Q1!

Nothing better than quali on a drying track!
- It's insane seeing someone pop up to the very top of the column, and then just watch their name get relentlessly pushed down as driver after driver gets their fast lap in. Gripping stuff.

Do we think Danny Ricc is able to hide his smile in the pits right now?

I’ve got my hopes up that Williams and Albon are able to translate their top 3 times in the free practices to a good position in this qualifying.

Doesn't look good. No bueno.
I really hope Sargent can make it to Q3 too

Wow Williams!

Ffs Checo

I can't believe Lando is still just 23 years old. McLaren better give him a damn good car for the long term, he can put up some exciting championship contending seasons.

Damn max really broke that wing

Perez washed

Laaaaaaandooo <3

Perez out in Q1. 💀

Come on Max just let us have something.

Those final 30 seconds of Q1 were crazy!

If it starts to rain, this is it. No Albon P1 :(

McLaren back for good?

Albon was faster then Alonso all thou qualifying. Crazy.

Ferraris switched again before leaving pit lane. How are they so incompetent

Ferrari never fails to baffle

What's the biggest points distance a driver has ever won the championship by?

I think its going to be broken in 2023.

Lol oh no the wobbly alpine wing has returned

LANDOOOOOOOOOOOOO

5th time in a row I've n a RedBull? jfc Checo!

Imagine the disappointment at Williams just now... maybe one more shot? But it's not looking good

Well this return of rain and the customary ~~Ferrari~~ Haas fuckup caused several drivers to not be able to put in a good lap... I'm afraid our Williams boys won't even get to Q2

Hell yes! McLaren!

Hamilton showing off his pirouetting skills!

Ándale, ándale Albon!

Toto - I bless the rains down in Silverstone

What kind of fairy dust are McLaren using this weekend?

Come on Albon, I think he's missed his chance, but 1 more hero lap?

Hopefully it doesn’t start raining more during this red flag so we can get that lap
I really hope he can pull a magic lap, would love to have him start higher up.
EDIT: Wow, great laps from Williams!
- Looks like he's done it! They really can't handle wet conditions

The double Williams Q3 dream lives on

Good save by Hamilton to not get stuck in the gravel there

Taking the Nascar route lol

Albon purple, come on!

How good

The one time Stroll looks in his mirrors, he gets in the way of Ocon and both end up knocked out lmao

Come on Checo. Embarrassing

Coulthard's accent as mentioned on Channel 4...

Damn seems the Williams are really not good in these conditions.

No downforce will do that to you. It's the trade-off for the low drag they've gone for.
At least they look good with that livery

I hadn't heard/seen there's a chance for rain during qualifying. That should really shake up the midfield!

100% chance according to Channel 4
- This is such a fun track in wet conditions! Hopefully any significant rain won't come until later in qualy.

Is there a way to autorefresh the comments with 18.1? Or do I need to reload and click new every time?

Wefwef remembers to sort by new, I'm just refreshing every minute or so. Used to doing that from when I used to use RIF.
- I mean on Desktop

Hoping for a surprise Williams front row this weekend. And obviously an Alonso upset.

I'd be happy with both just making it to Q3.

Apparently Max overtook the Mercedes under yellow? Could be a McLaren 1-2

Any sources? Am curious.
- Sorry there was an onboard of Max but he passed in the sector before the yellow

Albon! Get him in that second Red Bull

Williams seem to be having the most difficulty with track limits

Alonso barely scraped into Q2!

Drying track is always fireworks for quali. I missed the pre show, what's the weather forecast for q2 and 3?

Let's see Nico breaking into the top 6 today and finish the race around p16 tomorrow

Great lap by Nando

Looks like one more flying lap on dries!

These guys are gonna be really cutting it close to making it to the line

Is the pit lane still wet?

Max said it was… lol

Damn albon .5 sec over Perez

de Vries a mile behind in 19th. If Magnussen was able to take a lap at the end there he would have been 0.4 behind every other driver.

It's sad how badly he's drowned in F1, especially after such a promising drive at Monza last year. Kinda like Michael Andretti or Jan Magnussen, it just isn't happening for him.
- There's no reason to keep him after the summer break. It just feels inevitable now.

Man how is Alpha-tauri so bad? You'd think they could just copy the red bull car

They're supposed to be a "sister team", I think I've heard noises about it going back to being more of a B team soon, which I assume would involve more parts sharing.
- That makes sense, I was assuming parts sharing was already happening

Q1 was amazing. Don’t think that’s going to get topped.

Track is improving quickly again

I think Sky's either playing fake crowd sounds or they're mixing it louder when they want to try and build hype

Does Piastri have the upgrades Norris has? McLaren looking super impressive

He should for this race. I don't really understand how under the radar he's gone this season, he's been impressively close to Norris for a rookie all year.
- Totally agree, especially compared to the other rookies
I think he's got the upgrades Lando had last race but Lando has some new upgrades this time out.

Alpine just isn’t showing up this weekend

Helmet move by Ocon

Very surprised that McLaren's been able to pull ahead of the backfield, they looked stuck there at the start of the season.

I didn't see Q1, was the red flag early in the session or did Perez fail to do a good time?

It was in the final 3 minutes of Q1 and several drivers, especially Perez, stood still too long in the pitlane exit waiting for the green and the tires lost temperature. It really disadvantaged several drivers
- Its a Red Bull...Checo should get through even on cold tires...
Came down to a final lap shootout, and Checo just didn’t deliver. No fault but his own.
Perez just failed to do a good time. Although he kinda got shafted by being the first one out after the red flag on used tires, since he was drying the track for everyone behind him.
Was a red flag 3 minutes before the end. So everyone had a single chance to set their top time. Especially with the track drying. Perez just didn’t set a good enough time. Maybe if he waited a little bit longer to set a time the track would‘be been a bit faster. It was improving a lot.
Perez was overly cautious on his final lap. He really doesn't look comfortable in the wet as we've already seen this season. Took too few risks and just ended up slow.
Red flag with 3:10 left in the session. Perez was just too slow again.
Checo absolutely should have been able to get through. The team didn't help him by putting him out at the front after the red flag, but there's not really any excuse for not making it this time.

Where have Sky popped their microphones? Haha

Bad news for Sargent if it's starting to rain now

Oof. Tough day for Sauber.

I want to see Yuki in the red bull, but I don't know if he is ready at the moment

Hard to tell given the shitbox he's driving around

F1TV comms seem slightly delayed?

Ocon's helmet design is 🔥

Are we able to get this discussion pinned instead of the the fp3 one now?

Lol Ferrari not wasting time this session to switch to slicks. Would be terribly ironic if it started raining now

Interesting looks like a couple are starting with intermediates.