Would Dropping Free Practice Improve F1 Races? | WTF1 Podcast #18

[@cheesemachine00]

#yasmoment having a driver win for Ferrari and not screaming Grazie Regazzi for a minute. In the words of Kimi “f*c*i*g finally”

[@orconunit]

thank you

[@christophersmith3254]

I used to dislike vettel winning just because hed turn into super mario

[@venkyo7]

#YasMoment When Max wasn't escorted out of the cooldown room.

[@MuIqHa93]

"Kimi wins his first race in 113 years" the description says. Cheeky nod to Crofty.

[@DeadlyLazer]

yea that gave me a good giggle

[@bizarrebunny5579]

Brilliant 😂

[@roscoe1032]

Instead of dropping free practice, what about making it compulsory for teams to use their reserve drivers in fp1? This would give them more on track experience, more opportunity for younger drivers to show what they can do and more exposure to fans. The reserve driver with the most fastest laps across all fp1 sessions in the season earns the team a bonus in constructors points.

[@cragnamorra]

I really like this idea. Thumbs up.

[@marksmit8575]

Yes this is good

[@VigneshBalasubramaniam]

But that would still give them the data the teams want regarding tyre wear. The idea is to give the teams as little tyre wear data as possible.

[@pascalchatzigeorgiou7619]

The good thing is that we will not have to do the boring practice programs in the game

[@taliamason7986]

I just skip them cuz I can't stand them but also because you gain more too many resource points from them and develop your car way too quickly.

[@pascalchatzigeorgiou7619]

@@taliamason7986 same

[@henrywhatzal4724]

FP1 and FP3 are useless remove them

[@ollypolly8113]

@@henrywhatzal4724 I think fp3 is the most fun one, that's the one where they do qualy runs

[@Jarvrally]

@@ollypolly8113 no irl they do it in fp2

[@felipejensen2727]

In my opinion, diminishing the data the teams have is only a way to increase the chance of mistakes, instead of creating better racing.

[@Vincrand]

Depends on what you see as a good race. If you care about fast lap times then the free practice should stay. If you like to see less competitve cars in the front and like to see teams react more out of intuition, then the free pratice would hinder. It's also possible to scrap friday and keep the free practice on saturday.

[@felipejensen2727]

I actually don't see it like you do. I think the problem of having 6 cars always on top is related to other situations (amount of money, ownership of power units, etc...). About intuition, I do agree that it is fun to watch races in which they change strategies based on the race itself, but I do not agree that intuition should be used without enough data, as it could be confused with pure luck. The US race this year can be used as an example on the topic (since it rained on FP1 and FP2). Yes, it was really fun because Raikonnen won based on a precise strategy, but Hamilton only lost because Mercedes had no idea the soft compound would be so bad in their car. Once again, in my view better racing is achieved with strategies based on information gathered on the free practices. And we cannot forget that FP2 is usually the one in which the teams gather information that are similar to the racing conditions. When I used the word racing, I also meant the races as a whole =].

[@ollypolly8113]

@@felipejensen2727 I fully agree with what you just wrote

[@adibz959]

I agree. Mistake can be dangerous. To life threatening level

[@st3wham1]

#YASMOMENT Ferrari letting Kimi through, no-one (apart from Niklas) was expecting that!

[@Niklas_-ec8zy]

I did

[@st3wham1]

@@Niklas_-ec8zy sorry bud I'll fix it now

[@morgankendall6891]

@@st3wham1 😂😂😂

[@didi_0222]

Ofc Ferrari will let Kimi through cause Vettel hasn’t even pitted yet at that time... and Kimi is in the better strategy to win the race.. it doesn’t make sense if Ferrari would not let him win...

[@benjyriley9814]

#YasMoment Kimi asking hamilton in the cool down room if he won the championship XD

[@sullyguy1235]

Benjy Riley that was max

[@benjyriley9814]

@@sullyguy1235 no it wasn't XD

[@matthewminnies393]

@@sullyguy1235 it was kimi

[@WeThePeople018]

This 100% has to be the winner! Get this man to abu dhabi!

[@benjyriley9814]

@@WeThePeople018 thanks I hope I do

[@jonasstroeven]

#YasMoment Verstappen starting P18, after one lap he was P9 and later finshing the race in P2 just a few seconds behind Räikkönen.

[@colchilibeck]

How about give practice laps according to championship standing. The more points you have, the less practice you get. This would allow lower teams more time for development and make the racing closer.

[@helikopteri123]

Too unfair for me. Same as giving faster cars more weight to slow them down.

[@Hanna-kj6zr]

#YasMoment When my dad rolled off the couch in anger because Hamilton almost passed Verstappen. He sat on the floor for the rest of the race.

[@joaquintch9433]

My dad was happy because Ham failed overtaking

[@Hanna-kj6zr]

Joaquín Tch don’t tell my dad but I was too...

[@joaquintch9433]

@@Hanna-kj6zr hahaha yep me too

[@kippcarver01]

What an excitement indeed..... Not caring about where you sit or lay, but just watch!

[@-scevans-9042]

#YasMoment Seeing Kimi’s pure emotion after winning the race

[@henrywhatzal4724]

Ali is gonna go nuts that Hartley finished p9

[@KaiDesigns_]

#YasMoment When Kimi asked for more front wing before his pitstop then two corners later said he doesn’t want it anymore

[@siddharthan571]

#YasMoment The entire race was really good. Teams had no idea how the tires would perform, exciting first lap, pit stop during VSC, Ham catching up and Kimi defending brilliantly causing Hamilton's tires to wear out, the last 15 laps where Kimi Max and Hamilton were within seconds of each other and the Niaaaoowwww guy on the broadcast. Plus, me spamming ༼ つ ◕◕ ༽つ KIMI TAKE MY ENERGY ༼ つ ◕ ◕ ༽つ on the formula1 subreddit like 30 times was nice because Kimi ended up winning eventually and broke some records by doing so. And his radio was funny too.

[@12sin8]

19:00 yeah Physician is not correct Jess, it's Physicist...

[@TheJokerit19]

Removing the Friday sessions altogether would at first yes produce similar races to the US GP, but in the long-term, things would eventually go back to the usual ways.

[@5m0r3s]

I sat in the rain of Austin on Friday at the USGP and it was the first time in my life seeing the cars in person. Even in the cold, half-empty grandstands of turn 9 and muddy GA areas scattered around the track, Friday was one of my favorite days of the weekend. Getting to watch the cars from whatever angles I wanted over the course of two practice sessions, and being able to get around the circuit free of massive weekend crowds was well worth braving the elements. I understand and partly agree with the argument against FP1 and 2, but it was almost as special to me as Saturday and Sunday were.

[@adentissa]

The #Yasmoment of this race was the final laps. Vettel overtaking ICantRememberWho and Max defending perfectly and with respect against Lewis. That was serious racing.

[@josiahboatengmyrie]

Adentissa vettel overtook wingman

[@kentarohonjo50]

The neeeeoooom sound affects from a fan and Crofty saying “first win in 113 years” gave me a good laugh.

[@savagedesigner2478]

#Yasmoment When Vettel did his signature move

[@judsonjman26]

As a new Formula 1 fan this year from the US, I think that race couldn't have done more to increase popularity here. Especially because it was on regular cable TV and not only on ESPN. Also, thank you WTF1 for your amazing content. You're a large part of why my interest and involvement in F1 was piqued and continues to grow!

[@j.j.schlachtfeld9325]

#YasMoment Max finally being old enough to be on the podium in the US

[@Guust_Flater]

You mean, old enough to drink!! He nailed it, 21 years and 21 days old. 👍 😀

[@rajkumarirangwani2739]

#YasMoment for me was Ham, Ver, and Kim all being within 1 second of each other right till the end and giving us the best part of an already pretty good race.

[@gijsvanputten2575]

#Yasmoment Kimi: “so did you win the championship?” Lewis: “No!”

[@RuchirVerma]

My #YasMoment was seeing Kimi defend for his position with such passion and ferociousness after so long. Well done Kimi.

[@thomasbeljaars6898]

Max is the most complete driver; -Only 21 -Lots of Races Experience -Aggressive (Last races without stupid mistakes) -Great Tyre Saving -Good in the rain If Honda is good next year he’ll be Champion. (If he doesn’t make a few stupid mistakes again) Edit: He is also hard to overtake!

[@ethancatton5370]

agreed

[@davewillisporter]

Hmmmm... Not sure how you're measuring most "complete" Lewis - More race experience Aggressive - last few YEARS without stupid mistakes Great tyre / engine / chassis saving across a race and a season Excellent in the rain 4 WDC 71Wins 81 Poles Not to mention the best able to manage the stress and turbulence of a season to win WDC over and over again, something Max has yet to do. Surely the most complete is actually the most complete no? Max may be the driver with the most potential, but by every metric Lewis is ahead so Max cannot possibly be the most complete! Most potential - yes. Most complete - no!

[@Mondinosaur]

Yas moment = on top of the race being exciting. The neeeeeeow guy providing some professional sound effects! I felt like I was there

[@markhenley3097]

No it's nice to have a general idea of each car's pace before qualifying.

[@Vincrand]

Maybe only keep the practice on saturday?

[@lethalpigeon96tt]

the one reason i dont want to get rid of practise is because i dont want races decided on who gets lucky with the tier strategy. I agree with limit ting them slightly but i think its still needed.

[@tanushguha8740]

#YasMoment Vettel's recently professed love for the Red Bull sidepods and his sidepod glitch re-appearance.

[@DarthEvilicus]

Getting rid of Friday practice will only hurt the smaller teams that can't afford all the simulators. Instead Friday practice should be shortened FP1: 1 hr, FP2: 30 minutes and FP3 is a 15 minute warm up for qualifying

[@ThomySchneider]

0:55 so who is the winner of the last podcast now? you haven't anounced it here..

[@nephlimjedi4741]

I'm missing that too...

[@vinaylalwani750]

I don't think they announced it

[@AJLyon]

#YasMoment is having a ferrari winner not shouting GRAZIE RAGAZIE after every win. Love the podcast guys, keep it up. Thx

[@MrRrosi]

The nyao guy was the ex f1 meme guy Giedo Banter Garde

[@rickvisser8296]

This is how a weekend should be. Fri- VT1 - Constructor Race (doesn't count for driver points and can try different formats like opposite championship standing starting grid). Sat- VT2 - Qualifying. Sun- Driver Race (like it has always been). Friday is boring when its cloudy, wet, overly hot... almost always.

[@markostojadinovic757]

#YasMoment When brother of Verstopper damaged Verstapen's suspension.

[@jellevanderveen3887]

#YasMoment Guy singing the anthem, while helicopters fly over, while guys parachute down with the throphy. Such awesome build-up by Cota circuit. Well Done.

[@juhom6019]

#Yasmoment, simply kimi winning. Had to wait sooo long... and this long to the season tought he wouldnt even do it. Almoust didnt even watch it because it was so late and had school tommorow. So glad i sticked and skipped school😄. All those times he could have won and afterwords i was left disapointed: woke up early to see maleysian gp, i think last year, where kimi started second, i was so sure he had the win based on his pace in practice and qualy. That excitment was destroyed when kimi retired before start. So this win was emotional to me and worth the wait. Sorry was bit long😂

[@RgW00D]

Best race of the year deserves a longer podcast ;)

[@randy4373]

#YasMoment Stroll getting lapped twice

[@dudodeldu5517]

#YasMoment the moment, Kimi past the finishing line and like everybody was happy and there just isn't somebody how doesn't love Kimi. That's great to see, I loved it!

[@MrRrosi]

#YasMoment Hamilton hiding from camera while wiping his ass in cooldown room

[@nt5735]

Kimi in the car, Kimi on the podium, Kimi in the cool down room, Kimi in the interviews, Kimi everywhere😂🤚Kimi just being himself on a winning day, a savage Iceman :') #YasMoment

[@tamasharkany2664]

#YasMoment The absolute legend "neooooww neooww" guy xD

[@nielsvanb]

the car spins because vettel was understeering. the car was on the limit on grip and aero meaning one little knock will make the car slide everywhere uncontrolably. ricciardo was confortable in the corner with loads of grip so it takes lots of energy to get that car to move anywhere.

[@roxic4275]

#YasMoment is when kimi didn't go to the box in vsc

[@vishnukarthik4503]

Great podcast... Although i do wanna add that Checo used to be headon with hulk in Sfi. So hulk wasnt always beaten by his teammates except during his stint in sauber and in renault season 1.

[@DJmassefx]

#YasMoment Seeing blisters on Hamilton’s tyres

[@sanderbevers6139]

#YasMoment was the moment i realised ferrari was right about their strategy call. For me it looked like ferrari were searching in the dark. That moment i knew kimi was going to win. Although i’m a max fan, i really loved kimi’s drive. My heart was literally pounding soooo hard i felt it in my neck those last few laps.

[@1DarkFox1]

#yasmoment nyooooom guy

[@charliesmith9689]

Could easily listen to this as a 2 hour podcast :) thanks!!!

[@YounisHajeer]

NEOOOOOOOOOOOW #YasMoment

[@Remy-today]

A one hour practice session on Friday, Quali on Saturday and then race on Sunday. Less info from Perelli towards the team. That would make racing more awesome but it would also free up time for side races, so more exposure for the lower racing classes, which results in more sponsorship money. That would also mean more teams, more drivers and therefore better talent on the grid eventually. It would also weed out richkids who don’t know how to drive (aka Lance Stroll).

[@j.j.schlachtfeld9325]

Guys, I forgot what WTF1 stands for and I can't find it anywhere on the web. I'm a disgrace as a fan to this channel

[@jonlawlor110]

Whose The Fastest 1

[@Nchinnam]

Whats this F1?

[@adentissa]

Wrap The Formula 1

[@markussstaskevics2164]

What the fork 1

[@Nchinnam]

@@markussstaskevics2164 you're a fan of Jordan maron?

[@adhd7959]

1) either get rid of fp2 or fp3 2) have reserve drivers go out in the car for 2 of the 3 sessions 3) scrap free practice all together 4) keep everything how it already is which one do you guys like better?

[@isabelserrano1005]

#yasmoment the last few laps where GREAT. Those kind of fights are what f1 fans love. I think everyone was at the edge of their seats. Loved it

[@hanschristiansivertsen506]

Former F1 driver Nicholas Kiesa said during the danish coverage that the soft tyres were too hard, and that the track was so slippery that the harder compound tyres were just overworked and therefore overheating... I think that was the reason why the soft tyres didn’t work

[@Xarotron]

#YasMoment when we realised Ferrari HADN'T shafted Kimi's strategy by not bringing him in under VSC

[@frederickdevries12]

wow i love how this channel refers to spotify is you ain't got time to listen for this. i will listen the rest tommorow in my 1 hour train ride. Love you guys

[@WTF1official]

We love you too

[@TheRemco98]

My #YasMoment was when Kimi's engineer told him something about strategy and Kimi responded saying "yes, but let's not do anything stupid" like he didn't trust his own strategists

[@juliabishir3636]

my #yasmoment was (apart from what you've mentioned) when Kimi sort of tried to trick Lewis before he went to pits, i felt for a moment that Ferrari is getting things together and they really was. it was a butterfly effect that leaded to an exciting race

[@markcrorrigan]

#YasMoment Being a huge Kimi fan for 16 years, I had the worst day at work and watched the race when I got home just waiting for Lewis to be champion. I could barely watch the last 20 laps after what happened at Monza, I was just waiting for Lewis to catch up and pass him. But he didn't :) From what was an awful day it turned into euphoria, those moments are what F1 are all about for me. Amazing race, and it'll probably be Kimi's last ever win in F1 which makes it extra special.

[@Kris_T_]

A good compromise would be to force teams to only allow 3rd drivers, test drivers, and rookie testing in FP1, or even better, have a friday mini-series, seperate to the main champions. Say have a 20 lap race and once again rookies and reserves only, maybe 1 car per team

[@Fatalshotz123]

My #YasMoment was hearing Kimi talk about how his kids would be more excited to have the pirelli cap than seeing their dad win

[@shaunjones8086]

My #YasMoment was at the end where Kimi said “f**k finally” as my whole family cried in laughter

[@KaiDesigns_]

My #YasMoment was the introduction of the new and improved F1 engine sounds “Neeow Neeow neeowww”

[@shoutatthedevil189]

What they need to do is have a 1 hour practice on saturday and the teams can only use blue hard pirellis, then for qualy it's a single 20 or 30 min session and teams can have 3-4 sets of tires, HS, US or SS. They start they race with which ever one they want. So they can qualify on HS and start the race on SS, then after the start they use compounds that are available per track. So on Monaco they would still have HS, US and SS and Silverstone would have S, M and Hard.

[@hannesflo]

Seeing Kimi defending like he did this race gave me chills #YasMoment

[@EduSaav]

#YasMoment when arrivabene winks to kimi at the celebration and him smile back, real Bromance

[@cragnamorra]

An even more radical idea: do away with Qualifying altogether. Race starts with reverse grid based on WDC standings. The points leader would have to overtake the field to maintain #1. And lol at least once per race someone like Hartley or Magnussen would have the opportunity to battle the champ-presumptive legitimately, rather than let him by under the Blue Flag. Sure the Mercedes/Ferrari/RB cream would still rise to the top pretty quickly in the first few laps. But they'd have to work a bit more to do so. Seems would be more competitive than just handing pole position to the fastest car. Lol, I'm sure I'm not the first to suggest such, so probably rekindling an old argument...

[@FP1Pod]

My #YasMoment has to be the last 5 laps of the Grand Prix! Was sat in the car listening to the radio and haven't been so excited in a long time!!!

[@ddt3619]

You should do a red T-shirt with Kimi's face in white and red shades, black sunglasses Under it "F**CKING FINALLY" in white In the top right Kimi Räikkönen or KR7 in red, white and blue or with Finland flag, and in bottom left Austin GP, 2018

[@FairuzRazakLife]

When Max struggle with grip and still able to defend his position from Hamilton is truly a #YasMoment. Like "Yessss!" moment.

[@firenze2406]

My #YasMoment is the HamVer battle. But honestly, it’s the whole race. Even the neow guy! Best 👏Race 👏of 👏the 👏Season👏

[@jackoboy42]

#YasMoment the amazing battle between Lewis and Max. I was stood behind my chair watching. So intense and such a great few corners

[@thedelgadic1]

My idea would be to keep fp1 and fp2, but give them superhards, or some other unrepresentative tire for the race weekend. They can test their setup, the drivers can learn the track, and the teams can try out young drivers. Then for fp3 let them use the compounds available in the race

[@kosarob8]

#YasMoment there were a few: Max's is drive from the back, Kimi's defending and that fake move towards the pit and so on :) great GP in general

[@samrobinson1981]

#YasMoment a classic Kimi reply to the pit-wall when they told him he'd won. ("F*cking Finally")

[@vignesh.hariharan]

#YasMoment Lap 1 when Kimi got the lead and anyone and everyone was just like whooo..... Gave me goosebumps... Also additional Yasmoment.... Kimi's door closing skills throughout the race!

[@SmithyOneTwelve]

I'm not sure the reduction of practice time has to be quite so extreme as removing Friday running entirely. It could be interesting to have a 1 hour session on Friday to allow the teams time to shakedown their cars, do install runs and whatnot, maybe do a long run and a short run and then have a quick 30 minute session on the Saturday morning before quali. This would still leave teams with under half the current running time they have - or if this isn't extreme enough, only give the teams 45 minutes on Friday.

[@FCTisthebest]

#yasmoment kimi winning after 113 and 5+ years to just give the most kimi reaction by saying thank you. F*cking finaly.

[@meloenkoenwastaken795]

#YasMoment When Kimi after this immense race crossed the line in first position. (Because, let’s be honest this might have been the last time we saw him on the top step of the podium. Absolutely wonderful.)

[@DP-jr8uk]

#YasMoment Vettel''s performance 18th to 2nd, keeping Kimi on his toes and dealing with Hamilton so well.

[@mark6bat]

#yasmoment I was lucky enough to be at COTA for the race and when Max / Lewis had there battle, it was the most incredible experience, to be in the middle of 100,000+ fans on their feet cheering and shouting, it was an atmosphere that was amazing and electric. A real memory for life. My second #yasmoment was buying a WTF1 Danny Ric "sometimes you've gotta lick the stamp and send it" t-shirt after the Chinese HP specifically to wear during the USGP, flying 5000 miles to COTA and realising I'd left it on the table at home! These tickets would give me another chance to wear it!

[@kevin030695]

#YasMoment the Mercedes team radio “Box opposite to Raikkonen” under VSC. That, in my opinion, kicked off the amazing strategy differences. Bonus moment was the little dummy move that Kimi made!

[@roflcoz]

my #Yasmoment was the undercut of verstappen on bottas, and him for some reason keeping the supersofts alive whilst bottas was sliding around on his softs

[@cornevangulik6166]

I think a change in friday practice could be fun for the sport, but getting rid of it isn’t a good thing to do part of the sports professionalism is friday practice otherwise teams will just do random strategies which from the outside looking in will look ridiculous (and for new f1 fans it’ll be harder to understand). Another factor why friday practice shouldn’t be skipped is for safety reasons, even though modern f1 is relatively safe, going out on track in qualifying not knowing what the limit is can have a very dangerous outcome.

[@MusicandFilm523]

There were many, obviously the fight between Kimi, Max and Hamilton. Plus the neowm(?) guy! But my #YasMoment was Kimi's reaction to winning the race. Even ending his streak of no wins after 113 races he still kept his cool iceman exterior!

[@vycanismelodis]

Crofty saying 'years' reminded me of Murray Walker's commentary

[@ralph5198]

More races, no practice sessions on fridays to ease the pressure on employees and logistics operations. If so you can easily add a few races to the calendar without complaints. Furthermore I would love to see the possibility to earn championship points for qualifying. By doing so a rainy qualifying sessions could really shake up the results and a driver with grid penalties still has something to fight for. If teams complain they need more pratice time just give them a 2 hour free practice session on saturday.

[@maximiliannertens7003]

#YasMoment Seb's radio transforming into an oscillator after they told him by how much he missed the pole

[@Mike23443]

There are three reasons Vettel spins up the tires in a spin. First is that he is hoping the momentum would continue, and he would spin around further to not be facing backwards. But secondly, he is making sure that he stays in gear and does not engage the anti-stall mechanism. If he did not spin up his rears, they'd end up turning the wrong way. If the gearbox and engine was connected to those wheels, it would have exploded the entire system, so the anti-stall mechanism engages the clutch, and that is additional seconds that you stay stationary, trying to get in gear, before you get moving again. Think back to... I think it was Verstappen or one of the Torror Rossos in Australia. He spun on turn one and ended up backwards. It took him good three or four seconds before he got moving again, because he had to fiddle through the anti-stall. The third reason is, if you don't spin up the tires, you will lock the rears up and flat spot them as you slide backwards too, so at least he is getting equal wear on the tire, making sure that, even if they are slightly worse for wear, they retain their smooth shape and can keep going in the race without upsetting the aero of the car.

[@LeCharles07]

Don't they have a clutch button for the start and stuff?

[@Mike23443]

That's a lot harder to grab when your wheel is flying all over the place than the gas pedal. Also, he still wanted to spin up the tires to try and keep turning around. He couldn't do that if he pressed the clutch in.

[@petrolhead9927]

btw the Cheerleaders of the Dallas Cowboys have been at the race since 2012 and they do a proper pre race dance show to entertain. So I don't think you can argue with the Grid Girls ban here

[@zac6837]

#YasMoment when Kimi pulled his true abilities off the shelf and dusted it off and won the race along with his ever entertaining interviews.

[@ForeverDayGreen]

Would've been #YasMoment: First thing Kimi says in the Cooldown room: "Dont worry max not gonna kick you out this year" Actual #YasMoment : Kimi winning finally

[@captaincondescending]

At a complete guess, I'd suggest maybe Vettel likes a very rake-y car (as in the rear ride height a lot higher than the front), as he had in his red bull days (because that's how that car was designed). The Ferrari is designed with some rake (unlike the Mercedes which runs very flat in comparison) but not as much as the red bulls, which would mean that Vettel adding more rake to add low speed manoeuvrability maybe upsets the stability when hit? I'm not an engineer, but that would be a sim-racers guess.

[@trimusx14]

#Yasmoment was when Vettel spun off Ricciardo, and you saw from Hartley's onboard Vettel spinning back around it looked insane!

[@ThomySchneider]

#yasmoment when kimi won the race, he really cheered with his hands also trying to hold his head (but couldnt because of the helmet)! That one was great!

[@duosonic391]

#yasmoment Kimi winning the USGP with a masterclass drive, holding off Lewis. Runner up would be Max's battle with Lewis. Last 16 laps were nail biting. Entire race was epic.