Formula 1 ... at last !!!!
 

It's about the only sport I follow.

Hamilton got a three place grid penalty putting Max into 2nd place - I'm not a faithful follower but I tend to route for him, so stared hopefully, but then his car gave out on the 14th (sad face).

Then Ricciardo on the 19th. Then Stroll, on the 22nd.

The two Mercs are doing what they do, 1st and 2nd,

Lap 26 sees Magnussen skid out with a front brake disc failure.
Safety car - mass crowd into the pits with one near unsafe release.

What's next ?

Haha - Vettel get knocked off by Sainz (who is replacing him at Ferrari next year).

Vettel really seems to have lost his mojo!

Both Mercs told of a critical issue and to keep off the kerbs with gearbox issues!

Grosjean and then Russel out with the latt3r stopping on track causing a second safety car!

New boots for all, apart from the Mercs with 17 laps to go!....

... and Raikkonen has a big crunch as a wheel .... falls off !

There'll be a wheel changer packing up his gear now!

Icredible amiount of attrition in the race - last year no-one retired from this track!

Albon takes Hamilton who knocks him out of contention - gets a five second penalty.

Albon goes on for a while then pulls off.

Kvyats rear tyre explodes -

Hamilton finishes second to Bottas but with a 5 second penalty knockihng him off the podium.

Leclerc (Ferrari) gets 2nd and Norris in the Maclaren comes 3rd!

What a race !

That was a wacky race. I don't understand the 5 second penalty to Hamilton, but everyone seemed to agree it was appropriate.

Confused me too - I think it was due to his not slowing down (enough?) on the second yellow.

Totally missed this race. Thanks to Silly Moustache for the blow by blow description.

Can't help thinking Daniel Ricciardo must be feeling his move to McLaren next year is a positive one given the excellent 3rd place finish and fastest race lap from his future team mate Lando Norris... plus they swap to Mercedes power next year too!

What a really exciting race Austria was! And we get to see it again next week (hopefully, it does not play out the same way).

The penalty was totally appropriate as Albon got ahead of Lewis in the corner during the pass, and then, Lewis slammed into him.

Good for Valtteri to win this one (sucks, Hamilton, eh? :D), and I am thrilled for Charles to make it to 2nd. :up:

Hi, on YouTube is an incredibly attenuated video of the race - showing the major points:

Indeed. They lost the Mercedes power because Mercedes didn't want their competition. Lets hope they can recapture the magic they had with that power unit again.

There's nothing like a Ricciado smile on the podium - fingers crossed.

Don't worry, they're doing a live re-run next week.

Curious what everyone thinks about the current "formula" for formula 1?

The engine restrictions, KERS, DRS, timing of when those systems may/may not be employed, etc.

Interested to hear any other musings about the way grand prix racing is conducted these days, as well.

Personally, I love the old stuff, up thru the demise of the high rpm V10s...

This is going to sound like oner of those "Back in my day..." responses.
But I loved F1 when:
- Drivers had to manually shift gears
- A random team could show up to try to qualify for the race
- There was a mix of V8 V10 V12 cars
- There was tire competition

But yeah, I really miss the roar of the bigger engines.

I suppose it's a balance. Trying to achieve exciting racing and ensuring safety.

My understanding is that without engine and aerodynamic restrictions F1 cars would be undriveable death traps.

The comment about the "roar" of the bigger engines resonates with me. F1 cars do sound strange. But, if you want to hear something really strange, listen to an electric, Formula E race.