The assist guided Say managed to to win 7 out of 10 races in Season 5 and scored more points than 2nd and 3rd place combined. He also scored enough points to win the Constructors title all on his own. But how good is Say really? We’ll never really know because of his reliance on using assists. The only thing we can definitively say about Say is that the assists were not enough to save him from crashing out of the race at Zandvoort.
By ghost_726
For the fifth race of the season, the CRL grid headed to Mexico for what would be the most chaotic race of the season. With only 19 drivers making the grid, a shocking 8 would fail to see the checkered flag due to DNFs, while a mere 6 drivers finished on the lead lap. Sayayines4ever continued his spell of dominance, grabbing his fourth win, while guitarhero1234 put together a phenomenal drive from P19 all the way up to P6. For more details, see below.
After a two race absence, PCC-Godly returned in Mexico, and proceeded to finish again in fifth place. That makes 3 P5 finishes in 3 attempts this season. He was a bit unlucky to run out of fuel on the last lap, or else he could have been even higher.
HAL9100 scored his first podium of the season in Mexico, catapulting himself into the top 5 power rankings for the first time. After a slow start to the season, HAL9100 has finished P4, P4, P3. If he can maintain this performance, he could find himself regularly challenging for podiums, and maybe even competing for wins again.
Fivesix2KING was idle in Mexico, and it appears he will be idle again in Belgium. It remains to be seen how many more races we’ll see him in this season.
For many, isiboy23 has been the surprise of the season. He currently sits second in the standings following an impressive P2 finish in Mexico, which marks his second podium of the season. He may not be challenging for wins and podiums week in and week out, but he’s been impressively consistent at scoring. If he can continue this consistency, he’ll be a serious contender for P2 in the standings.
Mexico saw sayayines4ever pick up his fourth win of the season, despite starting P4 on the grid. At this point, there’s really no question as to who the best driver in the league is. With a 56 point lead over P2 with 7 races to go, it would take a monumental collapse to lose the championship.
By ghost_726
Unfortunately, time has been short this week, so I haven’t had the chance to put together a mediocre write up of the events and each team’s performance. That said, I’ve attached the power rankings below so folks that care about that get their weekly update.
By ghost_726
On Wednesday the F1 CRL rolled into Hungary to tackle the challenging course, which is often referred to Monaco without the walls. As is expected with such a technical track, the pack largely spread out. But there was still plenty of on-track action, including Bigryeguy98 and Vols8840 scrapping for the win for most of the race, and HAL9100 defending against isiboy23 and Aleixcucco27 for a spot in the top 5. Read on below for a recap of the race and current standings via juzzzy’s graphical expertise.
PCC-Godly was unavailable for Hungary, but held onto P5 on the strength of his consistency in the early season. He’ll be out again in Miami, but on his return, will look to continue his streak of top 5 finishes.
Vols8840 made his F1 CRL debut in Hungary as a reserve for McLaren. A strong qualifying saw him place his car 5th on the grid, before battling Bigryeguy98 for the win for long portions of the race before settling into P2. He’ll get another drive in Miami, where he’ll look to build on his early success.
Fivesix2KING finished P9 in Hungary after lining up P4 on the grid. It speaks volumes that this could even be construed as an off day for the two-time race winner, but by his standards, this was. Battling illness, he didn’t show his result, and unfortunately saw his 6 race podium streak come to an end. Miami will show if this was a blip on the radar.
After claiming victory in his first race of season 5, Bigryeguy98 rises one spot to second in the power rankings. It was a dominant week for Bigryeguy98, who took pole by 2 tenths of a second, before winning by more than 5 seconds. Can he continue his season 4 dominance, or will sayayines4ever and fivesix2KING make it a fight at the top.
Sayayines4ever continued his strong start to his F1 career, qualifying P2 before finishing P5 in Hungary. The top 5 finish is the first time sayayines4ever failed to win in the F1 division, but is largely a positive for the young driver. There were concerns of how sayayines4ever would perform when he wasn’t out front, and at least for one race, he put those concerns to rest. Sayayines4ever maintained composure and drove a relatively clean race despite falling off the lead pack, and picked up valuable points in the championship.
Despite bringing only one driver to the grid in Hungary, Williams was poised for points after ChrisKYU62 impressively slotted into P12 during qualifying. Unfortunately, a 2 stop strategy saw him finish in P15.
AlphaTauri came to Hungary looking to score points for the second week in three tries, but were looking at a large task after qualifying saw bode95 line up 14th and RecklezzXV start 19th. But bode95 put in a solid drive, falling just short of his second point of the season, finishing P11. There’s no reason for AlphaTauri to panic though, as bode95 has consistently challenged for points this season, and is sure to grab a handful in the remaining races.
Alpine had their best week of the season thanks to reserve KB-0_07 grabbing a podium and 15 points, mere days after his dismissal from the Alfa Romeo team. While he won’t be racing for Alpine in Miami, the Alpine team will look to build on the momentum he generated, and grab another haul of points.
Red Bull had a week to forget in Hungary, with team principal juzzzyb suffering from technical issues while teammate moosemtz15 suffered a DNF, resulting in the team’s first scoreless week this season. But keep an eye on Red Bull the rest of the way, as they added KB-0_07, who is coming off a podium this week.
Perhaps the biggest beneficiary of the F1 torque adjustments was HAL9100, who looked like his championship-winning self in Hungary. After qualifying P8, he made a tire gamble, opting for the softs, and dashing to a P4 finish as a result. Jmtitan10 also had a solid race, battling through the field to finish P12 after starting 17th. If HAL9100 can consistently fight at the top of the pack, and jmtitan10 can continue challenging for points, Mercedes could enter the battle for a top 5 spot.
Bigryeguy98’s return to the lineup has immediately bolstered Ferrari, as he took pole position and then the win. Meanwhile, teammate Aleixcucco27 enjoyed another strong qualifying performance, slotting into the sixth spot on the grid. But this time he put together a strong race, and grabbed his first points of the season with a P7 finish. While they got off to a slow start, Ferrari could quickly find themselves back in the championship hunt.
For the second time this season, Aston Martin put two cars in the points. Isiboy23 was a bit off the pace in qualifying, starting P13, but put together a phenomenal drive to end up P6. Guitarhero1234 lined up P9, but was clipped off the line on a chaotic start, dropping him to the back of the pack. But he put together a phenomenal recovery drive to finish P10. While Aston Martin hasn’t looked to have race winning pace, they’ve been one of the most consistent teams. If they continue that trend, they’ll be fighting Haas and McLaren for P2 and P3.
With xINCIDENTx out of action this week, fivesix2KING stepped in next to ghost_726 for the race around the Hungaroring. And the pair continued Haas’ streak of putting both cars in the points, but otherwise failed to impress. Ghost_726 required an early wing change, while fivesix2KING was forced into a two stop strategy. Ultimately, the pair wound up P8 and P9. With xINCIDENTx out again in Miami, the pair will look to rebound.
Alfa Romeo had a slightly different look this week, with KB-0_07 removed from the team, and Ferrari/AR reserve Quothraven44 stepping into his place. Unfortunately, this move didn’t pan out for Alfa Romeo, as KB-0_07 went on to finish P3, while Quothraven44 had to settle for P16, 2 laps down. Sayayines4ever would salvage points for Alfa Romeo, grabbing P5, but Alfa Romeo may rue those lost points. New driver ThugHughes steps in to the second seat in Miami, and will look to get Alfa Romeo back to their winning ways.
Another team relying on a reserve driver, McLaren had a solid week in Hungary with vols8840 stepping in for PCC-Godly. And the reserve performed well, qualifying P5 before competing for the win and settling for P2 and the 18 point haul that brings with it. While KENNYHITMANHART missed the points for the first time this season, McLaren will be confident entering Miami, with vols8840 again deputizing for PCC-Godly, and KENNYHITMANHART returning to a track he’s more confident at.
By Bigryeguy98
Race three of F1CRL Season Five took place at the Hungaroring in Hungary. Another race on the calendar that mirrors the real life calendar, it was an action-packed race with plenty of newcomers. Ferrari’s Bigryeguy98 returned from a two race hiatus to take pole and the race victory. McLaren welcomed Vols8840 where he rewarded the team with a P2 finish in his first race. KB got his first podium with Alpine after being dramatically released from Alfa Romeo one day before the race. Media team member Bigryeguy98 asked the team principals for their comments on the race and the season thus far.
Bigryeguy98 Returns to Victory for Ferrari, but Off-Track Drama Casts Shadow Over Alfa Romeo
-What is your opinion on how the race at Hungary went?
“I returned from a hiatus to take pole position and the race win. I had great battles with Say and Vols which was nice to see. I can’t ask for much more.”
-You released KB one day before the race at Hungary. Please give some insight into why you did this?
“I released KB because I wanted to pick up ThugHughes, who is very fast, but I also wanted to ensure KB got a full-time seat somewhere. I didn’t want KB to rot in the Alfa Romeo reserves. It seems he’s picked up the pace since patch 1.06 which is great to see. We still message regularly and I’m hoping he continues to find pace in this season. I’m glad Juzzzyb offered him a full-time seat at Red Bull. It seems he’s quick enough to throw a much-needed wrench in the title fight with Haas/McLaren.”
–Do you think releasing KB in the manner you did sends a signal to your drivers that their seat is not safe? That you’d throw them away if they weren’t performing?
“This is something I considered, yes. At the end of the day I felt the reward was worth the risk. Some may disagree or use this to clown me in the chat, but the performances on track will do the talking.”
-Did any team member’s performance in the last race impress you?
“I came back from a two race hiatus and my banker lap was enough for pole position. The race wasn’t comfortable with Vols showing he has great race pace, but the pole/win by that margin wasn’t something I expected.”
-Now that the season is underway, it looks like both of your teams are in the championship battle. Will team orders be issued at any point during the season?
“I don’t plan on it currently. I can envision specific scenarios later in the season where team orders could make sense to maximize points for a specific driver or team, but that’s not the case at the moment. Ferrari and Alfa Romeo are free to race responsibly.”
-The next race is at Miami. Any thoughts or predictions on how your team will do next week?
“Track drives like dog water and dish soap but both Ferrari and Alfa Romeo should be competitive.”
Newcomer Vols Gets Maiden Podium, But Haas/McLaren Lose Ground to Ferrari/Alfa Romeo (Ghost_726)
-What is your opinion on how the race at Hungary went?
“I’m pretty happy with it. Hungary is a tough track, so another podium and 3 cars in the points is pretty solid.”
-You picked up newcomer Vols8840 and he picked up P2. Tell us your thoughts on how Vols fits into your team?
“We found ourselves with 2 full time drivers out, and only 1 reserve on the roster. After reaching out to a couple of league reserves with no success, I found vols, who was gracious enough to help us out. For that he’s got a spot in the Haas McLaren paddock as long as he wants.”
-Does the qualifying pace gap between your teams and Ferrari/Alfa Romeo concern you at all?
“Not at all. I think everyone expected that team to have the best qualifying pace, so it’s nothing to be surprised or concerned about.”
-Now that the season is underway, it looks like both of your teams are in the championship battle. Will team orders be issued at any point during the season?
“Nope. Our modus operandi has always been the same. No team orders, but don’t fight your teammates, especially if you’re on different strategies. If they’ve got the pace to get past you, let them go.”
-The next race is at Miami. Any thoughts or predictions on how your team will do next week?
“I expect it’s going to be another difficult race, and could have some chaos similar to Jeddah. I think it suits most of the guys on my team well, but doesn’t suit me quite as well. So I expect to be the weak link.”
Impressive Race by HAL9100 Gives Points Boost for Mercedes Midfield Battle (Jmtitan10)
-What is your opinion on how the race at Hungary went?
“Overall I think it went well. It was nice to have Big Rye back and competing up at the front with Vols and Say (pre-empty fuel tank) and I saw quite a few good battles throughout the field. I can’t wait to see how the rest of the season goes.”
-You are committed to racing without assists, but you’re also off the pace. Do you think your insistence on running no assists is costing your team championship places?
“I probably am costing us points, but the hope is that in the long run this makes me a better driver, and hopefully i’ll recoup all those points down the road when i’m the best sim racer on the planet.”
-Did any team member’s performance in the last race impress you?
“HAL finally got a good result which was nice to see. He’s had great pace all year but has had some bad luck. It will be interesting to see how competitive he is with the top guys as the season progresses.”
-Did any team member’s performance in the last race concern you?
“No, I think overall we’re showing some promise. I think as we all continue to get some more time with the game we have some real points potential.”
-The next race is at Miami. Any thoughts or predictions on how your team will do next week?
“I can’t speak for the other guys but I’m running my first-ever laps at Miami today (Saturday before the race)… it could be a long race on wednesday night for me…”
Major Shake Up at Red Bull/Alpha Tauri After Hungary Crash, Says Juzzzyb
-What is your opinion on how the race at Hungary went?
“It was brainless, Cars colliding seems a deja-vu. It’s absolutely not what we want. We are looking like a bunch of idiots and it’s disrespectful to the people who work their nuts off to prepare the cars and this is why it needs to end. It seems that talking doesn’t bring us any further so we need to think about all possible solutions and go as far as implementing the not very popular team orders.”
-Will team orders be issued at any point during the season?
“This is on the table now. This is what we are going to discuss, because maybe it’s the only way we can manage the situation. I hate team orders, we owe it to the fans to let them race but if every race ends up in a collision between team-mates, it’s not what we want. It could easily have been a double DNF.”
-Did any team member’s performance in the last race impress you?
“Despite being part of an inter team accident, Bode was able to put in a solid recovery to come home in p11 and make up 3 places on his starting position. Overall though, it’s hard to be too impressed by a driver who ran into his teammate.”
-Did any team member’s performance in the last race concern you?
“The crash between Bode and Moose was extremely disappointing. We had one rule at the start of the season and that was to not crash into your teammate or sister team. They are both to blame for this, and it’s the team that unfortunately lost out. They have got to show the team and each other respect and give each other space, they’ve been reminded that they have a responsibility in the role they perform, that they are both highly paid individuals, to act with the team’s interests at heart, not just their own.”
-What are you hoping KB brings to your team as a full-time driver?
“We’ve seen KB perform consistently well over the last couple of seasons. we’re hoping he can bring some morale to the team after our Hungary woes and keep Red Bull firmly in the midfield.”
-The next race is at Miami. Any thoughts or predictions on how your team will do next week?
“We have had some major shake ups between the two teams. With Bode causing an incident between himself and Moose, he has been benched for the week as punishment and we are putting KallMeMaybe in his place to hopefully show Bode how it’s done and bring some points for AlphaTauri. I’ll be taking a step back and filling in the RedBull reserve driver role after taking on KB-0_07 as our new full time driver. He’s a solid performer and Alfa Romeo’s loss will be our gain.”
William Lebowski Leaving F1CRL at the End of the Season?
-What is your opinion on how the race at Hungary went?
“I think overall Hungary went well. It’s a very unassuming track that looks more technical than it is. But it seems like the entire field had ups and downs during the race, just like we did.”
-You picked up KB from Alfa Romeo and he picked up a podium. Are you happy with his performance?
“Of course I am happy with how KB performed. But I am more happy for KB than with KB. After he was dropped it did not look like he was going to have a full time ride for the rest of the season. We had an empty seat at Alpine and he agreed to fill it. And KB used the moment to really shine! I’m glad his performance was able to grab the attention of Jutty at Red Bull, KB deserves a full time ride.”
-Did any team member’s performance in the last race impress you?
“I am impressed with isi’s performance to come up through the field and finish just outside the podium, then lost positions due to a penalty (that wasn’t applied to everyone who did the same thing). I am impressed with guitarhero’s ability to stay calm after being taken out at the start (of which the perp wasn’t punished more severely for an opening lap incident that is stated in the rule book). I am very happy that KB was able to grab a podium after jumping into a new team. And I am very happy with the progress that Steven is making, very soon they will be challenging finishers for points.”
-Do you have any thoughts on Ferrari/Alfa Romeo releasing KB in order to sign ThugHughes?
“I don’t really know anything about ThugHughes, but if Ferrari/Alfa feel like KB’s spot should be given to them there is clearly a lot of potential there because KB is a very worthy competitor.”
-The next race is at Miami. Any thoughts or predictions on how your team will do next week?
“I think it’s going to be important for everyone to manage expectations for this race. We are going back to another street circuit with some very tight corners. I’m sure there will be incidents.”
-You’ve been critical of the stewarding decisions recently. What would you change in order to improve the league?
“From Jeff down to the stewards, it has been made very clear that they have no interest in improving the league or attracting new people. Even being hostile to me for disagreeing with poor stewardship and pointing out legitimate ways to improve the system. Why ask someone to join on as a principal if you are just looking for the same experience you already have? Why should I put effort into this if it is not welcomed, wanted, or appreciated? Why should anyone care about the races if there is not going to be any consistency from management on penalties? Why would anyone practice if stewards are just going to rule based on emotion and not rules in the rule book or precedents? I’ve been vocal about some very basic adjustments that would improve the experience of the league, but apparently there is no room between what already exists and PSGL.
This will more than likely be my last season involved with F1CRL because they’ve made it abundantly clear they want to continue racing the same people they already have. They don’t want to enforce rules that will force drivers to race more cleanly. And they don’t want to have to “spend more admin time” than they already do. Fine by me, I’ve got a team full of people who would appreciate it if I spent more time practicing for seasons full of endurance races than being talked down to by Ghost like I’m a child that has no idea what I’m talking about. So congratulations to everyone who jumps down my throat in chat, I’ve muted the server, I will communicate attendance to Jeff, and I will only speak with my teams for the remainder of the season.”
By ghost_726
The second round of the F1 CRL season saw the grid on track at the historic Paul Ricard Circuit in Le Castellet. The combination of high speeds, low downforce, turn 1 chaos and late race rain proved challenging for the grid, with the drivers accumulating 2 DNFs and 139 seconds in penalties while only 13 drivers finished on the lead lap. Through this madness, two things remained consistent, as sayayines4ever and fivesix2KING finished 1-2 again, with ghost_726 rounding out the podium on his return to action.
In the race for the drivers’ championship, sayayines4ever and fivesix2KING extended their lead on the chasing pack, with a total of 50 and 36 points respectively. Aston Martin ace isiboy23 maintained his hold on P3 after securing a P6 finish. McLaren teammates PCC-Godly and KENNYHITMANHART
flipped positions to round out the top 5, while ghost_726’s 15 points catapulted him to P6 in the standings. Two more first time scorers, guitarhero1234 and SSPoTs saw sharp rises in the standings to P7 and P10 after scoring 12 and 5 points.
In the Constructors battle, sayayines4ever’s second win was enough for Alfa Romeo to overtake Haas, and build a healthy 10 point lead. While Haas and McLaren kept their gap the same, Aston Martin took 4 points out of McLaren thanks to strong drives from both guitarhero1234 and isiboy23. Red Bull catapulted themselves into the top half battle thanks to fivesix2KING’s P2 finish, while Williams picked up 5 points, and two spots in the championship due to SSPoTs strong drive.
For the second week in a row, Haas-McLaren collected the most points of any super constructor with all four drivers putting their cars in the points. Alfa Romeo-Ferrari remains second, thanks to the strength and durability of sayayines4ever’s backpack, as he’s collected 50 of the team’s 52 points. Aston Martin-Alpine held onto P3 thanks to a season
best 20 points from the Aston Martin boys. At the bottom of the table, Red Bull-AlphaTauri was able to slide by Mercedes-Williams thanks to reserve fivesix2KING’s podium.
Aston Martin man isiboy23 takes the fifth spot in the power rankings after another strong performance saw him finish P6 at Le Castellet. The result brings his point total to 23 on the season, good enough for P3 in the standings. Isiboy23’s success has largely been due to his strong qualifying performances, which have averaged 4.5 on the season. If he can maintain that single lap pace, he could hold onto P3 in the standings.
PCC-Godly racked up another P5 in France, his second of the season, despite early contact that caused him to spin, and a two stop strategy. Another driver that’s excelling at qualifying, PCC-Godly has qualified P3 and P6 on the season, and has largely carried that pace over to race day. If he can avoid unlucky incidents, he will be competing for podiums and wins.
Bigryeguy98 missed his second race of the season, but is a favorite to challenge for podiums once he returns, assumedly in Hungary.
Sporting a new livery, fivesix2KING brought a similar result in France. After picking up the pole position, he was involved in an early incident, but recovered to finish P2. fivesix2KING has shown he has the pace to compete with sayayines4ever if he can avoid incidents.
Not a whole lot to write here; sayayines4ever has picked up right where he left off in F2, winning 2 races in 2 tries, and never qualifying worse than second place. He’s been fast, and perhaps more impressively, consistent. If he can hold that consistency over the course of the season, this championship is likely decided already.
Unfortunately it was a rough day at the office for the AlphaTauri boys. After qualifying P11 and P16, RecklezzXV and bode95 were unable to convert their qualifying positions into points, with RecklezzXV DNF’ing and bode95 improving, but only to P14. But its too early to count out this duo. Bode95 has been solid on race day, improving an average of 4 positions per race, while RecklezzXV has had solid qualifying pace, lining up P11 in both races. Both could be primed for a breakout race.
Alpine currently sits P9 in the standings after a rough day in France. Wizbang02 and stevenaj1125 qualified P17 and P18 before finishing P18 and P19. While the pace wasn’t there in qualifying or the race, the Alpine duo will set their sights on Hungary and look to bounce back to their point scoring ways.
Williams had a decent, albeit unlucky outing at Le Castellet. SSPoTs had phenomenal pace, as evidenced by his P4 grid slot, and his fastest lap point, but would have to settle for P8. Meanwhile ChrisKYU62 qualified a respectable P14, but after accumulating a fair number of penalties, slid back to P16. Both had their strategy interrupted by the rain, which resulted in both being on two stop strategies, while the majority of the field was on a one stop strategy. Now that Williams has proved they have points-worthy pace, can they string a couple results together?
For the second week in a row, Ferrari has lined up without team principal Bigryeguy98 in the lineup. And again, they narrowly missed out on their first points of the season, with Aleixcucco27 finishing P11 and Quothraven44 finishing P13. With the principal returning this week, and Aleixcucco27 continually knocking on the door of the top 10, we could see Ferrari’s return in Hungary.
Mercedes had a day to forget in France with HAL9100 finishing in P15, and jmtitan10 finishing P17. But Mercedes has no reason to despair yet, with the team sitting in P6 currently despite bad luck in both races. HAL9100 and jmtitan10 have both looked solid on race day, but they may need a boon in their qualifying performance to get back into the points.
Red Bull shot up the standings this week following an 18 point performance from reserve driver fivesix2KING. Moosemtz15 put in a solid drive as well, gaining 7 positions to finish P12 after starting P19. With juzzzyb assumedly returning in Hungary, and coming off of points his last time out in Jeddah, Red Bull could be poised to grow their lead on the bottom half of the table.
Despite missing out on the podium due to track limit penalties, Aston Martin had their best week since the fifth round of season 2, grabbing 20 points. Guitarhero1234, who started P9, battled for P3 throughout the race, grabbing the position in the damp conditions, but was relegated to P4 due to track limits. Meanwhile isiboy23 picked up 8 valuable points after a steady drive saw him hold onto his starting position of P6. Only 3 points off of P3, Aston Martin is looking like a valid contender at the top of the table.
McLaren had another double points finish in France, due in large part to a strong qualifying performance. PCC-Godly lined up third, a mere three tenths off pole, while KENNYHITMANHART qualified eighth, giving McLaren two cars in the first four rows. Unfortunately, both drivers were involved in separate incidents that sent them pirouetting off track. Both would put together strong recovery drives to finish P5 and P7 respectively.
Haas continued their trend of consistently scoring solid points in France, buoyed largely by ghost_726’s return to the lineup. After a disappointing qualifying, ghost_726 picked up 7 spots during the race to finish P3 and grab his first points of the season. xINCIDENTx fared better in qualifying, lining up seventh, but an early spin, compounded by dense traffic, saw him unable to pick his way through the field. While he’ll be disappointed to pick up only one point, he extended his point scoring streak, which stretches all the way back to the second race of season 2.
Alfa Romeo had a bit of a mixed weekend, but will walk away from France with 27 points and the team race win. Sayayines4ever continued his strong start to the season, qualifying on pole before cruising to a 7.6 second victory, his second in a row. Meanwhile, KB-0_07 crossed the line in P5, but found himself relegated to P9 after penalties were applied for causing a collision and an unsafe re-entry. At this point it is pretty clear both drivers have the pace, but composure under pressure is the remaining question mark
By Bigryeguy98
Moving on from Jeddah, race two of F1CRL Season Five took place at Paul Ricard Circuit in France. Mirroring the real life calendar but not necessarily the results, Alfa Romeo’s Say took his second victory in as many races. Fivesix2king and Ghost_726 rounded out the podium places, and Aston Martin’s Guitarhero1234 and Isiboy23 captured P4 and P6 in an impressive display of racecraft. The stewards were quite busy with many incident reports and penalties being dished out post-race. With Say pulling ahead in the championship and Bigryeguy98 returning for Hungary, nobody knows how either of the championship battles will turn out. Media team member Bigryeguy98 asked the team principals for their comments on the race and the season thus far.
Absent Bigryeguy98 Critical of Stewards in Post-race Comments
-What is your opinion on how the race at France went?
“I again was unable to attend the race. It was good to see Say win again. Other than that, I didn’t see what happened.”
-There were a lot of incident reports and penalties dished out by the stewards this week. Do you have any thoughts or concerns about any of the steward’s decisions?
“Two of the stewards are team principals. It’s been my long-standing opinion that stewards should be separate from the drivers/team principals.”
-Did any team member’s performance in the last race impress you?
“No.”
-What are your thoughts on Haas/McLaren re-signing fivesix2king one week after releasing him?
“Seems odd, but I couldn’t care less. Just excited to get back on track on Wednesday.”
-The next race is at the Hungaroring. Any thoughts or predictions on how your team will do next week?
“I’m back.”
Solid Points Grab but Still No Cigar For Ghost’s Haas/McLaren
-What is your opinion on how the race at France went?
“From a Haas-McLaren perspective, I’m pretty happy with how it went. Again we were able to put all 4 cars in the points, even though all 3 of my drivers were involved in a spin.”
-There were a lot of incident reports and penalties dished out by the stewards this week. Do you have any thoughts or concerns about any of the steward’s decisions?
“I am a steward, so I’m sure I’m a little biased on this question. But taking a step back, I think they are doing the best they can with limited data points. Unlike real life, we rarely have more than 2 camera views, and never have access to telemetry. Combine that with the fact racing incidents are never black and white, and someone’s always going to be unhappy with the decisions we make. I get being frustrated, but I’d just ask the league to remember we aren’t getting paid, we are doing the best with the limited tools we have, and that we aren’t out to get any one.”
-Why did you decide to release fivesix2king and then re-sign him again? Was there a bit of backroom dealing between yourself, 562, and Juzzzyb?
“My goal all along has been to get 562 as much race time as possible, even if it’s with other teams. I made that commitment when I signed him as a reserve, and I intend to honor it. I heard that juzzy needed a reserve for just this one week, so I released 562 so he’d get another race in. My only ask for juzzy was that he re-release 562 if he wasn’t going to make him a full time driver. But of course he could have ignored that if he wanted.”
-Did any team member’s performance in the last race impress you?
“I was really happy with PCC-Godly’s drive this week. He was involved in an early incident that sent him flying off the track, had to two stop due to starting on mediums, and still finished P5.”
-Did any team member’s performance in the last race concern you?
“Not at all. How can I be concerned about a super-constructor race win, a podium, and all my drivers in the points while technically on recovery drives?”
-The next race is at the Hungaroring. Any thoughts or predictions on how your team will do next week?
“Honestly, I have no idea how it’s going to go. We have limited league runs here, so there’s really no past performance to look at. Couple that with the fact we might have a couple drivers out, and I’m left with more questions than answers.”
Assists-less Jmtitan10 Off the Pace, but Hope For Williams in SSPoTs
-What is your opinion on how the race at France went?
“Could have gone better for me personally but it seemed like an interesting race overall with the dry to wet strategy choices.”
-Why did you decide to get rid of the waiver system? Based on this, do you have any thoughts on Haas/McLaren re-signing fivesix2king after releasing him last week?
“It’s more important to me that drivers are where they want to be than the teams being even (which is kind of the draw of a waiver system). I think the driver market will work itself out as drivers go to the teams/spots that make the most sense for them. 562 can do whatever he wants and I’m glad he’s in a situation he thinks is ideal for him.”
-There were a lot of incident reports and penalties dished out by the stewards this week. Do you have any thoughts or concerns about any of the steward’s decisions?
“No comment.”
-Did any team member’s performance in the last race impress you?
“SSPoTs had a really good race. He has great pace and I can’t wait to see what he continues to do this season.”
-Did any team member’s performance in the last race concern you?
“No, I think we have a great group. My performance is the only one that needs a step up.”
-The next race is at the Hungaroring. Any thoughts or predictions on how your team will do next week?
“I think it could be good for us. If HAL gets better luck than he’s had, he could easily join SSPoTs in the points this week.”
Juzzzyb Voices Concern Over FiveSix2King Flip-Flop Back to Haas/McLaren
-What is your opinion on how the race at France went?
“We were able to bring home a few points for RedBull with a late pick up of fivesix2KING. Unfortunately both AlphaTauri boys got caught up in accidents, but overall the race went well and it wasn’t a driver parade for more than half of the race.”
-What are your thoughts on Ghost_726 re-signing your driver fivesix2king after releasing him just last week?
“Ghost must have a need for him, so it’s good to see him get picked up again. It would be a shame for that talent to sit on the sidelines and not be used.”
-There were a lot of incident reports and penalties dished out by the stewards this week. Do you have any thoughts or concerns about any of the steward’s decisions?
“Part of me wants to shout out ‘No Jeff, no, no this is so not right’, but at the end of the day we went motor racing and these things will happen.”
-Did any team member’s performance in the last race impress you?
“Moose had a great race and fight with Aleix ultimately gaining 7 positions. Fivesix2KING had a good race, but we all knew he had the pace for that 2nd place at the start of the race.”
-Did any team member’s performance in the last race concern you?
“No concerns from my end. RecklezzXV had a good quali, but unfortunately ended up being a byproduct of another incident and fell down the order.”
-The next race is at the Hungaroring. Any thoughts or predictions on how your team will do next week?
“Hungaroring has never been a strong track for myself, so I don’t hold a lot of hope for getting points. We’ll put our heads down, get to practicing and hopefully run the best race possible.”
Double Points Boost William Lebowski in Midfield Battle
-What is your opinion on how the race at France went?
“Aside from people forcing moves that didn’t fit against our teams, it went very well! Very happy to see both Aston Martins scoring points!”
-There were a lot of incident reports and penalties dished out by the stewards this week. Do you have any thoughts or concerns about any of the steward’s decisions?
“Stewards talk about wanting a league that races clean but don’t always penalize incidents.”
-Did any team member’s performance in the last race impress you?
“I was very impressed with the results and improvements from all drivers on Aston Martin and Alpine!”
-Do you have any thoughts on Haas/McLaren re-signing fivesix2king one week after releasing him?
“Not my monkey, not my circus.”
-The next race is at the Hungaroring. Any thoughts or predictions on how your team will do next week?
“I see more success coming to Aston Martin as they are focused and really dialing it in. And I’m predicting improvements for Alpine this week.”
By ghost_726
Season 5 of the F1 CRL got underway Wednesday night as the league took to the grid in Jeddah. To call the race chaotic would be an understatement, as seven drivers failed to take the checkered flag, and almost half the race was completed under the safety car. That said, the race showed the parity in the league right now, as 8 of the 10 teams scored points. Sayayines4ever continued the fine form that started in F2 last season, as he collected the win. Meanwhile Haas-McLaren were the big winners in the super-constructor battle, as they were the only team to put all four drivers in the points. Read on below for the current standings and power rankings.
In the drivers championship, sayayines4ever grabs the early lead after his first F1 division win. fivesix2KING sits P2, but may struggle to stay at the top of the table due to a lack of a full time seat. Isiboy23 returns to the top half of the table after finishing seventh last season. Positions 4 through 6 are occupied by the full time drivers on the Haas-McLaren team, with KENNYHITMANHART jumping out to the early lead over his teammates PCC-Godly and xINCIDENTx. Jmtitan10 sits in P7 after scoring in the first race of the season for the fourth time in five seasons. Meanwhile juzzzyb and bode95 renewed their rivalry, scoring 4 and 1 points respectively, kicking off what should be an exciting internal battle. Finally, stevenaj1125 sits P9 after grabbing 2 points in his race in the F1 CRL.
After the first race of the season a three way battle seems to be developing at the top of the table. Haas holds a narrow lead over Alfa Romeo and McLaren after Haas and McLaren both scored double points, while Alfa Romeo enjoyed the bounty of sayayines4ever’s race win. Isiboy23’s podium pushes Aston Martin comfortably into P4, while Mercedes, Red Bull, Alpine and AlphaTauri scored in Jeddah. Williams and Ferrari both have some work cut out for themselves after failing to secure points in the first week of the season.
In the super-constructor battle, the big winner in Jeddah was the Haas-McLaren team after fivesix2KING, KENNYHITMANHART, PCC-Godly and xINCIDENTx impressively put all four cars inside the top 6, including one on the podium. Their 48 point haul puts them in P1, with a 23 point lead over Ferrari-Alfa Romeo, who grabbed 25 points with only one driver in the points. Aston Martin-Alpine resides in P3 after Isiboy23 picked up his first podium of the season, and stevenaj1125 finished P9. At the bottom of the table, jmtitan10’s 6 point haul was enough to keep Mercedes-Williams clear of Red Bull-AlphaTauri by a single point.
By bigryeguy98
To put it lightly, Jeddah was a disaster. Four safety cars and plenty of DNF’s and accidents plagued the debut race of F1 CRL Season Five. While the quality of racing wasn’t the best, it wasn’t all bad. Newcomer Say came away with the win after a hard-fought battle with Haas reserve fivesix2King and Aston Martin’s isiboy. Media team’s Bigryeguy98 asked the Team Principal’s their thoughts on the first race and where they go from here.
Absent Bigryeguy98 May Mean Poof for Title Hopes
-What is your opinion on how the first race went?
I was absent so I only really saw the aftermath in the discord. From what I saw it looked like a shitshow. I’m glad Alfa Romeo driver Say won the race, and it’s going to be a great title battle when I eventually return.
-What’s your opinion on re-removing safety cars from the league?
I disagreed with the decision to remove them in the first place. I’m not sure why we needed to have this experiment, especially at Jeddah. It’s just another questionable decision in a long line of them, in my opinion.
-Did any team member’s performance in the first race concern you?
Nobody’s performance concerned me. Given the questionable decisions leading up to the race it’d be stupid for anyone to draw conclusions from it. KB keeps saying he hasn’t got the pace, but he’ll get there eventually. Say won the race and Aleixcucco27 qualified P4 in a great display. Quoth did a good job filling in in my absence. I’m excited to see where the team can go from here.
-The next race is at Paul Ricard. Any thoughts or predictions on how your team will do next week?
I’m not sure if I’ll be able to race next week, but I’m sure Say will be competitive. Aleix will be absent so we may have to have both our reserves, Quoth and Loris, filling in. Not sure if KB’s wifi issues will be fixed so we may need a free agent reserve to fill in.
Solid Performances Give Boon to Ghost’s Title Hopes
-What is your opinion on how the first race went?
I’m happy with how my team performed, but the race itself was a little bit of a cluster. I think it showed that a lot of us (myself included) are still working on learning the nuances of the new game. That said, I think there were some good battles. Say, 562 and KindDavid had a good battle at the front. Jeff and juzzy had a nice little battle. Paul Ricard has a lot more grip than Jeddah, so I’m hoping for a lot less incidents and even more good racing.
-What’s your opinion on re-removing safety cars from the league?
As someone that was adamantly against turning the safety car on, I think this is the right decision. The reality is this is digital racing, not real life racing. The safety car exists in real life for one reason, the safety of competitors and marshals on track. Not to re-bunch the field or add an element of randomness. Since we don’t have the safety concern, there’s just no need for a safety car. No safety car makes strategy more important and rewards consistency over raw pace. If drivers in the league want to bunch the pack to artificially create more wheel to wheel racing, I understand that, but I don’t think safety cars are the way to do it. A reverse grid sprint would accomplish the same thing more effectively.
-Did any team member’s performance in the first race concern you?
Not at all. It’s hard to be concerned about the team when you put 4 cars in the top 6, while no other super constructor had more than 2 cars in the points. All four of my guys had podium pace and drove strong races.
-The next race is at Paul Ricard. Any thoughts or predictions on how your team will do next week?
I think 4 in the top 6 will be hard to replicate, but I like our chances at a podium finish and at least 3 drivers in the points. While France fits my team’s skill set better than Jeddah, I think the field will make fewer errors this week, leading to a slightly reduced points haul.
Steady Jmtitan10 Leads Teams to Decent Finish in Jeddah
-What is your opinion on how the first race went?
I think the racing was sloppy and the safety cars were miserable, but I saw some really great racing at times.
-What’s your opinion on re-removing safety cars from the league?
I think it’s the right decision to foster clean and competitive racing moving forward.
-Did any team member’s performance in the first race concern you?
No, I was actually quite encouraged. HAL and SSPoTs showed great pace and I’m excited to see how the season pans out.
-The next race is at Paul Ricard. Any thoughts or predictions on how your team will do next week?
I think with the larger runoff areas, we’ll be less at the mercy of the walls and other cars, so I think the natural pace of our guys will be unleashed and we’ll hopefully get some good results and solid points.
Double Points for Juzzzyb’s Teams Gives Hope for Future
-What is your opinion on how the first race went?
The first race overall went pretty well. We lost a driver from each team, but the both teams still managed points, so pretty happy for our first outing of the season.
-What’s your opinion on re-removing safety cars from the league?
It’s definitely needed. have four restarts on ice cold tires and spending more than half the race in a driver parade wasn’t my idea of fun racing.
-Did any team member’s performance in the first race concern you?
No concerns on my end. Jeddah can be an unforgiving track at the best of times. Add in new cars and there was always going to be some DNFs, I’m just surprised it wasn’t me.
-The next race is at Paul Ricard. Any thoughts or predictions on how your team will do next week?
We haven’t begun our rigorous training camp yet, so no predictions at this stage.
Lebowski’s Teams Do Well in Debut Race
-What is your opinion on how the first race went?
I think everyone was off put by the amount of safety cars in the race. But I think the paddock spent more time complaining about safety cars than practicing to race cleanly. If there are too many safety cars it is because too many people keep crashing and hitting each other.. So that being said, I think the first race went well with everything considered. But I do think that the quality of racing was very poor for most of the race.
-What’s your opinion on re-removing safety cars from the league?
It’s going to have to happen since zero people said “you know what, I’m gonna not make stupid decisions and rear end cars” or “I’m not gonna win the race with this move, might as well back out.” Everyone seems to think they’re Max Verstappen.
-Did any team member’s performance in the first race concern you?
Nope. But I was concerned to see HAL get absolutely mugged from the lead while every driver on the way down pushed him out of their way. Didn’t seem like respect for other drivers went very far in any direction.
-The next race is at Paul Ricard. Any thoughts or predictions on how your team will do next week?
I think Aston Martin and Alpine will do well at Paul Ricard. But I do think with the removal of safety cars, high speeds, and the wide open spaces we are going to see people complain about spinning out or making small contact that puts them far away from the rest of the field making them spend the rest of the race lapping solo at the bottom of the leaderboard.
