HossC

The F1 season finally got under way this weekend. This year's cars are quite different from last year in a effort to make close following and overtaking more easy.

After pre-season testing, it looked like Red Bull had made the most of the new regulations, with Ferrari close behind and Mercedes off the pace. However, in yesterday's qualifying, Ferrari took first and third with Red Bull in second and fourth. Aiming for a damage limitation race, Mercedes were fifth and ninth.

In today's race, Ferrari's Charles Leclerc led from the start, but Red Bull's Max Verstappen briefly swapped places with him several times after the first pit stops. Carlos Sainz in the second Ferrari maintained third place for most of the race with the second Red Bull of Sergio Perez and the lead Mercedes of Lewis Hamilton behind. George Russell in the second Mercedes improved from ninth to sixth. These places were looking pretty static until Pierre Gasly's Alpha Tauri pulled to the side of the track, bringing out a safety car with 13 laps to go. Charles Leclerc nailed the restart while Max Verstappen began to complain about issues with his car. With three laps to go, Max Verstappen had to retire, and his team mate Sergio Perez also retired at the start of the last lap. That gave Ferrari a 1-2 finish in the opening race with Mercedes gaining an unlikely third and fourth. Kevin Magnussen, who only found out that he was racing a few days ago when Haas sacked Russian driver Nikita Mazepin, finished an impressive fifth. F1's first Chinese driver, Guanyu Zhou, scored a point for finishing tenth on his debut.

Ferrari now head to next week's Saudi Arabia Grand Prix with a maximum of 44 points, with Mercedes on 27 and Red Bull on zero. Mercedes think they have a fast car once they can iron out a few issues, and both Haas and Alfa Romeo seem much more competitive than last year. Apart from Mercedes, other teams playing catch-up this year are McLaren and Aston Martin.

I can't embed the video, but you can see the highlights here.

I went to see our St Patrick's parade at lunchtime. It was a smaller affair than usual as the relatively recent lifting of restrictions didn't leave much time for organizing things. Nonetheless, we had a lovely day with blue skies (unlike some other parts of the country). After that, I got to go on the temporary Ferris wheel set up near the castle. We went back after getting something to eat, thinking either the wheel or the vintage carousel might be fun at night, but in the end we just took some pictures. Maybe tomorrow...

I went to see our St Patrick's parade at lunchtime. It was a smaller affair than usual as the relatively recent lifting of restrictions didn't leave much time for organizing things. Nonetheless, we had a lovely day with blue skies (unlike some other parts of the country). After that, I got to go on the temporary Ferris wheel set up near the castle. We went back after getting something to eat, thinking either the wheel or the vintage carousel might be fun at night, but in the end we just took some pictures. Maybe tomorrow...

This and many other international titles for the show can be found here.

This and many other international titles for the show can be found here.

This and many other international titles for the show can be found here.

This and many other international titles for the show can be found here.

leaves
Now you're speaking my language!

Fixed it for you. 

You shouldn't have been looking!

Shoes
There's also a castle design known as motte and bailey, but I think moat was the intended word.

You shouldn't have been looking!

If you have to cut/paste again, there should be an option to 'Paste as plain text instead' at the bottom of the reply window immediately after you paste the text. Click this and it should remove all text formatting (color font etc.).

Several members including myself have had trouble logging in since the last software upgrade. The issue should be fixed now, but you may have to clear your browser cache and login again.

Fixed it for you. 

You shouldn't have been looking!

The place where I filled up on Saturday is now charging €2.09.9/litre ($8.66/gallon) - I nearly had a heart attack when i saw the sign!

The place where I filled up on Saturday is now charging €2.09.9/litre ($8.66/gallon) - I nearly had a heart attack when i saw the sign!

That's about what I paid a couple of weeks ago to get my car through its annual roadworthyness test. In my case I needed rear shocks and a few other bits and pieces - the price includes the cost of the test. I still may need to replace the sensor that reads the key fob. I've gone to my spare key, and it's behaving better at the moment.

I hope it's not too expensive or there'll be something broke behind the wheel as well!

Or as I've heard over here - "It's better to be looking at it than looking for it".

It certainly sounds like it's time to change.
Did you get a smartphone, Roger? With your needs, a rugged, waterproof dumb phone might fit the bill better. Having said that, you can't check HazzardNet on a dumb phone!

Our fuel seems to have gone up about 5% in the last week. I filled up on Saturday at €1.88.9/litre, which comes out at almost $7.80/gallon. There were reports on the radio of a gas station somewhere in Ireland charging €2/litre ($8.25/gallon). How are you guys doing?

It always used to appear that NASCAR teams had unlimited tires. Have they recently started limiting them or has that always been the case? F1 teams often have to put on used (or scrubbed) tires, but they've probably only done a few laps, and even the softest compound normally lasts at least 1/3 race distance.

Yesterday, Haas decided to sack Nikita Mazepin and sever ties with his father's company which was their title sponsor. F1 has not only cancelled this year's Russian Grand Prix, but also the contract for future races which were due to move from Sochi to St Petersburg in 2023.

Yesterday, Haas decided to sack Nikita Mazepin and sever ties with his father's company which was their title sponsor. F1 has not only cancelled this year's Russian Grand Prix, but also the contract for future races which were due to move from Sochi to St Petersburg in 2023.