Bob Varsha
@bobvarsha
Followers
24K
Following
6K
Media
193
Statuses
15K
Joined March 2011
As they should be. It's a matter between an employer and employee(s). No one else's business at all.
Red Bull has consistently looked terrible throughout this with zero transparency. Multiple team partners, the FIA and F1 requested the investigation report and were denied by Red Bull.
25
11
212
We started commentating remotely on certain F1 races for ESPN around 1993, working from the studios in Bristol CT. Soon we were doing the whole season. It's been common in sports for decades. NASCAR has built a production facility in Concord NC for IMSA, so Cup makes sense.
@bobvarsha did you experience calling #F1 from a remote location back with ESPN? How about you opinion of NBC wanting to do the same with Nascar?
12
3
42
No argument here. It's just not relevant.
@brianshall @bobvarsha There is no reason to pretend Abu Dhabi 2021 was anything but shameful to the entire sport, not just Formula 1 but auto racing. It was! I will happily stand by that. It's already my published stance. Doesn't mean I don't think Max is good or whatever you're projecting here.
4
0
24
Disagree. The HAM Merc had won 5/6 previous titles and 63 of 138 races. It shouldn't have gone to the last race. The faster driver doesn't always win. Lewis was that driver then, but not now, which is my point. And one lap pace is an entirely different thing than racing.
@bobvarsha Not the point at all. There is a whole season of evidence suggesting that the two were evenly matched on race pace in comparable cars. Where are you drawing half a second of pace from? What about Leclerc, who has shown better one-lap pace than either in usually worse cars?
0
0
21
I get it: you're a Lewis fan. But the exception doesn't make the rule. Abu 2021 was a complete dog's breakfast, as Hobbs would say, and there were more factors in play on that occasion than mere speed: the mandatory protocol wasn't followed; Lewis could have pitted, too, etc.
@bobvarsha Then what about the season where Lewis Hamilton beat him straight-up for a championship until a rule was made up on the spot on the literal last lap of the season?
7
1
47
I said what I said, with maximum respect to Lewis.
@bobvarsha On Esteban Ocon, sure. On Lewis Hamilton?
2
0
15
In a well-run organization people don't get fired because they tried something that didn't work. I credit the McLaren team leadership for keeping things calm and letting people do their jobs. Unlike, say, Alpine.
@bobvarsha The turnaround was also one of the most impressive. I’m curious how their team culture enabled it to turnaround so quickly. Did they sack the top folks and reset? Or did they keep the folks, lesrn fron mistakes, and move on?
1
1
22
Stop that livery designer before he strikes again!
6
3
20
Jos appears to be laboring under the delusion that his opinion matters.
@bobvarsha What is Jos’s beef with Horner? That they are winning too much?!?!
29
15
240
I would argue that gap isn't entirely down to the car, but to the driver. Max alone is worth around at least a half-second a lap, I reckon, like Fangio, Clark and Senna.
Bad cars can’t be made better quickly in the current generation of F1. If they could, we wouldn’t be seeing RBR winning races by the margin of nearly a second a lap over the entire race, three years into the current rules. In decades past you’d see convergence amongst the teams
12
3
88
Terrible ones disappeared in preQ or didn't get even that far, such as the Life and the EuroBruns. Coloni, AGS and Osella did better. I rooted for the Life and its interesting W-12 engine. I never understood why Walter Brun's cars were so bad, as his team did okay in endurance.
@bobvarsha Speaking of terrible cars @bobvarsha as you were there for the pre-qualifying era any memories of some of those truly terrible cars (ie Life, Andrea Moda, EuroBrun)
1
1
9
Damn right they will.
Amid the tensions at Red Bull, Max Verstappen’s faith in the team will inevitably be questioned. 🗣️ here’s what Mercedes boss Toto Wolff said when asked if signing Verstappen as Hamilton’s 2025 replacement was suddenly a possibility:
2
1
24
Who said that? And if your point was actually that a bad car can be made much better very quickly, I agree.
@BB2448885 @bobvarsha I actually stand by my statement. We were TOLD it was the worst car ever. Obviously, perception ≠ reality.
3
0
7
Last season's McLaren is FAR from the worst car in F1 history. I don't who would have said that if they have any understanding of said history.
@bobvarsha It was just a year ago that we were told that this was the worst car in the history of #F1. That was no longer the case by the time we reached Austria and Silverstone.
15
6
73
Of course there is!! This was just the first of 24 races. There will be lots of changes to lots of cars before you know it. It's difficult to overstate the resiliency and commitment of these organizations.
@bobvarsha is there any hope for Mercedes this season in F1? Is there reason to believe that the PU cooling issues took enough pace away to be relevant against Red Bull?
5
2
30
Probably the 1991 Italian GP at Monza, featuring all the big hitters of the day: Senna, Prost, Mansell, Piquet, Berger, Patrese, Boutsen and so on, plus the hot new kid who made a controversial jump just the week before from Jordan to Benetton, Michael Schumacher.
@bobvarsha I’ve always wanted to ask you when you were commentating what was your favorite race after all those seasons of F1 on ESPN with David Hobbs and John Bisignano?
8
6
102
They do look oddly familiar. 😉
1
1
29
Reminds me of Mario Andretti's comment to the press regarding his Lotus 79 (paraphrasing): "Keep telling the rest that I have the best car. It gives me an edge going in."
After qualifying yesterday, Russell said Verstappen would have a 0.5s advantage today: MV: “Half a second?!” GR: “Is that too small?” MV: “No, I think it’s way too big. But if you say that now then it is better tomorrow.” Currently tracking at 0.8s #F1 #BahrainGP
1
5
39
Teams are never ready to turn their back on the chance to score points. The stakes are too high. This year's story is yet to be written, but it will hopefully be closer.
@bobvarsha Quali seems rather close. With red bull’s domination last season did most teams start this year’s car early? Should we expect much closer battles?
2
0
13
TUNE IN - #F1 Radio #BahrainGP With @bobvarsha & the SCB team - and @chrismedlandF1 on site in Bahrain🎙️. SATURDAY RACE DAY 9 AM ET Pre-race 10 AM ET Race (BBC feed) 12 PM ET Post-race 📻ESPN XTRA ch 81 on @SIRIUSXM 📷Studio stream on YouTube/FB https://t.co/rFL4kODwds
0
1
3