The Official Formula One Thread!

[texasmade]

It’s Mercedes McLaren. They haven’t been Honda McLaren for like 4 years now.

[Speedbird-1]

Originally Posted by texasmade

There was a crash on the last lap!?

Vettel and Raikkonen.

[BobMartian]

Did Perez win driver of the day?

[BB114]

Lando Norris was voted driver of the day

[Rashid.bk]

I'M rather surprised at all this Russell praise and many are digging themselves into a corner. If he does come to MB and Lewis beats him, people will say it's team orders, it's in Lewis' contract that Russell lose.....
People are already making excuses on why Lewis could be beating him, while isn't it possible that Lewis, a seven time world champion might actually be better than him.
You know that could be possible, and more than that, a reality.

We saw Bottas catch and pass Lewis because he was faster, period. Who ever drives the car better will win, simple as that.
When Lewis was winning, people say, it's just the car....now Max is in a competitive machine, no one says, well it's just the car. All we hear is how good he drives.....
These cars don't drive themselves. MB seems to be facing some power and aero issues and even with that to consider Lewis and Bottas are squeezing every second out of it.

Gotta give them credit, Max too, it's not just the car.

[texasmade]

Originally Posted by Rashid.bk

I'M rather surprised at all this Russell praise and many are digging themselves into a corner. If he does come to MB and Lewis beats him, people will say it's team orders, it's in Lewis' contract that Russell lose.....
People are already making excuses on why Lewis could be beating him, while isn't it possible that Lewis, a seven time world champion might actually be better than him.
You know that could be possible, and more than that, a reality.

We saw Bottas catch and pass Lewis because he was faster, period. Who ever drives the car better will win, simple as that.
When Lewis was winning, people say, it's just the car....now Max is in a competitive machine, no one says, well it's just the car. All we hear is how good he drives.....
These cars don't drive themselves. MB seems to be facing some power and aero issues and even with that to consider Lewis and Bottas are squeezing every second out of it.

Gotta give them credit, Max too, it's not just the car.

I posted this either on Omegaforums or maybe here. I don't remember but it's basically like this:

Max wins- look how talented he is!
Max loses- it's the car. Just wait until he gets a competitive car.

Lewis wins- he only won because of the car
Lewis loses- see I told you he was overrated!

[Mifune]

Originally Posted by texasmade

It’s Mercedes McLaren. They haven’t been Honda McLaren for like 4 years now.

dont you mean Renault...

[texasmade]

Originally Posted by Mifune

dont you mean Renault...

They switched to Mercedes this year. McLaren no longer uses Renault.

[77T]

Three penalties after the race:
RAI, LAT, MAZ.




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[BobMartian]

it was a great race. amazing

[sillo]

Originally Posted by Rashid.bk

I'M rather surprised at all this Russell praise and many are digging themselves into a corner. If he does come to MB and Lewis beats him, people will say it's team orders, it's in Lewis' contract that Russell lose.....
People are already making excuses on why Lewis could be beating him, while isn't it possible that Lewis, a seven time world champion might actually be better than him.
You know that could be possible, and more than that, a reality.

We saw Bottas catch and pass Lewis because he was faster, period. Who ever drives the car better will win, simple as that.
When Lewis was winning, people say, it's just the car....now Max is in a competitive machine, no one says, well it's just the car. All we hear is how good he drives.....
These cars don't drive themselves. MB seems to be facing some power and aero issues and even with that to consider Lewis and Bottas are squeezing every second out of it.

Gotta give them credit, Max too, it's not just the car.

Those same people forget Senna won in THE most dominant car in F1 history.

[77T]

Senna raced to championships better than peers also driving those same chassis. It was his talent that endures.

https://www.espn.com/f1/story/_/id/2...-f1-cars-years


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[SDGT3]

Originally Posted by Rashid.bk

I'M rather surprised at all this Russell praise and many are digging themselves into a corner. If he does come to MB and Lewis beats him, people will say it's team orders, it's in Lewis' contract that Russell lose.....
People are already making excuses on why Lewis could be beating him, while isn't it possible that Lewis, a seven time world champion might actually be better than him.
You know that could be possible, and more than that, a reality.

We saw Bottas catch and pass Lewis because he was faster, period. Who ever drives the car better will win, simple as that.
When Lewis was winning, people say, it's just the car....now Max is in a competitive machine, no one says, well it's just the car. All we hear is how good he drives.....
These cars don't drive themselves. MB seems to be facing some power and aero issues and even with that to consider Lewis and Bottas are squeezing every second out of it.

Gotta give them credit, Max too, it's not just the car.

Bottas passed Lewis yesterday because Lewis had floor damage. Bottas is a great qualifier, but not a racer.

Lewis is a very gifted driver and better than Rosberg and Button, most of the time and Bottas all of the time. But he's had a car that has been 1.7 sec. per lap faster than anyone else's car.... until this year. Hamilton doesn't do any testing, simulator work or even track walks because he knows his car has been so fast he doesn't need to put in the work. The RBR is difficult to drive as we've seen from Max's former teammates and even a veteran like Sergio Perez, but Max is one of those once in a generation talents that can extract an extra .5 per lap out of a car, similar to what Alonso did in his prime. All of a sudden Lewis has to work for a win and it's just not coming because he really hasn't raced anyone in many years. The number of mistakes Lewis is making in both qualifying and the race are indicative of a driver who is under pressure and he's simply not used to it.

My comment on Russell is based on the 2.5 years he's been bringing up the Williams further than it deserves and the 1 opportunity he had a Bahrain last season when Lewis got Covid and Russell jumped in his car for the first time. Not only did Russell not fit in the car, he had to wear 1 size smaller boots to fit in the foot well for the pedals, he was pushing and switching the wrong buttons during qualifying and still was just under .1 from what Bottas qualified.

In the race, Russell pulled away from Bottas quite easily and after the first pitstop was pushing the wrong buttons and switches on the steering wheel as well and still managed to keep ahead of Bottas until the fiasco with the wrong tires being mounted on his car and the extra pit stop along with the puncture late in the race. So basically, Russell qualified just as well as Lewis and raced Bottas just as well as Lewis typically does in a car he'd never driven before. For all the above mentioned reasons, I believe Russell will give Lewis trouble next year (not saying he's going to beat Lewis), but if allowed to race, then it's a 50/50 chance of beating Lewis.... in a car that will be new to everyone on grid with the new formula.

[Rashid.bk]

Originally Posted by SDGT3

Bottas passed Lewis yesterday because Lewis had floor damage. Bottas is a great qualifier, but not a racer.

Lewis is a very gifted driver and better than Rosberg and Button, most of the time and Bottas all of the time. But he's had a car that has been 1.7 sec. per lap faster than anyone else's car.... until this year. Hamilton doesn't do any testing, simulator work or even track walks because he knows his car has been so fast he doesn't need to put in the work. The RBR is difficult to drive as we've seen from Max's former teammates and even a veteran like Sergio Perez, but Max is one of those once in a generation talents that can extract an extra .5 per lap out of a car, similar to what Alonso did in his prime. All of a sudden Lewis has to work for a win and it's just not coming because he really hasn't raced anyone in many years. The number of mistakes Lewis is making in both qualifying and the race are indicative of a driver who is under pressure and he's simply not used to it.

My comment on Russell is based on the 2.5 years he's been bringing up the Williams further than it deserves and the 1 opportunity he had a Bahrain last season when Lewis got Covid and Russell jumped in his car for the first time. Not only did Russell not fit in the car, he had to wear 1 size smaller boots to fit in the foot well for the pedals, he was pushing and switching the wrong buttons during qualifying and still was just under .1 from what Bottas qualified.

In the race, Russell pulled away from Bottas quite easily and after the first pitstop was pushing the wrong buttons and switches on the steering wheel as well and still managed to keep ahead of Bottas until the fiasco with the wrong tires being mounted on his car and the extra pit stop along with the puncture late in the race. So basically, Russell qualified just as well as Lewis and raced Bottas just as well as Lewis typically does in a car he'd never driven before. For all the above mentioned reasons, I believe Russell will give Lewis trouble next year (not saying he's going to beat Lewis), but if allowed to race, then it's a 50/50 chance of beating Lewis.... in a car that will be new to everyone on grid with the new formula.

I’m pretty sure I heard the commentators say Lewis has been in the simulator every weekend available, flying to HQ to do so. I think they also said each team is alotted but so many hours, Lewis either maxed out or is close to it for the whole season.
Russell did good during “one” race and now he’s a genius, next level!!
Ricciardo beat Verstappen many times in the same car, so has Bottas who we forget how many times MB f—ks him over during races he can win on, something Russell himself experienced.
Hell even Perez who’s damn good any day can’t keep up to Verstappen. If it’s just a question of talent and car, any F1 driver would do great except for Mazepin or Latifi sorry to say.

I don’t think Russell’s proven anything more than any other top driver has proven, and as for having to struggle to get where he is….I’m pretty confident in saying Lewis had harder struggles getting into F1, difference is Lewis was immediately competitive on the machines he drove. I agree Bottas isn’t the best racer but he’s consistently fast and the victim of the worst luck in F1.
Is Russell better or will be better than Lewis? Don’t think so, is MB purposely keeping him away because they somehow know he will mop the floor with Lewis and he’s the better driver and or because Lewis’ contract says he’s to win more than his teammate? Come on, if you really believe all that then you should also believe that F1 management have neutered the MB behind closed doors, just like they did Ferrari couple years ago for last years “improvements”. Conspiracy theories don’t win championships nor do they make champions, being a good driver in a good car with a good team who makes good decisions does.
Verstappen is proven that right now.

Seems everyone hates a winner and no matter how good Lewis is or successful, people will make an excuse, while Senna was a genius, MS, the best!! They name any driver except Lewis, which is bizzarro world considering he’s superseded just about every record. No champion before him won using a back marker car and no team sport athlete in any discipline wins because they under dog their way through. Lebron, MJ, Brady, etc all with the best team, equipment and they find themselves in that position because they have proven objective talent.
Mazepin would not win seven championships neither at MB nor RB, neither does he deserve the opportunity based on his performance.
Max has built(rebuilt) RB from the ground up putting in hard work weathering difficult years, but everyone wants Russell to just step into arguably the best team and car just because of his pretty smile, nope.
Leclerc and Norris are busting ass coming through the ranks, Russell to me has much to prove. But we’ll see what MB does.

[BobMartian]

I’m a fan and enjoy watching Lewis. He’s ok, he doesn’t need anyone to defend him.

[Rashid.bk]

I forgot to respond to Lewis feeling the pressure, which I agree with. However, it doesn’t make him a bad driver nor does it mean he’s finally been broken, Lewis has had some good fights over the years and he still has drive in him. He is making mistakes, and the pressure may be on but as the stats show with Bottas as well, the car is not great this year and that’s fine. F1 is made to generate the best driver, car, decision making team package and that will be the winning formula.
I’m enjoying the competition, and this will bring out the best in Lewis. Max may be heading to win this year but next year will bring the most exciting championship we’ve seen in F1 in over a decade.

[Rashid.bk]

Originally Posted by BobMartian

I’m a fan and enjoy watching Lewis. He’s ok, he doesn’t need anyone to defend him.

I concur, he’s an upper echelon proven athlete. Us keyboard critics aren’t even a gnat mark on his visor of a consideration in in his universe.
I’ma fan of his racing for sure but not so much his off track views, happy F1 clamped down on rules for uniforms and interviews.
But I’m sort of happy to see Max developing as well, he’s showing a huge progress in maturity and race craft. He’s legit driving the crap out of the car, and he’s doing it fair and square without crashing people off, or racing dirty(think of Mark Márquez when he came to MotoGP). He’s winning me over this year with his attitude, focus and on track maturity. He’s even improved his interviewing presence. Someone’s done work on him preparing him for this year and it shows.

Whatever happened this last year, the racing has been good for many teams. I’m glued to the screen every race now.

[SDGT3]

Originally Posted by Rashid.bk

I’m pretty sure I heard the commentators say Lewis has been in the simulator every weekend available, flying to HQ to do so. I think they also said each team is alotted but so many hours, Lewis either maxed out or is close to it for the whole season.
Russell did good during “one” race and now he’s a genius, next level!!
Ricciardo beat Verstappen many times in the same car, so has Bottas who we forget how many times MB f—ks him over during races he can win on, something Russell himself experienced.
Hell even Perez who’s damn good any day can’t keep up to Verstappen. If it’s just a question of talent and car, any F1 driver would do great except for Mazepin or Latifi sorry to say.

I don’t think Russell’s proven anything more than any other top driver has proven, and as for having to struggle to get where he is….I’m pretty confident in saying Lewis had harder struggles getting into F1, difference is Lewis was immediately competitive on the machines he drove. I agree Bottas isn’t the best racer but he’s consistently fast and the victim of the worst luck in F1.
Is Russell better or will be better than Lewis? Don’t think so, is MB purposely keeping him away because they somehow know he will mop the floor with Lewis and he’s the better driver and or because Lewis’ contract says he’s to win more than his teammate? Come on, if you really believe all that then you should also believe that F1 management have neutered the MB behind closed doors, just like they did Ferrari couple years ago for last years “improvements”. Conspiracy theories don’t win championships nor do they make champions, being a good driver in a good car with a good team who makes good decisions does.
Verstappen is proven that right now.

Seems everyone hates a winner and no matter how good Lewis is or successful, people will make an excuse, while Senna was a genius, MS, the best!! They name any driver except Lewis, which is bizzarro world considering he’s superseded just about every record. No champion before him won using a back marker car and no team sport athlete in any discipline wins because they under dog their way through. Lebron, MJ, Brady, etc all with the best team, equipment and they find themselves in that position because they have proven objective talent.
Mazepin would not win seven championships neither at MB nor RB, neither does he deserve the opportunity based on his performance.
Max has built(rebuilt) RB from the ground up putting in hard work weathering difficult years, but everyone wants Russell to just step into arguably the best team and car just because of his pretty smile, nope.
Leclerc and Norris are busting ass coming through the ranks, Russell to me has much to prove. But we’ll see what MB does.

Lewis does about 20 laps a year TOTAL in a simulator... that's it!! This year he's spent more time in the sim and only after the 2nd race of the year because he can't just rely on the sheer dominance of the Mercedes against the red bull. Besides the statistics of the Merc being the most dominant of car in F1 history, this just proves he didn't have to try in that car and his natural ability served him well except for 2016 when Rosberg beat him.

Source: https://www.planetf1.com/news/lewis-...imulator-work/

As it relates to Bottas, I agree that he's been the most unlucky driver I've ever seen in F1. It's amazing the stuff that happens to him and conversely how lucky Lewis has been, especially this year. Prime example at Imola when LH beached the car, yet Bottas gets in a crash with Russell and brings out a safety car followed by a red flag session. Not only did Bottas have a DNF (no fault of his own), but Lewis was able to unlap himself (red flag rules), and get a pitstop when everyone else was in for a red flag. Were it not for Bottas crash with Russell, LH would not have finished in the points, as it was, he finished P2.

I think you're underestimating George Russell. In the junior categories he was considered to be one of the top drivers as compared to his contemporaries including Norris, LeClerc and Albon. There's a reason Mercedes signed him to be their academy driver. He also has never lost to a teammate in qualifying 3 years running and his results in the race are much better finishes than any teammates he has had. For God's sake, he was racing a 2 time World Champion in Fernando Alonso for the last point IN A WILLIAMS and held Alonso off for almost 15 laps. I'm not saying Russell will soundly beat Lewis and Lewis will have a wealth of experience on Russell, but Lewis is making a lot of mistakes and is on the way down where the ceiling for Russell is very high. The fact he matched what Lewis usually does in a one off where he didn't even fit in the car coupled with what he's been able to do in a Williams over 3 years is enough to convince me he will give Lewis everything he can handle, thus my 50/50 prediction of who will come out on top should Toto give him a chance in the Merc next year.

I never said anything about contracts or that Russell would mop the floor with Lewis so don't know where that came from. Perhaps you interpreted the comment of "If Russel is allowed to race Lewis" as such.... If history is our guide, most #1 drivers have certain agreements within the team that they are to be supported by the #2 driver... Lest we forget, "Felipe, Fernando is faster than you" as well as Bottas asked to move over for Lewis and so on. It's just the way it is and has been in F1 for decades.

As far as everyone hates a winner, it depends on which side you root for. Senna, Schumacher, Vettel, Hamilton all have their detractors. As it relates to Lewis, the critics that hold the most weight are those of current & former F1 drivers even professional racers in other series. Verstappen as well as others are on record as saying that they could win in the Mercedes. And here's a quote from Tony Kaanan:

“What you gonna say, the guy [Hamilton] raced two cars last year and finished second.”

He was of course referring to Mercedes’ dominance of F1 last year and how Hamilton only had his teammate Nico Rosberg to race against.

[enjoythemusic]

Reminds me of the Schumacher and Barrichello days.

We need more rain races imho. Senna in the rain... Michael in the rain...

[dba]

Originally Posted by SDGT3

Besides the statistics of the Merc being the most dominant of car in F1 history, this just proves he didn't have to try in that car and his natural ability served him well except for 2016 when Rosberg beat him.

Scratch the race in Spain where Nico took them both out while dicking around with the buttons on his steering wheel, Lewis wins the championship save for the DNF in Malaysia. Records show Rosberg was 2016 champion, but he didn't beat Lewis.

[BobMartian]

Originally Posted by dba

Records show Rosberg was 2016 champion, but he didn't beat Lewis.

that’s a fact

[77T]

Originally Posted by dba

Scratch the race in Spain where Nico took them both out while dicking around with the buttons on his steering wheel, Lewis wins the championship save for the DNF in Malaysia. Records show Rosberg was 2016 champion, but he didn't beat Lewis.

Unsure what you mean? The raw number of wins by each?

There’s a good wiki season report - each of them won races against each other in the 2016 DC.

There were idiotic antics due to team letting them race each other.

As for Malaysia - to finish first, first you have to finish.


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[dba]

[QUOTE=77T;11561775
As for Malaysia - to finish first, first you have to finish. [/QUOTE]

Lewis didn't have to win. All he needed was engine from Mercedes that didn't explode.

[joli160]

What I like most from this thrilling season is that Honda started with RBR only in 2019 and see how far they have come. Serious contender for the championship against all the big historical names. What an achievement that is.

Reminds me of how GS beat the competition in the Neuchatel Chronometer contest back in the day. Veni Vidi Vici

[1st amg]

Originally Posted by enjoythemusic

Reminds me of the Schumacher and Barrichello days.

We need more rain races imho. Senna in the rain... Michael in the rain...

Some of the best years in F1 for me......Hakkinen, Irvine, Coulthard, Villeneuve, Fisichella, Hill, Frentzen, Alesi, Trulli, Salo etc .....the list goes on. 1990's and early 2000's. Some great battles.

[yoast]

Originally Posted by 1st amg

some of the best years in f1 for me......hakkinen, irvine, coulthard, villeneuve, fisichella, hill, frentzen, alesi, trulli, salo etc .....the list goes on. 1990's and early 2000's. Some great battles.

+1

[huncho]

Originally Posted by 1st amg

Some of the best years in F1 for me......Hakkinen, Irvine, Coulthard, Villeneuve, Fisichella, Hill, Frentzen, Alesi, Trulli, Salo etc .....the list goes on. 1990's and early 2000's. Some great battles.

i think the 90s was the golden age. late 80s/early 90s just had insane talent. i think that's also when the cars peaked in terms of looks and sound

[Rashid.bk]

Originally Posted by dba

Scratch the race in Spain where Nico took them both out while dicking around with the buttons on his steering wheel, Lewis wins the championship save for the DNF in Malaysia. Records show Rosberg was 2016 champion, but he didn't beat Lewis.

[Sleepy996]

We are now entering the Max and Lando era of F1.

[77T]

I get the nostalgia for last century F1 competition. A lot different than today’s circus.

I do have a recommendation if you want interesting racing a’la late 20th Century F1…try Formula 2. You’ll need the ESPN App and stream at the oddest hours (they get the schedule slots at the track which F1 doesn’t want).

F2 is the crucible for the next wave of F1 drivers and you’ll see much more spirited diving than you see today on the main stage.

I’d also suggest F3/F4 but you would need beaucoup patience with those youngsters. Finding the streams is difficult.

The FR/Americas and F4 race here in US so time zones are easier on your sleep pattern They are part of a TransAm/SVRA weekend in most cases.

When I see them live it’s a wonderful mind experiment:
who is the next ”__________”?

But they make such rookie mistakes that it’d frustrate most motorsports viewers. Ergo patience…


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