Jump to content
  • Join us — it's free!

    We are the premiere internet community for New York Rangers news and fan discussion. Don't wait — join the forum today!

IGNORED

F1 2020 Resumes with Austria Race


4EverRangerFrank

Recommended Posts

Imagine qualifying for a moment if it turns out RUS P1 and BOT P2... :eek:

 

Would not be surprised if this happens. Bottas' confidence is shot this year. I've always known him to be a mentally fragile driver (by F1 standards) and being destroyed by Hamilton has proven that. It's embarrassing for him that he's driving the best car on the grid and even with Hamilton out for 2 races, he still can't take the championship.

 

Having said that, realistically I expect Russell to qualify around P3/P4.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

  • Replies 172
  • Created
  • Last Reply

Top Posters In This Topic

Thanks for sharing! I couldn't be more happier for Mick to be promoted to F1. He definitely deserves it, but now I hope he comes back to earth and focuses on the big job at hand which is winning the F2 championship. We saw last weekend how quickly a title lead can get erased even if you don't DNF, but have a messy race.
Link to comment
Share on other sites

This weekend has been fantastic so far - really enjoying the added drama of Russell vs. Bottas and the new circuit.

 

Incredible lap from Russell today, just missing out on P1 by .02 seconds but securing the front row lockout by .03 seconds. These margins are so close.

 

Also, honorable mention to Leclerc who continues to drive the shit out of his car and massively out-perform his pouty teammate.

 

Finally, Albon stinks - his performance, his attitude. Get him outta here.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Solid performance by Russell and exceeded my expectations by far. I was expecting him to end up P4 or P5 even. I think he can give Bottas a good run for his money tomorrow. Just goes to show what a beast of a car that Mercedes is though.

 

As for Ferrari, well it's been well rumored since Austria that Leclerc and Vettel don't have the same parts/upgrades. In any case, I will concede the fact that Leclerc has been able to get more out of this dog shit of a Ferrari than Vettel and seems to suit his style more. And let's not forget that Leclerc was fortunate enough to receive a tow from Vettel in order to get into Q3. I haven't seen Vettel pouting at all. In fact, I have to give him massive credit for being so pragmatic all year and smiling in all his interviews despite being in this shitty situation. You put Hamilton in that team and in that dog shit Ferrari and then you would see what real pouting actually means.

 

Yeah I'm not sure what's going on with Albon. He's so inconsistent. I'm just shocked Red Bull are not considering putting Perez in the car for 2021. Standpoint performances for me in qualifying, other than Russell, were him and Kyvat.

 

In other news, Schumacher had a remarkable recovery drive from 18th to finish 6th and the fastest lap, thereby preventing Ilott from decreasing his lead which stays at 14 points. Considering the championship pressure on his shoulders, he made some incredibly brave passes throughout the race, managed his tires well on both stints and drove maturely. Hoping he has a clean race tomorrow (he only needs to finish 6th to guarantee the title).

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Mick Schumacher signs off his F2 career with sealing the championship before his move to F1. Not one of his better races after an early massive lockup destroyed his tire. But I like the fighting attitude I see from the kid. Right from the start he was making moves and attempting to move up, rather than remain passive like Ilott who ultimately didn't do a whole lot and slipped out of the points.
Link to comment
Share on other sites

SHU solidified his credentials by winning the F2 championship and that should shut down any talk of him getting promoted to F1 'because of his father.' That a bogus claim.

 

I have not watched today's race yet since my son is working but we plan on catching the DVR later. RUS did a magnificent job and I was hoping he'd take pole - man what a performance! Sparks the convo about skill v. car or is it both? There is a ratio in there somewhere but a strong argument can be made that superior equipment helps. In my limited motorcycle racing experience, I took a friends bike out for a track loop - his was a higher HP model with a tweaked suspension - I was able to do things unimaginable on my bike and made me realize that I had to work so hard just to keep up. In endurance racing that's not good.

 

LEC absolutely deserves a beer for P4. Hoping he stands on the podium along with VER and RUS...in that order. :D

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Wow, Mercedes completely botched Russell and Bottas race with that disastrous stop. Robbed us of a good fight between Russell and Bottas for the win. And then unfortunately Russell gets a puncture, further robbing us of a battle for the lead with Perez. Well deserved and long overdue victory for Perez though, very well done. Especially after Leclerc makes an amateurish move at the start to spin Perez and basically end Verstappen's race.

 

Ultimately though, Russell stepped into that car and made it look easy from the beginning of the weekend. Coupled with how passive/vanilla Bottas is, it's no surprise how easily Hamilton continues to pad those stats.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

What a great race. This season has really delivered and this Sakhir GP did not disappoint. I hope they have more races on this track in the future. Maybe 2022 this circuit will be quite good with less aero advantages (ideally).

 

Anyway, re: the race:

  • Fucking absolutely gutted for Russell. He was in control the entire race and then it was just taken away from him - twice! I don't know if he would have been able to pass Perez with ~10 laps to go (he was gaining, but we've seen cars come close and be unable to pass due to aero before), but hearing he had a puncture put my heart in my stomach. What a drive though.
  • On the other hand, Perez winning was a nice consolation - especially after last weekend's disaster. He's really driving well and hopefully this win closes the book on him joining Red Bull next season. Albon needs to go.
  • Bottas had horrendous luck, but his equally horrendous starts off P1 on the grid continue to plague him. I don't know what it is with him, but he just doesn't appear to have enough talent to really succeed. Toto's comments post-race should be very concerning for Bottas - he said something along the lines of, "We need to talk with Valteri. He did not shine today."
  • What the fuck were Merc doing? Toto mentioned something of a radio failure (?) but I don't know how that leads to the mechanics fitting the wrong tires onto Russell's car. Reminiscent of Ricciardo in Monaco 2016.
  • Leclerc continues to drive like an idiot in races with ill advised moves to the inside. Really sucks for Verstappen, especially looking back in hindsight considering what transpired. Glad Perez didn't have his raced ruined by it.
  • I really wanted to see Sainz get that last spot on the podium. He got screwed by that non-VSC pit stop and got stuck behind a slow Bottas.
  • Good for Ocon I guess? I don't think there's a driver in the top-5 teams I care less about. Guy just doesn't move the needle for me at all.

 

Looking forward to Abu Dhabi. I wish Lewis nothing but the best, but I hope he still has sniffles on Monday/Tuesday lol

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Solid performance by Russell and exceeded my expectations by far. I was expecting him to end up P4 or P5 even. I think he can give Bottas a good run for his money tomorrow. Just goes to show what a beast of a car that Mercedes is though.

 

As for Ferrari, well it's been well rumored since Austria that Leclerc and Vettel don't have the same parts/upgrades. In any case, I will concede the fact that Leclerc has been able to get more out of this dog shit of a Ferrari than Vettel and seems to suit his style more. And let's not forget that Leclerc was fortunate enough to receive a tow from Vettel in order to get into Q3. I haven't seen Vettel pouting at all. In fact, I have to give him massive credit for being so pragmatic all year and smiling in all his interviews despite being in this shitty situation. You put Hamilton in that team and in that dog shit Ferrari and then you would see what real pouting actually means.

 

Yeah I'm not sure what's going on with Albon. He's so inconsistent. I'm just shocked Red Bull are not considering putting Perez in the car for 2021. Standpoint performances for me in qualifying, other than Russell, were him and Kyvat.

 

In other news, Schumacher had a remarkable recovery drive from 18th to finish 6th and the fastest lap, thereby preventing Ilott from decreasing his lead which stays at 14 points. Considering the championship pressure on his shoulders, he made some incredibly brave passes throughout the race, managed his tires well on both stints and drove maturely. Hoping he has a clean race tomorrow (he only needs to finish 6th to guarantee the title).

 

Maybe I'm a bit harsh on Vettel - but trust me it's out of nothing but respect for his career and talent. I don't think he's performing up to his own standards and looking at recent past drivers of his caliber who had to drive absolute shitboxes - i.e. Alonso - he's getting outclassed while also getting schooled by his teammate. Yes, there is talk of him and Leclerc having different upgrades but I genuinely don't believe they are different enough to account for the massive gap in results. I suppose we'll never know the truth there.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

What a great race. This season has really delivered and this Sakhir GP did not disappoint. I hope they have more races on this track in the future. Maybe 2022 this circuit will be quite good with less aero advantages (ideally).

 

Anyway, re: the race:

  • Fucking absolutely gutted for Russell. He was in control the entire race and then it was just taken away from him - twice! I don't know if he would have been able to pass Perez with ~10 laps to go (he was gaining, but we've seen cars come close and be unable to pass due to aero before), but hearing he had a puncture put my heart in my stomach. What a drive though.
  • On the other hand, Perez winning was a nice consolation - especially after last weekend's disaster. He's really driving well and hopefully this win closes the book on him joining Red Bull next season. Albon needs to go.
  • Bottas had horrendous luck, but his equally horrendous starts off P1 on the grid continue to plague him. I don't know what it is with him, but he just doesn't appear to have enough talent to really succeed. Toto's comments post-race should be very concerning for Bottas - he said something along the lines of, "We need to talk with Valteri. He did not shine today."
  • What the fuck were Merc doing? Toto mentioned something of a radio failure (?) but I don't know how that leads to the mechanics fitting the wrong tires onto Russell's car. Reminiscent of Ricciardo in Monaco 2016.
  • Leclerc continues to drive like an idiot in races with ill advised moves to the inside. Really sucks for Verstappen, especially looking back in hindsight considering what transpired. Glad Perez didn't have his raced ruined by it.
  • I really wanted to see Sainz get that last spot on the podium. He got screwed by that non-VSC pit stop and got stuck behind a slow Bottas.
  • Good for Ocon I guess? I don't think there's a driver in the top-5 teams I care less about. Guy just doesn't move the needle for me at all.

 

Looking forward to Abu Dhabi. I wish Lewis nothing but the best, but I hope he still has sniffles on Monday/Tuesday lol

 

I agree with all of your comments especially regarding Sainz. He's been driving so well this year and has been robbed of a solid result a few times now for no fault of his own. His championship standing is not reflective of his performance this year. I think he's going to give Leclerc a very strong run for his money next year.

 

I felt so bad for Russell as he was having a dream Mercedes debut but if there's one person I'd rather see win it's Perez. It's been a long time coming for him and surely this result will change Red Bull's mind. Albon was so average, less than even Gasly in that car I dare say. How can they possibly ignore Perez after this? If anything, it'll give Verstappen a bit more motivation and keep him sharp. Because the gap between Verstappen and Albon is too big right now.

 

I actually rated Ocon very high back in Force India but he has been underwhelming this year and I'm not sure why. Ricciardo has firmly outclassed him. But maybe this podium will be the confidence boost he needs going into the winter break. The true test for him will be how he does against Alonso. If Alonso outclasses him, I feel his career will be over because there's plenty of young drivers coming up in F2 that deserve that seat (e.g. Lundgaard).

 

As for Vettel, he definitely isn't driving to the same standard as his early Ferrari career (2015-2018) where he was going toe-to-toe with Hamilton and just looked like a much hungrier and sharper driver. He's also a very sensitive drive to the car's behaviour and I think it suits Leclerc's adaptive style more. Plus I think he's just mentally checked out at Ferrari. Lastly like I said I firmly believe Leclerc and Vettel haven't had the same machinery since the beginning of 2020 but you're right we'll never know for sure in the public domain.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Agree with everything said above by all. This season has delivered some good racing and fan excitement. This race added to that run of fun. RUS was amazing through qualifying and the race was looking to be a storybook in the making. Toto is going to kick some behind-the-scenes ass! Radio failure? IDK. I think the team was napping and the call to box both cars caught everyone. Why take the pit stop risk? Tires were right to finish the race and they had pace and time gaps to the rest of the field to just go to the end. Then the tire puncture - that?s the gremlin of F1. Ugh!

 

Glad for a safe race after watching last week?s spectacle. GRO released a video statement saying he?s done for the year. I get that. Had he been fighting for a championship maybe a different decision.

 

Yeah, I wish HAM good health but I really want to see RUS get another drive with MB this season.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

When LEC had that incident on the first lap I told my son that he came into the corner a bit too hot and the overtake was a risk that failed. He didn?t see it that way but the replay confirmed it. Could he have been given I little room into the apex? Ok. But everyone is looking for that same advantage. This gamble wasn?t smart.
Link to comment
Share on other sites

Agree with everything said above by all. This season has delivered some good racing and fan excitement. This race added to that run of fun. RUS was amazing through qualifying and the race was looking to be a storybook in the making. Toto is going to kick some behind-the-scenes ass! Radio failure? IDK. I think the team was napping and the call to box both cars caught everyone. Why take the pit stop risk? Tires were right to finish the race and they had pace and time gaps to the rest of the field to just go to the end. Then the tire puncture - that’s the gremlin of F1. Ugh!

 

Glad for a safe race after watching last week’s spectacle. GRO released a video statement saying he’s done for the year. I get that. Had he been fighting for a championship maybe a different decision.

 

Yeah, I wish HAM good health but I really want to see RUS get another drive with MB this season.

 

So Ted Kravitz explained it on The Notebook. Allegedly, the radio malfunction caused Russell's team to not hear the call for the pit stop, so the mechanics did not have tires for Russell. When Russell pulled in for the stop, they fitted Bottas's tires on the front. If you look at the pit stop again, Russell's rear tires actually make it out in time for the pit stop and presumably he got his own correct tires fitted on rear. But the front tire mechanics only had one set of tires (Bottas's) and fit Bottas's tires onto Russell's car.

 

Then when Bottas comes in, the front mechanics realize they have no tires to put on - excepting Russells mediums they just took off his car. And instead of putting Russell's old tires on, they put Bottas's tires back on the car - smartly, because doing the former would have led to Bottas needing to pit again as well. All the while, Bottas's front brakes are literally on fire.

 

As Toto said, "It was a colossal fuck up."

 

--

 

As for whether or not they needed to pit - again Ted provided Merc's explanation that it was a safety pit stop to ensure they win the race. At the time they were very comfortably ahead, but with the safety car and the field bunching up, I imagine the Merc strategists did not like their chances with the tire degradation for another 14 laps or so. This turned out to be the correct strategy move as we saw Bottas go backwards after the safety car restart.

 

I do wonder what happened with the tire degradation though. The mediums were lasting ~40 laps in the first stint for Mercedes and Stroll did almost 40 laps on softs! So what happened that made the hard tires essentially fall off a cliff after about 30 laps in the second stint? Was the track evolution that hard on the tires?

 

When LEC had that incident on the first lap I told my son that he came into the corner a bit too hot and the overtake was a risk that failed. He didn’t see it that way but the replay confirmed it. Could he have been given I little room into the apex? Ok. But everyone is looking for that same advantage. This gamble wasn’t smart.

 

Yeah, obviously it was Leclerc's fault for divebombing the inside and locking up. I get why he's very aggressive with those moves - the Ferrari race pace (or lack of) makes it so you have to take every position as early as possible because you're just going to go backwards as the field sorts out. He fucked up and admitted as much. He was seen apologizing to/congratulating Perez after the race (Ted's Notebook has the video) and Leclerc also earned a 3-place grid penalty for Abu Dhabi.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

So Ted Kravitz explained it on The Notebook. Allegedly, the radio malfunction caused Russell's team to not hear the call for the pit stop, so the mechanics did not have tires for Russell. When Russell pulled in for the stop, they fitted Bottas's tires on the front. If you look at the pit stop again, Russell's rear tires actually make it out in time for the pit stop and presumably he got his own correct tires fitted on rear. But the front tire mechanics only had one set of tires (Bottas's) and fit Bottas's tires onto Russell's car.

 

Then when Bottas comes in, the front mechanics realize they have no tires to put on - excepting Russells mediums they just took off his car. And instead of putting Russell's old tires on, they put Bottas's tires back on the car - smartly, because doing the former would have led to Bottas needing to pit again as well. All the while, Bottas's front brakes are literally on fire.

 

As Toto said, "It was a colossal fuck up."

 

--

 

As for whether or not they needed to pit - again Ted provided Merc's explanation that it was a safety pit stop to ensure they win the race. At the time they were very comfortably ahead, but with the safety car and the field bunching up, I imagine the Merc strategists did not like their chances with the tire degradation for another 14 laps or so. This turned out to be the correct strategy move as we saw Bottas go backwards after the safety car restart.

 

I do wonder what happened with the tire degradation though. The mediums were lasting ~40 laps in the first stint for Mercedes and Stroll did almost 40 laps on softs! So what happened that made the hard tires essentially fall off a cliff after about 30 laps in the second stint? Was the track evolution that hard on the tires?

 

 

 

Yeah, obviously it was Leclerc's fault for divebombing the inside and locking up. I get why he's very aggressive with those moves - the Ferrari race pace (or lack of) makes it so you have to take every position as early as possible because you're just going to go backwards as the field sorts out. He fucked up and admitted as much. He was seen apologizing to/congratulating Perez after the race (Ted's Notebook has the video) and Leclerc also earned a 3-place grid penalty for Abu Dhabi.

 

Good summary there except for one part. Mercedes actually did fit Russell's tires onto Bottas' car leading to a moment which I personally found rather hilarious. Once the tires were fitted and they were about to release the car, the front left jackman suddenly noticed the incorrect tire and started waving frantically leading to a few seconds (felt like an eternity) of complete chaos where people were scrambling around, gesturing to others, looking to the pitwall with their hands up...until they finally unbolted Russell's mediums and put Bottas used hards back on lol. Definitely brought back memories of Germany 2019 and Hamilton's pitstop.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Toto Wolff believes making Lewis Hamilton and George Russell Formula 1 team-mates could offer Mercedes a "wild ride" in the future following the latter's display in Bahrain on Sunday

 

https://t.co/JeHbAE6GiC

 

 

Is it possible that BOT gets a buyout and moves with VET to Aston next season? Lawrence Stroll might be under family pressure (i.e. wife) to get their son out of that car after seeing the GRO inferno. Moms have plenty of influence. *speculation*

Link to comment
Share on other sites

I think Wolff is just teasing us. Bottas is a good security blanket for Hamilton. Slow enough not to cause any stress to Hamilton (unlike Rosberg did, or Russell) would but decent enough to help them win the constructors championship.

It's telling that Perez won the race on hard tires that were 2 laps OLDER than Bottas, who was struggling and flopping all over the track on his tires.

 

Beautiful personal moment after the race. Sometimes as fans it's easy to get lost in the numbers, points, pitstops, penalties, mistakes etc. and forget about the human side of the impact that every race result has on the drivers and their families.

 

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Nikita Mazepin is in hot water for posting a video to his Instagram earlier (since deleted) of him groping a woman's chest while in a car driving with some friends. He's posted an extremely fake sounding apology and the woman herself posted saying they're friends and it's all good blah blah. But in this day an age, that's an extremely tone deaf and inappropriate thing to do. Surprised he only gets away Haas "not condoning" his actions. Unfortunately, Haas badly need the money and Mazepin's rich Daddy will ensure he stays with the team.

 

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Create an account or sign in to comment

You need to be a member in order to leave a comment

Create an account

Sign up for a new account in our community. It's easy!

Register a new account

Sign in

Already have an account? Sign in here.

Sign In Now



×
×
  • Create New...