Enough Said!! :tup:

His must have lasted longer except for his gloves. Think I heard them say he had 4 layers of fire gear on. With only minor burnt hands it is freaking amazing.

HAMILTON TESTS POSITIVE FOR COVID-19 AND WILL MISS SAKHIR GP

https://the-race.com/formula-1/hamil...iss-sakhir-gp/

I wish him all the best and a speedy recovery. But, it's great news for the remaining races! At least it'll be more fun to watch. Can't wait.

:eek::eek::eek::eek:

Crazy for sure!

I'd say Max and Bottas have the highest percentage to take Lewis' spot, but with the way races have been going lately, it could be anybody making up the next podium. :driving:

Just in!!!!

Mazipin confirmed for Haas.
Probably Vandoorne for Mercedes.

The way that the pit lane was congested during the stoppage on Sunday, expect more positive tests before the end of the season though.

:rofl2::rofl2:

And he'll probably win!

well Mercedes is in talks with Williams about Russell, now that would be interesting...

Looking back, hasn't this been a good year of racing?

There's been more excitement and better racing even if we had the usual suspects on the podium often.

Russell gets chance of a lifetime!
https://www.formula1.com/en/latest/a...7RZzdzmxs.html

This is going to be interesting. :tup:

its going to be very interesting..... and I hope a very exciting race weekend
Now what are the feeling/odds who the winner will be...

I would like Russel / Max

I'm not counting out Pérez or either of the two McLaren drivers. It should be a good race.

That said it is going to be interesting to see how George competes with Botas. George has much to prove!

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Extreme high speed track, and high 20 degrees (C) / sunny in the forecast - the race will be won and lost on tires. That would have been Hamilton by a pit stop, but with him out of the equation most of the remaining top echelon drivers are all about equal in that regard. So whichever team figures out the best tire strategy and gets the aero just right to avoid driving off too much rubber, will take home the hardware.

And Bottas has a lot to lose - in more ways than one! Verstappen only 12 points behind in the standings, plus cannot be shown less capable than Russell.

:iagree: This race will be a battle between Bottas and Verstappen. The rest will battle for that 3rd spot. :tup:

It should be between the two three ranked drivers and it will depend on who can manage their tires the best. The pressure is squarely on Bottas's shoulders. He needs to get in front and stay in front because he sucks at overtaking other cars!

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Bottas does alright when he gets the undercut. But sometimes the team seems preoccupied with Lewis' strategy and forgets to throw Bottas a bone!

Meanwhile he has terrible luck for a car with two "7"s on the hood. Debris, punctures, and contact damage have really plagued him. Not an excuse for some of the worst starts on the grid, but he could make up for those in that car, in most races. Well, races with only one standing start, that is!

I don't think he is a bad driver and I agree he has had more than his fair share of bad luck the past two seasons. He is also the number two drive and that means you get leftover especially when you are behind the number one in F1. I do empathize some on that account but he doesn't make things easy on himself. He can't manage his tires well enough even when he leading a race and is given honors in the pits. He has shown a lack being able to pass when behind even when there is nothing wrong with his car. It cracks me up because the commentators say that Mercedes is not good in traffic and only good in clean air. Really! Why does Hamilton not have that same issue.

Next year will be Bottas's last at MB and I hope he drives well enough to last the season and be able to get a seat with another team.

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Tire management on the W11 is a bit hard to tell when your only comparable data point is Lewis Hamilton! But yes, there's more than just bad luck that has put him this far behind his team mate.

I think that he, along with a few other drivers on the grid, are still stuck with a style that favours rotation instead of short corners and straight line speed. This despite being a student of Rob Wilson. Might be the rally driver in him! But it's not great on tires. Lewis makes lots of small mistakes in a race, but his style favours the car. Or he's able to adapt.

Leclerc is one who can really adapt to his ride. Look where he is in the points - managing to eek out results from a car that is by all accounts un-driveable and underpowered this year. It's astounding that he's running in 6th, but only 4 points behind Ricciardo in 4th.

Charles is the real deal and we saw that in the cheater car and we see it now in the penalized one. He has skills and need to continue to grow and learn. If Ferrari can put him in a car that is competitive he would force Max and Hamilton to elevate their games.

I can't wait for next year. I am hopeful that at least more racing for podium positions even if Hamilton wins 90% of the races. Vettel will be one to watch because the Racing Points cars are fast and will be better next year. The other team that should be competitive is McClaren because they will also be running an MB motor. Renault is a wildcard and could be competitive as they seem to be on the right path with their motor. Hopefully RB and Honda come to some agreement or it's back to the drawing board for them in 2021.

I am really enjoying this thread now that we have something to talk about. I am and always have been a Hamilton fan but like everyone I want the field to be competitive and see the best drivers showing us they are the best despite the car they are driving.

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What was going on in his head.

Russell to Toto, after being explained how to use the functions on the Mercedes steering wheel: "which switch de-rates Bottas' engine?".

OK, maybe not. But you never know!

So wild! Amazes me how the mind slows down and works through even the most dire situations.

:rofl2::rofl2: LOL - I needed that laugh!! Thanks.

The race will be interesting tomorrow. 87 fast laps!

Mercs still dominate no matter who's behind the wheel.

Hey Valteri! You can wipe off that salty sweat from your brows now.

:iagree: Today we will see for sure. I wouldn’t be surprised if Russel pulls it off if he gets a good start and stays in front.

I’m going to continue to put faith in Charlie to make podium today. Good luck to Russell and Danny Ric as well.

With that said, I wouldn’t be surprised by some form of a Bottas, Russell, Verstappen mix at the top when the checkered flag is waving.

Class act for Toto to offer one of their machines as a send off for Romain.

1) Perez
2) Ocon
3) Stroll
8) Russel 8th and fastest lap, but under review for wrong tires

MB pit stop blunder cost the race, under a safety car, caused by Russel's Willams teammate. They did a double stack pitstop and put the wrong tires on Russel, who then came back in and put the correct tires on.
When Bottas was in the right front tired changer saw the problem and Bottas, had the hard tires put back on again, which is why he strugged....

Ive never seen a team mess with a driver as badly as Mercedes did today with Bottas. Left him out lap after lap while Russell was flying on new tires. Cost him 6 seconds. Then call for a stop as Bottas had cut the lead to Russell in half and set him off on used tires. Needless stop. Terrible strategy overall for Bottas.

Bottas did not help himself at the start but did not deserve to be left out as his pace fell off the cliff.

I want to revisit this statement because today's race prove its true. I love races when the usual suspects are not on the podium.

QUOTE
Originally Posted by Zoren 370 View Post
Yeah I agree but Hamilton made F1 boring as far as Im concerned. He is less loved compared to Shumi.

I disagree, but it was the same with Schumacher, It is a different time with a different team
Schumacher won 5 straight championships from 2000-2005. I was in a fantasy league one year and was like 5th, because I always pick Schumacher

Had MB, not made the pit stop mistake, the results would have been the same. MB is a very strong team.

Question is could another driver do what Russell did today in the same car?

Mercedes out-Ferraris Ferrari!
What a ballsup.

George drove the race of his life today, and should be damn proud of what he accomplished.

Yes, the goal is to win and be the best in every race but it just goes to show that the technical dominance of MB, the people behind it, and the driving skill of HAM took the fun off F1 by effectively causing a 2-race Grand Prix every time they're out there. One between MB and RB where MB wins all the time, and a race between the rest. So much fun to see Gasly and Perez on the top this year. When there is only one race it becomes truly exciting. Russel was a beast let down by his team. Also, if you put driver 1 from each team in a W11, pretty much half the grid, they will do extremely well which goes back to claims made by the unfiltered sayer of truth, VER.

I forgot to add this....RB is 5h!t if they ignore Perez and sticks with Albon in '21.

It's a weird thing and I wouldn't want to jump to conclusions because I think it can wrongly discredit Russell and Hamilton...but clearly the W11 is something else. It took one of Mercedes' worst pit management episodes (in how long?) to keep them from a podium.

Been mostly checked out for the year. Largely because of this dominance, and also because my team is a love/hate thing. Rooting for LeClerc as he's coming up, and Vettel because I think dude's starting to get undeservingly pinned as a has-been. Ferrari came up way short for both of them.

Leclerc is good but right now he's Lecrash, like VER 2 yrs ago when he was Crashtappen. Too eager, impatient, and treats his F1000 like scud a missile.

This, exaclty.
Was thinking the same yesterday.
Hopefully Leclerc matures as Verstappen seems to have.