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Out of his depth in F2, let alone F1, should never have been given a super license really. There's moving up struggles and having an iffy car, but spins in every race so far, repeatedly getting in the way of other drivers... just all smacks of being lost at sea with no hope of turning it around, and that's before we get in to sexual harassment issues... Sooner he's dropped the better
EDIT- And if there’s a video of that happening to one woman, do people truly believe it was a one-off incident?
He had form for sending sleazy texts to a motor racing journalist too, I believe.
The problem is that Haas is bankrolled by Mazepin snr, so the likelihood of jnr being benched is low, unless he's deemed to be a sufficient hazard that his super-license is revoked.
Sooner he’s dropped the better
His dad is keeping Haas on the grid, so that money is giving Schumacher a chance to get established. That's the bit that makes it worth tolerating him. Seeing him humiliated is a bonus.
Schumacher was also brought up by a hugely wealthy dad and had all the doors opened for him, but he knows that he has to earn his place on the grid
I think the difference with Schu jr is that his name carries some expectation with it, so despite all the money and contacts he has probably had a lot of pressure to perform, Massivespin was effectively bankrolled to have a play in a racing car (still is?) and so he hasn't had the same pressure to perform. TBF all the same accusations could be levelled at Stroll Jr but he's actually come a long way since his early races.
LeClerc not hiding his feelings
It does irk me that someone like Mazepin can have a seat bought for him to inevitably face the wrong way in every other weekend, while drivers like Emma Kimileinen, Jamie Chadwick and Alice Powell will probably never get the chance to drive an F1 car competitively.
TBF all the same accusations could be levelled at Stroll Jr but he’s actually come a long way since his early races
Stroll appears to have become a decent midfield runner. More to the point is the lack of off-track accusations...
Stroll also did have a reasonable history of results behind him (compared to Mazepin at least) didn’t he?
I find Stroll difficult to like, but he deserves respect for being a decent driver. Mazepin seems totally unlikeable and has not earned any respect on track of off track.
It does irk me that someone like Mazepin can have a seat bought for him to inevitably face the wrong way in every other weekend, while drivers like Emma Kimileinen, Jamie Chadwick and Alice Powell will probably never get the chance to drive an F1 car competitively.
Absolutely!
Stroll appears to have become a decent midfield runner
He is benefiting from dad's upgrades, something Vettal's quickly discovering!
Räikkönen also voicing is opinion, in a very different way, in FP2? Not sure he would’ve so readily done that to many other drivers
Hadn’t seen this before, just to further fuel the track limits arguement
https://youtube.com/shorts/zb_2CqV7G2A?feature=share
Not sure that clip fuels any argument. The Alpine was still behind exiting the corner and completed the overtake on track at next one. Max completely his overtake by running wide and maintaining speed.
Not sure that clip fuels any argument.
I don't think the Verstappen fans care. It's like arguing with a Trump supporter, their guy didn't win so the other guy must have cheated.
The main thing is that the first overtake happened on lap 20 - which I think was before Red Bull had a moan to race direction about cars going all four wheels off track there, despite the drivers being told that there were no track limits being policed at that corner in the pre-event briefing.
The race directors then decided that track limits were now being enforced there (because Red Bull had a moan, I suspect) this was evidenced by a message to Hamilton telling him to stop running wide there, he responded to the effect of "but they told us it was fine" to be told "yup, we know, but the rules have changed", so he stopped going wide there.
Verstappen then overtook him with all four wheels off of the track at the exact spot where they'd been specifically told not to - in fact the exact spot that Red Bull had complained about Hamilton doing exactly that.
Skip onto Imola where track limits didn't need to be enforced, as the design of the track itself does quite a good job of enforcing them(!) and Hamilton got very lucky with the red flag for Bottas/Russell negating his off, allowing him to finish second (mentioned by Horner after Portimao)
Followed by Portimao, where track limits were being enforced more strictly (I think it was "all four wheels onto the green painted bits" and you were considered offtrack anywhere) and Verstappen ran off track twice at critical points, causing him to miss out on pole and lose his fastest lap.
Horner's Imola comments are obfuscation, as Hamilton was massively lucky, the rest of the complaint is proper sour grapes, as Red Bull have been tripped up three times by their star driver not being able to keep his driving within the defined bounds of the track - bounds which they themselves pushed for tighter regulation of, as they believed it would give them an advantage!
While track limits is a ballache, and should be policed consistently all the time, Red Bull can get in the sea about this, as they've fallen victim to it actually being consistent!
Rant Over.
I think summed up earlier by someone saying careful what you wish for.
Love watching Horner have a moan 🤣
That was me too! 😀
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MrPottatoHead
Free MemberNot sure that clip fuels any argument. The Alpine was still behind exiting the corner and completed the overtake on track at next one. Max completely his overtake by running wide and maintaining speed.
But to go back to some earlier comments - if that was grass/gravel he probably couldn’t have got the job done. FWIW, not a Verstappen fan, just think the FIA are making a right arse of this
FWIW, not a Verstappen fan, just think the FIA are making a right arse of this
They were, but since they changed their minds after lap 20 of the first race they've been consistent. They need to ignore Red Bull's whinging and keep being consistent going forwards. They probably won't, because the FiA are just as bad a UEFA/FIFA when it comes down to it.
They need to ignore Red Bull’s whinging and keep being consistent going forwards. They probably won’t, because the FiA are just as bad a UEFA/FIFA when it comes down to it.
absolutely, an injection of backbone is required
Interesting interview from Tsunoda
Alpha Tauri's Yuki Tsunoda, who starts 16th on the grid, to Sky Sports: "The tyre temperature was spot-on but the car is really slow compared to the other car. I don't know why it's slow, I think most of the cars is slower than me.
"The performance in this car is a concern - but it's always different compare to my team-mate. The character of the car is different to my team-mate, I don't know why I am struggling."
Surely Mazepin deserves a grid penalty for this.
https://twitter.com/ChrisMedlandF1/status/1391037271810392065
Tsunoda basically inferring that his car was different and/or slower than Gasly's will not impress anyone either at Red Bull or Honda.
Mazepin should've aborted his lap and let Norris through, but of course didn't.
In better news the new commentator, who's name I have forgotten, is sounding less and less like an overenthusiastic local radio DJ as time goes on, big improvement on Bahrain.
and the stewards have given Mazepin.....
...a three place grid penalty...
even though he qualified last....
Jesus wept, his Dad isn’t funding the FIA as well is he?
Carlos Reuterman is in a bad way in hospital. Not covid, some stomach problems
Reutemann story here:
https://www.motorsport.com/f1/news/carlos-reutemann-hospital-intensive-care/6505265/
Diagnosed with liver cancer a few years back, has been very sick since then, now has intestinal bleeding. Does not sound good.
In better news the new commentator, who’s name I have forgotten, is sounding less and less like an overenthusiastic local radio DJ as time goes on, big improvement on Bahrain.
He still pronounces "maintain" as two words tho
Yeah I agree he’s got way better. Pleased to have DC as second man too, rather than Billy Monger. Bahrain was awful.
(Mercedes trackside engineering director) Andrew Shovlin was just saying that if you put all his pole laps together in a video it would last two hours. And that just shows what he has achieved.
seems bottas is not expecting to get a contract extension
Bottas will be polishing his cv tonight. That was appalling
the merc is a beast in the hands of hamilton
un ****ing believable!!!!
Wow Hamilton classy aggressive and classy work.
Too good, his lap delta consistency is remorseless!
Mercedes need to move Bottas on - if he want to be treated like a winner he needs to drive like one. He can't do stroppy blocks on Lewis if he's nowhere near the same pace.
That is a strategy you can only consider if you have total faith in your driver.
I think Bottas just lost any chance of keeping a seat at a top team.
Red Bull team boss Christian Horner, speaking to Sky Sports: "I don't think we could [have done anything differently]. In fairness, hats off to Mercedes and Lewis.
"They were just quicker than we were today. We were surprised they didn't go for the early undercut. [At the end] We knew he was probably going to catch us.
"They just looked like they had a quicker car today. They were able to follow so closely. They had nothing to lose when taking that pit stop into the clean air."
the law of unintended consequences.... rule changes to help high rake cars narrow the gap has made the merc a racing car par excellence.
This seems to be the only saving grace of the new aerodynamic rules from a Mercedes perspective. RedBull et al may not have lost as much performance, but it does seem to have allowed other cars to follow more closely without turbulence, which would make sense given the high rake and the floor cutouts.
the law of unintended consequences…. rule changes to help high rake cars narrow the gap has made the merc a racing car par excellence.
The rule that everyone initially said was going to affect high rake cars more remember