Wow. Three Merc engines in Q3, but no Merc cars. Hamilton outqualified by three ex-teammates, plus his current teammate.
And he's been shouted at by Toto, I'd love to have heard that.
Five different teams in P1 to P5. Magnussen in P4 with Alonso, Ricciardo, and Perez behind. Sprint race first lap should be good.
I had a feeling that Hamilton might hand back the keys to the Merc mid-season if things weren't going well. I'm now wondering if he'll last that long.
I had a feeling that Hamilton might hand back the keys to the Merc mid-season if things weren’t going well. I’m now wondering if he’ll last that long.
I doubt Hamilton would walk mid-season. Would not be surprised to see Vettel end his career like Hill though. Having them both walk would make for great TV.
It must be tricky as a 7 x champ to rock up each week only to find the car going backward down the Grid.
From what Russell was saying, it needs about 40* laps for the tyres to warm up, hence they aren't competitive in qualy or the sprint.
* not 40 but er, lots.
Ooh that's like the Nurburgring in the 60s.
So now the Merc suddenly looks competitive and the McLarens inept.
So now the Merc suddenly looks competitive
Omg I hope so!
Top trolling by Merc! 😆
i guess we shall see if it rains on sunday
I wish they would shitcan these sprints.
Basically a get out of jail free card for anyone in a top car that messes up in quali e.g Perez and sainz
Well, the silver lining is that the Williams is so uncompetitive that Latifi couldn't even be bothered trying hard enough to crash and ruin it for everyone else.
Haas and Mclaren sitting in the top 10 with both cars. Not convinced that Merc will make inroads in the race tomorrow given their performance today unless there are retirements.
The Haas performance was interesting. Medium obviously wasn’t working for Magnussen but Schumacher was actually closing both him and Alonso down. Good drive there
Well that was a fun race.. it felt like we saw more shots of the slower Mercedes today than the Verstappen's red bull. Great race for Yuki, Russell and glad Vettel got some points.
Kind of wondering what is going on with Ham. He was pretty much beaten by everybody this weekend.
This maybe Hamilton's first season in F1 where he wont have won a race. Its a pretty impressive run considering the teams and cars he has driven. I thought they were running two different cars to try and solve their problems but that might just be the setups.
I might revise my prediction that Hamilton will bow out mid-season.
He's conceded that the Championship is out of reach, but I can't see him quitting; he as he said:
"I will still keep working as hard as I can and pull it back together somehow.”
I just don't think he's the primadonna you seem convinced he is.
He is still 7th in the championship. Not where he wants to be, and they obv cocked his car up this weekend, but Russell suggests that more can be had.
Think Hamilton knows this season is going to be hard, it'll take a big leap in their car performance to get him back up, but can't see him being too upset if the team are working hard on progressing it.
Would make him more of a driver in my mind if he did this, the big thing that Schumacher did was be the key driver in the rebuild and reemergence of Ferrari, if Hamilton could do the same with Mercedes, it would show him as more than just a great driver who was with the best team.
It's not a question of being a Prima Donna.
(a) what has he got to prove (though Argee has a point about Scumacher)?
(b) there is another generation of drivers coming up - Verstappen, Lecerc and, in particular, Russell. Ruling out a championship this year means he's yet another year older.
I wouldn't write Mercedes off too quickly. Obviously, they aren't going to challenge for the championship this year but they are still in a much better place than Red Bull, McLaren, and Ferrari at their worst. Merc have a decent engine but can't figure out how to access the downforce on track that their wind tunnel shows is possible, plus they have state of the art facilities. Red Bull and Ferrari had years of uncompetitive engines that made it impossible to be competitive. McLaren had the worst engine, lousy management, and outdated facilities that left with with an aerodynamically uncompetitive car. It would be unsurprising if Merc showed a huge improvement from mid-season, it would also be unsurprising if they decided to write off this year and focus everything on next year. Hamilton will know what's going on and I can't see him just quitting mid-season.
I would read the Hamilton / Russel performance as:
We need manufacturers points so lets send Russel out in a less compromised car and get something in the top half of the points.
Hamilton can't win the championship but has masses of experience so lets try out every possible combination on his car and see what he can make of the shitshow. If we find something that works or improves, he is most likely to spot it and will give best feedback.
Basically use the second driver to get the safe points with an okay car that cannot win. Use the experienced guy who isn't interested in anything but the win to develop the car even if it means he gets no points.
At least, that is how I would do it if I was Toto
(a) he's a racing driver, I think getting out of bed for these guys is a competitive sport
(b) These days I don't think age has much to do with it really, Federer is in his 40's Valverde - 41 very nearly won Fleche Wallone last week, Alonso's in his 40's, Greg Minnaar is 40 this year, Hamilton's 'only' 37 His still a baby
Merc will want every constructors point going because that’s where the money is. I bet their budget assumes the prize money for 1st or 2nd in the constructors championship
Brilliant drive from Max and Checo
Great overtake from Max in the sprint race,
Looking to be a great season ahead,
Fancy Max to retain his Title if the Car is reliable.
This certainly adds another layer to the "is Hamilton the best driver ever?" discussion.
I'm a Hamilton fan and he's a great driver but he's being outperformed by his relatively inexperienced team mate.
For most of his career he's had a car capable of contesting for the title and for several of those seasons he's had a car certain to win the title. Sure, he's returned seven championships and won a record number of races (although they race a lot more now than they used to) but the best ever? No way.
Russell is used to extracting the maximum from a shite car but Hamilton is mainly used to winning with the best car.
He was outscored by Button over 3 seasons at McLaren, don't forget, as well as beaten to the title by Rosberg.
If Vettel or Alonso had stepped into the Mercedes in 2014 maybe we'd be lauding them as the "best ever" by now.
The truth is - it's mostly the car. Sure, the best drivers earn the right to drive the best cars but it's the car that wins.
I don't think Hamilton's heart is in this season.
IMO the only reason he carried on is he felt wronged by the way last season ended. And I bet there were loads of promises from Merc about how great this years car would be.
If he'd won his 8th championship last year he wouldn't even be here.
Its in the media, Hamiltons car is being used to trial setups, Russell's is a bit more standardised. I'm not sure why Lewis would agree to that TBH.
We've seen Lewis being affect by mood before, remember how shit he became when splitting up with Scherzinger, then suddenly rose again after he put it all behind him. We also know that Drivers favour how a car drives and often the cars are built around the drivers to suit their style, and Lewis has admitted he does. not like driving this car.
But mostly this:
I don’t think Hamilton’s heart is in this season.
IMO the only reason he carried on is he felt wronged by the way last season ended. And I bet there were loads of promises from Merc about how great this years car would be.
If he’d won his 8th championship last year he wouldn’t even be here.
Fancy Max to retain his Title if the Car is reliable
Retain? I'd suggest, win it without having a ribbon tied around it .......?
certainly adds another layer to the “is Hamilton the best driver ever?” discussion.
he is without doubt the greatest. I don’t think one season will make any difference to that. I also don’t think it’ll be as easy for Max to win the DC as some posters on here seem to think
Hamilton’s ‘only’ 37 His still a baby
I approve of this statement.
Tom Howard - aged 37.
it’ll be as easy for Max to win the DC as some posters on here seem to think
I'd say he's had the DC in his pocket for a few years. Or do you mean the driver's championship rather than Crazy Dave in his tighty whiteys. #Ochaythenoomoth......
Retain? I’d suggest, win it without having a ribbon tied around it …….?
There’s a whole F1 2021 thread for that discussion. For this one having the #1 on the car = champion
I think that LeClerc learned a big lesson this weekend, making him possibly an even better prospect for the championship. I’m not seeing Ferrari running away with it though, especially as the RB is apparently dieting as I type this
I think that LeClerc learned a big lesson this weekend, making him possibly an even better prospect for the championship.
A lesson he should have learned years ago - he's prone to binning it when the pressure is on.
I'm not sure you can write off Hamilton, or start questioning his ability 4 races into the season.
In Australia, George Russell was lucky with the safety car to jump him & finish ahead.
Yesterday he got hampered on the pit exit by Ocon and then 2 cars got past (Gasly & Albon, I think). He couldn't overtake them, as they were in a DRS train & taking a risk off the dry line would probably be race ending.
I was surprised he didn't cut through the field a bit more effectively, but given his form for doing just that, I would assume it has more to do with the car than Hamilton's ability.
Ferraris starting to show the odd crack? Second DNF for Sainz, although this one was very unlucky compared to a mistake in the last race.
And LeClerc choosing that odd strategy near the end & then very lucky not to damage his car more significantly when he hooned it over that chicane! Hopefully the wake-up call that playing the long game will probably be more effective.
A lesson he should have learned years ago – he’s prone to binning it when the pressure is on.
With a 45 point gap (or whatever it was after the sprint, 43?) the only pressure was what he’d put on himself
I don’t think Hamilton’s heart is in this season
I agree, and after last year's shit show it's not hard to see why. It'll be interesting to see if he he's able to pick himself up again- if the car was more competitive then that would certainly help.
The comparison with Russell is a good one- he's never had it so good, so his enthusaism is carrying him up the grid. It's great to see, actually
For most of his career he’s had a car capable of contesting for the title and for several of those seasons he’s had a car certain to win the title. Sure, he’s returned seven championships and won a record number of races (although they race a lot more now than they used to) but the best ever? No way.
So are you saying that whoever it is you think is the "best ever" only won in crap cars?
For most of his career he’s had a car capable of contesting for the title...
And why's that, do you think? 🙂