F1 2019 (spoilers obviously)

I think Hamilton has some decent grounds for being a drama queen about tyres…

Ah, I hadn’t seen any pictures.

Fair point

Those look like inters, not mediums. He was on mediums yesterday I think, so either wow that’s impressive or umm that’s the wrong photo.

Edit: And that’s a Maclaren so ignore what I was saying.

Thats when he put it into the gravel in the pit lane at Shanghai. I believe Rich was just illustrating why Hamilton might be very, very careful on dodgy tyres

every Lewis win is either the hardest of his life or the best of his career – getting bored with everything he says post race now – its like its got to be some mega thing on how “he” has won it every bloody race.

can we please have Kimi in that seat next year 😉

Lewis being a drama queen (if that’s an allowed expression) about tyres was a bit of a bore but he’s done it before and no doubt will again.

Well, he’s the one driving a go kart at the very edge and at amazing speeds between two metal barriers having to make split milli second decisions for 2 hours, I suspect the last thing he wants when putting his own safety and ambition on the line is to look out the front and see his tyres wearing thin.

Also to address the post raise comments; not only is he full of adrenaline he looked tired   These guys are fit as ****, experienced at this level of effort yet mentally and physically having to deal with the above whilst being cm’s away from a chasing bull in a china shop must be a very difficult mental challenge.   I remember seeing mansell practically pass out after one of the races, after he won with comments like blurred vision and loss of feeling in his forearms due to a vibration.

Less we forget this is not a 30mph cruise control effort to Homebase on a Sunday.

As Kryton said, plus the vastly increased use of team radio these days might also be showing us the whinges that always used to happen BITD.

I mean, can you imagine Mansell NOT whinging about tyres? The man is a born racer, no doubt, but he’s also a Brummie so… 😉

The Monaco gp where he chased down Senna was one where he had to be lifted from the car IIRC. Not sure if he made the podium as he was in the med centre.

When you’ve won so many races, it must be difficult to find something new and interesting to say at the post-race press conference, particularly when the race itself is a snooze fest (not that yesterday’s race was especially dull…)

No win situation. Either he says nothing and is accused of having ‘no personally’ (whatever that means) or he tries to explain how he feels, and people moan about that as well.

No win situation. Either he says nothing and is accused of having ‘no personally’ (whatever that means) or he tries to explain how he feels, and people moan about that as well.

Same with post-race cycling interviews. The riders are knackered, they’ve got a long transfer ahead of them, they just want some food and a lie-down and they’ve got the same half-dozen versions of the same questions being put to them every day.
You can pretty much make your own interview answers:
Yes, I had good legs today / today I did not have good legs
The team is very strong and helped me immensely / the team is suffering a bit and I was on my own for a while…

It’s literally just copy / paste answers.
Tyres, team strategy, some basics about the track coupled with a few adjectives – super-tough, challenging, fun, awesome; select your adjective from this helpful list.

Escrs, I do like that video

All that stuff about tyres was a bluff. They were **** but he knows you cant overtake round that track…

Just a thought, had either of the trio behind Hamilton not pitted during the safety car period could they have built up enough of a gap to pit and emerge in front while Hamilton was lapping up to 3 seconds slower than the ultimate pace whilst protecting his medium tires?

don’t think so, Hamilton’s softs we’re gone and was going to be pitting pretty soon anyway so you would have cars queuing behind you and the safty car on fresh rubber and a compressed pack so no space to come out into when you need to pit in 5 laps time. You could end up out of the points altogether.

I think one of the considerations in giving LH the mediums was that he pitted first and didn’t know what tyres the others would fit. If the others had fitted mediums, then Merc were worried that he would be vulnerable at the restart if he was on hards. I assume that similar considerations would have applied about not pitting. Yes, they would have track position, but they’d have LH right behind them on fresh tyres. They wouldn’t have known at that point what tyres Merc were going to fit, so they had no way of knowing that LH would have to nurse his tyres. Not pitting would then have pretty much been throwing away a free pitstop

Gasley went to lap 27 on the same C5 compound and Grosjean to lap 50.
Hindsight aside regarding the medium tires needing treated with kid gloves, I’m not entirely convinced that someone, probably Verstappen, could have stayed out and made a charge in clean air over the next 10 to 15 laps and built up the required 20/22 seconds for a pit stop.

Haas have removed the Whyte logo for Canada link

Confirmed with a very considered and humble statement “We have asked our partners, HaasF1Team, to remove the stag element from the car this weekend. Whilst we own the stag trademarks and registrations worldwide Inc Canada we don’t want any media circus for the team whilst we contest this baseless case with Whyte Bikes and win,”

baseless

mfw

Mercedes new engine seems to be working well – nearly a second clear of the rest of the field. Eeek!

TOP trolling by Romain there.

Honestly, not even Nelson Piquet would’ve had the balls to do that.

Mercedes new engine seems to be working well

well apart from the low fuel pressure causing a miss-fire on Bottas’s car

I bet that Charles Leclerk is properly fired up after Monaco. He’s always been a fantastic ambassador for the sport, but at Monaco he was driving with a point to prove to the team and in doing so he didn’t just blow his own race. Let’s not forget that he’s in his second season in F1 and has only a handful of races with a top team. That’s something you’d have expected from Gilles Villeneuve at the height of his career with a reputation to fall back on.

Canada is a power track – while the Mercs seem depressingly quick, there’s definitely a redemptive podium for Leclerk in the offering. I’d like to see him finish well.

Urgh. I see finger boy is back ☝🏻

I’m hoping it’ll make for a more exciting race, but please, anyone bar him for the win.

Vettel will bottle it as usual or Ferrari will destroy both their drivers races with questionable strategy

Urgh. I see finger boy is back

Yes but, Lewis seems bizarrely happy and smug.  I have a feeling they think its a one lap wonder and the race distance will undo the Ferrari – on the grand an unlikely event that rocket dog is wrong…

Worthy of a 5 second penalty?

Dunno.

I’m no Vettel fan but that’s a tad harsh for me, fighting the car coming off the grass.

They needed something to spice it up ..geez why not let the racing be done on the track.
The stewards look like a few plums at the moment and its not racing anymore

I wonder if Hamilton will slow down to more than 5s at the end? Its a no lose situation at the moment

or does seb crash into hamilton to make a point

Vettel up to something in the pit lane.

I’m no Vettel fan but that was harsh.

Vettel fuming lol. Listening on 5live and he’s storming round everywhere- he changed the 1st & 2nd signs over on the cars !

I think Vettel had more control of the car than he is being credited for, I think it is quite clear he rejoins on the inside line them moves across to block Hamilton. IMO would have preferred it if he had to give the place up and then see if he could regain it before the end.

Vettel is a man baby who always throws tantrums, on and off the track, he has got away with far to much over the years.

all smiles on the podium

Another Vettel mistake under pressure at the end of the day.

Is Vettel sponsored by Sick? Because that is the kind of tantrum I associate with the them.
Another race where pressure gets to him.

great pr for liberty. I wonder what charlie would’ve done
Says it all when even the competitors feel robbed

looked like he did an extra swerve to the right too

hope he gets an extra fine for the temper tantrums and childish podium obligations

shame leclerc didn’t quite get enough of a hurry up near the end to get within 5s