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Thread: 2018 Russian Grandprix [SOCHI]
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2nd October 2018, 10:09 #21
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Personally I don't like a race win being decided by team orders, but this was a sensible decision from Merc. The team always comes first and securing the WDC is much more important than "fairness".
Funnily enough, before the race I was going to say that I would be very surprised if Merc handed out team orders to Bottas, but that I expected Hamilton to chase him and possibly overtake him on the track. Thankfully my unstable Internet connection saved me some embarrassment at the time.
- Likes: Duncan (5th October 2018),truefan72 (2nd October 2018)
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2nd October 2018, 11:19 #22The emergence of the new 'Rainmaster' - Mad Max at Interlagos 2016!
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2nd October 2018, 15:40 #23
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yup. The same media that is all up in arms about the fact that mercedes did the switch at Sochi and "robbed Bottas of a win" are the same ones that,on 2 different occasions, complained about Ferrari not being quick enough to switch the drivers, and on another occasion that Ferrari did not favor Vettel properly. Especially Sky Sports, who seem to be suffering some kind of short term memory loss with their commentary.
BTW, i'm pretty sure Hamilton would have challenged Bottas in the latter stages until the team would have told them to hold station...which would then incur more rancor and turmoil from the media folks who would ask, why they didn't switch the drivers, and why mercedes were telling the guy leading the championship to hold station behind his teammate and get into a potential tussle with his championship rival. SMHLast edited by truefan72; 2nd October 2018 at 15:44.
you can't argue with results.
- Likes: Duncan (5th October 2018)
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2nd October 2018, 17:33 #24
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#BanTeams
" Lady - I'm in an awful dilemma.
Moe - Yeah, I never cared much for these foreign cars either."
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3rd October 2018, 12:08 #25
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Did anyone catch the exchange with Hamilton and Putin? I couldn't quite make it out. I think Hamilton was asked not to spray champagne on Putin again, and he replied something to the effect that it wasn't him last time.
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3rd October 2018, 16:38 #26
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4th October 2018, 07:54 #27
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6th October 2018, 11:35 #28
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MB wouldn't have been stupid if they just let it go for Bottas to win.
It would've been good PR for MB had Bottas won because Hamilton isn't really under serious pressure from Vettel, the situation is the same in the wcc, everyone would've recognised it was an accurate reflection of performance for the weekend.
In a scenario where they could've deployed team orders, to not do so would make them look good in front of fans wanting to see a meaningful race. Because Hamilton isn't under serious pressure from Vettel, it also undermines his season because people can speculate where else Hamilton is being favoured.
Had Bottas won. Because it's been infrequent that he's had the better of Hamilton, it' would've validated Hamilton's season more so than what has happened. Even if Hamilton ends up giving Bottas two freebie race wins at the end of the year, it would actually still invalidate their performances, because it's not a reflection of performance. It would've affirmed the notion that MB don't do team orders (unless it's reasonable to do so), which is what the audience likes to see.
- Likes: gm99 (6th October 2018)
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6th October 2018, 12:28 #29
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At the time it would have been difficult to tell how things might have turned out. Hamilton in front of Vettel was like a carrot for Ferrari and offered possibilities for overtaking Hamilton and putting Vettel in position to fight for the win. This would have been the only sensible perspective of the Mercedes pitwall during the race.
Taking the decision to remove any possibility of Ferrari and Vettel getting by Hamilton was the smartest call that Mercedes pitwall could have done. We have always criticized the Mercedes strategy in the past for being slow and lethargic in making strategic calls during races. On this occasion, they were super smart and took what was without doubt the correct decision to eliminate all possible risks of losing ground to Ferrari in the drivers championship fight.
I suppose some would say they should have taken the risk for the sake of PR. But l think it would have been stupid to hang it out there to see how things would work out. If it had gone wrong, it would have upset the dynamics of the Mercedes team as they would start to doubt themselves. Why risk it when you can remove the risk. It also shows that Mercedes are not underestimating Ferrari at all which is a clear indication of how awesome that Ferrari car is this season. Shame they did not operate at the optimum to take full advantage of that great car.Last edited by Nitrodaze; 6th October 2018 at 22:02.
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