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Last race was in 2019 at Paul Ricard.
P1 - Hamilton 1:32.738
P2 - Bottas 1:30.937
P3 - Bottas 1:30.159
Qualifying
1 - Hamilton 1:28.319
2 - Bottas 1:28.605
3 - Leclerc 1:28.965
4 - Verstappen - 1:29.409
Looks like for good opportunity for Mercedes in Striking Back
Yeah, I'm think Lewis will be back on top by with the RBs 2 and 3 (this is my race prediction).
My prediction is that Bo77as is TOP3
That would be great because l am worried about his future. He needs to get back to the front or he would exit by the back door.Quote:
Originally Posted by pantealex
I think Mercedes would be their usual form at Paul Ricard. But Redbull shall continue to be a headache for them l think.Quote:
Originally Posted by N. Jones
Merc may want to continue to appear shaky in France , because the track apparently suits them .
It wouldn't do to hear "they're back" quite yet .
Red Bull is suppose to be getting a new power unit from Honda. They are hoping for more reliability and power.
Usually one of those comes at the expense of the other. I think the Merc's are still a step ahead, but if this is true we may continue to have a good championship fight.Quote:
Originally Posted by F1nKS
What about those dodgy Pirelli tyres? Any bet we shall have another blowout at this race? A lengthy investigation that resulted in a "nobody is to blame verdict" but a detailed explanation of how to use the tyres. There is something iffy going on there. Either Pirelli has produced dodgy tyres or both Redbull and Aston Martin are up to no good. Something dodgy happened.
Ocon shall grow in stature now with a new three years deal. He shall be one to watch next season.
We are set for another brilliant race as Redbull continue to make Mercedes squirm. This is a Mercedes track, so a Redbull win here would spell trouble for Mercedes. The usual air of confidence may begin to evaporate. The general expectation is that Mercedes would win this race and we are back to the status quo. For the sake of a tough entertaining season, l hope Mercedes bounce back.
That said, l think we shall come out of the triple-header with a clear picture of where the titles would end up at Abu Dhabi. Particularly as Hamilton tends to ramp up the points in the second half of the season. Unfortunately, Verstappen has failed to build a sizeable gap going into the triple header. Hence he would be looking to win at least one of the triple races. His failure to do so would effectively put him at a huge disadvantage in the second half of the season which is full of Mercedes tracks.
The Mercedes seem to be back to normal. They are looking rapid.
What’s with the above individuals?
Some old photos,
https://i.postimg.cc/g2gTJHRS/2-C540...B074601-A2.jpg
"What about those dodgy Pirelli tyres? Any bet we shall have another blowout at this race? A lengthy investigation that resulted in a "nobody is to blame verdict" but a detailed explanation of how to use the tyres. There is something iffy going on there. Either Pirelli has produced dodgy tyres or both Redbull and Aston Martin are up to no good. Something dodgy happened."
I've read some speculation that tire warmers might be the issue .
Sorry about the editing. Click on the above photos to read the text, and spread them.
FP1 Bottas 1:33.448
FP2 Verstappen 1:32.872
1.8 seconds slower than in 2019. Mercedes looks strong. It will be interesting to see the full analysis of FP1 and FP2. It looks like Red Bull is capable of staying with Mercedes for 1 lap, but Mercedes will have better tire endurance.
Also there was a comment by Hamilton that he didn't like Bottas chassis (Mercedes swapped chassis this weekend).
Yea, Hamilton is not happy but Bottas is smiling. Somehow Mercedes has ended up with two chassis that each only suit one of their drivers. This is the main threat to their constructor title fight. One driver is at the sharp ends of the grid and the other would be in the midfield. I think they would at some point have to commit to one driver, so as to have a good chance of winning one or both of the championship. I don't think alternating their chassis at each race would achieve the result they want and it puts Hamilton's title bid in jeopardy.Quote:
Originally Posted by F1nKS
It is looking increasingly likely that Redbull would win something this season. With Hamilton compromised by chassis swapping, Verstappen would be fighting half of Hamilton's true potential through a full season. And Redbull with two cars on form would easily steal the constructor's title in a regular two to one battle.
Mercedes look f*cked! Congratulations F1M you finally did it.
https://www.formula1.com/en/latest/a...lpwRkKUnM.html
Analysis shows Mercedes/RB are even with qualifying pace - it will be who hooks it up tomorrow in qualifying. Mercedes has a slight edge in race pace. So the question will be can Perez be up their in the fight to give Mercedes something to think about.
In the midfield, the battle seems to be with Mclaren and the resurgence Alpine.
FP3 - Verstappen 1:31.300
Looks like qualifying should have some good drama.
Yuki train derailed within the first 5 minutes of Q1.
Two red-flags in Q1.....smh
2nd red-flag catches Stroll out with no time set.
Out in Q1:
Stroll
Yuki
Raikkonen
Maza-spin
Latifi
Ocon
Vettel
Gio
Russel
Out in Q2
Fred pips Oc' again!
FORMULA 1 EMIRATES GRAND PRIX DE FRANCE 2021 - PRACTICE 1
https://www.formula1.com/en/results....ractice-1.html
FORMULA 1 EMIRATES GRAND PRIX DE FRANCE 2021 - PRACTICE 2
https://www.formula1.com/en/results....ractice-2.html
FORMULA 1 EMIRATES GRAND PRIX DE FRANCE 2021 - PRACTICE 3
https://www.formula1.com/en/results....ractice-3.html
FORMULA 1 EMIRATES GRAND PRIX DE FRANCE 2021 - QUALIFYING
https://www.formula1.com/en/results....ualifying.html
Verstappen beats title rival Hamilton to pole in thrilling French GP qualifying
Paul Ricard hasn’t been a happy hunting ground for Red Bull in the past, but Max Verstappen ripped up the formbook in French Grand Prix qualifying to fend off title rival Lewis Hamilton and take sensational pole position.
The French track, which returned to the calendar in 2018, has traditionally been a Mercedes stronghold, with Hamilton taking pole and victory in each edition, but this time it was Red Bull who looked like the ones to beat.
Verstappen set the early pace in Q3, four tenths of a second quicker than Hamilton, but things heated up in the second runs as Hamilton went quickest in the first sector. Verstappen responded with a purple second and final sector to better his time and take his second pole of the season.
Read MORE here;
https://www.formula1.com/en/latest/a...wj8UQdnxv.html
I wonder what McLaren are thinking at this moment in time, after previously dumping the Honda works engine?
I wonder what Ron Dennis is thinking, after McLaren dumped him, due in part, to the politics surrounding the Honda engine contractual arrangements?
What a race this is going to be tomorrow. The race win hangs on Redbull's race pace and tyre management. The Redbull typically gets off the line better than the Mercedes, but that would not stop Hamilton from trying to steal the lead into the first corner. It is one of those races that could be electrifying or a snooze fest. I hope we get some Hamilton vs Verstappen battles tomorrow. Bottas and Perez shall be duking it out just behind but l would not be surprised if one of them gets in the mix of the fight for the lead.
1. Max
2. Lewis
3. Bottas
4. Perez
5. Sainz
6. Gasly
7. Leclerc
8. Norris
9. Alonzo
10. Ricciardo
It will be interesting to see if Hamilton just plays the long game (it seems Mercedes does have superior race pace) or does he try and strike at the start.Quote:
Originally Posted by Nitrodaze
If does play it aggressive, it could mean that Bottas/Perez are fighting for the win.
We all said Bottas need to raise his game this weekend, well he heard us and come out strong this weekend. All he has to do to keep Mercedes happy is to keep Perez behind and play a vital role in the pit strategy.
What about Gasly? sixth in that Alpha Tauri, wow. Sainz looking strong this weekend as well.
If Redbull win either or both championship, l can't help thinking that it would be an F1M assisted triumph, and all the conspiracy theories swirling in my head. Like who got paid to bring this about.
Bottas took Hamilton's car for a drive this time and still couldn't out-qualify him , even though Lewis wasn't happy with the old Bottas car .Quote:
Originally Posted by Nitrodaze
Don't panic yet , Daze-man .
There might be some manipulation going on , but Merc is the puppet master here , not F1M .
They are just trying to scare you a little before the ultimate triumph over the worthy opponents .
Exciting , eh ?
Do you remember what it was like at the end of the Schumacher era? It was kind of like this actually. Everyone thought Ferrari would bounce back, but somehow they didn't. Renault sneaked away with two championship wins.Quote:
Originally Posted by Bagwan
I think there have been some fundamental changes to the Mercedes chassis. For a start, it now has a rake. Converting a low rake car to a high rake car would certainly mess with the fundamentals of the original architecture of the car. We hear of chassis swapping and performance characteristics of the car have obviously dropped below what we saw at Barcelona. They are trying new things and may well find an answer at some point.
But it would not be respectful to Redbull to not acknowledge that they are genuinely the faster car and Mercedes are playing catchup. If Redbull wins at Paul Ricard, they are very much set to win the triple header. Which would effectively set the stage for a Redbull and Verstappen championship win.
This is not a drill, this is real.
Quote:
Originally Posted by Nitrodaze
I think you mean 'rake' which I agree most likely will have messed with their core design but it seems losing their DAS has also set them back.
For me it is a pretty obvious attempt to slow Merc down... and it's clearly working.
It has always been this way in F1.. but is it wrong to manipulatively knobble dominant teams this way?
As a racing fan first and foremost I love seeing the current extremely close competition, so I accept that it probably has to be this way to remain a spectacle and not a borefest.
However, I can also understand why that might upset those who are strictly fans of individual drivers or teams feeling they are being conspired against.. well, because they are really. :/
Is that Red Bull in that can , or is it Koolaid ?Quote:
Originally Posted by Nitrodaze
Sure looks real , don't it ?
Surprising that Max managed to keep pole. I think Merc still have the race pace overall, and will be easier on the tires. But with this track being harder to pass on, it might come down to who gets the better starts. Setup has RB a bit quicker on the straight line stuff, which might make it hard for Merc to get by on the straights. It might also give Sergio a shot if anyone fumbles in front of him.
Good to see the Mclaren's and Ferrari's staying in the top fight. And well done by Alonso and Gasly as well.
I'm not one on conspiracy theories myself. I simply think RB clawed closer to Merc, and has the chance to win at times. All the teams knew about the rules changes, and Merc has had a massive budget in past years. That alone might have hurt them, but like any era of F1 sooner or later the top teams are challenged.
I don't know where the get the data, and assume it's based on fastest sectors and such, but the one graphic showed that overall Max is driving more consistently than Lewis and getting a larger percentage of the most out of the car. And really that would be no shock... RB have had to fight harder to try to get the car up the grid, and as such Merc drivers have been able to rely on car pace more.
Either way, it looks like the battle may stay close for now. And more than anything, that makes it worth watching even on the usually boring circuits such as this one. I want the championship battles to be just that... battles. The teams seem really tight, and I hope it stays this way for a while, hopefully the entire season.
Well, l am about fair racing. I am enjoying the current close racing, to be honest. But we cannot ignore the fact that this is the case because Mercedes was compromised by the regulations. The chassis regulation was introduced along with the development token system. Which effectively placed Mercedes in a very tight spot. They had to make a difficult decision of whether to spend all of the tokens on a complete redesign of the chassis or use them sparingly over the season. Mind you, a redesign of the chassis was forbidden as well remember.Quote:
Originally Posted by Zico
This is where l feel that it was a bit unfair. BTW it is not about being a fan of a team or driver, but about fairness. I can see they are hurting and finding the consequences of the regulation hard to deal with. Aston Martin is worst hit by this. And this was a team that nearly knicked 3rd place last season. The whole thing looks artificial but it is exciting isn't it. Who cares, we fans are dumb anyway.
Sorry buddy, it is not a conspiracy theory. When we do the Math and analyse relative progression from the last three seasons, it is not hard to see that Redbull has jumped a massive step ahead this season. Clearly well off the normal trajectory of their progression curve. And the progress is not because they have come up with a better chassis than they had last season. Remember, the chassis was frozen last season. So they are effectively racing the 2020 cars. Also, it is inconceivable to say that Honda has suddenly closed the gap of the performance of their engine to that of Mercedes.Quote:
Originally Posted by airshifter
The only reason Redbull is closer to the Mercedes [chassis that won the 2020 season btw], is because the regulation clearly compromised the Mercedes chassis. It is not because Redbull has suddenly become better than Mercedes. But simply because the regulations favour their particular chassis. In this circumstance, the win of the championship would not hold the same level of reverence as a normal championship win. Certainly not as highly as we would consider the Renault defeat of Ferrari in Alonso's hands in 2005/6. Or even the Brawn title win that made Jenson Button a driver world champion. On both of those occasions, the teams [Renault, Brawn] worked their arse off finding a way to get the edge to get ahead of the entire grid.
What we are watching now is like being given the exam questions and answers ahead of the exam date. The racing is great l admit but there is an ethical flaw with it. How they can call this a proper challenge is proposterous to say the least. It looks and feels fixed. Which l think ought to be illegal.
You can and obviously will believe whatever you want. Merc has fumbled with the ball on a few occasions this year, but they are hardly a sub standard car. What's hurting them the most right now is that they are inconsistent, and not getting both drivers well into the points on a regular basis. If not for the Monaco disaster, they would still be easily in the lead of the WCC. And to add to that, Baku was an opportunity not taken. But I'm sure the regs changes caused the magic button to be activated.Quote:
Originally Posted by Nitrodaze
The floor and aero changes were expected by many to hurt the high rake cars as much if not more than the low rake cars. Merc has the pace, but is struggling to put it all together and always get the tires working quickly. The fact that they are not dominating out of the box doesn't make a conspiracy if you ask me.
As for the title run and the chance to break it, RB would IMHO be just as deserving as Renault were when they beat Ferrari. You can pound the drum of your opinion all you want, but at the end of the day it's just that. You are entitled to your opinion, but not the opinion of others.
The superficial view would say Mercedes is simply fumbling which on the surface is very much the case. This was where my mindset was a few races back if you read my past posts on the matter. But why are they so rattled this season? That is what l am talking about. One has to peer beyond the obvious to see what is the root cause for their state of affairs. A team and driver pairing that normally operates like a well-oiled machine, do not suddenly become error-prone. That only happens when something is amiss. Go figure!Quote:
Originally Posted by airshifter
And yes, l respect your opinion. Opinion are like noses, everybody has one.
Why is your conspiracy theory more plausible than mine ?Quote:
Originally Posted by Nitrodaze
Peer beyond the obvious .
Baggie, l am not suggesting mine is better than yours. We just have a different perspective. We both agree that the championship this season appears to be manipulated to give an illusion of a shift of superiority from Mercedes to Redbull. You think Mercedes is underplaying its potential; essentially to make the season appear to be hard-fought for. And l take the view that, maybe the F1M has masterminded a situation that could lead to a non-Mercedes outcome to the winner of this season's constructor and driver championships via its 2021 chassis regulation.Quote:
Originally Posted by Bagwan
Once again. Mercedes dumb strategy costing them. It is beyond ridiculous why they didn't pit Hamilton first is a mystery. Why they left him out to be undercut is another mystery. Its just pathetic