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  1. #31
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    Quote Originally Posted by truefan72 View Post
    I was less bothered with the kimi incident and more annoyed with the driving of Bottas.
    Here is what I took from the race. Bottas is clearly the worst amongst the top 6.
    All too often when mercedes need him the most to to keep the ferrari honest or challenge for the win he simply lets them drive away and offers nothing in terms of challenging the car.Being content in coming home second does nothing for me, when you clearly have the car to stick with vettel and provide some sort of challenge.
    Yes people talk about him being unlucky etc. But apart from Baku, he has not impressed me with his racecraft or the ability to challenge the car ahead.
    silverstone was a race where Mercedes needed him to step up and couldn't.
    If verstappen, ricciardo, hulkenberg, alonso or leclerc where in that 2nd car there is no way they would have allowed vettel to drive off into the distance like that.
    That factor along with the shambolic race day strategy by Mercedes has been their undoing.
    Vettel took a well deserved victory, Hamilton did all he could after his spin, Kimi showed some real bite in the race.
    It was entertaining, albeit a bit frustrating. so far 2018 has produced a lot of good races and drama.
    I agree regarding Bottas. He has still to really impress me since he joined F1 at all.

    What annoys me more is that he knew exactly where Vettel was going to try and pass him yet he made absolutely zero attempt at a defense. If I were a team boss I would not be impressed. Regardless of how shabby your tyres looked. At least move over to the left of the track, make the other driver take the long way around. He can't pretend he was surprised by it. It's not like Vettel hadn't tried to pass him at that corner a couple of times before. What he did was indefensible and deserves a royal bollocking from the team.

  2. #32
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    Quote Originally Posted by truefan72 View Post
    I was less bothered with the kimi incident and more annoyed with the driving of Bottas.
    Here is what I took from the race. Bottas is clearly the worst amongst the top 6.
    All too often when mercedes need him the most to to keep the ferrari honest or challenge for the win he simply lets them drive away and offers nothing in terms of challenging the car.Being content in coming home second does nothing for me, when you clearly have the car to stick with vettel and provide some sort of challenge.
    Yes people talk about him being unlucky etc. But apart from Baku, he has not impressed me with his racecraft or the ability to challenge the car ahead.
    silverstone was a race where Mercedes needed him to step up and couldn't.
    If verstappen, ricciardo, hulkenberg, alonso or leclerc where in that 2nd car there is no way they would have allowed vettel to drive off into the distance like that.
    That factor along with the shambolic race day strategy by Mercedes has been their undoing.
    Vettel took a well deserved victory, Hamilton did all he could after his spin, Kimi showed some real bite in the race.
    It was entertaining, albeit a bit frustrating. so far 2018 has produced a lot of good races and drama.
    Bottas has not raised his game to level of Rosberg whom he replaced. And that is a weakness at Mercedes. But l would not blame Bottas for Vettel getting by him at Silverstone. He simply did not have the tyres to fight, which is why he drifted back to 4th position at the end of the race. The fact of the matter is that Mercedes chose to keep him out when evryone else were coming in for fresh tyres during the safety car period. The Safety car actually saved Vettel from the Mercedes, because he had bad wear problems with his front left tyre l think. Mercedes probably gifted the win to Vettel by their poor strategy call.

    That said, there is doubt that he deserves that seat with Ricciado available to Mercedes. But l can see how Ricciado would not be attractive to Mercedes. They would very much like to avoid another infighting that stretched the stability of the team to almost breaking point when Rosberg was in the team. Ricciado in a Mercede would want to prove the he can do to Hamilton what he did to Vettel at Redbull and Hamilton would definitely not have any of it. This is where the tension would erupt from.
    Last edited by Nitrodaze; 12th July 2018 at 20:45.
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  3. #33
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    Quote Originally Posted by The Black Knight View Post
    Regardless of how shabby your tyres looked. At least move over to the left of the track, make the other driver take the long way around.
    When the tyre is done, it is difficult to command tight turns at corners. Bottas did not have the grip to make the required defensive tight turn to cover the inside because the car was drifting out due to lack of grip. The result is a gaping hole that Vettel was gratefull for. From where we are seating, it looked ugly. But the best of them with that set of tires would have found it just as hard to keep the fast Ferrari with fresher tires behind.

    The situation does unfortunately and probably unfairly bring Bottas into question as to whether he is deserving of that Mercedes seat. That said, he has out performed Hamilton more times this year than was expected. Don't forget that he passed Hamilton in the race to be in that position.
    Last edited by Nitrodaze; 12th July 2018 at 20:57.
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  4. #34
    Senior Member truefan72's Avatar
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    Quote Originally Posted by Nitrodaze View Post
    Bottas has not raised his game to level of Rosberg whom he replaced. And that is a weakness at Mercedes. But l would not blame Bottas for Vettel getting by him at Silverstone. He simply did not have the tyres to fight, which is why he drifted back to 4th position at the end of the race. The fact of the matter is that Mercedes chose to keep him out when evryone else were coming in for fresh tyres during the safety car period. The Safety car actually saved Vettel from the Mercedes, because he had bad wear problems with his front left tyre l think. Mercedes probably gifted the win to Vettel by their poor strategy call.
    Yeah, My issue was with the first part of the race not the late safety car. He could do nothing about those turn of events with the poor strategy by mercedes. He did offer no resistance or challenge to Vettel in the earlier part of the race. He did not push, did not apply any kind of pressure whatsoever to him and allowed vettel to dictate the race.
    He just doesn't seem to be able to even extract the maximum of what the car can give him. let alone more than that. If rosberg would have been in that car, they probably would have won that race and Hamilton finish 3rd. I think this year's car is pretty damn good and probably should have won 3 more races than they currently have.

    Quote Originally Posted by Nitrodaze View Post
    That said, there is doubt that he deserves that seat with Ricciado available to Mercedes. But l can see how Ricciado would not be attractive to Mercedes. They would very much like to avoid another infighting that stretched the stability of the team to almost breaking point when Rosberg was in the team. Ricciado in a Mercedes would want to prove the he can do to Hamilton what he did to Vettel at Redbull and Hamilton would definitely not have any of it. This is where the tension would erupt from.
    I hear you on this, but as toxic as that combination was, as a team, they were beyond dominant. If one driver didn't win, the other probably did. I knew exactly what mercedes was gonna get with bottas. And thy did win both titles last year, but to me Bottas is firmly a #2 driver. I hoped they would have gone after hulkenberg or wherlein. but we got bottas. Ricciardo seems to be resigning with RBR. If I were mercedes, i would leave it late and see how things shape up. If Hamilton wins his 5th, I won't mind them giving a 1 year deal to alonso or even Vandoorne (who i still think would be an excellent driver), and then see bottas off to mclaren.
    Last edited by truefan72; 12th July 2018 at 21:06.
    you can't argue with results.

  5. #35
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    Quote Originally Posted by truefan72 View Post
    Yeah, My issue was with the first part of the race not the late safety car. He could do nothing about those turn of events with the poor strategy by mercedes. He did offer no resistance or challenge to Vettel in the earlier part of the race. He did not push, did not apply any kind of pressure whatsoever to him and allowed vettel to dictate the race.
    He just doesn't seem to be able to even extract the maximum of what the car can give him. let alone more than that. If rosberg would have been in that car, they probably would have won that race and Hamilton finish 3rd. I think this year's car is pretty damn good and probably should have won 3 more races than they currently have.



    I hear you on this, but as toxic as that combination was, as a team, they were beyond dominant. If one driver didn't win, the other probably did. I knew exactly what mercedes was gonna get with bottas. And thy did win both titles last year, but to me Bottas is firmly a #2 driver. I hoped they would have gone after hulkenberg or wherlein. but we got bottas. Ricciardo seems to be resigning with RBR. If I were mercedes, i would leave it late and see how things shape up. If Hamilton wins his 5th, I won't mind them giving a 1 year deal to alonso or even Vandoorne (who i still think would be an excellent driver), and then see bottas off to mclaren.
    I agree, Hulkenburg or Wehrlien would have matched this Bottas performance and even better it. I was disappointed when they did not promote from within, when they had the brilliant Ocon and Wehrlien available. Bottas has been a disappointment to many Mercedes fans for his lack of aggression and determination in car to car battle. That said, he is darn quick when he is on it.
    Last edited by Nitrodaze; 12th July 2018 at 21:22.
    Better a witty fool than a foolish wit.
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  7. #36
    Senior Member truefan72's Avatar
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    Quote Originally Posted by Nitrodaze View Post
    I agree, Hulkenburg or Wehrlien would have matched this Bottas performance and even better it. I was disappointed when they did not promote from within, when they had the brilliant Ocon and Wehrlien available. Bottas has been a disappointment to many Mercedes fans for his lack of aggression and determination in car to car battle. That said, he is darn quick when he is on it.
    yup
    you can't argue with results.

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