2021 - Race 16 Turkey

[airshifter]

Again , another questionable call from the mighty Merc crew .
I've even seen the words "pathetic" and "idiotic" being used to describe the move .

Meanwhile , in the quiet background , Bottas takes the win , and keeps the constructors championship secure for the completely incompetent , pathetic and idiotic mighty Merc crew .

And , Lewis and Max are still really close with hardly space for a fish between them .

As the race came to an end, I actually thought to myself.... This is playing right into Bagwans hands!

I don't know.... with races winding down and the apparent pace of the Merc I think they will be trying to put some points to their favor in the upcoming races. Without some more upgrades from RB, they seem to have the package to do it right now.

Perhaps overconfident?!

+ =

Nah. A bit hard on Alonso, and really the penalty was a bit hard on Gasly as well. As for Fred's penalty, still maybe a bit borderline but more his error. I think he knew he got that one wrong.





Overall, the weather really changed things up, and I think RB was smart to pit first. I don't think the inters going the distance was likely for the frontrunners. Ocon lost some 45 seconds on the last 10 laps, and hadn't ever pushed nearly as hard as those at the front. The tires that came off Hamilton's car had portions of the bonding surface showing through, so had he stayed out I think he would have ended up in probably the same position... or maybe with zero points if he had a tire failure.

Bottas had a great weekend without doubt, and the only reason he didn't deserve driver of the race was he made it look easy controlling the race. There is no drama in a dominating win when nobody can challenge. Tsunoda without doubt gets points with RB for that defense he put up. I was really shocked that he kept Lewis behind that long, and seemed to have his number for quite a while there. Great race by the Ferrari's as well, though Leclerc came up short of a podium. I think he suffered the same as Lewis... they both stayed out too long thinking they could make it work, and it wasn't going to work. Short of the crappy stop for Sainz, both cars and drivers seemed to do very well on the weekend.

Strange that both Bottas and Perez were the ones that really made things happen for the team this weekend. Though a win is obviously better, when it mattered the most Sergio raced Lewis hard and kept him behind.

I think at the end of the day, Lewis should have listened to the team and pitted earlier. Staying out put him more at risk in the long run.

Great recovery drives from Gasly after the penalty (which I thought was harsh for a three wide first lap incident) and Sainz after his slow stop. Making it back into the points was no easy task for either. And though it ended up not working at all, hats off to AM and Vettel for having the guts to roll the dice on slicks. Turns out it was similar to ice skating, but they didn't have much to lose at that point.



I think RB need some upgrades if they want to stay in the fight. Had this been a dry race I think Lewis would have easily been on the podium. Max had nothing for Bottas up front today, and seemed to have to work a bit harder just to stay in touch. The Merc package seems fairly mighty at the moment.

[Nitrodaze]

Pathetic strategy call by mercedes. Gave up p3 for p5. Idiotic. Oh well


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The dumb Mercedes strategist is back. The Mercedes pitwall has been better on occasions this year but the Turkey decision was spineless and cost Hamilton dearly. Especially since Hamilton won this race last year with much worst tyres. if Mercedes lose either of the championships, it would not be due to the chassis or engine of the car or their drivers or all the great preparation that they do for each race but due to their poor in-the-moment judgement in the heat of each tight and uncertain moments of racing.

Whoever made that call has no business on the pitwall of a team in World championship battle with such a formidable opponent such as Redbull and Verstappen. If l was Hamilton l would be demanding a change. You don't want someone with no grit making these kinds of calls. Especially when the driver is suggesting the opposite. And Ocon did it without a stop successfully.

[truefan72]

If hamilton had gone in with perez he probably would have finisehd 3rd or 4th. A lap or 2 later probably 4th or 5th and if he stayed anywhere from 3rd to 5th. The error was not coming in earlier on the same lap as perez and that is the team's error. Not coming in in the few subsequent laps is on Hamilton, and by that point 5th was probably the best he was going to get if he pitted. The team was looking to protect p5. But Hamilton was running in 3rd at the time with a 14s advantage with 8 laps to go The worst he would have finished would probably have been p4 if perez caught up to him. I still think he would have made it to the end and a p3 finish.

[Zico]

.
....I think RB need some upgrades if they want to stay in the fight. Had this been a dry race I think Lewis would have easily been on the podium. Max had nothing for Bottas up front today, and seemed to have to work a bit harder just to stay in touch. The Merc package seems fairly mighty at the moment.

Bottas was untouchable and mighty indeed, makes you wonder how and where that came from... RB are certainly questioning Mercs apparent performance increase as I suspected they might.

https://www.bbc.co.uk/sport/formula1/58870237

As Baggie, insinuates... Are they toying with everyone? I don't believe Merc have done anything to the engines itself to get more power which would be illegal but I don't actually know if a mapping change also comes under that rule or not so maybe just being forced to use a previously lesser used power mode.

The Mercs are well known not have great traction out of slow corner but according to Horner were still showing a 15-20kmh increase over everyone else at the end of the straights, even with running higher downforce, Max also couldn't even get anywhere near Bottas.
No DRS for the whole race probably makes it harder to read but I was a bit surprised at Mercs fairly sizable jump forward on a circuit that was previously reckoned to likely favour RB.

I don't know... but you are right, Baggies conspiracy theory was somewhat strengthened at the weekend.

[Nitrodaze]

If hamilton had gone in with perez he probably would have finisehd 3rd or 4th. A lap or 2 later probably 4th or 5th and if he stayed anywhere from 3rd to 5th. The error was not coming in earlier on the same lap as perez and that is the team's error. Not coming in in the few subsequent laps is on Hamilton, and by that point 5th was probably the best he was going to get if he pitted. The team was looking to protect p5. But Hamilton was running in 3rd at the time with a 14s advantage with 8 laps to go The worst he would have finished would probably have been p4 if perez caught up to him. I still think he would have made it to the end and a p3 finish.

I have to agree with that. Hamilton is partly to blame for not complying with the order to pit earlier. But once he had committed to going further by 10 laps, the Mercedes strategist should have re-evaluated the possibility of going to the end. Mainly because at that point, finishing fifth or sixth was the foreseen outcome whether Hamilton pitted or not. I think the lack of guts by the strategist to take a gutsy risk; as Hamilton was ready to take the gamble, is what has invited most of the criticism. It was a cowardly decision in the face of very brave decisions by Alpine and Ferrari. It did not work out for Leclerc, but it certainly worked out for Ocon.

In reality, we could not really blame Hamilton for willing to take a bold risk based on his gut. It would have been a respectable outcome if Hamilton ended up 5th or 6th taking a bold risk rather than ending up 5th from a cowardly strategic decision.

[Nitrodaze]

Bottas was untouchable and mighty indeed, makes you wonder how and where that came from... RB are certainly questioning Mercs apparent performance increase as I suspected they might.

https://www.bbc.co.uk/sport/formula1/58870237

As Baggie, insinuates... Are they toying with everyone? I don't believe Merc have done anything to the engines itself to get more power which would be illegal but I don't actually know if a mapping change also comes under that rule or not so maybe just being forced to use a previously lesser used power mode.

The Mercs are well known not have great traction out of slow corner but according to Horner were still showing a 15-20kmh increase over everyone else at the end of the straights, even with running higher downforce, Max also couldn't even get anywhere near Bottas.
No DRS for the whole race probably makes it harder to read but I was a bit surprised at Mercs fairly sizable jump forward on a circuit that was previously reckoned to likely favour RB.

I don't know... but you are right, Baggies conspiracy theory was somewhat strengthened at the weekend.

I have to say, l smiled when Bottas crossed the line to win the race. He deserved it. And he drove a magnificent race. Alfa Romeo have themselves a great racer next season, l hope they can give him a car worthy of his talent.

I think we all knew from the beginning of the season that the Mercedes engine was faster than the Honda engine. The setback was on the chassis front which prevented the Mercedes engine from putting out its full potential to the tarmac. I felt it would be a matter of time before Mercedes figure out how to extract the full potential of their engine. It appears they have done so. But it doesn't mean they have pulled ahead from Redbull. It just means, the Redbull package was not as effective at this circuit. There are a number of great Redbull tracks coming, hence we can expect Redbull to shine again.

The constructor's championship seems to be slipping out of reach for Redbull, but the driver championship is still very much on the cards. Especially with the Mercedes pitwall showing signs of risk averseness.

[denkimi]

A lot of weird tyre things happened here. 40 laps old intermediates, worn to slicks are faster than new intermediates. Yet, new slicks are completely undrivable at the same time.

I wonder if teams will try to wear down a set of intermediates before the race in the future. They seem to pretty terrible when they're new and its only slightly wet.

[Bagwan]

Bottas was untouchable and mighty indeed, makes you wonder how and where that came from... RB are certainly questioning Mercs apparent performance increase as I suspected they might.

https://www.bbc.co.uk/sport/formula1/58870237

As Baggie, insinuates... Are they toying with everyone? I don't believe Merc have done anything to the engines itself to get more power which would be illegal but I don't actually know if a mapping change also comes under that rule or not so maybe just being forced to use a previously lesser used power mode.

The Mercs are well known not have great traction out of slow corner but according to Horner were still showing a 15-20kmh increase over everyone else at the end of the straights, even with running higher downforce, Max also couldn't even get anywhere near Bottas.
No DRS for the whole race probably makes it harder to read but I was a bit surprised at Mercs fairly sizable jump forward on a circuit that was previously reckoned to likely favour RB.

I don't know... but you are right, Baggies conspiracy theory was somewhat strengthened at the weekend.

It's fun over here in the corner , eh Zico ?

Remember , it's not exactly like professional wrestling unless both sides are working towards the same outcome .

[Bagwan]

A lot of weird tyre things happened here. 40 laps old intermediates, worn to slicks are faster than new intermediates. Yet, new slicks are completely undrivable at the same time.

I wonder if teams will try to wear down a set of intermediates before the race in the future. They seem to pretty terrible when they're new and its only slightly wet.

The first 5 or 6 laps were grainy ones for those who went new inters .
Track temperatures taught them all the lesson about the green sidewalls .

And , you can bet they will use your idea of the "inter-scrub"( I hope you don't mind that I named it) .

[ceualauren]

I'm happy to find you guys.
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