2021 - Race 19 Brazil

[joe1888cfc]

I love how all the Sky F1 guys keep talking about how fast the mercedes is, and how quick the mercedes was this weekend etc., etc. etc.
When the truth is, it was Hamilton who was fast and not necessarily the mercedes per say.
If the car was as quick as they think then the mercedes should have had a 1-2 in Friday Qualy
And Bottas would have sprinted away from Verstappen in the sprint race, which he barely won over Verstappen
And Bottas would have closed up and passed perez, then passed Veratappen in the race.
And bottas would have closed the gap to Verstappen with 14 laps to go with fresher tires and overtook Verstappen at the end.
The simple truth is that Hamilton was on another level this weekend. Including adjustments he made after Friday FP1 and in FP2 on Saturday. Because He took pole by .4sec from Verstappen and Bottas. Which means the pace was relatively the same.
This weekend, Hamilton was unstoppable. Between his racecraft, adjustments, and in race decision making, he managed to make the mercedes look unbeatable.
bottas, didn't.

So the guy with new engine and massive power advantage is all down to driver and not the car. Get your head out Hamilton's arse man, yeah he was superb yesterday and today but put him in Max's car and he's no even coming in top 3

[Zico]

I love how all the Sky F1 guys keep talking about how fast the mercedes is, and how quick the mercedes was this weekend etc., etc. etc.
When the truth is, it was Hamilton who was fast and not necessarily the mercedes per say.
If the car was as quick as they think then the mercedes should have had a 1-2 in Friday Qualy
And Bottas would have sprinted away from Verstappen in the sprint race, which he barely won over Verstappen
And Bottas would have closed up and passed perez, then passed Veratappen in the race.
And bottas would have closed the gap to Verstappen with 14 laps to go with fresher tires and overtook Verstappen at the end.
The simple truth is that Hamilton was on another level this weekend. Including adjustments he made after Friday FP1 and in FP2 on Saturday. Because He took pole by .4sec from Verstappen and Bottas. Which means the pace was relatively the same.
This weekend, Hamilton was unstoppable. Between his racecraft, adjustments, and in race decision making, he managed to make the mercedes look unbeatable.
bottas, didn't.

Did you even watch the race? Lewis was overtaking nearly everyone on the main straight well before the braking zone and according to Horner Lewis was as much as 30kmh faster at the end of that straight than Max.

Sure, Lewis drove brilliantly and made the most of it but I think any sane person will acknowledge that his car also had a huge performance advantage today. I can now see why they chose to take another PU, for Merc it looks to be worth way more than the grid penalty for it.


Breaking news- Lewis hauled back to the Stewards office for safety belt breach. I'm guessing its probably when he picked up the flag

[airshifter]

Overall a really good race up front. RB and Merc were so far ahead that we really didn't get to see the rest of the pack all that much, not that there was a lot going on. It just goes to show how far these two teams have pushed the performance, as well as how much better Lewis and Max are vs their respective team mates.

Bottas had troubles off the line, but the shady side of the track as a whole suffered. Lewis was slow to the line keeping them warm and got a great start, same as yesterday. The setup on his Merc was strong where it mattered most, and even before DRS the other cars were falling prey to that setup and the new engine.

From there it was a matter of tactics up front. The SC and VSC periods helped Bottas jump Perez with the free pit stop, and for once both the #2 drivers really seemed to be in the game with strong runs. It was great to see Perez fight back against the first pass by Lewis, though it just set him up to lose the place again. But he did what he could. Once that was done, I thought both Lewis and Max went in a little early.... I was actually thinking one of them might go a bit longer and change to mediums for the final stint. But Lewis reeled Max in slowly but surely as expected, and got him in the end. I thought the off would at least be investigated to the point of data and telemetry, but then again maybe they can review what we didn't see. The black and white was well deserved for Max, he really pushed the limits of the weaving. But that's his job really.... push it to the limit of not getting actual penalties.

Great drives all around by the top 4 really. The only thing a bit shaky was Max on defense.... but he was driving like someone fighting for their first WDC shot. Bottas in clean air kept Perez at bay fairly easily, but RB and Perez had the gap to steal the fastest lap point back from Lewis at the end. I'm sort of surprised that both Merc drivers seemed to question the strategy call by the team, especially Bottas thinking they could finish 1-2 as he often fades in the race.



Great strides from Ferrari as well, it looks like they should be able to possibly stay in front of McLaren for the rest of the season. But just like Merc, the McLarens are strong in a straight line, and might be able to overcome the reds at these final tracks.



With the WDC and WCC still on the table, it might well be decided by if either of the #2 drivers can really step up to the plate in the final races. I personally think Lewis and Merc should have the upper hand for the final races, but this has been a season with the "usual" often not happening. And as it looks, the #2 driver performance might well be the primary factor in the WDC as well.... at this point stealing points from either of the top 2 drivers will be huge.

[airshifter]

Did you even watch the race? Lewis was overtaking nearly everyone on the main straight well before the braking zone and according to Horner Lewis was as much as 30kmh faster at the end of that straight than Max.

Sure, Lewis drove brilliantly and made the most of it but I think any sane person will acknowledge that his car also had a huge performance advantage today. I can now see why they chose to take another PU, for Merc it looks to be worth way more than the grid penalty for it.


Breaking news- Lewis hauled back to the Stewards office for safety belt breach. I'm guessing its probably when he picked up the flag

Agreed on the speed differential. Making passes easily even before DRS makes it obvious how strong the car is with the new lump. They had it set up great, strong where it would benefit them the most, and not giving up much anywhere. Lewis did a great job today, but IMHO he has had harder races by far.


As for the belt breach..... I told my wife that the stop alone was risky. The where and how of the stop alone drew my attention and if there was a belt breach.... well they won't do anything anyway probably in terms of the points. I'm guessing a fine of say... hmmm.... 50,000 pounds? Well worth it to Lewis if it happens.

[Firstgear]

I've been disliking Max less and less this season, as it seemed to me he was finally starting to mature. His actions today (behind the wheel and on the radio) are making me thing I was wrong about that.
Glad Lewis was able to pull out the win today...it means the championship will very likely go to the last race (or two).

[The Black Knight]

I've been disliking Max less and less this season, as it seemed to me he was finally starting to mature. His actions today (behind the wheel and on the radio) are making me thing I was wrong about that.
Glad Lewis was able to pull out the win today...it means the championship will very likely go to the last race (or two).

I think he's a dangerous driver to be honest. And his attitude over the radio to the Black & White flag as well. Honestly I have always thought the guy is a complete and utter pleb. Brilliant driver, although overrated, but an utter pleb all the same. He proved that again today.

[Nitrodaze]

1.3.3 If an Automobile is found not to comply with the applicable technical regulations, it shall be no defence to claim that no performance advantage was obtained.

The regulations do as much as possible to not allow for gray area. There is even a specific technical directive on how this test is done.

That section of the regulation is ambiguous at best. The key statement here is "is found not to comply". The conditional context of the finding depends largely on when it was found not to comply with the regulations and all the remedial possibilities applicable to that moment.

The scenario therefore may be the following:-

1. Was the contravention found before qualifying commenced. If so, were Mercedes given the opportunity to remediate the offending part.
2. Was it found during qualifying
3. Was it found after qualifying. If so was it found before Verstappen touched the wing or after

then there are the questions of whether

a). the contravention was manufactured to operate in the way that contravened the regulation. This includes whether it was manufactured to fail in such a way as to produce increased performance.
b). Or was it a freak failure of wing component that failed in a way that produced the contravention

c). Then there is the question of whether Mercedes were aware of the broken part but failed to fix it or did not have the time to fix it and decided to risk running the car in qualifying with the hope the FIA would not notice.

The fairness of the steward's decision falls on the timing of the discovery, the presence or absence of premeditation, the cause of the failure, the authenticity of the cause, the authenticity of innocence and a proof of unfair advantage or lack of.

If all of these things can be shown to be outside the spirit of fair racing conduct, then there is no doubt the stewards have acted in a fair manner. Otherwise, it would be a very clear evidence that there is a clear bias in the FIA deliberations that is anti-Mercedes.

[Nitrodaze]

We have not yet heard the FIA's detailed reasoning behind their decision and so we are taking Wolfs word for it that the FIA actually agreed that there was no performance advantage.. and actually a disadvantage.
How could Merc possibly prove that, especially after taking pole? I'm not convinced.


As Bagwan its a precedent that could go both ways with parts being designed to fail so I think I'd need to know the facts in a lot more detail before forming an opinion on this.

With a replaced compliant wing thay have won the race from 10th. That should suggest that the Mercedes had inherent pace without the offending wing.

[Nitrodaze]

We've witnessed one of the greatest drives of all time today and yesterday - amazing from Lewis.

Can't understand why Max didn't get a penalty - smells of bias to be honest- it seems he opened the steering mid corner.

that would have been another crash if Hamilton had not taken avoiding action. It was clear as day that Verstappen was trying to take out Hamilton to preserve his championship lead. The stewards at this race were crap. They obviously turned a blind eye to another situation that was a clear attempt to cause an accident. It was a very shameless lack of action from the stewards office. SHAME on them.

They were able to notice Hamilton's seatbelt loosened but fail to see Verstappen trying to cause a crash. I am beginning to think these stewards are on the take.

[Nitrodaze]

Your fkn nuts man.

Try to spell properly at least. You are British after all.