Hamilton to miss second Bahrain GP

[Nitrodaze]

And what if find particularly annoying was DiResta's comments about how he felt Mercedes should have gone with Vandoorne. He went on and on about it and to me it sounded like he was projecting. Not only did Russell absolutely demolish those arguments, but the reason's DiResta gave for placing Vandoorne in the car were absurd. "he deserves it after his hard work" , "he flew all over the world for the team" , "there was enough time to get him prepared for the seat". moan, moan, moan. last I checked. Russell is pretty much in-line for that seat in 2022 etc. so why wouldn't Mercedes give him the opportunity now?

As I said in my previous post, the only reason for Vandoorne to be in that seat is if they wanted Bottas to not be challenged and didn't care if that second car finished in the lower top 10. Even that wouldn't be a guarantee for a Bottas winning performance as it stands he is still behind the Red bulls regardless. SMH
In one session, Russell just proved to the entire world, why he is an incredible talent and deserving of a top seat. (not that we didn't know that already). Anthony Davidsson summed it up best; "if you exchanged helmet, it would be understandable if Russell had the session that Bottas did. ragged, locking up, looking uncomfortable in the car, making mistakes. etc. The fact that it was the other way around is a bit concerning".

This layout brings the field very tight to one another and short enough were the differences in the cars are less of a factor. Russell didn't put a foot wrong the entire session and looked every bit the part. As for Bottas...hmm.

That is how jealousy manifests itself. Here is a young man with potential to achieve more than he has ever done, of course he would say those things. Mercedes did the right thing. Now they would have a clear idea of the talent they have in the wings. They would have telemetry and tons of data to analyse to give them a picture of what the future ought to be. They essentially would not be putting Russell in their car blind. They would have comparative data to work with. That is a chance not to miss. And Mercedes did the smart thing here.

Of course the pressure is on Bottas as this Free practise has given him a glimpse of the true talent of Russell. The fact that the young man can come in from the cold and set the car up as he wants it. And is showing pure worrying pace. Pace enough to put Verstapenn behind. Even Hamilton would be agog to take notice.

The race tomorrow is a very important one. As it gives the paddock and fans alike a glimpse of the real challenger that Leclerc and Verstapenn need to be worried about in the near future.