F1 Race

[Mr. Dazzle]

All Leccy F1 will be a thing I'm sure.

I probably won't even mind, since they dropped the 20,000rpm dentist drill / angry wasp engines the noise doesn't even matter any more.

F1 cars are currently the fastest they've ever been, as well as being the most fuel efficient. It's only gonna go one way really.

[Wreckless Rat]

They need to change the rule that allowed Bottas to pull his safety car stunt.

[Nordboy]

All Leccy F1 will be a thing I'm sure.

I probably won't even mind, since they dropped the 20,000rpm dentist drill / angry wasp engines the noise doesn't even matter any more.

F1 cars are currently the fastest they've ever been, as well as being the most fuel efficient. It's only gonna go one way really.

Isn’t that the Formula E championship?

[Scotsrich]

They need to change the rule that allowed Bottas to pull his safety car stunt.

Maybe the rule does need changing but you can’t lay the fault at Bottas.

He was controlling the pace at the front which he’s entitled to do.

It seems it was a combination of circumstances https://www.formula1.com/en/latest/arti ... hdxZn.html

[Wreckless Rat]

Yes he was, in hindsight that rule should change.

[Bigjawa]

They've had way worse streaks than this in the past.

Before Schumacher it was 21 years since they'd won a title (1979 to 2000), even in 5 years time it'll still only be 18 this time

But they didn't have the air of being, for want of a better phrase, so impossibility shit as they do now.

It's like Williams or Tyrrell all over again. Too far gone to save.

[Wreckless Rat]

They need to change the rule that allowed Bottas to pull his safety car stunt.

Maybe the rule does need changing but you can’t lay the fault at Bottas.

He was controlling the pace at the front which he’s entitled to do.

It seems it was a combination of circumstances https://www.formula1.com/en/latest/arti ... hdxZn.html

Still, Hamilton handed him his arse...

[Bigjawa]

Still, Hamilton handed him his arse...

Because Hamilton will never allow another teammate like Rosberg or Button who will be able to compete with him and take points off him on a regular basis.

[chutzpah]

I don't really watch F1 much any more but like many sports I find the team dynamics fascinating, even if I don't follow the sport much itself.

From a Mercedes point of view, why get someone to push him harder?

Fact is at the moment, he dominates off his own motivation. If he needed a strong team mate to make him up his game I'd see why they would countenance getting a different driver in. But he consistently puts in the fastest laps, the top qualifying performance and the race wins without.

So Mercedes get the drivers championship and the constructors (on the back of Bottas still scoring solidly through the year) without the grief of managing two egos and/or splitting the points.

It's a perfect situation for them.

[Wreckless Rat]

Still, Hamilton handed him his arse...

Because Hamilton will never allow another teammate like Rosberg or Button who will be able to compete with him and take points off him on a regular basis.

Love the haters, no matter what LH does, people will hate on him. It's always the car, or a poor team mate, or....

The fact he is a fucking awesomely skilled driver doesn't seem to register with many, just because he comes across as a bit of an arse, but so do most F1 drivers....

He may be objectionable as a person, but he is a cut above the rest of them when it comes to driving.

[Mr. Dazzle]

I don't really watch F1 much any more but like many sports I find the team dynamics fascinating, even if I don't follow the sport much itself.

From a Mercedes point of view, why get someone to push him harder?

Fact is at the moment, he dominates off his own motivation. If he needed a strong team mate to make him up his game I'd see why they would countenance getting a different driver in. But he consistently puts in the fastest laps, the top qualifying performance and the race wins without.

So Mercedes get the drivers championship and the constructors (on the back of Bottas still scoring solidly through the year) without the grief of managing two egos and/or splitting the points.

It's a perfect situation for them.

Well quite.

It was the same with Schumacher and Barricello (sic).

As for Hamilton...he's clearly stupid quick, going all the way back to his first season when he squared up firmly with Alonso, who is also fucking quick.

[Kneerly Down]

Apart from Barrichello wasn't really allowed to race Schumi?

[Bigjawa]

I don't really watch F1 much any more but like many sports I find the team dynamics fascinating, even if I don't follow the sport much itself.

From a Mercedes point of view, why get someone to push him harder?

Fact is at the moment, he dominates off his own motivation. If he needed a strong team mate to make him up his game I'd see why they would countenance getting a different driver in. But he consistently puts in the fastest laps, the top qualifying performance and the race wins without.

So Mercedes get the drivers championship and the constructors (on the back of Bottas still scoring solidly through the year) without the grief of managing two egos and/or splitting the points.

It's a perfect situation for them.

Well quite.

It was the same with Schumacher and Barricello (sic).

As for Hamilton...he's clearly stupid quick, going all the way back to his first season when he squared up firmly with Alonso, who is also fucking quick.

But it was no secret that Ron was firmly in LHs corner.

[Bigjawa]

Still, Hamilton handed him his arse...

Because Hamilton will never allow another teammate like Rosberg or Button who will be able to compete with him and take points off him on a regular basis.

Love the haters, no matter what LH does, people will hate on him. It's always the car, or a poor team mate, or....

The fact he is a fucking awesomely skilled driver doesn't seem to register with many, just because he comes across as a bit of an arse, but so do most F1 drivers....

He may be objectionable as a person, but he is a cut above the rest of them when it comes to driving.

He's part of the best package at the minute, but the fact that Bottas, who isn't exactly championship material, can still finish second, tells you that the Merc is a bit of a rocket.

He's top tier, no doubt about it, but he has been about a long time, sooner or later his speed will fade and he'll be replaced, the question is, will he retire first or just potter about like Kimi?

The problem is, you can never know just how good a driver is at a particular time because F1 is so fluid, for all we know Verstappen could be quicker, but the Red Bull is a barge compared to the Merc.

All F1 drivers, the good ones anyway, are utter tools at the track. But even the Grosjeans have a level of speed we couldn't dream of having.

[Wreckless Rat]

And Verstappen also might not be any good in the Mercedes. It’s always the same with the greats, it was the same with Rossi in his hey day.

“Oh he has the best bike” “he owns the development” blah blah.

Yeah, perhaps, but that’s the way it is, the best get the best.....as has been proven with most great drivers, in the end they get surpassed by the newer generation, they slow down, have nothing to win for, and they lose the edge.

[Mr. Dazzle]

It's also impossible to divorce the driver from the team.

Hamilton is the best in part because he drives for Mercedes, Mercedes are the best in part because Hamilton drives for them. They both help to extract the best from the other, Hamilton might be the only one in the cockpit but he doesn't drive alone.

You can't really divorce one from the other, it really is a team sport. Without the car the drivers would be sat on the grid in their pants, without the drivers the car would be sat in the garage.

Similarly Hamilton wouldn't drive for a shit team and MGP woudlnt employ a shit driver.

[Wreckless Rat]

Also, I don't get the "Bottas isn't champ material", says who?

The merc maybe fast, but you still have to drive it fast, which he does. Currently, he is outclassed by Hamilton, that's no proof to say if Hamilton retired, Bottas wouldn't be winning, maybe he would - we just don't know. As Dazzle says, it's a team sport and you need the package to win. Hamilton/Mercedes is clearly a winning formula, as was Ferrari/Schumacher.

As the old saying goes, "the cream floats to the top".

I do think it's a shame so many try to take away from Hamilton and find excuses why he wins. Like him or loathe him as a person, but imho, you don't get to win as consistently as he does, just by having the best.... you have to be the best, in the best.

Me, I hate nearly everything Hamilton stands for - but I concede he is a cut above most of the pack, and indeed, imho, is one of the greatest, as was Schumacher. And...and... he's a Brit... so yeah, I love seeing him win.

[Mr. Dazzle]

All the drivers are potential champ material.

You can't race in F1 without a superlicence and you can't get one of those without consistently winning races and championships in lower formulae. There's no way into F1 without speed.

[Wreckless Rat]

All the drivers are potential champ material.

You can't race in F1 without a superlicence and you can't get one of those without consistently winning races and championships in lower formulae. There's no way into F1 without speed.

hmm sort of imho.

Like all things, even though they may be in the top 20, in that top 20, there are likely 1,2,3 who are a cut above. All placed in equal cars, some folks would still end up constantly winning more.

[Bigjawa]

The only way Bottas wins a championship with Mercedes is if some catastrophic happens to Hamilton, he could leave and sign with a that miraculously builds a missile like the 2009 Brawn, but I think he is firmly in the mould of a usefully quick number two, no disgrace in that at all.


I think we need to be looking a few years down the line to the post Hamilton era, new regs for 2022 and Toto clearing off to pastures new could well mean Merc won't be the powerhouse they are now.