[Official] Russian Grand Prix 2021: Grand Prix Weekend Thread - Round 15 of 22

[Tourer]

Originally Posted by E.B

Im not by any means anti Sir Lewis but I did have a little coffee spit moment when I saw this meme....

Not anti-Lewis either (nor am I as enthusiastic about him as some others) but that Meme is bloody funny!

[Adam43]

I don’t understand why. He didn’t say anything like that? Most things are funny because there is an element of truth in it. Now if it was Horner? I can see that this my problem.

There are plenty of amusing things to post with Hamilton. Chose the latest fashion parade.

[Tourer]

Originally Posted by Adam43

I don’t understand why. He didn’t say anything like that? Most things are funny because there is an element of truth in it.

Don't think you're being serious as usual Adam but in case you are, it's a Meme - they rarely reflect what was actually said. In this case, the Meme pokes fun at Lewis' wall interface, using a statement that he did use last race and similar statements he's actually used in previous races. Usual racing driver thing of blaming the other driver - or in this case, wall.

Just a joke joyce - no need to take it too seriously.

[bathurst77]

George proved himself Mr Saturday again in a huge way! I dont know how he got that truck into p3.
Hopefully next year he will have the equipment to be Mr Sunday as well.

Lando and Mclaren showed their lack of organisation and maturity, let the pressure get to them. AS they get more used to being at the front they will calm down and make better choices under pressure when freak things happen.
(most of the team members and lando werent with them when they were regular front runners and winners, so its a new feeling for all)

And that screen cap of Lewis and the wall is fake - someone did it as a joke

[E.B]

Originally Posted by Adam43

I don’t understand why. He didn’t say anything like that? Most things are funny because there is an element of truth in it. Now if it was Horner? I can see that this my problem.

There are plenty of amusing things to post with Hamilton. Chose the latest fashion parade.

I saw it a a variation of the regular 'driver xyz didnt leave me enough space / squeezed me' that Lewis is often heard to say. (Not just Lewis but all other drivers to be fair, just Lewis seems to be aired more than others.)
Maybe as mentioned I am easily amused early Sunday morning after a sleep deprived night (blame 5.00am Indy qualy for that) in tight lockdown.
As said I am not a Lewis hater, far from it, and admire his abilities. My guilt is more as a lover of all things Kimi.

Edit: Just seen Tourers post, in particular this bit

Originally Posted by Tourer

Just a joke joyce - no need to take it too seriously.

[S griffin]

Great race from start to finish.

Really gutting for Norris. Him and Lewis were so far ahead of the rest, it really seems cruel he couldn't even finish on the podium. Should have come in for inters sooner.

Lewis gets his 100th win after a tricky weekend and Max still finishes second despite starting last. Good to see Bottas salvage some points after looking good in practice and then having a tricky race

[TrapezeArtist]

Originally Posted by S griffin

Really gutting for Norris. Him and Lewis were so far ahead of the rest, it really seems cruel he couldn't even finish on the podium. Should have come in for inters sooner.

Stop Early For Inters
Worst case: second place
Best case: win the race

Hang On and Hope
Worst case: in the wall and no points
Best case: win the race

I understand Lando's wish to stay out, and I applauded his "Nooo!" call on the radio at the time, but a less-pressured head on the pitwall should have made the call.

[steve nielsen]

Originally Posted by TrapezeArtist

Stop Early For Inters
Worst case: second place
Best case: win the race

Hang On and Hope
Worst case: in the wall and no points
Best case: win the race

I understand Lando's wish to stay out, and I applauded his "Nooo!" call on the radio at the time, but a less-pressured head on the pitwall should have made the call.

They did: did'nt you see the shot of the McLaren pitcrew beeing ready with inters in the pitlane?

[Aysedasi]

Originally Posted by steve nielsen

They did: did'nt you see the shot of the McLaren pitcrew beeing ready with inters in the pitlane?

Well, we heard a very tentative question being asked of Lando about inters. Maybe there was more conversation we didn't hear. Team boss should have known what Merc knew about the worsening rain and insisted that Lando come in. That, I assume, didn't happen.

[crmalcolm]

Originally Posted by TrapezeArtist

Stop Early For Inters
Worst case: second place
Best case: win the race

I don't necessarily see this as being quite as obvious, at the time Lando made the call.

"You didn't want to come in?" Hamilton asked Norris, of the McLaren driver's decision not to pit for treaded intermediate tyres as they battled for the lead, just as a late-race rain shower turned slowly into a deluge. "Me neither. I was like, 'He's right there!'"

"Until then," Norris said, "it was dry enough for slicks. What I got told was the rain was going to stay like that. Apparently what you got told was different."

"Yeah," Hamilton said. "My team was great today. But I ignored the first call."

On Lap 49, at the time Norris rejected the call for Inters, there were 10 other cars out still on slicks. Potentially, the move to Inters (knowing that it guarantees you lose 25 seconds) could have seen him drop 10 places.

[Aysedasi]

I thought he'd got it right initially, but then the heavens really opened and the realisation dawned that no matter how good he is in the wet, even if he managed to keep it on the black stuff, he was going to get caught.

[crmalcolm]

A point that I haven't seen discussed much following this race is what it does to the title battle.

Going into the season, Lewis was on 95 wins. Quickly this became 98 after four races, and everything looked good for the 8th WDC.
But as any sports psychologist will tell you - the pressure of a certain number can be very strong. Scoring '100' in a lot of sports is a sub-conscious barrier, and Lewis had only picked up one win in ten races, when getting to 100 seemed to be imminent.
Now he is passed that total, the records will be less of a factor in his mind, and he might find his focus improves?

Lewis has had a (relative) dip in form this season, Max has yet to really experience that. I feel things have dropped into place for Lewis now, and from here on he will increase his lead in the WDC consistently.

[Taxi645]

Originally Posted by crmalcolm

A point that I haven't seen discussed much following this race is what it does to the title battle.

Going into the season, Lewis was on 95 wins. Quickly this became 98 after four races, and everything looked good for the 8th WDC.
But as any sports psychologist will tell you - the pressure of a certain number can be very strong. Scoring '100' in a lot of sports is a sub-conscious barrier, and Lewis had only picked up one win in ten races, when getting to 100 seemed to be imminent.
Now he is passed that total, the records will be less of a factor in his mind, and he might find his focus improves?

Lewis has had a (relative) dip in form this season, Max has yet to really experience that. I feel things have dropped into place for Lewis now, and from here on he will increase his lead in the WDC consistently.

Personally I reckon what we're seeing is the performance balance has shifted this year due the aero regulation changes at the rear of the car (to compensate for the front wing changes earlier that hit RB harder than Mercedes).

The RB/Max package has just been really strong this year. If it hadn't been for Silverstone and Hungary, the championship would not nearly have been as tight still.

[Taxi645]

Originally Posted by crmalcolm

"Until then," Norris said, "it was dry enough for slicks. What I got told was the rain was going to stay like that. Apparently what you got told was different."

What people need to think about is that the intensity of the rain and the wetness of the track is not the same when it just started raining. When the raining just started then the intensity can remain the same, but the track can still become wetter. Only when the water drainage is increased to become equal to the fresh fallen water, the wetness of track will remain the same.

This is important, because if the weather forecast remains the same, the track can still become wetter and it still could be better to switch to a wetter tyre.

[steve_r]

Agree with the above. LH never had the yips before when approaching all the other many landmarks that he has passed in recent times. Its just that this year the Verstappen / Red Bull combination is about as strong or stronger. This (I think) is where the pressure has some from instead of the 100 wins record.

[chillibowl]

Originally Posted by crmalcolm

Lewis has had a (relative) dip in form this season, Max has yet to really experience that. I feel things have dropped into place for Lewis now, and from here on he will increase his lead in the WDC consistently.

Where's LH with his PU allocation?

For sure agree breaking through the 100 barrier will both be liberating and motivating, but cant help but feel like Max walked away from this race in better shape.

very exciting season with it all still left to play for!

[Anyopenroad]

The psychology aspect is interesting, though of course subject to wild speculation since we can’t know what is going on in someone’s head, we can only infer it from secondary evidence.

I wrote earlier that Hamilton is making too many mistakes. What I should have said is that Hamilton and Mercedes have been making mistakes, full stop. For the last few years their performance level was so high, so consistent, so savagely uncompromising that Hamilton missing a curb was news. This year has been different. They have looked mortal. Why?

Theory one: the extra psychological pressure crmalcolm refers to.
Theory two: having to make higher-risk choices which look like genius when they work, chumps when they don’t.
Theory three: regression to mean. All streaks end. Random chance plays a part. Merc have done nothing different, it just looks that way.
Theory four: Hamilton is a tiny fraction less good than he was. Father Time is unforgiving.
Theory five: whatever your other theory is

[Lancsbreaker]

Surprised nobody has mentioned how easily Bottas rolled over for Verstappen. No longer a team player, for sure........well at least the Mercedes team

[S griffin]

Lewis had no choice, but to pit. When Max pitted for inters, he had to do the same. As I said in another thread, it’s better that you make the same wrong decision as your main rival, than your rival getting an advantage by him making the right decision and you the wrong one. And considering the gap Norris and Hamilton had over the rest, he would have finished in front of Max anyway

To be fair, I too thought Lando might make it on his slicks, especially as he was keeping pace with the inter shod Mazepin, but as soon as it was raining hard enough for the spray to appear I knew he was a sitting duck. Am I right that Max gained a minute on him on that one lap?

Seeing Lewis and Max take first and second after all that reminds me of that funny Gary Lineker quote which goes something like “football is a simple game where 22 players go at it for 90 minutes and in the end the Germans always win”

[crmalcolm]

Originally Posted by S griffin

Am I right that Max gained a minute on him on that one lap?

That could be true - he was 57 seconds behind him before pitting for inters, and finished 32 seconds ahead.

[Aysedasi]

Originally Posted by Lancsbreaker

Surprised nobody has mentioned how easily Bottas rolled over for Verstappen. No longer a team player, for sure........well at least the Mercedes team

I was as astonished as DC and MW on C4. There was no effort at all made to protect his position. I guess you could say that Valteri doesn't see why he should, but Merc are presumably still paying him......?

[bjohnsonsmith]

Originally Posted by Aysedasi

I was as astonished as DC and MW on C4. There was no effort at all made to protect his position. I guess you could say that Valteri doesn't see why he should, but Merc are presumably still paying him......?

Memories of Sotchi 2018?

I would have thought they would be paying up until his contract ends.

[GT6]

Well overall that was a really good race and some interesting side stories like the bottas showing what he thinks of mercedes at the moment, wonder it they might try to get russell in the car for the last few races?

[Adam43]

Originally Posted by Lancsbreaker

Surprised nobody has mentioned how easily Bottas rolled over for Verstappen. No longer a team player, for sure........well at least the Mercedes team

Originally Posted by Aysedasi

I was as astonished as DC and MW on C4. There was no effort at all made to protect his position. I guess you could say that Valteri doesn't see why he should, but Merc are presumably still paying him......?

I don’t think there is much in this.

The only way to defend would have been to do a last second change of direction as Max was a lot quicker at that stage. To do so would have been dangerous.

Stay on the outside, Max nips down the inside. You lose minimal time. Defend on the inside, Max can stay on the line and will be past by the turn in point (IIRC) and he loses minimal time.

He was a sitting duck.

I’m surprised he generally didn’t drive quicker!

Ultimately Bottas is leaving because Mercedes have better alternatives. They’ve done good by him and I am sure he appreciated. Not everyone looks for reasons to be vengeful.

[Adam43]

Originally Posted by GT6

Well overall that was a really good race and some interesting side stories like the bottas showing what he thinks of mercedes at the moment, wonder it they might try to get russell in the car for the last few races?

As I said I don’t think Bottas is doing anything like that on purpose. Mainly because he is a decent person.

But maybe consider the swap early. However what are the pros and cons.

Pros. Gets Russell some Merc seat time to get ready for next year.
Con. Disruptive.

Unknown. Will it help this year? Would Russell do a better job at scoring points for constructors and support Hamilton. Obviously they think he is ultimately better, but better enough now to overcome the disruption?