[Official] Sakhir Grand Prix 2020: Grand Prix Weekend Thread - Round 16 of 17

[GT6]

Well certainly an interesting race and as most things in the season are already decided, that was just what we needed. Great race for some, others must be wishing they had tested positive for a mild dose covid.

[Richard C]

Originally Posted by Akrapovic

Credit to Max: He backed out of a situation that was going to end badly. Had the run off being entirely tarmac without that little strip of gravel, he'd have survived.

It is ironic that he behaved quite maturely and ended up getting the shaft. Negative reinforcement for positive actions!

Richard

[bella]

then he made himself look like a wally by reacting exactly the same way his father would have done

[Aysedasi]

Originally Posted by bella

then he made himself look like a wally by reacting exactly the same way his father would have done

I thought he'd just stepped in some doggy-doo-doo as he got out of the car and was getting rid of it......

[bella]

i think he stepped in some when he got *in* it in the first place

[TrapezeArtist]

Originally Posted by Moneyseeker

When shall we start the Bottas back to Williams rumours...

I think you just have.

[TrapezeArtist]

Originally Posted by peebee2

Russell was a star but Bottas was catching him before the snafu, so what would have happened will be forever unknown.

At about 0.1sec per lap, if I recall correctly. So after about 15 laps he would have been within DRS range. But look at the way things turned out when they got close: 3:0 to George.

[TrapezeArtist]

Originally Posted by chavez

With all the excitement Verstappen manages to fly under the radar.

Leclerc managed to stop his broken car before crashing into the barrier.

Verstappen drives a perfectly good car straight into the barrier. "Oh Max" Brundle exclaimed. Yep......oh Max.

These are the weekends Max needs to shine.

Each time they replayed Max's onboard shot, I thought it looked like he was heading for some tarmac run-off and, Boom! On the camera the conveyor belting looked like a run-off area. Now that's probably down to the camera, or my eyes, but it could also be the effect of the floodlights that deceived Max as well as me.

[Peter Mallett]

I got the same impression.

[TrapezeArtist]

I've been puzzling for months over why RP dumped Perez in favour of Vettel. Now I think I've got it: Perez makes Stroll Jnr look ordinary, whereas Vettel will make him look good.

[billy bleach]

Originally Posted by Knowlesy

I enjoyed Lawrence telling us about the great leadership he has brought to the team.

I was just sat there in awe.

Well he bought a BANKRUPT company and has since hired 150+ people, set in motion a factory fit for a modern F1 team ( not one from the 80's) , signed a 4 time World Champion ( jury still out?!), convinced his Engineering Group to put their egos in a draw and get their cameras out ( brilliant if audacious) and got his very average entitled son on the podium. Credit where its due even if it does stick in the gullet.....

[Moneyseeker]

Originally Posted by billy bleach

Well he bought a BANKRUPT company and has since hired 150+ people, set in motion a factory fit for a modern F1 team ( not one from the 80's) , signed a 4 time World Champion ( jury still out?!), convinced his Engineering Group to put their egos in a draw and get their cameras out ( brilliant if audacious) and got his very average entitled son on the podium. Credit where its due even if it does stick in the gullet.....

Agree, shame all that effort will be wasted on Lance and Vettel.

Sent from my SNE-LX1 using Tapatalk

[RWill2073]

Originally Posted by ascarracinguk

I was purely talking about teammate comparisons.

The talk all weekend has been about how Russell has come in and by doing so well in the car it somehow tarnishes Hamilton’s and Bottas performances this year.

Max did exactly the same thing, but no one talked about it diminishing his teammate, it was all about how good Max was.....

...biases aside, if you look at it objectively people should apply the same rule for both situations, I prefer to believe it just highlights how good both Max and Russell are rather than tarnishing another drivers record.

How much did verstappens performance hurt people's viewpoint of sainz? He was an up and coming stud, then got booted, his replacement wins first time in the car, next thing you know, he's never talked about among the top drivers, falls down the ladder of teams, to renault, then to mclaren, which at that point was seen as a step down from even renault, as they were just coming off the honda experiment. It's taken a few years to re-establish himself to the point of now getting the ferrari seat. One big difference, is he wasn't dominating in the dominating car, on every f1 related headline, like hamilton.

Originally Posted by Akrapovic

I like how we've got to compare Bottas to Albon and Stroll now. Not the best argument for how well he's doing. "He can beat drivers than people don't think are that good".

Before this weekend it was "Take Lewis out, and Bottas will win". Now we've got to add Russell to that list of drivers who Bottas needs to not be team mates with, and he's literally had 1 race.

I think you misunderstood why I threw those names out there. I picked arguable the worst drivers to illustrate that if you put someone who is no threat to win or compete at that level and put them in the mercedes, and that second mercedes was finishing 4-5 every race, bottas would still be winning most of the races, because the mercedes is that good.

Yes, now we can add russell to the list of who looks better than bottas. Meanwhile, all year, and for the previous few years, take hamilton out of the picture, and who would be world champion? If we're at the point of having to reach to albon and stroll to compare bottas to, and bottas would still be a multiple time world champion the last few years, what does that say about who is more responsible for the recent domination: Mercedes or hamilton?

[sparkione]

A suggested future scenario – LH sits out this year, returns next year, wins title no.8 (thus surpassing MS), achieves the Holy Grail of 100 GP wins then retires to Colorado (or wherever his studio is) and concentrates on his, er, music and any number of other avenues (fashion, etc) which will be open to him. Merc replaces him with George and retain Bottas as a reliable back-stop. GR wins title, VB retires and the New Normal is established. You read it here first...

[bjohnsonsmith]

Originally Posted by sparkione

A suggested future scenario – LH sits out this year, returns next year, wins title no.8 (thus surpassing MS), achieves the Holy Grail of 100 GP wins then retires to Colorado (or wherever his studio is) and concentrates on his, er, music and any number of other avenues (fashion, etc) which will be open to him. Merc replaces him with George and retain Bottas as a reliable back-stop. GR wins title, VB retires and the New Normal is established. You read it here first...

I don't think Hamilton will sit out the year. However if he did, he could be at the forefront in developing the '22 car, without the distraction of competing next year. Having said that, driving the current car is like second nature to him and as demonstrated by Russell, it is streets ahead of anything else on the grid and is Hamilton's the best chance of winning the that 8th title next year.

[Moneyseeker]

In a different slant what a weekend for Mercedes..

They have a very rare moment of operational weakness at a critical time
The performance of GR has at the same time lit up that seat of knowledge which is Twitter in a mix of...

Conspiracy theory that the pitstop foul up was to stop GR winning and making Lewis look bad
Or that VB's career at Mercedes is effectively over...
That Lewis has had it easy this year if a driver can jump in his car having never sat in it before and almost get pole and a win
That Lewis will be on the back foot in his negotations with Mercedes as his bargaining power has now vanished
That is is all down to the car and whatever the drivers do is almost worthless.

I bet Mercedes didn't expect that from a race weekend!

[Aysedasi]

I've avoided social media like the plague today.......

[GT6]

i think some people are over thinking the race, however i do like the idea that Lewis might not be able to demand the obscene contract he was asking for. F1 needs to keep costs under control for sure.

[ascarracinguk]

Originally Posted by Moneyseeker

In a different slant what a weekend for Mercedes..

They have a very rare moment of operational weakness at a critical time
The performance of GR has at the same time lit up that seat of knowledge which is Twitter in a mix of...

Conspiracy theory that the pitstop foul up was to stop GR winning and making Lewis look bad
Or that VB's career at Mercedes is effectively over...
That Lewis has had it easy this year if a driver can jump in his car having never sat in it before and almost get pole and a win
That Lewis will be on the back foot in his negotations with Mercedes as his bargaining power has now vanished
That is is all down to the car and whatever the drivers do is almost worthless.

I bet Mercedes didn't expect that from a race weekend!

It’s a good job that ANYONE with more brain cells than an amoeba doesn't subscribe to conspiracy theories, and realises that Mercedes wouldn’t intentionally throw away championship points, prize money and marketing/ media just to pacify a 7 time world champion who has never wanted nor needed an advantage within his team in his entire career.

It’s also a good job that anyone with an ounce of knowledge also knows that if it was THAT easy to jump In the Mercedes and win that Bottas and Rosberg would have beaten Hamilton for the last 7 years and Hamilton wouldn’t be worth his salary.

Fortunately no one on this forum has the brain capacity of a single cell organism and realises this though.....right?!

[Adam43]

Basically, something interesting happens in F1 and again many fans prove that they can’t cope.

They can’t have things that are interesting and unexpected as it might not fit their tiny little minds preconceived ideas.

George got a great opportunity and did really well with it. The team messed up. There is nothing more to that.

Looking forward to seeing if Merc or someone else sees super potential in Russell that they go for him. And just generally how his career develops.

Looking forward to the next race.

[ascarracinguk]

Originally Posted by Adam43

Basically, something interesting happens in F1 and again many fans prove that they can’t cope.

They can’t have things that are interesting and unexpected as it might not fit their tiny little minds preconceived ideas.

George got a great opportunity and did really well with it. The team messed up. There is nothing more to that.

Looking forward to seeing if Merc or someone else sees super potential in Russell that they go for him. And just generally how his career develops.

Looking forward to the next race.

This!

Ahhh I long for the days before social media! Could you imagine if Twitter was around in the days of schumacher, Prost, Senna, fangio

Really looking forward to the next one. It will be fascinating to see if Bottas can rebound and if George can repeat (let’s be honest, it’s unlikely Lewis will be back)

[bjohnsonsmith]

Originally Posted by Aysedasi

I've avoided social media like the plague today.......

I avoid social media completely when it comes to motorsport.

[Aysedasi]

Originally Posted by bjohnsonsmith

I avoid social media completely when it comes to motorsport.

Sensible......

[littleman]

Originally Posted by ascarracinguk

I’m glad someone’s awake and gets my sense of humour Was bringing myself down to his level .....about 4ft 6 apparently

What sense of humour?......oh,you mean that Mini you drive

[gert]

Originally Posted by bjohnsonsmith

I avoid social media completely when it comes to motorsport.

Sensible.
I avoid social media completely. (full stop)