[Official] Abu Dhabi Grand Prix 2021: Grand Prix Weekend Thread - Final Round

[Knowlesy]

Might have took a bit too much wing off that Red Bull...

[Beau2]

Red Bull commit to softs for both cars off the grid - interesting!

[Knowlesy]

Cor that's a lap. Red Bull playing a blinder so far.

[chillibowl]

Why ham/merc not using bottas to give a tow?

Missed a trick there I think.

[Beau2]

What a fantastic Qualifying session by Red Bull. Absolutely on the money as far as working together as a team is concerned. Excellent lap by Max.

[Knowlesy]

Contenders on the front row. Tyre differential. All set up nicely.

[Sodemo]

I think Hamilton has a tough job ahead of him on Sunday, the Red Bull looked immense.

[E.B]

I think Merc were a bit cocky thinking they had pole in the bag and RB have mugged them well and truly with a team performance on the first, as it turns out, all important run.
And to be controversial, Sergio is in a good position to do a Bottas Hungary stunt. They cant dock points from Max if Sergio is a bit clumsy at T1 and runs into the car directly in front of him. Hopefully it wont come to that....

[Knowlesy]

Max looked perfectly capable of pole on his own tbf. His second run was very good.

Does it translate into race pace? The Red Bull did look good on soft tyre long runs in practice so you would have to say it looks decent for them. The soft tyre isn't really a major disadvantage if the race is a two stopper for everyone either.

So I do think Lewis needs to pull something out of the bag here. That said, even if he got pole, he would likely be down to second immediately anyways so not much has changed for him.

[Adam43]

Blinder by Red Bull there.

[Adam43]

Oh and Go Lando!

[chillibowl]

Curious what the condition of max' softs is for the start?

They will be able to scrub them/prep them for the race but how does this affect tire life?

Overall though, the alternative tire strategy is a smart one imo as it all but takes away LH's option to play the undercut for the first round of stops?

[bella]

Originally Posted by chillibowl

Curious what the condition of max' softs is for the start?

They will be able to scrub them/prep them for the race but how does this affect tire life?

Overall though, the alternative tire strategy is a smart one imo as it all but takes away LH's option to play the undercut for the first round of stops?

to be fair, even if you don't scrape your tyres you get rid of a lot of the pickup (and pick up some more) on your out lap.

in terms of tyre life, they've obviously lost a few laps and the peak performance, so they'll have to hope he makes a righteous start and goes off into the distance to avoid mercedes being able to hop in front by dint of staying out longer and also having a few more laps at the end on the next set. he'll potentially need to be more cautious on the first few laps with the mediums as well if he uses them as a second/third set, but that flat spot didn't look particularly bad.

if he's running less wing to ideal to gain straightline speed, then iirc it's going to be slidier in the corners meaning he's going to wear his tyres out a bit faster than the mercedes anyway. even more so with the softs once that grippy bonus has gone and they start to degrade. so.... should be interesting.

[Sodemo]

I guess the only card Merc can play is to hope that Max’s rear tyres go off. I understand they opted for a lower downforce rear wing, which may leave them vulnerable if the rears go off too early.

[bjohnsonsmith]

Great intro as ever.

Unfortunately I missed Qualifying but was pleasantly surprised to find out Nozza is 3rd on the grid. He hasn't been on the podium since Monza, so hopefully he will come good tomorrow.

[crmalcolm]

Originally Posted by Sodemo

I guess the only card Merc can play is to hope that Max’s rear tyres go off. I understand they opted for a lower downforce rear wing, which may leave them vulnerable if the rears go off too early.

Merc are starting Lewis on Inters tomorrow......

[porsche962fan]

it looks like mano a mano fight

[Greem]

Mano a Mano a Lando e Checo

[TrapezeArtist]

Originally Posted by E.B

And to be controversial, Sergio is in a good position to do a Bottas Hungary stunt. They cant dock points from Max if Sergio is a bit clumsy at T1 and runs into the car directly in front of him. Hopefully it wont come to that....

[crmalcolm]

Originally Posted by E.B

And to be controversial, Sergio is in a good position to do a Bottas Hungary stunt. They cant dock points from Max if Sergio is a bit clumsy at T1 and runs into the car directly in front of him. Hopefully it wont come to that....

They could exclude Red Bull (entirely, both cars) from both WDC and WCC as a result of the actions of either driver.

[Born Racer]

Congrats to Lewis on his decorum in response to the negative crowd members. Max, who remains charmless, could learn a lot from him.

[Alan52]

Originally Posted by crmalcolm

They could exclude Red Bull (entirely, both cars) from both WDC and WCC as a result of the actions of either driver.

Retrospectively they should then exclude both Mercs from the championships for the actions of Bottas in Hungary.
That is just as ridiculous as your scenario.

[Adam43]

Originally Posted by Born Racer

Congrats to Lewis on his decorum in response to the negative crowd members.

It was.

And I remain saddened about what out sport is becoming. That and the cack in the media and some of the participants. Let alone some of the fans.

Tomorrow should be great, but I’m not looking forward to it.

[bathurst77]

Lewis at his "its not my fault" "they are up to no good" blame game again..

https://www.news.com.au/sport/motors...e46667ddae8f95
‘Conspiracy’: Hamilton calls out ‘deliberate’ Verstappen, Red Bull ploy
Lewis Hamilton says Red Bull is up to some sneaky tricks as it tries absolutely everything to help Max Verstappen win a world title.

Lewis Hamilton has accused Max Verstappen of deliberately locking up in qualifying at the Abu Dhabi Grand Prix as part of a title decider “conspiracy”.
Hamilton said: “It was interesting that lock-up into Turn One. I’m a conspiracist but no one locks up into Turn One and if you do it is not a big one.

“I think they did it deliberately so they chose to go on to the soft tyre.”

Hamilton also said he wasn’t a fan of Verstappen receiving a “tow” from teammate Sergio Perez in qualifying to help him speed through a slipstream.

“We’ve never, ever really done that, It’s never something we discuss or we work on and I don’t believe it should have been done.”
---------------

Deliberately flat spot? when you could just....slow down...
And since when has choosing which tyre to go fastest and start on been some kind of "dirty trick' ... its what you do, as much as setting the aero etc.

And getting a tow or slipstream is standard racecraft... i cant be bothered looking through history, but im sure he has done it many times. i mean why the bickering about who leaves pitlane first?
If he hasnt, he should have, they would have more crowns. Merc management might query why spend millions in developing a faster car, when a simple driving "trick" would do it for free. everyone has been doing it for decades.

Lewis is always complaining. look at his banging on about why did they stop the race in first red flag last week, constantly saying my tyres are shot (then doing fastest lap) Im sorry but he is a cry baby.

[Adam43]

This is exactly what turns me off. So now we have to have the battle of why we don’t like them.

Still, they got you to read the article. Possibly justifies the booing to those that do it too.

Edit. Watched the press conference. Wonderful how that article is written. Especially the bit about the tow.