Formula 1 2021 - General Discussion Thread (Read 1st post rules)

Killinator

[Deleted User] wrote: »

I dunno, you're the one with repeating key presses, I'd be more worried about yourself having a stroke.

Come along posting plain incorrect hyperbole, get shown that you're wrong with some sarcastic out-doing hyperbole, refuse to engage. Classic.

Yes, classic. You won the internet, have a cookie. (HINT: it's an internet cookie and not a real one!)

donspeekinglesh

Killinator wrote: »

I may be wrong going by comments here and elsewhere online but was DRS not available for all drivers both in this race and every race for the last several years?
Also it is a thing where lapped cars are allowed unlap themselves under safety car, another thing that has been around for yonks.

I've hated those rules since they were first mooted.
DRS has spoiled the racing so much for me I rarely ever watch a race any more. You'd see more interesting overtaking from a motorway overpass.

The lapped car rule is the stupid NASCAR Lucky Dog rule which takes away from the advantage the leading car has built, even more than the SC/red flag has.

AMKC

So would anyone here like to explain how a William's was in a position it really should not have been and nearly overtook a Mercedes except for that crash it would have. Is George Russell just that good a driver but not quiet there yet because he touched the white line or is Bottas just that bad? Also If George had of done it would he have passed other cars and maybe got on the podium do you think? I guess we will never really know. Was it just that George had better tyres than Bottas maybe?

klose

AMKC wrote: »

So would anyone here like to explain how a William's was in a position it really should not have been and nearly overtook a Mercedes except for that crash it would have. Is George Russell just that good a driver but not quiet there yet because he touched the white line or is Bottas just that bad? Also If George had of done it would he have passed other cars and maybe got on the podium do you think? I guess we will never really know. Was it just that George had better tyres than Bottas maybe?

Williams (latifi in particular) looked much improved in practicing and with both qualifying for Q2 so it seems they've gained some pace, bottas only qualified in 8th 4 places ahead of Russell, if turkey last season was anything to go by bottas doesn't really enjoy the wet conditions either.

recyclebin

Bottas was having a stinker of a weekend even before Russell took him out. Williams look to have gained a bit of pace too, as both made it to second phase of qualifying.

If I was Mercedes, I would have been fuming with Russell for crashing into Bottas and also for making Hamilton go onto to the wet line to lap him.

Joeface

Latifi looks like he spend his first year learning and applying it in his second. He has looked faster. He had a good qualifying session.
one certain rookie this year could do with following that example instead of spinning up a storm .

I had not included Ricciardo the list of moving drivers that would need time to adjust but seems like he does need more time ( my list in my head ).
For myself I was giving Perez , Sainz , Vettel and Alonso 3 races to get to grip with the car they have and then Race 4 was no excuses given how short the winter season for testing was this year.

Sainz for me has adapted the best. he was well on Charles pace yesterday
Ricciardo is ok but given the very clear pace difference between him and Lando he does need a bit more.
Vettel is cursed (or Aston Martin is ) but he has progressed some bit . Qualifying was better from him and he looked smoother , and Stroll has shown it is a Top ten car, so he really should be in Q3 next time out .

Perez is a little unknown as well , he can drive the car and had a good qualification but was no where really in the race. He actually looked no better than Albon at his worst yesterday.

Alonso , I am not sure if it is the car or him . Ocon looks fast some times and then it's just gone a few laps later. its not a perfect car . I find his the hardest to judge whether he is improving in the car or not.

El_Duderino 09

Joeface wrote: »

Latifi looks like he spend his first year learning and applying it in his second. He has looked faster. He had a good qualifying session.
one certain rookie this year could do with following that example instead of spinning up a storm .

I had not included Ricciardo the list of moving drivers that would need time to adjust but seems like he does need more time ( my list in my head ).
For myself I was giving Perez , Sainz , Vettel and Alonso 3 races to get to grip with the car they have and then Race 4 was no excuses given how short the winter season for testing was this year...

I think Latiffi is probably surprising people with his performance this weekend. Much closer to Russell. And even ahead in practice. But he was significantly behind Russel last weekend so we'll have to see how it goes.

Similarly, Sainz and Perez were well off Leclerc and Max's pace last weekend but much closer this weekend.

The older, more experienced drivers are taking longer to adapt. You would think that ability to adapt is a skill which develops with time, bit it actually seems like a disadvantage to the older guys in this case. Vettel did a terrible job of adapting to the Ferrari for the last 2 years and isn't doing much better this year so far. Norris seems to be on great form but his first half of last year was stronger then the second half so we'll have to see how it works out. He's certainly getting more out of the McLaren so far.

Alonso isn't looking sharp at all. Time might have caught up with him.

muckwarrior

El_Duderino 09 wrote: »

Alonso isn't looking sharp at all. Time might have caught up with him.

Despite being a big Alonso fan I really didn't want him to return. Even if he was still at his best (unlikely), I knew Renault hadn't a hope in hell of providing him with a winning car.

El_Duderino 09

muckwarrior wrote: »

Despite being a big Alonso fan I really didn't want him to return. Even if he was still at his best (unlikely), I knew Renault hadn't a hope in hell of providing him with a winning car.

How long is he contracted for?

Joeface

2 years , He is really hoping for Next years car

muckwarrior

Joeface wrote: »

2 years , He is really hoping for Next years car

Unless they find a loophole, like Brawn did, then the chances of them out-developing teams like Mercedes and Red Bull are practically zero IMO.

Joeface

Aston are now content with the Rule changes , at least that is one less PR battle . maybe focus on the current car could see improvement.

https://the-race.com/formula-1/aston-martin-now-pretty-satisfied-in-f1-rule-change-row/

Adamocovic

What a great start to the year compared to other seasons.

Loads of drama up and down the field. If this is a taste of things to come for next year we are going in the right direction.

Can’t wait for the next round!

Adamocovic

Joeface wrote: »

Aston are now content with the Rule changes , at least that is one less PR battle . maybe focus on the current car could see improvement.

https://the-race.com/formula-1/aston-martin-now-pretty-satisfied-in-f1-rule-change-row/

They really need to sort themselves out.

So many errors by the team. Hard to really tell how competitive the car is pace wise since they don’t seem to be able to get it to run problem free.

Killinator

I thought Aston were supposed to be providing the safety/medical cars yet it was Mercs this weekend.
Was that a one off thing?

Adamocovic

Killinator wrote: »

I thought Aston were supposed to be providing the safety/medical cars yet it was Mercs this weekend.
Was that a one off thing?

Could be wrong but I believe they said they are providing them next race again.

Captain_Crash

Killinator wrote: »

I thought Aston were supposed to be providing the safety/medical cars yet it was Mercs this weekend.
Was that a one off thing?

They rotate with Merc, odd numbered weeks are Aston with even numbers being Merc.!

Jordan 199

Adamocovic wrote: »

What a great start to the year compared to other seasons.

Loads of drama up and down the field. If this is a taste of things to come for next year we are going in the right direction.

Can’t wait for the next round!

Hopefully reliability won't play a factor in the championship.

Norris Russell seeing the replay.

https://gfycat.com/spiffycourteousamericankestrel-sportsarefun

flazio

[Deleted User] wrote: »

Norris seeing the replay.

https://gfycat.com/spiffycourteousamericankestrel-sportsarefun

Did you mean Russell?

Anyway he's "reflected" (talked to pr) and released this statement.
https://twitter.com/GeorgeRussell63/status/1384183159567241223?s=19

flazio

flazio wrote: »

Did you mean Russell?

I did. :P

Would've rathered Russell just answering questions at the next race. Really hate the PR nonsense of putting out statements like that.

eviltimeban

I'd more surprised if F1 drivers *didn't* react like that when they are angry. They are people, specifically guys, more specifically young guys, so of course they are going to boil over sometimes.

weisses

Adamocovic wrote: »

What a great start to the year compared to other seasons.

Loads of drama up and down the field. If this is a taste of things to come for next year we are going in the right direction.

Can’t wait for the next round!

Imo the reason for the exiting season so far are the relative minor rule changes compared to last year ... Next year will be a completely different field again with the bigger teams having the better car

This is it

https://whendidmazepinspin.com/

eviltimeban

LIGHTNING wrote: »

They all get media training as part of the role so they know how to react. Although in extreme cases human nature takes over.

Yeah but he wasn't on front of the media. On front of the media they are all "for sure it's a great result for the team" but in the heat of the moment in the middle of the noise and confusion of a race track, all that probably goes away.

Russell was hardly gonna go up to Bottas and say "what ho old boy, bit of argy bargy!" Nor as Bottas gonna let him get away with anything.

In a way I'd have preferred to not have had to read the "will take time to reflect" type apologies. And just let them get on with being competitors. Could you imagine someone like Irvine, or Montoya, or Senna himself, issuing this kind of statement after an outburst.

duploelabs

eviltimeban wrote: »

Yeah but he wasn't on front of the media. On front of the media they are all "for sure it's a great result for the team" but in the heat of the moment in the middle of the noise and confusion of a race track, all that probably goes away.

Russell was hardly gonna go up to Bottas and say "what ho old boy, bit of argy bargy!" Nor as Bottas gonna let him get away with anything.

In a way I'd have preferred to not have had to read the "will take time to reflect" type apologies. And just let them get on with being competitors. Could you imagine someone like Irvine, or Montoya, or Senna himself, issuing this kind of statement after an outburst.

Or storming into their pit box, ready to puck the head off them ala Schumacher

Jordan 199

duploelabs wrote: »

Or storming into their pit box, ready to puck the head off them ala Schumacher

I wouldn't mind seeing more of that kind of thing to be honest.

mickdw

Im thinking russell is abit of a dick.
I listened to audio from all the drivers the day of the grosjean crash. Maybe heavily edited but each and everyone except russell came on the radio asking is he ok and saying massive fire ball etc.
Russell came on complaining about his start - asking what went on with it.

Glico Man

It's all well and good for us to want to drivers to be human and express themselves how we would expect them to a la "heat of the moment", but that's not the look their teams or sponsors want. It's a different age to Senna, Schumi pelting down the pitlane after Coulthard and Montoya saying what he wants.

Everyone is micromanaged and media trained to be corporate speakers. It's sh!te and dilutes their personalities so they're all essentially the same driving robot, but with different accents. At least in front of the screens we see.

Was a breath of fresh air when they first started doing their online race streams last year when they were able to show the world how they really are, before the teams, F1 and sponsors got their fingers in the pie of course.

El_Duderino 09

McLaren has agreed a sale and lease back of it's factory. It's probably necessary given the financial trouble McLaren was in before the covid pandemic. But I think it's sad to see teams divest from the sport like this.

https://www.autosport.com/f1/news/mclaren-agrees-factory-sale-leaseback-deal/6365441/