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

This is it. It wasn't the Stewarts job to stop Hamilton winning the race. It was just their job to give a penalty commensurate with understeering and causing a collision - which is a relatively minor infringement.

I think the fact that Hamilton went on to win the race makes some people feel the penalty wasn't harsh enough and the penalty should have been judged to make sure Hamilton couldn't win the race. But that's not the point of penalties.

I sure am looking forward to that Schumacher doc. Nearly thirty years ago when he made his F1 debut at Spa.

Didn't Ocon get the new chassis for Silverstone and score P9. Seemed to have some positive effect for him. Hard to know if it was technical or mental, maybe a bit of both

If you are a motorsport fan with some free time in Cologne the Michael Schumacher Private Car collection is worth a visit.

Featuring the Jordan 191 and free to visit too.

I don't think agree that Max would have been smarter to give the place up as I think there are bigger principles at play (such as who will yield first). And even though Max came off second best in this event, he showed that he will not yield, as will Hamilton not yield first.

And that's great for the fan to know. But I completely agree that it's racing. Some people let their hatred of Hamilton convince them that he planned the whole thing or that he predicted the whole outcome except that Max would survive or whatever sensational nonsense they arrive at. But the fact is that it was racing and it will be one of the highlights of the season and will be one of the few moments of this season to be recalled in a decade or longer.

Next one is at Monza for the Italian GP. Then one more round TBC

Both times this year you've rolled this out, he's got on the podium. Do it again before Spa

Is Hamilton's head completely gone now that he has some competition? He put it in the wall at Imola, he threw away a victory that was handed to him on a silver platter in Baku, he ploughed into Verstappen at Silverstone, he wasn't confident enough to qualify in a shootout at Hungary despite having the fastest car so he decided to interfere with Max instead and ultimately his own lap was 2 seconds off his previous best because he made such a mess of his warm up while focussing on dirty tactics, and then today in a race that he was restarting from first with both Red Bulls, both McLarens, Bottas and Leclerc all out of play, he still managed to throw away the win and get beaten by an Alpine and Aston Martin thanks to making the most piss-poor decision making on the entire grid, when it was plain to see for even the likes of Mazepin that slicks were the tyre to be on. Then he couldn't even stand up on the podium because he was so winded by having to do some overtaking in the race.

It's amazing how he keeps falling upwards but surely it can't keep happening.

He made up 40 points because his rival got 1 after being shunted off the track twice. Should have been 1st but couldn't pass Schumacher, Gasly et Al and more importantly Alonso for three or four laps. I think he made 5 or 6 places due to others pitting when he jumped onto the hard tire early and then the mediums gave him another advantage when the rest were on old hards.

I think the fact that he doesn't have such an extreme advantage with that car anymore it shows he's not "the greatest of all time".

And the complaining on the radio, throwing his team under the bus, leaving the magic on twice (brakes and diff) and the OTT celebration in Silverstone shows he isn't all mental strength as he makes out.

You post well ordinarily, make good points and are knowledgeable, you are obviously not an idiot, I think all the recent anti-hamilton posts recently have pushed you into that post 😄

I dislike Hamilton and really wish he wasn't doing well and I wish Max was there to challengebhim to the finish in the last 2 races. But...

He came from behind in both races to finish very strongly in 1st and came from last to 3rd (2nd in terms of points) at a track which is known to be hard to overtake. The notion that he's lost his head is not borne out in the evidence on track. You need to stretch for things like suggesting he celebrated too much after winning his home GP to make that point. I'll probably just stick with the on-track evidence and on track he's doing fine.

Is he the greatest of all time? I don't know and I've never gone in for that kind of hyperbole.

Is his current form the best of his career? Probably not. I expect he's past his peak - he's 36 which is usually past a racing driver's peak.

Is he driving perfectly and making no mistakes? No. No driver does that in reality. That only happens in the retelling of the story for sensationalism's sake. All driver's make mistakes.

Has he lost his head? Absolutely no on-track evidence to suggest he has lost his head. He's plugging away and getting some excellent results.

Do you think he's lost his head.

Yeah, you're right. Isn't it always the way? If a driver is well liked, they'll say he's doing great. If he's disliked they'll say he's lost his head.

I haven't suggested he's particularly mentally solid, or outside the range of his normal mental solidity. I only said he's plugging away and getting and getting some excellent results.

He has had some good fortune in those races too. Being in the fastest car brings some "luck" and drivers make a lot of their own luck. These's nothing to suggest mental fragility or that he has "lost his head". Who will claim Ocon wasn't extremely lucky yesterday and who will begrudge Ocon his luck? Not me anyway.

Ah if plugging away is what you meant. Its just this...

[Quote]He made 40 odd points over his championship rival in the last 2 races. Scored a win and a second place, came from thr back of the field to 3rd in Hungary which is notoriously hard to overtake and Took control of the championship again.[/quote]

...made it seem like he was doing more than just plugging away.

Ocon was lucky to a certain extent but I think his driving and alonsos driving to help him stay out front out weighed the luck when you think of the cars and drivers he still had behind him.

I didn't say he lost his head.

What I'm saying is, while what you said is true you can't use them them to counter a claim that his mentality isn't impacted because there were bigger factors at play in those other than Hamiltons mind set.

If it was a case were Hamilton was driving to at a level that was putting other drivers under so much pressure they were making the mistakes he has made and he was capitalising on the back of those then fair enough but that's not the case.

That's how I see it anyway and that's what I would accept as a valid points to counter a suggestion that his mentality and concentration might not be all there, not completely gone, but there you go.