There's no way Hamilton has "lost his head" that's nonsense. Long covid could definitely slow him down though. Hopefully that doesn't happen and the crashing stops and we get a good battle. RB are potentially in a spot now with engines and the cost cap though. The engine in Perez's car has to be replaced now and do we know the condition of the engine in Max's car after Silverstone?
The engine from Silverstone was changed before the race on Sunday despite it being used in practice and qualy. They’ll likely get a penalty later in the season as the new engine won’t last the remainder of the season but Horner was saying on Sunday morning that if they can fix the Silverstone engine without using new parts then they can use it again without penalty.
Bottas will land on the podium again.
I agree
Hamilton hasn’t lost anything IMO, but when he’s desperate to get by he can be overly aggressive and make mistakes (seen with Albon, Russell & Verstappen most recently).
While watching Alonsos awesome defence against him yesterday I thought there was a good probability of a crash, I could see Hamilton leaving a wheel in to nudge Alonso out of the way if it went on much longer.
RB have plenty to be pissed off at, they are probably going to get penalties due to both Mercs smashing into them. I think they found a crack in Verstappens engine and they had to change it, Perez too now has to take an additional one. Along with the costs on that and the penalties, that isn't ideal.
These last 2 races remind me of Austria and Germany in 2000. Schumacher was punted off in the opening laps at both races, we had a new winner in Barrichello.
This season has a feel to it of that. I still reckon it is a slight car advantage to RB, Verstappen was handy in the Sprint race at Silverstone and he didn't exactly get an representative run yesterday.
Spicies it all up for the next few races. Still feel there might be more drama at some point.
“All of us are in Formula 1 for a reason, because we’re good drivers and we know where to brake, where to judge braking zones and so on, especially when it’s wet, especially on the first lap of the race,” Norris told Motorsport.com.
“But obviously some misjudged it completely.
“That’s the annoying thing, you expect a little bit more from when you’re racing those top guys at the front of the field.
“But also they don’t race that often, they’re quite on their own, and not in the pack getting in dirty air and things as much as we are.
“So maybe they just don’t experience it, and they need to learn that a little bit more.”
Lando Norris with some serious shade towards Bottas there.
1 race ban for Bottas and Stroll would have been more appropriate. Stewards said they took into consideration that it was wet which I thought was utterly hilarious. These guys get paid millions and are supposed to be the best in the world the conditions shouldn't be a factor.
Race bans would be a bit over the top but starting from the pit lane might be more appropriate than 5 place penalties.
One interesting thing to note is that Russell has never beaten his Williams team mate over the course of a season*
*Excluding his points finish when he drove for Mercedes.
No one would say that Russell has not been miles better than his Williams team mates but a lot of bad luck and/or throwing it away on race day has cost him big.
Russell and Verstappen could write right books on bad luck!
Funnily enough it was Max who was the closest to causing an accident overtaking when he was desperate to pass Schumacher.
9 times out of 10 he gets a puncture with that kind of contact, he was very lucky to get away with it but those are the margins these guys work off of. A split second here, a millimetre there and the race can be gone
That's a class stat!
What I find hilarious is that they said they dish out punishments based on actions rather than consequences. So people locking up with no-one around should be leading to penalties from now on.
Stroll has enough form to justify a race ban for yesterday. Bottas is just pathetic but hasn't taken too many people out lately.
Ah, you're pretending you don't understand that the penalty is for breaking a rule such as causing a collision not just for locking up. Did you really not know that simply locking up doesn't break the rules or were you just pretending you didn't know?
Wasn't Grosjean banned for the consequences of his crash at Spa? Was it not deemed worse due to him taking out 2 championship contenders at the time?
I can't find the stewards' decision, however, this article includes statements from the stewards which indeed identify that he took out championship contenders.
The track conditions are cited as a mitigating factor for Valterri.
https://www.fia.com/sites/default/files/decision-document/2021%20Hungarian%20Grand%20Prix%20-%20Offence%20-%20Car%2077%20-%20causing%20a%20collision.pdf
JV suggests Valtteri Bottas to Aston, Lance Stroll to Mercedes | PlanetF1
Gob on a stick, Jacque Villeneuve, is at it again. Is there anything he wouldn't say for a headline?
He's suggesting Stroll and Bottas switch places next year instead of bringing in Russell. Sounds good for Bottas to go to AM, but why on earth would Mercedes want Stroll over Bottas? Not much in it between them. Bottas would usually be much more consistent than Stroll but both are in shyte form this year.
Also, Stroll going to a team not owned by his dad? Seems like Jacque is just trying to shoehorn Bottas into a seat that doesn’t exist.
Not sure Lawrence can afford to buy Mercedes
Lawrence might be a rich man but his vault isn't a bottomless pit. If it's clear that Lance is costing the team money either prize or repairs, he's getting the shove.
I want some of what JV is smoking please. Stroll in a Mercedes is never going to happen. I'm an Aston fan and it's pretty clear, Stroll isn't absolutely rubbish, but he's not great either. He is very inconsistent. For what it's worth, Bottas is quick but I think he's lost his bottle/mojo whatever it may be
Why would Mercedes want Stroll over a German driver anyway if it came down to that?
Form comes and goes. Bottas has been very consistent in general and his quali pace is still generally good. He's had some bad luck this year (running second in Monaco until the wheel nut failed, for example) but not so much bad luck to explain the dip in race pace. Id still take Bottas over Stroll, but there isn't loads between them.
It's just JV talking nonsense. The Stroll senior-Toto business connections make it slightly more plausible, but the fact that Stroll is average at best and below average with his poor form at the moment, means it's just guff.
Jacque is as reliable as The Sun, best to ignore
Same could be said about boards recently.
Yeah where is Alonso’s penalty for his lock up that let Lewis past him? It was extremely dangerous!
I really think the whole notion of a brand wanting a driver from their home nation is overblown.
Teams, generally, hire on the basis of money & talent. Being from the same country as the brand is a happy accident. See: Haas, Aston Martin etc. Yuki wasn't brought in to AT because he's Japanese - he's a youngster who happens to have both Red Bull and Honda backing. Same again with Ocon - he wasn't hired by Renault because he's French - he's a talented driver.
It might be a consideration on some level, but it depends on where they want to market their cars. There's probably not a lot of room left to grow the Renault brand in france or the Mercedes brand in Germany. Alpine might have more use of a French driver as its a brand innthe relaunch phase. If they want to grow their brand in China, then a Chinese driver would be ideal, likewise America.
Mercedes having 2 German drivers in Schumacher and Rosbers seemed like the most pointless exercise in the world from a purely marketing perspective. An international driver like Hamilton probably brings much greater marketing opportunities.
Alpine have a Chinese driver on their books, and have done for sometime, and he's nowhere near that car. Several young US drivers have come on the scene, but they stay Stateside in Indycar since it's not worth their career to trundle at the back in a Haas when they can fight for wins in Indycar (see: Herta). Haas may be an anomaly in this discussion as while they are American, they're not in the sport to sell cars.
The only team I would entertain the thought of their having an English driver being important to them is Williams, given how strong English that team is and in its heritage. Heck, didn't Sir Frank used to have a portrait of Margaret Thatcher in his office!
I wasn't following the sport for SCH's return, but to characterise it as "useless" seems odd to me. Surely them having a 7 time world champ, statistically the GOAT at that time on their team immensely raised the profile of the marque's team in the sport. Just because he's German doesn't mean he's soley of interest in Germany - he is world famous.
I think that was more to show they're a german team, when in truth they're actually a british team
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