Formula 1 2019 - Round 5 - Spain

chicorytip wrote: »

Bottas should be doing a lot more with the car he has at his disposal. Rosberg, who was a mediocre driver lacking in many basic skills, still had enough about him to win a world title. It would be great to see two "big beasts" like Hamilton and Verstappen or Vettel driving for the same team.

I disagree. Rosberg beat Hamilton in the same car. It takes more than a mediocre driver to do that and I think he could have done it again had he stayed another year.
I don't think Hamilton and Vettel will ever be on the same team and think Hamilton would do better if they were. As for Verstappen he is fast and good but I would not call him a big beast yet whatever that means. He could possibly be on the same team as Hamilton but highly unlikely. If Red vBull Honda keep improving do he will not need to and maybe next year or the year after might be a challenge to Mercedes and Hamilton if he is still around.

chicorytip wrote: »

Rosberg, who was a mediocre driver lacking in many basic skills

If that's not ignore list fodder I don't know what is :rolleyes: Do you seriously believe the tripe you're writing, or are you taking the peter?

Hamilton has had Alonso, Button, & Rosberg as teammates, all proven & capable winners and world champions given half a chance. Bottas has had a fairly poor showing at Merc up until now, where he seems to have found a gear. He has capitalised where Lewis hasn't (especially in quali), but I'd be surprised if Merc allow the two to actively squabble as they did with Lewis & Nico. At some point in the season, Bottas will be put back into place over the radio.

AMKC wrote: »

I really hope that does not happen and if so that Bottas just ignores it and goes for it anyway. Hope Bottas goes for it in Monaco and wins. Lets face it no point in hoping one of the Ferrari's will as Ferrari will probably screw it up again anyway.

I know, it's a double edged sword ignoring team orders though. While on one hand it's nice to show everyone what you can really do, but look at what happened to Alonso's career by arguably not playing the team game. Teams want drivers who'll do what they're told, just as much as they want drivers who can win.

Inviere wrote: »

I know, it's a double edged sword ignoring team orders though. While on one hand it's nice to show everyone what you can really do, but look at what happened to Alonso's career by arguably not playing the team game. Teams want drivers who'll do what they're told, just as much as they want drivers who can win.

And you are entirely correct, most people tend to forget that Alonso basically peed on his own plate through his behavior towards the teams he raced for - and that would be happening to most drivers coming up with such attitude.



Bottas however...my take is that he's in a Catch 22 at the moment, he's fully aware of it and will try to make the most of the situation. He knows he'll likely be replaced by Ocon next season and that he won't have an option to join any of the other frontrunners (can't see Ferrari changing again next year, Red Bull would promote Albon or...Kvyat if Gasly didn't perform), so this might very well be his opportunity for a shot at a WDC.



The hallmarks are all there - he clearly spent the off season training, trying to adapt the best to the high-speed cornering and the new rule that imposes a minimum of 80kg weight in the cockpit; Valterri's always been a bit bigger built than most drivers, but he showed up in Melbourne looking like a brick house. In this regards, I would expect him not being too happy and maybe even defying team orders further down the season.



That said, Mercedes IS Hamilton, as show without doubt by Toto Wolff's reactions in the pits (looking utterly disappointed in Baku until he realized he was on camera is just the latest of these little "hints"), yet they have a "fair company" image to maintain...it might be the one interesting thing in the season.

AMKC wrote: »

I am surprised that no came up with a conspiracy theory about Botta's clutch in the race. Ill admit it has crossed my mind. You have to admit it would have been one way for Mercedes to insure that Hamilton got ahead of Botta's in the race and take the lead in the championship.

Well, it doesn't make a lot of sense, really - a team like Mercedes, whose image as a manufacturer of high performance luxury cars is THE reason why they're in F1, wouldn't risk messing about with the tech side of their car. Any sort of mechanical or electronic issue might be seen as a bad mark against Mercedes as a the brand. For the same reason, all the "conspiracy theories" about Hamilton's technical issues in 2016 were the exact same type of rubbish. Sabotage, in that specific environment, in basically unthinkable.



Deep down inside, Mercedes are very much a British team based in Brackley with mostly British personnel, regardless of where the money comes from; The vast majority of the team prefer Hamilton to be the one taking the honours - and likely the upper management (as in, Mercedes themselves) prefer it as well for the "star factor" Lewis brings around "World Champion Lewis Hamilton" is a bigger marketing hit than "World Champion Valterri Bottas"; Yet, personal preference doesn't enter the business picture - If they are far away ahead of the competition, they will "risk" the "wrong driver" winning, like in 2016; The only interference that is possible, comes in the form of team orders, which as I said before, Bottas might be less than willing to accept in this phase of his career...

H3llR4iser wrote: »

Well, it doesn't make a lot of sense, really - a team like Mercedes, whose image as a manufacturer of high performance luxury cars is THE reason why they're in F1, wouldn't risk messing about with the tech side of their car. Any sort of mechanical or electronic issue might be seen as a bad mark against Mercedes as a the brand. For the same reason, all the "conspiracy theories" about Hamilton's technical issues in 2016 were the exact same type of rubbish. Sabotage, in that specific environment, in basically unthinkable.



Deep down inside, Mercedes are very much a British team based in Brackley with mostly British personnel, regardless of where the money comes from; The vast majority of the team prefer Hamilton to be the one taking the honours - and likely the upper management (as in, Mercedes themselves) prefer it as well for the "star factor" Lewis brings around "World Champion Lewis Hamilton" is a bigger marketing hit than "World Champion Valterri Bottas"; Yet, personal preference doesn't enter the business picture - If they are far away ahead of the competition, they will "risk" the "wrong driver" winning, like in 2016; The only interference that is possible, comes in the form of team orders, which as I said before, Bottas might be less than willing to accept in this phase of his career...

i agree. but it also saounds better , 4 times world champion lewis hamilton instead of 'just' world champion bottas. it adds a lot to the brand that way