The F1 thread

not_the_dj

Great race. So good to see McLaren back up there fighting near the front and getting podiums. Big Lando fans in this house. 

Amazing recovery by Lewis. 

This really could be one hell of a season. 

TimmyO

Looking forward to Bottas and Russell interviews

stickyfiddle

Boom! Great race

sweepy

Awesome race, I’d love to see footage of Bottas’s steering wheel as it definitely looked as though he squeezed Russell

stickyfiddle

From all the clips they showed on Sky during the stoppage I’d say it’s pretty 50/50 overall, and it would have been fine in a wet race. But Bottas should have known better than to squeeze someone onto the shite lines in the wet when the have a decent slipstream and the pass is inevitable. I guess he wasn’t in a good mood having had his worst race in a long time.

roundthebend

One of the commentators (Davidson perhaps) said that Hamilton deserved his 2nd place. I disagree. Fair enough, after the restart he did a lot right but he was a lap down on a few drivers prior to the stop through his own doing and I don't think he'd have recovered to 2nd.

Great start and ballsy driving from a few.

I'm not sure what to make of the big crash. No obvious fault, perhaps Russell was a little bit silly letting himself go into the grass, I don't think Bottas was that close but we haven't seen good enough footage. Certainly don't think he should have gone over to Bottas for a bust up, safety aside it's just a bit immature.

For some reason I lost interest in what was going on further down the ranks, the Norris/Leclerc/Hamilton battle was as far as I paid attention shamefully.

thumpingrug

I agree that the way the rules are that Lewis lucked out today following the red flag restart.  His drive from 9th back to 2nd was something to behold though.   I think teh Bottas/Russell incident was a bit 50/50. Clearly shows that Bottas is yesterdays man and there are a lot of drivers hot on his heels, but the slap on Bottas's helmet was unnecessary by Russell.  Let your driving show what you can do.

sticker

It looked to me that the slap on the helmet was a response to Valtteri giving him the middle finger ... but all unnecessary. 

thumpingrug

sticker said:

It looked to me that the slap on the helmet was a response to Valtteri giving him the middle finger ... but all unnecessary. 

Compleatly agree,  (I might have just decked bottas for the finger alone, but Im not in an F1 car, with a few million people watching me).

prowla

I think Bottas left Russell plenty of room, so it looks like Bottas was the innocent party. 

The smack on the helmet was a poor show too. 

There were a heck of a lot of drivers losing control of their cars there; it could be the super-wobbly tyres they’re fitting. 

Cols

All Russell’s fault, I’m afraid.  Bottas was predictably following the racing line from the left side of the track to the right.  What was George expecting him to do, dive off onto the wet part of the track and say “There you go sir, the dry line is all yours.  You are clearly the faster man”?

The stewards charitably found it to be “a racing incident”, which was lucky for Russell as they seemed in a foul temper elsewhere.

Toto Wolff was deeply unimpressed and clearly hung the blame for the incident round Russell’s neck for losing control in the wet.  “The whole situation is not amusing for us, to be honest. It's quite a big shunt. Our car is not going to be a total write-off but almost, in a cost-cap environment. That is certainly not what we need and is probably going to limit upgrades we are able to do.   

The fact we ended there by losing it in the wet - because there was no contact; it was losing it in the wet and making both cars crash out - is not what I expect to see.

You need to see there is a Mercedes and it is wet. It bears a certain risk to overtake and the odds are against him anyway when the track is drying up. “

chillidoggy

From what I saw, Bottas moved across to the right, Russell saw it and instinctively moved right too in order to avoid a potential collision. Which then turned into a collision as he lost it.

Given they were doing a good impression of the Terminator for the rest of the field, I suspect that is why the race stewards took no further action.

stickyfiddle

There is a lot of chatter about whether Bottas moved. I think he followed the racing line, which is to say he moved to the right just as he would have on previous laps which GR should have largely expected. 

That said, Bottas should have been aware George was there going miles quicker and so given him a bit more space as he was never going to defend that position. 

Definitely a racing incident imo. Both did something a little silly and either could have avoided it. 

chillidoggy

And, as expected, I'm bringing up the rear on Fantasy F1. Two non-finishers and a load of also-rans, FFS.

Ask me for my lottery numbers, then pick the opposite.

Dontgiveupyourdayjob

I thought I was in for bumper week on the Fantasy F1 looking at the grid after qualifying. I had Hamilton, Perez, Russell having great quali's, with Norris and Tsunoda likely to make up a ton of places on race day. How could it possibly go wrong?!

Alas, Perez, Russell and Tsunoda all had absolute shockers! 

Cols

stickyfiddle said:

There is a lot of chatter about whether Bottas moved. I think he followed the racing line, which is to say he moved to the right just as he would have on previous laps which GR should have largely expected. 

That said, Bottas should have been aware George was there going miles quicker and so given him a bit more space as he was never going to defend that position. 

Definitely a racing incident imo. Both did something a little silly and either could have avoided it. 

Bottas was sitting smack bang in the middle of the track with plenty of space to either side when Russell span into him.  It’s difficult to imagine what more he could have done other than pulling over to the side of the track and waving him past.

I like Russell and think he’s got a very bright future, but he really should hold his hands up and admit fault here.

Fretwired

chillidoggy said:

From what I saw, Bottas moved across to the right, Russell saw it and instinctively moved right too in order to avoid a potential collision. Which then turned into a collision as he lost it.

Given they were doing a good impression of the Terminator for the rest of the field, I suspect that is why the race stewards took no further action.

It was a racing incident - IMHO the stewards got it right. Bottas is toast .. what was he doing so far down the field that he was fighting with a Williams? Ham had pace and after his mistake, that saw him take to the gravel, he gave a flawless demonstration of his overtaking skills to go from P9 to P2. The battle between Lewis and Max could make this season entertaining, especially if Nando can get in the mix.

Bottas should consider quitting - two races into the new season and he looks pedestrian pace-wise and is quick to blame others for his shortcomings. When Perez gets to grips with the RB car he'll beat Bottas on a regular basis and Bottas could find Norris up his exhaust pipe based on yesterday's impressive performance.. Even Wolff said Bottas is going backwards.

boogieman

Cols said:

stickyfiddle said:

There is a lot of chatter about whether Bottas moved. I think he followed the racing line, which is to say he moved to the right just as he would have on previous laps which GR should have largely expected. 

That said, Bottas should have been aware George was there going miles quicker and so given him a bit more space as he was never going to defend that position. 

Definitely a racing incident imo. Both did something a little silly and either could have avoided it. 

Bottas was sitting smack bang in the middle of the track with plenty of space to either side when Russell span into him.  It’s difficult to imagine what more he could have done other than pulling over to the side of the track and waving him past.

I like Russell and think he’s got a very bright future, but he really should hold his hands up and admit fault here.

That was my take on it too. Russell was being very optimistic if he thought Bottas was just going to get out of the way. 

What’s up with Bottas this season though? I mean he’s never been up to Lewis’ standard but he regularly held 2nd place and hoovered up a few firsts, particularly if Lewis was having an off day. He had another shocker again yesterday, a shit quali and really struggled to get past Stroll when Lewis just breezed past him. You’d think he’d be pulling out all the stops to keep his seat but he’s already acting like a whipped puppy. 

prowla

boogieman said:

Cols said:

stickyfiddle said:

There is a lot of chatter about whether Bottas moved. I think he followed the racing line, which is to say he moved to the right just as he would have on previous laps which GR should have largely expected. 

That said, Bottas should have been aware George was there going miles quicker and so given him a bit more space as he was never going to defend that position. 

Definitely a racing incident imo. Both did something a little silly and either could have avoided it. 

Bottas was sitting smack bang in the middle of the track with plenty of space to either side when Russell span into him.  It’s difficult to imagine what more he could have done other than pulling over to the side of the track and waving him past.

I like Russell and think he’s got a very bright future, but he really should hold his hands up and admit fault here.

That was my take on it too. Russell was being very optimistic if he thought Bottas was just going to get out of the way. 

What’s up with Bottas this season though? I mean he’s never been up to Lewis’ standard but he regularly held 2nd place and hoovered up a few firsts, particularly if Lewis was having an off day. He had another shocker again yesterday, a shit quali and really struggled to get past Stroll when Lewis just breezed past him. You’d think he’d be pulling out all the stops to keep his seat but he’s already acting like a whipped puppy. 

Bottas does seem to get the wrong calls and the bad luck.

However, Hamilton had an off and recovered to 2nd, whereas Bottas was never contending for much.

OTOH, Russell has gone from hero to zero on the Merc front.

Boromedic

Bottas is going backwards cos the car is tricky to drive, Lewis is showing his pedigree and why he's the GOAT. It's as simple as that really. Lewis could be challenging for podiums in almost any car on the grid, Bottas and others, no chance.

Everyone wanted to rail on Lewis and say it's just the car because Russell and Bottas kept up with him. That was when the Merc was placid, planted, and easier to drive, this is the reality this season it's now unstable, Bottas can't keep up.