Made it through stage 1 at Daytona last night before going to bed. Something like 9 cars finished? Expensive race.

Looking forward to F1. Prediction: Lewis wins.

wild that you can win daytona by just wrecking the cars in front of you

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and McDowell just survived to a win.

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I'm like Jeeeeesus when reading the comments on social media.


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But being black surely doesn't help.

Fans almost always hate anybody who's young, fast, and aggressive. Eventually they come around and start to love you: Earnhardt, Waltrip, Harvick, Gordon...

Not Logano. Everybody still hates Logano, which is fair.

If the fans never come around on Wallace, welp.

They're on the W08 'diva' now. Films are short, but sweet. Great look back at hoe the cars evolved. While the W07 was the world beater (the stats on that car in that season are just nuts) they didn't mention Lewis' unfortunate run of car failure. Still, probably the most dominant car (chassis and engine) besides the W11.

"Look how great this car was!"

"This year's car was even better!"

"And this one was even better than that!"

Nope.

Alpine is absolutely fire.

this Tsunoda visor cam might be the coolest 'on-board' cam I can remember seeing for F1 before.

https://www.formula1.com/en/latest/article.watch-incredible-visor-cam-footage-of-yuki-tsunoda-lapping-imola-in-the-2021.2oboP6lwlM7AjUcgR8WyhM.html

and then taking the mother of his child

I can't remember a time in sports seeing some shit like this

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you know what it is

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Been watching the Netflix show and am HOOKED. I’m fascinated by this world I know nothing about. The cars are faster and the scenery is so much prettier than NASCAR.

Whats a good entry level place to start following F1? Think like websites or social accounts worth following.

Also How can I watch these races?

If you want to understand anything about the technical side of it, a guy with the youtube channel called "Chain Bear" does brilliant explanations of nearly anything you want to know about the cars and how they work.

https://www.youtube.com/user/chainbearf1

Autosport magazine is great, and they post a lot of news/analysis videos.

https://www.youtube.com/user/AUTOSPORTdotcom

I get most of my news from https://www.motorsport.com

Planet F1 is also really good: https://www.planetf1.com

I follow a bunch of people on Twitter. Adam Cooper is a good one: https://twitter.com/adamcooperF1

Ted Kravitz does his "notebook" segment before and after every race for Sky Sports, and you can usually track those down on youtube.

Other than that, just start watching. Preseason testing starts next week, I think.

I went ahead and bought the F1TV subscription last year, cause I got tired of fooling with streams, but there are plenty of those around. But I think ESPN still has the contract with F1 this year, if you have cable TV (I don't).

it's made assuming you know nothing about the sport and will get you all the way ready

https://www.f1.cool/blog/137

I'd recommend watching practice sessions and quali once the season starts, it's helpful because there's a lot of dead time so the announcers will really fill you in on everything and everyone

and there's always drama in F1

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legally stayed this far ahead of the competition for a decade.

I went to the 2014 Circuit of Americas and it seemed like they were just so far ahead of everyone...I would never imagine they would actually increase that gap 7 years later.

it seems like it's a couple of things

-- when you get it right with the engine everything else is easier. They don't have to play games with the aero package like Red Bull, they don't have to run at the absolute edge of reliability like Renault, and they always have a jump start on next year's development because they're not dicking around with fixes for the current year's car


-- they're not quite as far ahead as they look, but because every other team is run like a fucking circus they turn inches into miles. They weren't outlandishly faster than Red Bull last year, but because Albon couldn't keep up, Verstappen was basically going one-on-two every race, plus he was fucking up all the time.

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Hope the new money regs brings that gap down a bit.

I believe they focused a ton of time and resources getting that part right. As for car development, they did enough in 2013 to prove they could build a chassis then left off development, focusing on 2014 while other teams were still out chasing Red Bull and the end of the old regs. While everybody had issues at the start of 2014, Mercedes had a ton more right than anyone, and kept some gap to the rest of the field ever since.

That said, it hasn't exactly been a cakewalk for Lewis and Toto. 2016 was a disaster for Lewis, reliability-wise and his standing starts. 2017's car was very finicky to set up, and Ferrari, 'stroker' engine or not, pushed Mercedes through mid-2019, and at times had a faster chassis and/or engine that Mercedes at a given race. Even being underpowered Red Bull became a problem, but not having a driver to match up with Max after Ricciardo left tamped down any real chance at either constructors or driver championships.

Still, great chassis, great engine, great driver, great team, and a sh*t ton of money = 7 for 7 with the latest regs.

Pulled out .320 or so on Lewis for the pole run.

Ferrari, AT, and Mclaren all within a second of pole.

He's definitely heir apparent. But Sir Lewis is Sir Lewis, and he doesn't make that many mistakes.

This season is going to be stupidly close. I think Petronas still has a few things to sort out (and will) so at the end of the day they go 8 for 8, but this is going to be as close a race between the top of the field, midfield, and backmarkers.

because if there's another way to win, he's not going to miss it

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Season could be very interesting, gonna be nail-biting to watch while wanting to see Lewis get an 8th title so badly.

Watching Vettel still do Vettel things in an Aston Martin was amusing.

I was surprised the next race was so far away, but possibly because Moto GP is doing a double header in Qatar already. There is a pretty interesting season on the horizon there it seems, even moreso if Marquez comes back, those Ducatis are beasts on the straights again.

I wish there was a way F1 could learn from Moto GP's track boundary implementation, but they have options with the bikes that F1 doesn't. I don't even really have a problem with how Race Direction has been implementing it, I just hate hearing people keep harping on them.

Mercedes about to be behind in driver and constructor standings for the first time since whenever. Feels like Germany '19 all over again. Only this time RB looks really strong.. I'm sure they are happy for the longer schedule now...

Lewis' slide reminded me of Seb's slide some years ago. Hopefully he won't suffer the same shell shock that Vettel seems to have had ever since his incident.

Russell definitely made contact with Bottas, but whether the Mercedes started to move right is unclear. Right now, George looks to be on the hook. Either way, nasty crash and horrible result for both teams.

>Mercedes about to be behind in driver and constructor
>standings for the first time since whenever.

Well, not quite.

>Lewis' slide reminded me of Seb's slide some years ago.
>Hopefully he won't suffer the same shell shock that Vettel
>seems to have had ever since his incident.

Lewis? Yeah, no.

>Russell definitely made contact with Bottas, but whether the
>Mercedes started to move right is unclear. Right now, George
>looks to be on the hook. Either way, nasty crash and horrible
>result for both teams.

Bottas drifted right. Ruseell overcompensated, but basically IMO that's on Bottas.

But yeah, gonna be an interesting year. Lots of different names/teams on the podium.

If you want to say it was a little risky on Bottas to move right, fine. But Russell still had more than enough space to move or back out. He wasn't squeezed into the grass. That overcompensation was on him.

Notice the pass Hamilton made on Norris in the same area with zero problems and more on the line for both drivers. Comes down to experience, which Russell still needs. Not to bag on him, as I think he's going to be an unbelievable talent and keep Mercedes in the hunt for years to come one either seat is available. But the crash, and confrontation with Bottas while still getting his wits about him in the car (though he did have enough awareness to flip the bird) wasn't George's greatest look.

Lewis though... bad mistake with the wall shunt, took whatever time he needed during the red flag, and absolutely locked in for the podium and fastest lap. That engine isn't slow, that car isn't slow, and Lewis sure as sh*t ain't slow. Managed to still keep the championship lead and, thanks to Perez crapping the bad, the constructor's lead.

Props to Max. He had a blazing start and never really looked back. Had the pit stop for Lewis gone better or if the shunt didn't happen he may not have had it so easily, but nobody at RB was complaining. After what Italy did to him last year this was redemption. That said, he's gonna need Lewis to have a 2016 style season if he wants the 'chip.

which doesn't mean it wasn't bottas' fault for moving


but clearly russell is painting it as devious and personal

which bottas could argue against

except he did an entire DTS episode trying to make what was probably a mistake look like a devious and personal move

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Really have no thoughts beyond that.

ready when verstappen bobbled, handled bottas with ease as usual.

it was a fun if uneventful race

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It's always nice to watch Lewis take a handy win with some nice on-track passes, nice and calming after Imola. Seeing Verstappen lose fastest lap (and pole) to some deleted lap times was amusing too. But I guess nothing else really happened in the rest of the race.

If excitement is what someone wants, they really need to start watching Moto 3. I'm not even trying to push Moto GP anymore, these Moto 3 races are non-stop and this Pedro Acosta kid is an obnoxious rookie talent.

Going with a different pit strategy and having Hamilton run down Verstappen was another great strategy call on the Mercedes pit wall. There was really nothing RB could do at that point. Lewis was again locked in and went to work for a hard fought and well deserved win. He gotta work on those starts, though

Max had another lightning start, and survived the restart, but he never was really able to shake Hamilton in the early stint. I wonder if RB would think of hiring some of Petronas' strategists, as they seemed totally unprepared for the change in Mercedes' strategy. Then again, with Bottas hovering between P3 and P4 and Perez not up in the fight, it was probably damage limitation for RB. P2 is better than P3, especially when the points and cars are this close.

For anybody saying it's all about the car, not the driver, look no further than Bottas. The 3 podium drivers pulled out from the pack early and easy, but it was Lewis that was running down Max, while Bottas has trouble fighting back from Leclerc. Who knows, maybe he's still a little spooked from wiping out with Russell. Mildly disappointing on one hand. On the other hand, he's doing just what Mercedes needs him to do for the constructors and could still end up 2nd in the drivers (he's back in 3rd place now even with his DNF). Everybody wants to be the man, but being that well paid to play number 2 isn't a bad gig...

Quick thoughts
- Good result for Danny R with 6th. Maybe he'll get along with the McLaren quicker than his Renault days. Their car doesn't look slow...
- I need to check what happened to Perez. Not sure why he started 8. Good to get back to 5th, but not really helpful in the constructors points either. That RB is faster than the Ferrari, but he was 9s off Leclerc at the end. Go figure
- Good for Gasley getting a point even with a 5 sec penalty. Plucky lad, that one is
- Russell was in contention for his first points for Williams, but yet again, it was not to be. One day, George, one day
- Did Haas field a F2 car this season? Both drivers were 2 laps down. That's pretty bad, especially for a team that was in play for the midfield a few short years ago (though that may have been down to the 'stroker' engine Ferrari was running). Bring on '22?

>For anybody saying it's all about the car, not the driver,

esp when Vettel was winning and Lewis wasnt. never really made sense to me either.

A great driver can make a car a little bit better than it really is, but you can't win with a shit car.* But the best car can win without necessarily having the best driver. But not with a shit driver.

Lewis is the best driver in the best car. So he wins.

I think Max is just as fast as Lewis, but that RBR just ain't quite there yet.

*Except for Senna.

There are still Hamilton naysayers that says he only wins because he has the fastest car. Now, rational people know he hasn't always had the fastest car per se in this run (2017 and 2018 would like a word), but there's still people that say Hamilton's wins are more up to the car he's in and not his skills as a driver. The notion of 'put another driver in the car and he'll do the same as Lewis' got more legs when Russell subbed for him and nearly won if not for pit crew incompetence.

Yes, best driver usually gets best car, and that's been the case here. But it's more than that. Lewis is just a more talented, more experienced driver than Max is, full stop. Max has tons of raw speed and potential, but he can't harness it like Lewis can at the moment

Say what you want about Rosberg, but he may have a point about Max now seeing what Lewis is about. This is the closest RB has been to Petronas since the turbo era began, and even with the areo changes giving Toto & Co some issues, the team and Hamilton are on top. While I don't think Max is going to break trying to beat Lewis like Nico did, I do think the is is the first real time Max has a legitimate look at what challenging Lewis is like.

is unfathomable

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We're looking at 100+ poles/100+ wins/8 chips this year. All Schumacher's untouchable records broken. And he's still in top form. I don't want to hear eras. I don't want to hear competition. I don't want to hear how far ahead Petronas was with their power unit. At worst you have to say he's the most accomplished driver in F1 history. At best, who's gonna beat him in a season? Taking nothing from Fangio, Lauda, Senna, Prost, et al.

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Which no one else has done. I'm kinda hoping whenever he does retire he makes sure it's before he doesn't win a race lol

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I mean, he's universally acknowledged as one of the best to ever do it. He's idolized all over the world. He has immense influence and respect in and out of the sport. And he's been knighted.

You think that's not enough?

and I don't think that's widely known by people who don't follow F1

that said, iykyk

so not that much

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Dunno why.

But the first thing that occurs to me is that the US is an outlier in its appreciation of F1, and in the last 20 years, of motorsports generally. For instance, if you asked 100 random Americans in the street who Michael Schumacher is, how many would know? 1 or 2? And that's the guy who was without question the best of his era, and who drove for the most recognizable car brand in the world. And how many would know Senna? Mansell? Jackie Stewart? Jim Clark?

Americans don't know F1, though maybe Netflix will help change that. But motorsports across the board has also declined in mainstream popularity. I mean, is there a driver alive more underappreciated than Scott Dixon? And even NASCAR doesn't have the mass appeal anymore. People still know Petty and Earnhardt, but Jimmie Johnson? Just as many chips...

I hesitate to call Lewis the GOAT because I think the problem of comparing eras is even worse in racing than in other sports, and even in the same era, equipment differences complicate matters. For instance, up until the '80s, lots of drivers didn't even live long enough to enter the GOAT discussion. I mean, Jim Clark may well have been the greatest, but was killed at 32. How good could Francois Cevert or Jochin Rindt have been? Let alone how many more chips Senna would have won...

Anyway, in the US, Hamilton is underappreciated, but so is every great driver. Anywhere else in the world, I doubt he can walk a block without being mobbed by fans. Which is probably why he spends so much time in LA now.

All of your points are very valid. I'm one of the few that follows motorcycle racing. Not as much US road racing anymore since MotoAmerica is a shell of what it use to be. That being said, I'd recommend taking the family to a race weekend. It's a fun time. My family loves going and they're not big into motorcycle racing.

I do wish the GP still came to Indy. That was a fun venue.


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...in all areas of the sport.

And yeah, I do want to see some two-wheel action. It's on the list.

On the other hand, watching their pit crew strip the threads off a wheel axle was the only interesting part of the race. Ah, Monaco.

But Max is in the...ah...driver's seat, so that's pretty cool.

https://www.racefans.net/2021/05/24/mercedes-still-unable-to-remove-wheel-from-bottas-car/

they gotta take it back to the factory to get it off.

I've never even heard of this happening

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But that thing must have fused on there somehow. And weirdly it must have happened before the race, when they had plenty of time to put it on correctly, not during the rush of a pit stop.

New one for me too. See how bad that comes back to bite them in the constructor's race.

No half measures here....

Bottas hosed by no fault of his own, Hamilton never got right with the car. This was probably worse than Germany. Max and Christian are loving this

I hope they got this out of their system and come storming back. I don't think they are in danger of losing either chip in the long run, but I also don't want to see Lewis with a 2016 season either


On another note, that McLaren livery was everything. I hope we see it again this season. Easily the best looking car on the grid

Pirelli got some explaining to do.

Just added to the craziest race weekend of the season so far. Just...insane. But happy for all 3 podium finishers

I suppose Lewis wants to keep this championship interesting to the end...

That seat being about the worst job in F1 the last few years. But he did exactly what RBR needed and hired him to do. Massive constructor's points there.

Bottas, on the other hand, did not do what he needed to do. Can't figure that out. He's practically begging Russell to take his job now.

Better than that hellscape of a test track. No character, no landscape, no idea where you are on the track. Go back to Magny Cours or build a street circuit in Marseilles or something. Anything but.

Anyway, RBR outfoxed the Germans. Cool.

is how they kept talking about pitting Bottas first while not being the lead Mercedes like that was the problem, when really if they wanted to avoid the undercut they could have just pitted the same lap as Verstappen (after Bottas pit). That whole chassis thing too, like there's an actual title fight going on, you don't need to fabricate drama between Hamilton and Bottas anymore. Hopefully Mercedes figure themselves out a bit for what is now a Red Bull ring doubleheader coming up.

Marc Marquez winning again since his injury was pretty big, it was at his best track, Sachschenring (11 wins in a row, has never lost a race there) so we'll see if he can keep up that form.

Hell of an undercut. Mercedes just got outthought last week, even if their car was (slightly) faster than RB. I feel Bottas' frustration though. Mercedes now has to have a strategy against 2 RB cars instead of just Max.

Title is Max's to lose, at this point.

Not sure if they were throwing in the towel early or not, but they were nowhere close. If this happens at Silverstone I'll worry.

See if that's true next week.

to Max's living quarters next race weekend, cuz that seemed his only weakness throughout the race. (lol sorry that's probably a bad BBW joke but it's the first thing I thought of both times he pointed it out on the radio, like he spotted one amongst the trees)

Could do with some interesting weather on a race weekend actually.

Penalties were some bullshit though. You try the outside, you take your chances. Need to sort that out ASAP.

as a rival. It's definitely affecting my 'enjoyment'.

Hamilton signed for two more years, Mercedes isn't far away and hopefully they plan for the changes really well again.

Yeah, I didn't really like most of the penalties, I think Perez deserved one of them, he did a bit much around turn 4 probably because of his experience with Norris. Still, these moments and all the annoying debate conversations that spawn as a result just remind me that Moto GP is superior.

Cmon.

I've been a Lewis fan since the rookie year, but I never minded Kimi winning one cuz it was Kimi (I'd prefer it was in his Mclaren days). I felt bad for Massa that year in Brazil. I liked Vettel in his Red Bull years. I will always be a fan of Alonso at Renault, and I still root for Mclaren and would love seeing Norris and that car be at the very top. It might literally be Verstappen, and a 'dislike' I've generated for him even before he was really a rival but was just pissing people off with reckless passes. Like I'm still holding those grudges lol. I've never really developed a sports anti-fandom like this before so that's kind of what I mean, watching Hamilton lose like this is not feeling fun to me and it's like a new feeling. Like I want Montreal to win the Stanley Cup even though that's apparently sacrilege as a Toronto fan. Verstappen is my Montreal.

Good in seeming like a$$holes, but good at running a team and being a singular talent.

I've got nothing against Max. Like him, actually, and have no problem with whatever attitude or vibe he gives off. He's a damn fast driver from th ejump, and you see serious progression year on year. He's going to win a chip, and soon. Now, if that comes at Hamilton's expense, I'm not gonna like that, honestly, as I've been the tank for Lewis from the off. But when that day comes, even if it's this year, I'll tip my hat to Max and enjoy his success.

Horner is slightly different. He's been great managing and nurturing Max's success over the years and making sure he's got a car around him. Every other driver not named Max? Not so much. He's quite a bit smarmier than, say, Totto, but they both play similar games and threats, so pick your poison. Horner has the team in the mix of the top 3 for most of if not all the V6 hybrid era, so he's doing something right

and would prefer to get that out of the way this year lol Verstappen and Red Bull can go on a run after. :)

There is just something about the helplessness it seems watching Hamilton and Mercedes lately though compared to the start of the season, combined with the brake magic incident. I get that I probably enjoy watching Hamilton win easily in a different way. Hopefully there are some better races at the front at least soon between them again.

bc exactly that, you know going outside is risky af, try that bullshit if you want to

a dude can stay on his line and take you out if you didn't pull off the move properly



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Tough call for the FIA, but can't put it all on the stewarts for sure, as there are still instances where drivers blatantly won't give any room or run wide on purpose. Still, telemetry traces and camera footage be damned, every driver has to weigh risk and reward. If they don't like it, let 'em duke it out on parc ferme.

with the Sprint Race tomorrow. If you're not used to looking for this on a Friday afternoon. There was a large gap after practice :(

Do the Mercs need more practice time with their upgrades? Will they show up in the race?

Lots of special helmets here, and they revealed a 2022 car earlier.

I just don't.

Let's get the big one out the way. I am glad Max is OK. That crash was scary. I do hope he has no lasting injuries once.

The crash: It's super hard to be objective on this one. Both sides dislike and distrust each other, and whether you're a RB or Petronas fan, Max or Lewis fan, nothing is going to change your mind on who's at fault or what the penalty should have been. I think it was a racing incident, but I'm an admitted Hamilton fan. RB fans may want to follow Marko's calls for a race ban for Hamilton, but that's not happening. Still, I understand them wanting blood, as Lewis gets the win, cuts the lead down to 8, and puts RB in a financial bind with that chassis no doubt a write off. As I'm typing I'm listening to Horner do everything he can to vilify Lewis' character and sportsmanship without getting fined. Should Lewis have pulled out in that corner? Eh... I think he was far enough alongside, but it was super risky. At the end of the day, this is going to be super scrutinized because all that's at stake. If the same incident happens between, say, Gasley and Russell, there's not nearly the hullabaloo. But if a title rival has an incident with the leading rival and takes the win, it never looks good. But you not about to paint Hamilton out as Chip Hicks...

More later.

>Should Lewis have pulled
>out in that corner? Eh... I think he was far enough alongside,
>but it was super risky.

It wasn't a question of pulling out. It was a question of apexing the corner. Lewis chose to move off the ideal line and squeeze him wide. That's not up for debate: that's what happened. How dirty a move you think that was is up to you.

>It wasn't a question of pulling out. It was a question of
>apexing the corner. Lewis chose to move off the ideal line and
>squeeze him wide. That's not up for debate: that's what
>happened. How dirty a move you think that was is up to you.

I'm not gonna call it all out dirty, and many a driver, Max included, have pulled similar moves to squeeze an opponent off and stay just on the side of the rules (or at least in that grey area where it's a judgment call). It was aggressive, maybe overly so, and Max got the worst of it. You hate to see it. But I'm not going to call Lewis a dirty driver or sore loser (thanks Albon) or call for a ban either. I don't think he intentionally sent Max into the wall, as they were both going at it hard that opening lap. Didn't like it though

Beyond that, Lewis had to drive his nuts off to get the win. It was made a bit easier with Lando getting screwed in the pits (Bottas knows that pain many times over) and LeClerc having drivetrain issues. Still, he had to close down 10 seconds and managed to do it.

First, it wasn't out and out dirty. It was dirty-ish. Reminded me of something Schumacher might do. Kind of thing that wins races, and championships, but not friends.

Second, while squeezing someone wide happens all the time, the problem is doing it at that corner. It's one thing to do it turn one in Austria or somewhere, but Copse is like 160 mph.

So I don't agree with Marko and/or Horner that it warrants a race ban, but it was a nasty move, and if I'm RBR, then I'm thinking that if that's where Lewis has drawn the rules of engagement, then he probably needs to watch his back from here on out.

At least twice this year he's squeezed Hamilton wide on the first lap to get ahead, and Hamilton backed out to avoid the crash. So it's not like Lewis needs to watch his back, but more like neither is backing down or giving an inch.

hamilton's race probably would've been fucked too, not to mention the risk that things just go a completely different way




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it is very difficult to complain that so and so knew you would turn in here there or wherever

when you've moved like three times going into the turn

now, I'm not saying that lewis didn't pick his line and say "well either he's going to back off or he's going to get hit"

what I'm saying is when you're weaving back and forth into a corner and somebody hits you, you might've not left them with many options so don't come crying to me when they pick the one that puts you in the wall.

I wouldn't have penalized lewis for it but I don't think it's an outrageous penalty either, he wasn't ahead. that he wasn't on the absolute inside is not the negative part, what I think he can't argue against is that a. he wasn't in front and b. the line he took meant they would hit, so it is more his responsibility as the car coming from behind



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>the line he took meant they would hit, so it is more his
>responsibility as the car coming from behind

Yeah, true. He took a line that absolutely forced the issue, right then and there, because there was no way for Max to stay that wide and still make the whole sequence of corners without slowing way down and losing the place. So while the outcome of the collision isn't and isn't supposed to be factored into determining a penalty, as a fan it's hard for me to separate the two, because a 51G impact...man.

Yesterday I really wanted to put my fist into Hamilton's jaw, but I've calmed down a bit. Still think it was a really shitty place on the track to do that, but people who know a lot more about racing than I do don't think it was that bad, so I'll defer to them.

So, if it were a 10G crash it wouldn't have been as bad and people wouldn't be as pissed? Say Max just spun and dropped 10 places. Would have been the same penalty. You start looking at the results of the incident and making penalties from that, and you open up a whole can of worms that's totally subjective and will never get right.

Yes, the crash was bad. But people are making it that either Lewis did it on purpose (no) or that he outright tried to kill Max (no). Horner and Marko putting out there the impact was 51G and Lewis sent Max to the hospital (some spin, as it was for precautionary checks) was dangerous and irresponsible just made it much worse (but I get it, that's their driver and that's their job). None of that is the case. This is racing, and two of the best drivers on the grid are weaving around each other at 150+ just to get ahead of each other. Somebody is gonna lose. This time it was Max. Next time, could be Lewis. If that happens, I better see that same energy from everyone vilifying Hamilton.

On the flip, now you have the expected waves of blatantly racist comments online about Lewis, which have never stopped. Mods were at a fever pitch removing comments and threads from media posts. That is always going to be that BS.

However you feel about the whole situation and either driver, it's a mess, and will be a metric fuckton of scuttlebutt the next 2 weeks.

RIF

I'm sure Petronas has made a decision that may or may not be announced during the summer break, but which do you think would benefit everyone in the long term?

He can only take Valterri's next year. From a Merc perspective, I remember thinking after the Bahrain race, filling Hamilton's spot with Russell just to have Bottas continue to be the perfect second driver would be gold for them if Russell really delivered on his potential. But a Lewis/Russell setup could be a risky but necessary affair, especially if Russell can possibly outdo Hamilton and he's not prepared to be treated like a #2 driver and Red Bull/Verstappen don't let up. Russell should want to take Bottas' seat and beat both Hamilton and Verstappen if his goal is to prove he's that good right now.

Lewis is in for 2 years, I believe. Right now, Bottas is doing just what they need him to do, be a consistent #2 and cause no huge waves. Bring Russell along too soon and you very well could end up with a RB situation like Ver/Ric (or hell, Ham/Ros). Lewis is going to fall off pace at some point, but not quite at the moment. But if Mercedes doesn't do something, they run the risk of losing him.

The wild card is the new car and regs. Nobody knows how they will run and who will get a handle on them. Make too many changes to the team at once and it can all go tits up pretty quickly

and I have no idea how these contracts play out. How much sway does Russell have trying to renew right now? and where else could he go? it's not like there's a lot of room in other teams right now, and I can't see Bottas swapping to Williams. Apparently in some interview he stated he hasn't ruled out rallying, maybe he's already seeing what's coming and is planning a Kimi-like break.

Is there even a Summer break this year?

it's just the two parties, it's not like through the league and the union and free agency.

if one (or usually both) sides want out of a deal, it's gonna be gotten out of one way or another

www.engadgethd.com - the other stuff i'm looking at

being a good #2 to lewis doesn't mean he'd be good in that role with Russell, assuming lewis leaves after another year or two which he might not do



www.engadgethd.com - the other stuff i'm looking at

https://www.reddit.com/r/formula1/comments/ou32qd/full_document_with_the_alleged_new_evidence/

I get Horner having to go to bat for Max, but using your filming day to illustrate a driving line when none of the variable are nearly the same and presenting that as new evidence is a bit much. They may as well has fired up F! 2021 on the PS5...

The other bit that the stewards saw but won't comment on because the matter is closed probably surrounded Horner and Marko still painting Lewis as doing this deliberately. Based on Mercedes' IG post, it seemed to imply that was part of RB's goal as well. This may get uglier off track than on

That's what I saw.

n/m

I'd go Russell anyway. Wasting his career at Williams.

Not even sure where to begin, as we're kinda still pending results if the appeal is upheld (which I doubt)

Shoutout to Ocon for making the best of a gifted situation and holding off a faster Vettel for 60+ laps. Enjoy this first win young man.

Shoutout to Alonso for putting on a masterclass of defensive driving against a much faster Hamilton. I firmly believe holding Lewis up saved Esteban's race, as Lewis was flying once he finally got around Nando. Like Vettel, I think age brings a bit more maturity and likability to Alonso. Nobody ever questioned his skill. But nobody every questioned his being a dick either. More mature Nando made a play to help his teammate, not just himself. Absolutely deserved DOTD

Seb is really good at taking a crazy race and making the most of it (like, say, Turkey last year). While he couldn't make it past the Alpine, he was a threat all race. While all bets are off for next season, he's proven he can still drive, and has been a consummate professional on and off track. I'd hate to see his place taken because AM can't track fuel flow, but still...

Double points for Williams? Russell willingly sacrificing his race for Latifi? You love to see it. Mind you, it took 6 cars off the grid and one of the two best drivers in a damaged car to get said points, but you play the hand you're dealt. Fantastic result for Williams. Russell's tears during the interview were genuine. Good for him, whether he has to stay at Williams or gets the promotion to the big leagues...

Sorry/not sorry for Red Bull. It feels super unfair when you've got DNFs in back to back races through no sole fault of your own. It's amplified when your title rival was involved in both incidents, directly and indirectly. How badly this affects RB this season and next won't be known for months. They are already staring down the barrel of a penalty for Max at some point in the 2nd half for a new engine, and now Perez's engine may or may not have damage (hopefully it's just the radiator). All of this eats into the cost cap and development time between this and next year. Not a great position to be in for anybody. Sadly, that's racing. You can try and do everything right and the race day just isn't in your favor. Malaysia '16 always comes to mind...

Shoutout to Verstappen driving half a car. With half a barge board missing, the balance had to be horrendous. Just finishing was an achievement, let alone picking off Mazepin (and everybody does that) and Danny Ric.

Bottas is one hell of a snooker player. Even if tin foil hats say he did it purposefully, it was a bad start, badly judged braking zone, and massive slip and slide into Turn 1 that collected Norris and both Red Bulls, directly and indirectly. 5 place penalty? Probably deserved. Intentional? With those track conditions, no way. Save his seat? Don't think that has anything to do with it. I do hope he stays though.

I don't know whether Petronas is trying to make the championship closer on purpose or they are having covid brain farts. You have a chance to push well clear of Max and RB and then... keep Lewis out on inters ALL BY MIMSELF. To their credit they sorted out something to get him to push from dead last to 3rd (or 2nd, depending on the appeal), but Hamilton had to push harder than he did in '19. While it took longer to get past Alonso than he wanted, had he made the move 2 laps sooner he likely could have won the whole thing, as he was absolutely flying in those last laps. He went from, what, 8 seconds back from 2nd to literally on Vettel's ass on the last corner (though he could have pulled up a bit to try and save fuel? Who knows). Lewis was absolutely wiped out afterward. Pushing that hard that long would do it for anybody. But if he is indeed suffering from long term covid effects, that's even more impressive (and scarier).

Summer break is here, and Mercedes is back on top, though with a TON of controversy. Let the silly season begin!

but mercedes has ALWAYS been like this

they run like perfection....until three unpredictable things happen

and then they COMPLETELY FALL APART

I can't explain it


www.engadgethd.com - the other stuff i'm looking at

I know Moto GP isn't at the forefront here, and this has been a long time coming, but Rossi not being on the grid is huge. He has his own team in the Premier Class next year and was almost going to ride for it with his half-brother, that's how prevalent hie is to the sport.

Man is a Legend, might do some four wheel racing in retirement lol hope he kills that too.

Probably a bit too old to make that kind of jump now, but can easily see him in prototypes, or even rally.

I'd love to see him get a good result before the end of the season, maybe a podium, but unfortunately it doesn't really seem like he has it in him anymore. :(

Get into a series where things happen just a little bit slower than the big bikes, and he'll be fine.

A little uppage before Spa returns this weekend after the Summer break. F1 has announced an overtaking award sponsored by crypto.com to be awarded at the end of the season to whoever pulled off the most overtakes. Cool I guess, I wonder if it will go to one of the midfield drivers that start well, or if a front runner might get it from enough wild races where they have to overtake the field. Not sure if they're only counting on track passes or assuming tallies from the pits will even out?

The Mercedes seat drama carries on, Wolff defers the announcement of any decision (that was supposed to be made in the Summer break) until September.

There is some weird seat drama going on in Moto GP with Vinales after he apparently tried to destroy his engine and is now off the team immediately mid-season. Wild end to the last race with a slick tire Binder winning in late rain just as the wet tire rider's would have caught him (in one more lap if they had it), watching them tiptoe around as slow as they were on slicks that last lap was odd.

>A little uppage before Spa returns this weekend after the
>Summer break. F1 has announced an overtaking award sponsored
>by crypto.com to be awarded at the end of the season to
>whoever pulled off the most overtakes. Cool I guess, I wonder
>if it will go to one of the midfield drivers that start well,
>or if a front runner might get it from enough wild races where
>they have to overtake the field. Not sure if they're only
>counting on track passes or assuming tallies from the pits
>will even out?

Does it also include putting cars a lap down? If so, the frontrunners will still be in contention for it. That said...don't really care. :-)

Yeah I might not care that much either, haven't read enough to know the answers to all these questions if they're out their lol

This reminded me of some weird news earlier about the CEO of Spa (or something like that) dying in some murder homicide by her husband and involving some other woman during the Summer break. I'm not really sure who she was but she had history in motorsport, you don't really think about the tracks as 'organizations' that have management like this usually, but it seems pretty wild coming up to this GP now.

As F1 has gone on break, I've kinda gone on a break from F1.

Excited for Spa though.

This is one of my favorite tracks. Let's hope there's no serious 1st corner shenanigans and have a cracking race

Like a good soaking track, but guess I'd rather not see anybody die today.

Not sure how I feel about the FIA decisions overall in the absence of racing.

I love how Lewis says he hopes the fans get their money back in the post-race interview, but F1 tends to leave that part out in the little pieces they write after.

Problem is the expenses of the promoter were exactly the same as if they'd raced, and can't be recouped unless F1 decides to open its checkbook. Which they should, but we'll see.

Don't blame Masi/F1 for calling it off. Spa is just too big, fast, and dangerous to take the chance.

Newfangled Zandvoort looks cool. Gotta get F1 2021 so I can try it myself. Still rocking '18.

Valtteri probably out of a job. Hope he lands somewhere.

Onto Monza, where you can't really pass either.

Yeah that was pretty epic, the Dutch definitely prepared for that homecoming of a race lol, had a giant flag for him, a singer waiting for the anthem, if he didn't win that race I'm not even sure they would have been ready lol! Hamilton would have spoiled quite the party, but Verstappen deserved that moment after Hamilton got his at Silverstone however that race went. The orange fans are cool though, I know they show up for all their teams, part of the reason I like their women's football squad, so I can't be mad.

It was a decent race even if it didn't feel like tooo much happened, especially after Spa, but all that team stuff resolved itself today I think or most of it. Alfa already announced Valterri is joining them next season after the race weekend and Kimi's retirement, which he announced and then proceeded to get COVID and not attend the race lol. Mercedes just officially announced Russell. Alpha Tauri confirmed they're retaining both their drivers. The Williams seat is the only one still unlcear though it seems like Albon might get back in F1 that way unless Mercedes play their customer team card hard in the background and get one of their drivers in it (Wolff is being nice in public).

The banking was cool to see, sounds like they've got it lined up for the new Saudi track being built in some parts, and the redesign they have planned for Abu Dhabi later, though not as drastic I think. Monza could be interesting this weekend, hopefully the Sprint Race format here for the second time is a positive, only in terms of maybe diminishing that obnoxious traffic that happens lately in Qualifying.

Max and Lewis still going at it. Adding Russell to the mix at Mercedes (will it be a bootleg Nico Rosberg impression?).
Bottas trying to make Alfa a viable threat and Albon at Williams keeping them respectable.

All in all, none of the moves are surprising. Sad to see Bottas go, but it was happening at some point. May as well now. Albon got a raw deal, so good to see him back. Let's hope Lewis doesn't race him so hard.

The interpersonal play between Hamilton and Russell will be huge. Mercedes cannot afford to have a Rosberg replay. It will be a bit more difficult in the next year or so if Lewis can't get a hold of the new car dynamics or starts to lose a 10th or so. George is the heir apparent, but the old guard won't move without a fight.Who's in their junior driver program?

Driver's Title fight is going down to the wire. Constructors has a little more breathing room. I think both Max and Sergio will have grid penalties coming up when they make the next engine swap, which will hurt. Petronas and co need a really good showing at Monza this year, if for nothing other than wipe the taste of their last outing out of their mouths.

If Hamilton does actually get to race Albon hard in a Williams next season though that will either be really good for Williams or bad for Mercedes under the new regs!

I think Mercedes junior options are either Atiken, or that guy winning Formula E for them? not really sure. That pairing is definitely going to be interesting no matter how it plays out, just gotta wait and see.

I thought Perez took some of the penalties on his car when he started from the pit lane in Zandvoort, after getting knocked out in Q1, but I'm not entirely sure where that stands.

>I thought Perez took some of the penalties on his car when he
>started from the pit lane in Zandvoort, after getting knocked
>out in Q1, but I'm not entirely sure where that stands.

ahead of Hamilton, and will race in the Sprint tomorrow for grid position, and maybe try to screw up Verstappen somehow, while expecting an engine penalty to have him at the back of the grid on Sunday.

The Sprint Race could go all kinds of ways in that first corner and really test this Mercedes front row and any kind of team strategy they could try to come up with.

That happened. Gasly lost his wing. That happened too. Other than that, cars drove around Monza really fast.

Still not much convinced by these sprint races.

Alonso had the 'moment' of the race again.

I guess these were meant to start with the new regs that got pushed back, which they are hoping will make for closer racing for something like this. Maybe next year lol. It's kinda funny how even when a normal length race can be fairly similar overall, just the absence of pit stops and the potential they provide for some kind of momentary excitement is just gone from these. They might as well be one or two laps without DRS! :)

...you're left with not much, especially at a track like Monza. A little better at Silverstone, where you can actually pass a bit, but this was pretty close to watching 18 laps at Monaco.

Plus, what have we learned? Tomorrow Bottas will climb from the back to somewhere near the podium, Lewis will eventually get past the McLarens and race with Max for the win, the Ferraris will finish about where they're starting, and Gasly is just screwed. In other words, everything is about the same as it would have been with normal qualifying except for the screwing of Gasly.

But yeah, next year's car should help. I guess.

That start reminded me of 2016 all over again (and one of the main reasons I refused to buy into any conspiracy theories that Mercedes wanted Nico to win over Lewis that year)

Lets get this out of the way off top: Glad Lewis is OK. Once again the HALO has saved a life, as Max's rear tire was physically on his head. Now, hat the tire been spinning, we still could have lost Lewis today. Those sausage curbs have got to go ASAP.

Let's see... great win for Danny Ricc and McLaren. They have been fast all season, and proved it this weekend. The battle for 3rd in the constructors is going to be fun to watch over the last few races. Much like last year with Hamilton, Bottas cut through the field from the back of the pack to 4th and ends up on the podium thanks to Perez' penalty. The Mercedes is fast, and the Finn is still fast. I hope he has some success at Alfa next year.

Now for the crash... I hope those same people that wanted Lewis' head on a platter and said the Silverstone collision was on purpose and that he tried to kill Max keep the same energy this week. Max knew his race was fucked after that disaster of a stop and if Lewis got past him out of the pits his day was done. Much like he did on the first lap, he tried to squeeze by, hit the curb, and bounced up over Lewis' rear tire. He pulled a similar squeezie move on Lap 1, but this time it didn't quite work out. Was there enough space? Hard to say. Need to check the pictures again. Will it be chalked up to a racing incident? Probably. But that same vitriol from the RB fans and management (I'm liking directly at you Horner and Marko) better not show up, and any criticism of Max is well warranted.

I honestly expected it to go down as a racing incident even though I still don't care for Max, but I'm glad they saw that right. Max thinks everyone is supposed to get out of his way it seems.

Perez and RB just need to learn to give back those positions right away lol it's so obvious.

I wonder if RB will take their engine penalties now to go with the grid ones.

I get it, I still like him, he's super fast, but it is rubbing me the wrong way. It's all or nothing with him, which is fine, but he refuses to take any blame or responsibility for anything. You don't own every corner, and everybody isn't required to move because you want to force your way in a spot that you may or may not make. There's always give and take, and Max doesn't yet believe in giving anything. The 'that's what happens when you don't leave space' message while on top of Lewis' car really pissed me off. Still... he's playing the Chip Hicks role to the letter, so I can't be totally mad at him. I'm sure many other drivers are, and hopefully he will adapt as he gets older (much like Lewis had to from his early McLaren days)

I wonder if it's Perez or RB team orders that have him keeping position after gaining an unfair advantage. That has to stop at some point. Checho is better than that.

There are people online seriously pissed that Max got a 3 place grid penalty rather than a time penalty, saying it should have been the same as Silverstone. Just my reminder never to read the comments or feed the trolls. Idiots...

Horner definitely had less energy for Max's fuck-up. There wasn't nearly the amount of 'Max could have killed Lewis' or 'tire on his helmet' from #TeamLH either. Pretty sure Totto won't have a driver go out and recreate the race on a filming day either. Fucking clowns.... Still, Horner knows his role, and knows his driver. He owns his smarmyness, so gotta tip my hat to it.

RB is absolutely taking the engine penalty at Sochi. Get the pain over at a track you traditionally don't do well at, neutralize the Monza penalty, drive through the field for at least points if not a podium.

Yeah I'm just personally tired of the Verstappen excuses cuz I still remember when he was pissing off the grid as much as Grosjean and that time Kimi said he almost got him killed at Spa. He's been stupid at Monza before too. I might hold grudges lol. He's had plenty of time to grow up, he doesn't seem as dramatic lately now that he's closer to the front all the time. Hamilton was making cleaner passes in his second ever race in F1 before DRS when passing wasn't a thing and has never really had this kind of wheel-to-wheel drama or reputation that wasn't inter-team madness. I still just wish the curb wasn't there, and the pit stop for Hamilton wasn't 4+ seconds.

It annoyed me when they were talking about some English bias in the F1 media awhile ago, as if Verstappen hasn't been their darling and future of the sport since his Toro Rosso days.

I seen a bunch of people comparing it to like last year's Austria Turn 4 penalties around Perez/Norris/Leclerc like that's the same corner. Hell, all things considered, a 3 place gird penalty for Sochi isn't the worst when people don't even want pole there lol I'm hoping the Mercs are still strong there

Yeah, that Perez thing...baffling. Lose the constructor's doing that sort of thing.

because marko and co . have said he can get away with anything, plus his existing strategy


he assumes daddy marko will get him off for anything he does

www.engadgethd.com - the other stuff i'm looking at

5 minutes in...some good footage already.

Prepared to be sad at the end though.

Didn't everybody?

Actually, I really didn't think the slicks were gonna find pace there, and didn't want them too for Hamilton's sake at the time, but I'm happy to see Norris up there for McLaren, and Russell getting it right again. Definitely isn't the best place to be on pole or the front row though, start should be exciting.

That tight pit entrance did seem extra problematic especially since it stayed so wet while the track was drying throughout quali.

...and will that be long enough to allow Max to work his way up the field.

Might be that they hold him up long enough to win. Should be interesting.

The best timed judgment call this year for Petronas. Hamilton sets the bar higher. 100 wins. Beat that whoever. GOAT.

Feels bad for Norris, I was a bit surprised when the decision was really being made to pit when I noticed just how big a gap they had up front at the end there.

It really felt confusing watching that race, even before the rain, tire life and pace seemed so varied (temps, green track, no sun?), Bottas seemed nowhere but still ended up top 5, Verstappen making 2nd in the end. It still feels extra nervy watching Hamilton right now, he got this solid win in the end but the quali mistake, two iffy starts in a row, the pit stops did look good this weekend at least.

He shouldn't have been allowed to. I don't know what Seidl was thinking, but it's on him. Love Lando, but he's 21. Utter failure of leadership to leave it up to him.

Lewis did the same, but the Mercedes pit wall told him it was going to get worse and made the call for him after his first time passing the pits. I suppose not wanting to make a similar mistake as Hungary had something to do with it too. McLaren didn't seem to relay to Norris how much more rain was coming so Lando figured he could tiptoe to the end. Pretty sure everyone had the same weather telemetry, so they should have forced the issue. I suppose Lando was focused on the 1st win, and rolling the dice on the tires would have just ensured 2nd. McLaren has built a fast car, now they need to work on a little better strategy.

Had the rain held off Lewis still may have got around Lando, but we'll never know. While the wet finish and the win was great for fand and Hamilton, Petronas would had been better off with the rain holding off for 5 minutes. At worse, Lewis comes in 2nd, but Max is still in 7th, so the points lead grows. Instead, we're at a split of 2 points with 6 confirmed races to go (7th still TBD at this point). Definitely sending this era of cars out with a bang

but he came in tho

www.engadgethd.com - the other stuff i'm looking at

TALLADEGA, Ala. -- Bubba Wallace became just the second Black driver to win at NASCAR's top Cup Series level when rain stopped Monday's playoff race at Talladega Superspeedway.

Wallace had driven through a crash and to the front of the field five laps before the second rain stoppage of the race. NASCAR tried to dry the track for nearly 45 minutes, but called things off as sunset approached and the rain showing no sign of ceasing.

Wallace had been waiting atop his pit stand and celebrated wildly with his crew when the race was called. Wallace is in his first season driving for 23X1 Racing, a team owned by both Denny Hamlin and Michael Jordan.

Wallace broke down in tears after he returned to his parked No. 23 Toyota. The car number was picked for co-owner Jordan, who wore 23 in the NBA.

"This is for all the kids out there that want to have an opportunity and whatever they want to achieve, and be the best at what they want to do," Wallace said as he choked back tears. "You're going to go through a lot of bulls---. But you always got to stick true to your path and not let the nonsense get to you.

"Stay strong. Stay humble. Stay hungry. Been plenty of times when I wanted to give up."

Wallace is the first Black driver to win at NASCAR's elite Cup level since Wendell Scott in 1963 -- a race where he wasn't declared the victor for several months. NASCAR at last presented Scott's family with his trophy from that race two months ago.

Bill Lester, a Black driver who raced intermittently in NASCAR from 1999 through one Xfinity Series start this season, tweeted his congratulations to Wallace.

"Finally, it's official, you've done it!" he posted. "So proud of you and what you've accomplished. Your win moves the @NASCAR needle forward on so many fronts. Glad I was a witness."

In June 2020 at Talladega, NASCAR discovered a noose in the garage stall assigned to Wallace. The finding came just a week after NASCAR had banned the Confederate flag at its events at Wallace's urging.

The FBI investigated and found that the noose was tied at the end of the garage door pull and had been there for months, meaning Wallace was not a victim of a hate crime. The entire industry rallied around him, though, and stood in solidarity with Wallace at his car at the front of the grid before the race.

The flag ban has been an issue at Talladega, where a convoy of vehicles has paraded up and down Speedway Boulevard outside the main entrance of the speedway in all four races since NASCAR said it would not permit the symbol inside its tracks. The convoy was back this weekend and included one car pulling a trailer that contained a Civil War-era cannon.

Wallace has called the noose incident a low point in his life. He's been subjected to nonstop online harassment that last year even included a tweet from then-President Donald Trump that falsely accused Wallace of making up the noose.

Wallace never saw the noose and was only told about it by NASCAR president Steve Phelps after the FBI had already been summoned to investigate. He said he never thought about the significance of earning his first career Cup race at the same track in his native Alabama; he was born in Mobile.

"When you say it like that, it obviously brings a lot of emotion, a lot of joy to my family, fans, my friends. It's pretty cool," he said.

Wallace went to a makeshift victory lane inside an empty garage stall to celebrate with his 23XI Racing team. The organization was formed a year ago and Wallace was the centerpiece based on all the corporations that entered NASCAR in support of Wallace and his social justice efforts.

23XI will expand to two cars next season with former series champion Kurt Busch joining the team.

Wallace's win was his first in 142 career Cup starts, though he had six victories in the Truck Series from 2013 through 2015.

No playoff drivers won a race at Talladega this weekend and only Hamlin is already locked into the third round of the playoffs headed into next week's elimination race at Charlotte, North Carolina.

Hamlin, a three-time Daytona 500 winner, celebrated with Wallace following his seventh-place finish.

"It's just way more emotional because I know how difficult it is. These guys have worked so hard over the last 10 months to put this team together," Hamlin said. "We're still in the beginning stages of our team. We're still growing. We've got some great things on the horizon. It's just a great morale booster for everyone."

Brad Keselowski finished second and was followed by Team Penske teammate Joey Logano in a pair of Fords. Busch was fourth in a Chevrolet.

Kevin Harvick, Christopher Bell, Alex Bowman and William Byron head to Charlotte in danger of elimination.

UP NEXT

The final race in the second round of the playoffs is at The Roval at Charlotte Motor Speedway. The hybrid road course/oval is where the field of 12 will be trimmed to eight. Chase Elliott is the two-time defending race winner at The Roval. His victory last October was his first of three wins in the final five races that lofted Elliott to his first Cup championship.

Fun for a lap watching Seb slide around on slicks. Reckon Lewis shoulda come in when the team told him to.

Love Jenson on commentary. Hope he takes the gig full time at some point, if Brundle retires.

Yeah the tires seemed like this compelling factor in the race that never really blew up to the extent it felt like they should, like suspense without a climax. Was hoping Lewis could at least follow Max across the line in positions, definitely left with a what if feeling with both the pitting earlier or not pitting at all scenarios.

Button's good on commentary, I always liked Coulthard back in the day when he did some too, but it seemed to depend on whose coverage I was getting in Canada from Speed TV or not. I think I liked the Coulthard period the most too because his co-commentator was a better partner, Brundle's good even if I'm not as aware of his racing history, but the other guy frustrates me (I forget names).

>but the other guy
>frustrates me (I forget names).

Paul's fine, just not especially entertaining. Jenson's legitimately funny, and seems to have a nice rapport with Croft.

I like Coulthard too, but I think he likes his little part-time gig interviewing winners. Doubt he wants the workload of co-commentary.

Oh no I think Paul's okay, I think it's Croft I've never really been a fan of.

Yeah Coulthard has definitely stepped back from it so I don't see him coming back to commentary, there was some period a while back where he was a regular for a certain broadcaster but I also liked his main commentator back then too, don't know who it was, he seemed a lot more professional but also never overstepped on real racing statements. Croft will say things sometimes that Brundle will just have to say is wrong lol and you can almost tell he's being nice about it. It's not the biggest deal this just got me thinking about it.

I'd rather have Palmer, but I suppose he's fine with his F1 post race analysis gig

Desus and Mero have Lewis Hamilton on the Yerrrsday night episode this week.

https://twitter.com/SHODesusAndMero/status/1450491940575670272

www.engadgethd.com - the other stuff i'm looking at

Now if I see either of them in Austin or Miami next year, I'mma hate

I thought for sure Lewis would catch and pass in those last few laps, but Max made it work.

At the other end of the grid, Mazepin's just not good enough, it doesn't seem, and I'm wondering what that does to the future of Haas. No matter how much money his dad brings, you can't keep a guy that slow on the grid.

Last lap Max got help by lapping Mick and getting DRS to get out of the way, and Lewis just missed out. Still, the undercut was strong and played well by RB. Good stuff

Forgot this was a sprint race deal. Qualifying today. RBR seem a few tenths quicker so far.

Don't think this is really a must-win for Lewis, but reckon he can't finish worse than 2nd to stay in the hunt. Else he'll have to hope for a Max DNF somewhere in the human rights violation stretch of the schedule.

He has to win the sprint and race to stand a chance in the championship. Things looking like 2016 again...

Should Max and RB win, I'll be fine. Been steeling myself for that result before the break. All bets are off next year, so I can only hope Mercedes pulls off something similar to 2014

That penalty won't amount to much, I don't think. Starting 6th is no worse than starting 2nd for Lewis, generally.

I would've liked to see Hamilton take a dominant pole, but I feel like all these moments of success for Hamilton lately still end up with Verstappen ahead in the race. Brazil can be exciting, hopefully it can be a fun race.

Hamilton's at risk of a further penalty due to an investigation into his DRS system, the rear wing is impounded overnight apparently for a decision in the morning. Sounds like it might have opened too wide?

The Lewis thing means automatic DQ from qualfying yesterday, if they bust him for it. Which I Guess means he'd be last on the sprint grid. Tough to make up that many places in such a short race, so even if he got to, say, 8th, he'd still be taking that engine penalty and starting 13th tomorrow. That hurts bad.

Max apparently touched Lewis's car in parc ferme, which you can't do. Dunno how they'll treat that.

Def disappointing wanting to see the fight happen at the front.

Verstappen touching the wing made it probably unnecessarily spicy, even if it really didn't have any impact on the wing. The hater in me can only wonder what a Red Bull team response to this would have been if the roles were reversed lol

Maybe they should reverse grid sprint weekends?!? lol

Toto sneaking in a "fuck them all" over the radio to Lewis.

I know I watched them, but can't tell you what happened.

Yeah, Lewis doing his thing was good fun. Thought Checo could get to 3rd, but never quite happened. Sort of interesting. Atill not a huge fan of the format, but it's something to watch, ai reckon.

As was his stellar two days of racing. Here's hoping they can keep this momentum in the mideast. I know Qatar from the bikes and I don't know what it will be like for F1, hard to imagine much passing so quali will be important.

The end result dimmed my frustration, but still, fuck Verstappen. One is the GOAT, the other can't keep it on the road in an actual race. Verstappen didn't make the corner and you can't tell me Hamilton wasn't going to. Hamilton avoiding a collision makes pretty clear the difference in what's wrong with Verstappen's racing style in their past incidents.

https://youtu.be/jLyIWOrHJqc

Fastest in quali, DQ'd from quali, started at the bottom of the sprint to 5th, started the main race 10th, pushed wide by Max with no response from FIA, and still won with 9+ sec in the bag. Like Toto said, F*ck 'em all. Did not like the idea of taking a new engine and penalty, but that's why I'm not on the pit wall. Absolutely fantastic drive from Lewis this weekend. Whether it will be enough to win the 'chip, I don't know. But it keeps it interesting till the end.

Bottas was well out of position off the rip, which could have been fatal if not for a few well times safety cars. Still, he did what he was supposed to do and got on the podium, though I wish he could have closed down Max. I'll take keeping Perez out of play

that he can't be expected to keep his car on the track

www.engadgethd.com - the other stuff i'm looking at

He's notorious at doing that when Lewis is about to pass him. There's breaking the tow, but he's quite a bit beyond just a double move on a straight, which you can't do anyway (unless it's Max, apparently).

Seems like every season you get a race that shows just how freaking good Lewis is when the odds are against him. Turkey was a great example last year. Brazil this year has to get added to the ledger. Essentially 25 places down to 1st.

as much as max whined about his high speed wreck

the entire reason it happened was because of his weaving down the straight. you can't just keep moving forever



www.engadgethd.com - the other stuff i'm looking at

Not entirely sure what to make of this one, really. The onboard view wasn't released until days after the race, so the stewards couldn't use that when they made their (non) ruling. That's a bit suspect. Max didn't even try to make that corner and Lewis was clearly past him, not alongside. Shades of Nico in Austria in '16, honestly. Had Lewis not evaded (once again this season) they both get wiped out, and Max can't whine about 'giving space'. But Lewis won, so....

Petronas initial stance was they want to win on the track, so they didn't take up the fight with the wing (which was also a weird technical ruling, but another post), but they want a ruling after the race here. But Lewis won, so...

It's funny Horner was on the phone with the stewards immediately when the incident happened to try to call off the dogs for his boy. He had to know that was a penalty coming Max's way. If Max gets that penalty, he probably comes in 3rd, and with the championship this close, he can't afford that at all. Mind you, he was all in a tizzy when Toto calls the stewards mid race. Same team BS and hypocrisy. But Lewis won, so....

I suppose the only reason to call for a review is to have the stewards go on record as to what is allowed and what isn't, because it seems grey AF (or grey AF for anybody but Max this season). I don't expect this to be reopened, and I don't expect Max to get any penalty, warning, or stern talking to. Setting a precedent going forward makes a little sense, but with new cars and regs next year, there's no real world knowledge on how the cars will act in a race (though turning for a corner is still turning for a corner). The rule can't apply only if there's a gravel trap, like, say, Austria. Could just be petty for pettiness' sake.

But Lewis still won, so...

They better never change the name.

New Saudi Arabia street circuit next weekend. Apparently they are still laying down asphalt. Seems like it could be a cool track to watch the cars on. Hoping to see Hamilton keep winning, add a new venue to the list.

Qatar was cool I guess, the tires made it interesting, curbs designed for Moto GP are awesome lol! Cool for Alonso to get a podium again. I'm hoping Bottas shows up a bit more in one of these last two races, it's almost like he doesn't really want to help anymore sometimes.

>New Saudi Arabia street circuit next weekend. Apparently they
>are still laying down asphalt. Seems like it could be a cool
>track to watch the cars on. Hoping to see Hamilton keep
>winning, add a new venue to the list.

I have a bad feeling about that circuit. We'll see.

>I have a bad feeling about that circuit. We'll see.

We saw.

Pretty sure Netflix couldn't have scripted this season any better.

Not sure if the pressure is getting to Max or not. He was absolutely flying on his Q3 lap and stuffed it in the wall. Overcooking Turn 1 more than once to keep the lead kinda feels like Max being Max, and he caught a penalty for one of those. I have no clue what went down when Lewis hit him, and I'm sure even after the stewards talk to them both there's still not going to be an answer. Not sure if it was a brake check or a last second swerve. Either way, he didn't have the tires to mount a charge at the end.

Lewis seems built for this. He pretty much needed to run the tables, and has done his part (brilliantly in Brazil, I may add). Last time Abu Dhabi meant anything was 2016. I hope this one goes better than that year.

but as soon as he gets frustated a little bit

he turns into the worst person you've ever raced against online

I am one hundred percent sure he intentionally crashes out and quits in iRacing

www.engadgethd.com - the other stuff i'm looking at

It's kind of reminding me of the stuff they flash from past rivalries, Schumacher/Hill or the Suzuka incident, taking someone out just to win the title. It feels like Verstappen is someone who still thinks that's part of F1 almost, and Hamilton is really wary of avoiding that.

The confusion around the position swap was just a mess, the part than annoyed me the most was no one remembering that you can't 'give' a position back the way Verstappen was trying to, regardless of the collision. It goes back to the Spa Hamilton/Raikonnen incident, you can't just pass right back even in the next corner, it was clear when they penalized Verstappen 5s after the first time he actually let Hamilton past and then just went under him in the last corner, someone should have just told them that lol and a commentator should've remembered.

he only wants it to go one way

a certain amount of bullshittery is standard among drivers, they all think they're right and everyone else is wrong but he's way on the extreme end


www.engadgethd.com - the other stuff i'm looking at

I think F1 drivers can be petulant brats by nature. But some of the stuff Max pulls is downright dangerous. Marko and Horner only make things worse by supporting and seemingly encouraging it (and when badly caught, hiding behind 'this is all about racing')

I refused to look at any comments after the brake check ruling came out. The whole situation was a mess full stop, but you can't argue telemetry traces. Well, you can't argue them unless you're a Max fan anyway.

the only thing you can say is either max was trying to do something fucked up, or he's the absolute dumbest motherfucker in the entire world

there are no other possibilities

www.engadgethd.com - the other stuff i'm looking at

>the only thing you can say is either max was trying to do
>something fucked up, or he's the absolute dumbest motherfucker
>in the entire world
>
>there are no other possibilities

The blind rage/mental gymnastics to say Max did nothing wrong feels kinda MAGA-ish. Not claiming racial bias (but, c'mon...) but more the total rejection of facts to support their man. Like, the actual telemetry is there, but Lewis is still to blame.


Whatever. I hope Mercedes puts that fresh engine in and Hamilton wins by 12 seconds. I'm super nervous as this race is gonna be a coin flip, but if Lewis break the record and Mercedes can go 8 for 8 with these regs, everyone else gotta bow down.

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Off top, that was BS. Either everyone that was lapped gets through or nobody gets through. Deciding that in the last few corners before the safety car leaves is absolutely unacceptable. Hell, red flag the race if you want to end racing. But this half measure BS on the last lap is ridiculous.

That said.... Mercedes had 2 chances to give Lewis new tires, and didn't. Had that shadowed Max on either of those it could have been a win. I understand both were 50/50 calls, and had Latifi (the new Timo Glock) not hit the wall, the call was the right one. Still, they had the chance, and at the end the gamble went the wrong way.

I could go on a rant on FIA being absolute trash and Massi needing to go, but even that goes both ways. Both teams benefited from crappy calls or non rulings. Hell, Lap 1 could have gone that way. But the calls went both ways, none of which anybody can be happy with. They better fix it next year

This feels worse than 2016. Hamilton did everything he needed to do only to get screwed on the last lap call. One driver had to beat the other, and Max, for all the reasons, crossed before Lewis. I don't like it, but I'm not going to put an asterisk or caveat on the win either. Max capitalized on everything he needed to do, grey area or not, and finished ahead on the last race, BS ruling or not. He's a great driver. He was going to be a world champ. If this is how he needs to get it, so be it, I guess. A win is a win. Mercedes still ran the table with the new regs, and all bets are off next season. If Lewis gets to 8 chips, I'll be OK.

if they'd gone in, max stays out, the race never restarts and they lose

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Say they did go in on the first safety car (not Latifi's accident). Lewis could have closed down Max, but given Max's defensive 'tactics', that wasn't the smart play. As far as with the Latifi incident, you definitely don't go in. Like you said, RB would have kept Max out, as they needed to do everything Mercedes didn't to have a chance and still needed a miracle to win, given Lewis' pace. Masi just gave them the miracle on a shiny silver platter.

I understand what Masi was trying to do, really. Not end on a safety car, follow the rule book, give everybody a last lap win or go home moment in real time. But there's no way he could have at that point. Throwing a red flag for the Latifi crash wouldn't work. Letting all the lapped cars through you still end under yellow at that point. Don't let any lapped cars through would have been complained about, but likely would have been the best of bad choices, as letting lapped cars through is up t the race director. It didn't HAVE to be done, and Max would need to clear those drivers just like Lewis had to. But having that last lap battle was too big of a draw, apparently, so even if it had to be manufactured that was the option Masi took, apparently.

I'm not a fan of taking this to court either. I understand having this on record to make sure going forward nothing like this happens again, but it can't change the result of the race. Doesn't look or feel good. I suppose taking the PR hit to have clearly enforced regulations is worth it to them, whether it comes off as sour grapes or not. No good choices here either.

Well....Mercedes ran the table for the constructors. That can be celebrated. All hats are off for 2022. I hope Mercedes gets their car right and Lewis can get 8 and retire. Gotta commend him for taking the loss on the chin in the moment. He's been on the losing end of a championship before (but not a manufactured loss like this) so for him to keep his composure in the moment and congratulate Max was good to see. Masi, on the other hand, will end up with a horse head in his bed this week.

then red flag the race and get everyone sorted let everyone change tires

if anything, for safety, why would you want a sprint with people on varying age tires out there sliding around

if Lewis weren't as good as he is, he'd have put himself and max into the wall more than once




www.engadgethd.com - the other stuff i'm looking at

you could easily say it's for safety reasons

www.engadgethd.com - the other stuff i'm looking at