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Formula One



Great race stats here, second chart shows gap to leader, and really interesting that one (Link)

What a rollercoaster of a race. Norris and Sainz at the start was great. Norris and Hamilton at the end was great. And then the rain came along and ruined a lot of peoples races but also helped a few drivers as well.

100 wins for Lewis is just amazing. I remember when Schumacher was beating all the records and thought no one is going to beat that, and I feel the same now, I am not sure anyone is going to beat 100 wins. Lewis is making more mistakes than usual this season I think, and this weekend there were three mistakes which had they happened during the race would of ruined it.

I think Mercedes and RedBull are very similar cars, and its just the drivers making the difference. But the midfield is a lot tougher as well, and its not an easy pass for any of them. Max's pass on Bottas was good for Max, but bad for Bottas, it was almost like Bottas did not care. I thought on the whole, Bottas was very poor all race, and only lucked in when it rained.

I was a bit worried about Perez, but he had an excellent race, made some good passes, and would of got third place had it not been for the rain. Not sure what the team were thinking when they left him out so long, but it was a great drive, and he deserved something. He just needs to find that extra few tenths in qualifying to get a bit further up the field.

Lando is a future world champion. He might not get the car to win a world championship, but he has the talent. Yesterday will be a tough one for him to take. He will learn a lot from this, and the team will to. If and buts will be playing on his mind, but they should of covered off Mercedes and pitted the next lap, only Leclerc tried the same as Lando, and it cost him just as much after a fantastic race. I think it was just signs that McLaren are not used to winning anymore, but the Team and Lando will learn from this and I really hope Lando gets the chance to win a race sooner rather than later.

I heard that Mercedes only pitted Lewis because Max pitted, which makes it even more gutting for Lando as Lewis admitted he wanted to stay out.

Max, Carlos, Sainz an Stroll all pitted on lap 48 from what I can tell. Bottas, Raikkonen and Russell pitted on 47. Lewis pitted on 49, Fernando and Perez on Lap 50, with Lando on Lap 51. Some of the drivers did not have fresh Inters left over from yesterday, so this gave Max another slight advantage, but as the link below shows, Max is just very good at getting the most out of the car in the wet, and also had the Mediums which keep the heat a little better than the hards.

As good a drive as it was by Max, I think the team got the strategy wrong, even though it worked out in the end. I would of gone Medium, Medium, Softs, which would of ruined his race at the end, but if it had stayed dry, I think Max would of done well to keep 7th place as his mediums were done compared to those on the hards. It was great to see Max making all those passes, but it just used the tyres up to quickly.

 
Congratulations to Lewis on his 100th win. Some will say luck but the guy always gets his car in the right places, nobody will be breaking his records anytime soon.

Bottas did very little to support his team and if Perez is finally getting to grips with the second RB, do Mercedes consider swapping out Bottas? If so who? Surely not Hulk to get his podium :D

Really feel for Lando and wish the gamble had worked, however realistically McLaren should have made the call to bring him in and go for second with a win being a bonus. They had much more to lose and it was clear that Lewis wasn't going to stay out and risk losing championship points, McLaren should have also covered Ferrari in the constructors (Luckily LeClerc made the same mistake). Obviously if it had come off it would have been genius but I feel asking a 21 year old who was already struggling to stay on the track to make the call, was little naïve and he should have been told to box. Definitely agree @IanB he can be a World Champ with the right car.

All the teams biffed at least one of their calls or pit stops due to the chaotic nature of the race but Mercedes were kings of the pitstops when those around them struggled with tyres and the new manual guns.

Great drive in a "dead race" for Max and sets up the for next few races quite nicely.

Turkey - Hamilton won last year and I'd expect him to do so again, it's up to Red Bull and that new engine to snatch back the championship lead. - Merc

USA - May suit the new Red Bull more in the corners but historically a good circuit for Hamilton so it will be tight and we know the Merc is good here. Only badly timed pit stop and an inspired Kimi breaking up the recent Mercedes dominance with a certain Max Verstappen second. - Draw

Mexico - Strong Verstappen circuit and high altitude which favours the Red Bull. - RB

Brazil - Same as Mexico and Hamilton hasn't won here since 2018 and has only won twice previously despite his dominance - RB

Qatar - Layout pictures suggest the short corners will make this a RB friendly circuit - RB

Saudi Arabia - Layout pictures for Jeddah makes this look like a Merc circuit all day with those lovely long straights. Although after this weekend, don't rule out McLaren but in the context of Hamilton vs Verstappen - Merc

Abu Dhabi - The removal of turns 11, 12, 13 and 14 and the widening of the hairpin and banked turns swings this back into Mercedes favour for me. - Merc

That to me puts it at 3x Merc, 3x Red Bull and 1x Draw, with the Americas races at risk of being cancelled. If Hamilton can stretch out his lead at Turkey and possibly Circuit of the Americas I think it would be his to lose going into the Persian Gulf, especially if Mexico/Brazil get binned.

No doubt there will be twist and turns but if all the races go ahead it will be an amazing end to one of the best seasons in years.
 
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The TBC race is Qatar, AIUI, no second pop at Bahrain this year.

I'd be surprised if the chips fall as neatly as Hamilton wins the Merc advantage tracks and Verstappen wins the RBR advantage tracks as well.
 
I should have been clearer, TBC or Qatar is the same round - Round 20. All signs point to Qatar going ahead but it's still not been ratified and Bahrain is the backup.

Absolutely, nothing is won on paper. Still plenty of drama to come :D
 
F1 have posted some great videos on their youtube channel.



Everything looks so much more intense when its on-board.

Perez was lucky to finish the race after hitting the wall when pitting, and how did Stroll avoid a penalty for hitting Gasly?
 
I found yesterdays GP a bit boring if im honest, Watching Sainz making his way through the field was good but otherwise it just seemed like no one other than Yuki wanted to even try to race Hamilton.

Im happy for Bottas in what could easily be his last win in F1, and the championship takes another turn.

Special shout out to Ocon, that front right tyre was beyond dead at the end
 
some teams might as well not even send the drivers out, its not like they get any attention
 
Certainly not the best race of the season, nor the dullest, however.

Really glad to see Checo holding off against Hamilton, particularly after nearly ending up in the pits as a result.

Vettel on slicks. Bizarre decision.
 
Verstappen's title to lose now. A shame that Hamilton could not get close enough to really challenge on the last couple of laps, that could have led to some fireworks...!

And I know Perez was struggling with a lack of water, but both Verstappen and Hamilton showed why they are the best yesterday with the huge gap that they pulled on him.
 
I have to agree with Rob now, the balance is in Max's favour, but Lewis is not out of it yet.



All it takes is one DNF and Lewis is back in it. Ricardo could of just as easily hit Lewis or Max at the start.

Not really sure what Bottas was doing at the start, not sure why he left enough space on the outside for Max.

But Max was fantastic on the breaks, and a lovely pass round the outside of T1.

I was really surprise Ricardo got away without a penalty for the incident at the start, and then he held up Bottas for the rest of the race.

I thought Lewis backhanded compliment about Checo was a little cheeky, but made me smile. I might have agreed with Lewis a few races ago but I think there has been an improvement in Perez performances recently, and he has closed the gap to Max. It was a great drive, but Lewis had just enough to stop Perez getting past.

The crowd were fantastic, and the arena section is brilliant. I would of loved Perez to get past just to see their reaction.

The gap between the Mercedes and Red Bull to the rest of the field is crazy though.

My only worry with RedBull is that after Brazil, the remaining three races are back at Sea Level, and that will help the Mercedes.

I think Ferrari are also going to take third place, not sure what is up with McLaren currently, but maybe they are focusing more on next years car, where as Ferrari are more focused on this year?

I felt really sorry for Yuki this weekend, he had great speed in the car, and was not to far from Gasly, but poor team comms during Qualifying meant he made a mess of getting out of the RedBull cars why, an engine penalty sent him to the back of a grid, and contact at T1 while everyone trying to avoid Bottas put him out. I really hope he has a better Brazil.
 
I think It's Max's championship to lose now. Bottas has no more loyalty to Mercedes and the way they have treated him I wouldn't be surprised if he took one of the remaining wins with little thought about switching places. Brazil is a good place for Red bull to pick up more points and potentially take the lead in the constructors championship.

If I am honest, I just don't see Lewis winning now, the hunger is still there but I just don't see it happening, I think some poor decisions and mistakes from the team and him have costed them the title this year.

Im not sure what is happening with McLaren, whilst Danny Ric's performances have improved and he seems to be more comfortable in the car now, they just cant find the speed, but with the Mercedes engine I would expect to see them in a good place for the sea level races, in a post interview with Sainz and Lando, Sainz suggested the McLaren would be faster in the final races because of the altitude
 
Apart from the phenomenal Mexican crowd (and seeing how happy Perez's dad was at the end) I found it an extremely boring race. I do question why F1 chooses to race at circuits like Mexico where conditions do not allow for good racing.

Red Bull clearly had the faster car in the race, and I feel that it was only conditions that prevented Perez from being able to get close enough to pass Hamilton. Russell also did a nice job of letting Hamilton pass with ease and then having Perez stuck behind him for a few corners.

Hopefully Brazil is a better race!
 
Dull race. RB should have pitted Perez, I was screaming at the telly when he didn't box - why wouldn't you box Hamilton now if you are on the Merc wall? Perhaps there was a concern over the Ferraris but they were never going to be there long.

Hoping for better at Interlagos.

Rob said:
Red Bull clearly had the faster car in the race, and I feel that it was only conditions that prevented Perez from being able to get close enough to pass Hamilton. Russell also did a nice job of letting Hamilton pass with ease and then having Perez stuck behind him for a few corners.
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Not sure Russell would agree that he did that.
 
Very dull race, Hamilton needs to get a win in to stop the title fight becoming dull too.

Botas gave nothing into that first corner. If he'd have kept the pressure in he could easily have forced MV into having to conceding or going wide. It was like ge was the RedBull second driver, not Mercedes. The way he's performed and not supported the team since his departure was announced I think they should have replaced him with someone who has something to prove for the remainder of the season.
 
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