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Formula One

Interlagos always puts on a good show, what a track it is, easily one of the best on the calendar!

Great to see Mercedes back at the front, they genuinely had the fastest car in race trim this weekend which is quite something. Hope it's the same in Abu Dhabi but I suspect Red Bull will be back to their best there. You could tell that Lewis was disappointed at the end, I think he knew that if he'd kept his mediums on for longer, he'd have lucked into a pit stop under the safety car and probably have come through to win on fresher tyres. Still, happy for George to get that first win.

Max really showed his true colours this weekend. Any champion has to be ruthless, but not at all costs. Firstly, his interview after the race makes it quite clear that he was more than happy to crash into Lewis, as he said it only cost him 5 seconds yet it cost Lewis a race win (his words). I think if it was anyone else he would have backed out. Then to not let Checo through at the end was so petulant, especially when you consider how much Checo has helped him out in the past. He think he runs the team, which let's be honest, he does. Both Horner and Marko think he is the gift from god that can do no wrong. Really hope this comes back to bite him when he next needs some help from Checo, but it probably won't as Checo would have his contract ripped up if he did not help said gift from god.

/rant
 
Verstappens actions yesterday were wrong clear and simple. To admit what he did in regards to the hamilton accident and then to refuse to let Checo past is not in the true manner of the sport. His admission should be picked up by the FIA and punished.

Id be surprised if Checo goes as there isnt another team for him to go to, so I think he will take it on the chin and move on, but I dont think we will see the kind of defending he has been doing for max, Its game on now

Clearly a lot of tension in a few teams, Alonso and Ocon in Alpine, Seb and Stroll in AM (but then they wont be team mates next year) all seemed to reach boiling point this weekend.

Shame for Mclarens double DNF, dont think they are going to be challenging for a title any time soon
 
Great to see the Mercs back in the fight. Will be interesting to see if they keep the sidepodless design next year - it seems to be on a decent run of form now but I'd seen commentary suggesting there were hints in midseason developments that they are moving away from it. Either way with this and the RBR penalty one hopes they are in the fight again.

Ferrari communication is so awful. I don't understand why such a big team is getting something so easy to sort wrong still. It's almost at the point now where I've counted them out for next season regardless of how much their (already potentially winning) car improves. I hope I'm wrong about that.

Verstappen's decision was stupid in my view. At best, he will have lost trust with a teammate who propelled him to victory last year, and might be needed to do the same again next year. At worst he has opened a can of worms with regards to the Monaco GP which will cause huge problems for the team. And for what? 6th place in a race yonks after you've secured the WDC; nothing, effectively. He has only himself to blame next time Perez refuses to yield, in my view.
 
Max has so much talent but he still has so much to learn. He might not care what others think but he should care what his team mate thinks. Perez helped Max get maximum points on a number of occasions last season, and his defence in Abu Dhabi was critical. I can accept that Max can be aggressive and try and force his way past and that might cause unnecessary contact, but I can not accept it when he does not play the team game. I don't think Perez will be supporting Max as much in the future. It was just such a stupid move by Max, and there was no need for it. You cant help but wonder if something has gone off this weekend.

Max might have held all the cards a few years ago, but he is slowly losing options for the future. I am not sure Mercedes would ever take him. Ferrari might, but with their current performances would you want to do their. Alpine, McLaren, Aston Martin would take him, but they wont get him a competitive car. I would be giving him a good telling off if I was in charge.

Max's move in Brazil reminded me of Monza last year, he knew he was not fast enough, and was super aggressive. I think both drivers said they knew what was going to happen, so you could argue if they both knew what was going to happen, they could of taken avoiding action. It was a shame for Lewis, I think without the contact he would of had a better chance of winning.

Great for Russell to get his first win, but I still think Lewis had the better pace all weekend. George is still learning, and has been aggressive and a little clumsy with some of his overtakes this season. This is a good season for him to learn from them though, and I suspect we are going to see an interesting rivalry between Lewis and George next season if the car is more competitive from the start. Not sure Lewis will be happy with Russell finishing above him this season.

How Leclerc ended up 4th after ending up in the wall after contact with Norris I will never know. Clearly Ferrari knew what they were doing all along yesterday.

I felt really sorry for Yuki as well at the end, the FIA allowing some cars to unlap themselves but not allowing him to was really unfair, and shows that there is still lessons to be learnt. I understand the issue was caused by Yuki entering the pits and the FIA system thinking Yuki had overtaken the safety car, and therefore it not picking up he needed to be allowed through but with the amount of time it took under the safety car, you would think they would be able to get this right, as it felt like Yuki being in the middle and slowing down to let the field through at the start/finish was pretty dangerous.
 
Ferrari have reportedly binned off Binotto, with Vasseur replacing him from January onwards.
 
It'd seem unusual to replace Binotto with Vasseur, purely because I'm sure Ferrari have usually promoted from within the team for Team Principal. I might be wrong on that, though.
 
Ferrari are always very quick to give the TP the chop when things have not gone so well. One could make the argument that things have actually gone well this year, in that they over delivered technically and the race team were not ready operationally for the challenge. Nobody notices when teams like Alpine drop the ball constantly!

Equally this just looks like a cultural issue within the team. One that few have managed to sort over the years.
 
It's been confirmed that Hulkenberg will be replacing Schumacher at Haas next year. I don't think Schumacher can have too many complaints but hopefully he gets another opportunity in the future.
 
"“The experience and knowledge base Nico brings to the team is clear to see – with nearly 200 career starts in Formula 1 – and a reputation as being a great qualifier and a solid, reliable racer. These are attributes, which when you pair them together with Kevin Magnussen’s experience, gives us a very credible and well-seasoned driver line-up which we believe will help push the team onwards up the grid." ~ Guenther.

I can see the thought process in the decision making, but given how long Nico has had out of a full-time seat and his two fairly miserable drives in the AMR this year, I really don't think he's the answer.
 
Many of the F2 cohorts had a run in FP this morning. Quite a crucial moment for Logan Sargeant out in the Williams. A good run out for Lawson in Max's car, really not far off Perez' timings, even on hard tires.

Meanwhile, the 'F1 Academy' has been announced. It's a new all-female driver series that is designed to be a feeder for the W series, and the possibility of getting women into F3, F2 and ultimately F1:

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I've seen odd POV laps of Kyalami (the almost-certain venue if F1 returns to South Africa), and it looks brilliant. I'd love to see F1 go back there in the not-too-distant future.
 
I'm never a fan of these 'bombastic American' launches, and those two presenters were god-awful. All for last year's car with replaced sponsor stickers. I'm sure Honda loved having their logo present at a Ford announcement.
 
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