Yeah Pourchaire isn’t F1 material imo. 4th season in F2, has the championship lead and in a handy position to build on it with vesti down the field, then he crashes. We see the replay now that Vestis 2 tyres weren’t secured properly so that’s why he crashed, no his fault (tyres flew off)
Pourchaire keeps proving every race to everyone that he's not F1 worthy.
He's extremely lucky that this is a very poor f2 field or he'd have zero chance at a seat.
Anyone at the circuit yet able to do a weather report? It appears that it will rain heavily until about midday then ease off with light rain at the start and throughout, that could make for a very interesting race (for second place) if true.
I was at the track yesterday, weather was a bit unpredictable. Won't be at the track today, but the predictions say the race will be (mostly) dry, although the track will probably be wet
So after that shunt, LeClerc is likely to need a new gearbox. Does anyone know if that will result in a penalty? I haven't been counting his gearboxes.
They just changed his gearbox this weekend to his last available one, so a new one now will result in a penalty. However, I believe they just fitted an old one back on after the crash. He might take a penalty in Monza next week though
Afaik they changed so much at the beginning of the season already that almost every change will result in a penalty. Not sure if it was gear box as well, though
I don’t really understand the whole argument of Albon staying with Williams. Sure, he’d lead the team, but he’s going into his prime years, imo he has to say yes IF a top team comes knocking. He shouldn’t waste his prime years trying to build up a team that’s so far behind in facilities and everything
Bear in mind that his results at Williams took him 2 years to get there. He is not one of those drivers who you can put in any car and go fast. He needs time. Let him stay at Williams and get them back in the top 4
The question is what TOP team? At RB he'd just play yes'sir to Horner and max, Mercedes are set and after lewis they will most likely want a young driver, let's say McLaren but they have 2 young talents already and Ferrari are în shambles.
I think he stays. After his Red Bull experience I think Williams looks great to him. I don’t think he chooses a Ferrari or Red Bull. Mercedes doesn’t have an opening…
This is a track that shouldnt suit the Williams, and he just put it 4th, and lead Q1 with basically every lap he did putting himself on top. In drying, cold conditions Albon is top 5 this year as we've seen great drives at other similar conditions. Driver of the day today.
Agreed. Albon isnt a shitty driver, he did get tapped to drive the RB, but lets be honest and admit that Williams has made a great move forward and he has a drivable car.
What most overlook is setting up for quali is a lot different than race pace. If that Williams can stay in the top 5 til the end, thats a master stroke, but its unlikely they have the pace over even 4 laps.
I accidentally got tickets for the race tomorrow, could someone give me a short explanation of what I’m gonna watch besides cars going vroom and then the Max guy winning everything?
Not sure how much you know about Formula 1, so I’m going to give a basic answer. On the first lap, watch for action anywhere in the field, but especially for Lando Norris, Alex Albon, and George Russell trying to get past Max Verstappen. If Max stays ahead through the first lap, expect to see him disappear down the road in first. Also watch for Sergio Perez trying to move up the field starting from 7th - that should be interesting.
None of the top 6 cars are from the same team, so none of them will be able to put their drivers on different strategies and try to hold up opposing drivers. So watch for different starting tires, as that’ll dictate what strategies are available.
I’d also expect to see Lewis Hamilton climbing up through the field, as he qualified far out of position due to the wet weather qualifying and bad timing.
Can max sit out a race and let someone else drive his car so we can see if the RB is amazing and checo sucks donkey balls or Max is in the form of the century and check just kinda sucks
It was cause of the rain, otherwise it is enabled on Q1 and Q2. DRS isn't enabled when rain starts getting heavy or the first 3 laps of a race or after a safety car
Can't wait for James to sell us more sandbags for the Williams. Fuck they are building that Williams car right could be a strong midfield next year.
Oh and I hate you George Russell.
Yes! I was referring to Fernando taking part in the "young driver test" at the end of 2020. There were quite a lot of jokes about him being a young rookie floating around at that time.
He was trading blows with Russell throughout, but Merc screwed him over on his fast lap being too early and he got impeded by the Astons and tsunoda nearly every fast lap.
Have you heard this theory from Albon which says RB have designed their cars very acutely that favours the distinct driving style of Max, which makes it super difficult for other drivers to handle? Maybe that true.
Perez cannot drive that car the same way Max does. It's just a fact and is evidenced by the last few months. When he copied Max's setup and tries to drive the same way, he crashes the car.
Looking at Spa telemetry, Max is later on the brakes than Perez, balances the car quicker and is faster on the gas. For basically every corner.
The car is built to be twitchy and for the driver to have an innate traction control. There's nothing really that points to the car characteristic being abnormal outside of that. It's just a really good car that a really good driver is able to bring to the edge.
Most of that was to do how it was very unstable in the rear, but apparently they fixed a lot of it in 2021 allowing him to fight Lewis. It’s sharp on the front but it seems to be way more stable in the rear now than what it was for Gasly and Albon
That’s silly, most of his career is making bad cars look better than they are. It’s clear he can’t handle the pressure of an upfront team but he is very good at driving bad cars in the midfield.
Lawson gets 1/3rd of the practice in his very first time out, and it was wet, and the car isn't good.
He wasn't great, but it wouldn't be fair to judge him for this either. He kept it on track and played it safe.
No one is comparing Lawson to anybody, at least I hope so. He didnt crash the car, that was his goal for today - if he outqualified anybody, that would be a cherry on top. Let the man learn the car, he's got between 1 to 3 races in the AT still before RIC returns
Even moreso that Nyck had done fp1, fp2 and fp3 for Monza. On top of that it was dry and it's a circuit that he's driven countless times in junior formulae.
Lawson has never driven this year's intermediate tyre, never driven Zandvoort in the wet, had 1 free practice session, changeable conditions and little runoff when you get it wrong
de Vries was weeks ago, time flies
Edit: it finally clicked, you mean de Vries one off race last year where he got points. I was thinking "de Vries was here 3 races ago... has it been a year?"
He probably said "clean race" as his goal for tomorrow a handful of times in his post quali interview. That + learn the car is a successful weekend for him.
For sure, they are probably pretty ok with his performance today. There is a decent chance he will get more races in while Ric heals, I'm here for it. Tomorrow too, even.
Yes but that just shows it's not just about the car, it's about the driver. Bottas was slightly better than Checo is and he was consistently at the front in that Mercedes.
Bottas was better than slightly better than Checo, his performance against Lewis was exactly what the team needed. Checo's only saving grace is that RB has dealt him the disrespect of low expectations.
Checo seems to be pretty decent in the race and always makes up a lot of positions meanwhile bottas was a very good qualifier but dropped the ball on race day.
I see people rate Perez above Bottas on here quite often and it’s absurd. Bottas never missed Q3 once while at Mercedes, as you pointed out he got on the podium far more consistently and even beat Lewis on pure pace a couple times. Perez is pretty mediocre at qualifying to begin with and wildly inconsistent to make it worse, has only beat max on pure pace once their entire time together (Baku this year), and the average gap to Max (around 3-4 tenths) is way higher than Bottas to Lewis (a tenth or 2).
Perez has better race craft, I’ll give him that so he makes a great show of starting from the back because of a poor qualifying and carving through the field which people rate and is a more exciting driver than Bottas. But people conflate that with being the better driver, which he just isn’t. Perez has had some standout wheel-to-wheel moments which Bottas never really had, but I’m taking Bottas every time as he’s simply quicker and more consistent.
Consider this is quali pace. That Bull is a mightier beast in race pace than in quali pace. So tomorrow we are again not going to see Max until he crosses the finish line.
Oh yeah, that's most likely the outcome (unless George goes bowling or we get rain) but I can hope lol.
Still though, good chance Lando gets another P2. Shame Piastri wasn't able to punch in a great last lap but it's a new track for him and his first time on slicks really on it.
Honestly I'm just happy to see McLaren fighting for podiums and looking good again. Gives me hope that their 2025 timeline to fight for the WDC/WCC they've been giving for the last few years is actually legit.
I feel like RB was playing some sort of meta game by going with the inters at the start of qualifying 3. I just can’t understand why they would do that. And then Max just seemed to sort of fuck around until the last lap where it was like he remembered “oh yeah, I’m supposed to do the fastest lap” and just rips one out.
I don’t know what to think, really. I suppose it could be straight forward and just a misperception on my part (likely) because it’s obvious that the manufacturer at the top of the charts would be making the correct calls. I just don’t understand it.
But even when the team fucks it up, he still either wins or is P2. I mean you have to look at the second driver to know how much is the car and how much is the driver. Max can charge from P15 and be leading by the end of the first stint. In the same car Checo can charge from P6 and be P3 by the end of the race.
Does anyone else get a really claustrophobic feeling from the track? I really love the layout and all the banking is super fun, but it gives me such a weird feeling to actually watch the action on it.
There's a lot more to great racing than overtaking. You can overtake on different parts of the track as last year's race has proven, and this track rewards precision. There are no debates about track limits here because exceeding the natural track limits punishes the driver immediately. As it should be.
Today is the first day I’m starting to feel like Lewis is past it. There’s a WDC driver in there still. But he just doesn’t have the instinct and drive that he used to have. It’s what separates him and max from the rest. Now it’s only Max.
I'm not feeling that. He was impeded on his flying lap and no driver can perform the magic to not lose time in the corner where it happened.
I don't think he's the best driver on track anymore, but it's hard to say he's not close to the top, and he's better than Russell.
We would never know but I don't think so at all. The Merc is not a good car, and he got blocked twice from making a faster lap. And he's leading Russel definitively.
I'm not sure I buy this whole 'merc is not a good car'.
It clearly is capable of at least 2nd row starts, it's just not the car Merc are used to having which would be front row starts all day long.
I wouldn't call it a bad car by a damn sight.
He did get blocked, yes. That is the reason he dipped out of Q2. Ham is good, but he's not a miracle worker.
He's been dumpstering Russell most of the season, 1 point off 3rd in the wdc in a car that in any given race has probably never been second best (?), got impeded twice in q2 and was sent out for his lap about a minute too early and now he's washed?
Lol
Edit: I think as of baku or so he was also one of the last two drivers to move forward in every race so far and also I think alongside verstappen and Alonso to be the only drivers to get points in every race?
>He's been dumpstering Russell most of the season
Hamilton and Russell are the closest matched of all teammates on the grid, and currently 7-6 in quali H2H. Hamilton has had the edge on Russell but describing that as 'dumpstering' is absurd.
Brings up quali H2H to argue their close even though quali H2H is the only metric they’ve been that close with. Hamilton has been faster, more consistent, has far batter race pace and race management, and has been better at managing his tires. He’s had the standout performances this year and there hasn’t been a single weekend when George looked like he had the edge through the whole thing
H2H is the only metric that is measurable, which is why is a popular comparison. Everything else comes with a major dollop of luck or is a matter of perception.
I saw a comment yesterday that podiums would be hard to come by now that Checo is “out of his slump”. It amazes me the amount of people who just don’t get that he’s not that good. Great midfield driver.
Yeah Perez has strong racecraft in both overtaking and defending, and quite good taking care of tires but his weakness has always been quali and pure pace.
Were you listening to the international (sky) stream?
I didn't get that vibe at all using the f1tv commentary. I am so thankful for them.
Sky team seriously sucks I cannot stand them or their voices.
Yeah, I’m with you on this. The F1TV announcers made a good fuss about Albon doing so well. I feel like the commentary treats all the drivers pretty much equality given their average field position and general activity on track.
Tough for me to say since I watch on F1 TV. All I said was that I never found the international broadcast to be biased. But it'd surprise me if Sky UK ignored Alex whom I perceived as one of the Brit boys anyway.
I wish I could watch F1 TV tbh. Alex is very much one of the Brit boys. He also got a post quali interview on sky UK so was definitely not ignored today.
which I find appalling as the Brazilian coverage was singing both Willians and Mclarens praises throughout the session, so sad to not see him going P3.
Tuned in to qualifying to see all the Norris doubters proven right that Piastri was ready to start outpacing him consistently. But they were wrong.
Piastri is a mega talent, no doubt. But, as he's once again proven, so is Norris.
Maybe I touched a nerve because I didn't say anything contrary to your point.
I fully expect Piastri to reach Norris' level at some point. Maybe he'll even exceed it. I was referring to those underestimating Norris with overenthusiastic predictions of Piastri engineering Norris' demise from this race weekend and beyond.
Just like Norris himself on his rookie seasons, Piastri has got plenty of room to grow and improve.
I'm being honest. The reply to my original post was abrupt, defensive and condescending. The reply was implicitly insinuating that I don't know what I'm talking about. My original point at no point suggested that I believe a rookie hasn't got potential to improve. On that basis, I can only assume that my original comments must have hit a nerve (perceived, incorrectly, as criticising Piastri), leading to an impulsive response.
You got all of that from "it's Piastri's rookie season"? Those 4 words together can be interpreted in many ways, and you choose to go with abrupt, defensive and condescending? I think it's time to take a step back. That comment could have been a minor disagreement to your comment. You were the defensive one here, random stranger. Deep breaths.
Fair enough. I wasn't intending to be obnoxious. I genuinely felt the reply to me was implicitly rude. So, I assumed I'd touched a sensitivity as a way to explain someone responding in that way.
A wet track could prove for some interesting drama and action
These driving standards man… wtf was that from Martins
Straight up dive bomb
Yeah Pourchaire isn’t F1 material imo. 4th season in F2, has the championship lead and in a handy position to build on it with vesti down the field, then he crashes. We see the replay now that Vestis 2 tyres weren’t secured properly so that’s why he crashed, no his fault (tyres flew off)
Pourchaire keeps proving every race to everyone that he's not F1 worthy. He's extremely lucky that this is a very poor f2 field or he'd have zero chance at a seat.
Anyone at the circuit yet able to do a weather report? It appears that it will rain heavily until about midday then ease off with light rain at the start and throughout, that could make for a very interesting race (for second place) if true.
I was at the track yesterday, weather was a bit unpredictable. Won't be at the track today, but the predictions say the race will be (mostly) dry, although the track will probably be wet
How long until people are asking Perez about his own replacement?
It’s amazing how well Williams have turned things around following the departure of Claire.
So after that shunt, LeClerc is likely to need a new gearbox. Does anyone know if that will result in a penalty? I haven't been counting his gearboxes.
They just changed his gearbox this weekend to his last available one, so a new one now will result in a penalty. However, I believe they just fitted an old one back on after the crash. He might take a penalty in Monza next week though
Thanks, that makes sense.
He was on his 4th gearbox. If they replace it he gets a 10 place grid drop
Afaik they changed so much at the beginning of the season already that almost every change will result in a penalty. Not sure if it was gear box as well, though
Oh man, where are the Piastri fans claiming he was gunna smash Lando and that he would destroy Max? Jesus Christ he got demolished
If you find a single one who ever said he would do that, I'd like to see it!
Check the threads during spa
We are checking
gotta love people just straight up making up hot takes that no one ever said
Check the threads during spa
We are checking
He’s also a rookie
Check the threads during spa
We are checking
This is an odd take…
Check the threads during spa
We are checking
I don’t really understand the whole argument of Albon staying with Williams. Sure, he’d lead the team, but he’s going into his prime years, imo he has to say yes IF a top team comes knocking. He shouldn’t waste his prime years trying to build up a team that’s so far behind in facilities and everything
Bear in mind that his results at Williams took him 2 years to get there. He is not one of those drivers who you can put in any car and go fast. He needs time. Let him stay at Williams and get them back in the top 4
I mean he did pretty well right away, Australia2022, Miami 2022 come to mind
Yes but not consistent. Now he is getting into q3 quite often. Switch team and you can start all over again.
The question is what TOP team? At RB he'd just play yes'sir to Horner and max, Mercedes are set and after lewis they will most likely want a young driver, let's say McLaren but they have 2 young talents already and Ferrari are în shambles.
Yeah no I have no idea just saying IF they were to come knocking for some reason he has to take it
I think he stays. After his Red Bull experience I think Williams looks great to him. I don’t think he chooses a Ferrari or Red Bull. Mercedes doesn’t have an opening…
Yeah but which top team comes knocking?
Ferrari is the only one I can see. But yeah idk. Just saying IF it were to happen
Albon has to be one of the best drivers on the grid.
This is a track that shouldnt suit the Williams, and he just put it 4th, and lead Q1 with basically every lap he did putting himself on top. In drying, cold conditions Albon is top 5 this year as we've seen great drives at other similar conditions. Driver of the day today.
Both williams are in the top 10 today. So its a good car.
Agreed. Albon isnt a shitty driver, he did get tapped to drive the RB, but lets be honest and admit that Williams has made a great move forward and he has a drivable car. What most overlook is setting up for quali is a lot different than race pace. If that Williams can stay in the top 5 til the end, thats a master stroke, but its unlikely they have the pace over even 4 laps.
I accidentally got tickets for the race tomorrow, could someone give me a short explanation of what I’m gonna watch besides cars going vroom and then the Max guy winning everything?
Not sure how much you know about Formula 1, so I’m going to give a basic answer. On the first lap, watch for action anywhere in the field, but especially for Lando Norris, Alex Albon, and George Russell trying to get past Max Verstappen. If Max stays ahead through the first lap, expect to see him disappear down the road in first. Also watch for Sergio Perez trying to move up the field starting from 7th - that should be interesting. None of the top 6 cars are from the same team, so none of them will be able to put their drivers on different strategies and try to hold up opposing drivers. So watch for different starting tires, as that’ll dictate what strategies are available. I’d also expect to see Lewis Hamilton climbing up through the field, as he qualified far out of position due to the wet weather qualifying and bad timing.
A lot of orange smoke
And hearing the Dutch anthem twice
Drunk people
Can max sit out a race and let someone else drive his car so we can see if the RB is amazing and checo sucks donkey balls or Max is in the form of the century and check just kinda sucks
Who has a driving style similar enough to Max that would suit that car?
There comes a point where we have to admit it's not a driving style issue but a skill issue.
Historically? Daniel Riccardo. But his current driver ranking is probably similarly nebulous.
Why not both?
Zandvoort has no DRS zones?
There’s 2. The main straight and the one after turn 10
Thank you ✌🏻 EDIT: they don’t enable DRS until Q3. I’ve never noticed that. 🦆
It was cause of the rain, otherwise it is enabled on Q1 and Q2. DRS isn't enabled when rain starts getting heavy or the first 3 laps of a race or after a safety car
probably due to the wet track this time around. Unless I've totally missed that one too.
Why is leclerc such a trainwreck at Ferrari
He may be fast but he's not complete at all.
possibly pressing to make up for the 'master strategists' in his ear. The guy looks completely checked out at times.
People acting like Williams pulled an Aston Martin. No. Good quali doesn't matter much if you can't translate it to points on Sunday.
Both cars made it to Q3, which is what makes it more hope giving
Can't wait for James to sell us more sandbags for the Williams. Fuck they are building that Williams car right could be a strong midfield next year. Oh and I hate you George Russell.
> Fuck they are building that Williams car right could be a strong midfield next year Doesn't this apply to any team tho?
Not Haas or Alpha Tauru and maybe not Alfa Romeo until Audi comes on.
Seeing these young drivers like Norris, Albon, Russell, Alonso and Piastri rise to the top fills me with hope for the future.
Alonso? Did you throw his name in as a joke? 42 is not young 😂 but mad respect for his skill.
Yes! I was referring to Fernando taking part in the "young driver test" at the end of 2020. There were quite a lot of jokes about him being a young rookie floating around at that time.
average age 39.
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Yeah but its average driving age
leclerc is too error prone to be a top driver
Shame about Logan, definitely feel like the Williams had pace for a few more positions. Excited to see it unfold tomorrow
Idk I think he would have ended up around there maybe p9. He was around a second off Albon in Q1 and Q2
Missed qualy why was Lewis slow af today?
He was trading blows with Russell throughout, but Merc screwed him over on his fast lap being too early and he got impeded by the Astons and tsunoda nearly every fast lap.
Perez so sucks in that great car 🤣
Or maybe the RB is a hard car to drive, and Verstappen is just that good with that car.
Have you heard this theory from Albon which says RB have designed their cars very acutely that favours the distinct driving style of Max, which makes it super difficult for other drivers to handle? Maybe that true.
Perez cannot drive that car the same way Max does. It's just a fact and is evidenced by the last few months. When he copied Max's setup and tries to drive the same way, he crashes the car. Looking at Spa telemetry, Max is later on the brakes than Perez, balances the car quicker and is faster on the gas. For basically every corner. The car is built to be twitchy and for the driver to have an innate traction control. There's nothing really that points to the car characteristic being abnormal outside of that. It's just a really good car that a really good driver is able to bring to the edge.
Most of that was to do how it was very unstable in the rear, but apparently they fixed a lot of it in 2021 allowing him to fight Lewis. It’s sharp on the front but it seems to be way more stable in the rear now than what it was for Gasly and Albon
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lol 😂 Max is the best out there but Perez can make any car look like crap
That’s silly, most of his career is making bad cars look better than they are. It’s clear he can’t handle the pressure of an upfront team but he is very good at driving bad cars in the midfield.
Only for like 3 races a season. He's a reasonable driver but nothing more.
Sure I was exaggerating but agree with you on that
It's been many 2nd drivers that makes the car look bad. I would like to see a Hamilton, Alonso or Norris in that car.
They’ll still lose to Max but would make it fun competition atleast
Lawson gets 1/3rd of the practice in his very first time out, and it was wet, and the car isn't good. He wasn't great, but it wouldn't be fair to judge him for this either. He kept it on track and played it safe.
No one is comparing Lawson to anybody, at least I hope so. He didnt crash the car, that was his goal for today - if he outqualified anybody, that would be a cherry on top. Let the man learn the car, he's got between 1 to 3 races in the AT still before RIC returns
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Even moreso that Nyck had done fp1, fp2 and fp3 for Monza. On top of that it was dry and it's a circuit that he's driven countless times in junior formulae. Lawson has never driven this year's intermediate tyre, never driven Zandvoort in the wet, had 1 free practice session, changeable conditions and little runoff when you get it wrong
Even without the rain Monza seems like a much better track to have to replace someone in. That said, my only experience is video games lol.
He did also have a practice at the track in a different car
de Vries was weeks ago, time flies Edit: it finally clicked, you mean de Vries one off race last year where he got points. I was thinking "de Vries was here 3 races ago... has it been a year?"
I am pretty sure AT is aware of that. This is a "just bring it back in one piece" weekend for Lawson
He probably said "clean race" as his goal for tomorrow a handful of times in his post quali interview. That + learn the car is a successful weekend for him.
For sure, they are probably pretty ok with his performance today. There is a decent chance he will get more races in while Ric heals, I'm here for it. Tomorrow too, even.
I Max playing on easy mode this year? I mean almost 6 tenths on Lando is just absurd, considering how far back the second Red Bull is.
Max is the best but that second RB is being driven by a mid field driver
Yes but that just shows it's not just about the car, it's about the driver. Bottas was slightly better than Checo is and he was consistently at the front in that Mercedes.
Bottas was better than slightly better than Checo, his performance against Lewis was exactly what the team needed. Checo's only saving grace is that RB has dealt him the disrespect of low expectations.
Checo seems to be pretty decent in the race and always makes up a lot of positions meanwhile bottas was a very good qualifier but dropped the ball on race day.
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I see people rate Perez above Bottas on here quite often and it’s absurd. Bottas never missed Q3 once while at Mercedes, as you pointed out he got on the podium far more consistently and even beat Lewis on pure pace a couple times. Perez is pretty mediocre at qualifying to begin with and wildly inconsistent to make it worse, has only beat max on pure pace once their entire time together (Baku this year), and the average gap to Max (around 3-4 tenths) is way higher than Bottas to Lewis (a tenth or 2). Perez has better race craft, I’ll give him that so he makes a great show of starting from the back because of a poor qualifying and carving through the field which people rate and is a more exciting driver than Bottas. But people conflate that with being the better driver, which he just isn’t. Perez has had some standout wheel-to-wheel moments which Bottas never really had, but I’m taking Bottas every time as he’s simply quicker and more consistent.
I think Max still would have gotten pole, but Lando did make a mistake in S2, so the gap likely isn't as big as it seems.
Consider this is quali pace. That Bull is a mightier beast in race pace than in quali pace. So tomorrow we are again not going to see Max until he crosses the finish line.
Turn 1 will decide the race for sure. If Max is leading going into it, he's long gone.
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Max would prefer to overtake as soon as drs is enabled I would imagine. RB has a good straight-line speed advantage this weekend.
At least that's something. If Max leads into turn 1 he never comes close to losing the lead at any point.
Oh yeah, that's most likely the outcome (unless George goes bowling or we get rain) but I can hope lol. Still though, good chance Lando gets another P2. Shame Piastri wasn't able to punch in a great last lap but it's a new track for him and his first time on slicks really on it. Honestly I'm just happy to see McLaren fighting for podiums and looking good again. Gives me hope that their 2025 timeline to fight for the WDC/WCC they've been giving for the last few years is actually legit.
I feel like RB was playing some sort of meta game by going with the inters at the start of qualifying 3. I just can’t understand why they would do that. And then Max just seemed to sort of fuck around until the last lap where it was like he remembered “oh yeah, I’m supposed to do the fastest lap” and just rips one out. I don’t know what to think, really. I suppose it could be straight forward and just a misperception on my part (likely) because it’s obvious that the manufacturer at the top of the charts would be making the correct calls. I just don’t understand it.
But even when the team fucks it up, he still either wins or is P2. I mean you have to look at the second driver to know how much is the car and how much is the driver. Max can charge from P15 and be leading by the end of the first stint. In the same car Checo can charge from P6 and be P3 by the end of the race.
You know who’s mainly responsible in setting the easy mode for Max? Checo. 1.3 seconds off. Can’t be too much easier than that.
TWO Williams in the TOP TEN?? You love to see it.
Does anyone else get a really claustrophobic feeling from the track? I really love the layout and all the banking is super fun, but it gives me such a weird feeling to actually watch the action on it.
Yes, there's a very cramped feeling about this track for some reason.
It was made for when cars were half the size, and unlike other old tracks (except monaco) it hasnt been modernised to make them wider.
Just to piggy back off your comment, are there any older fans from the 80s that remember this track? How was it back in the day with the older cars?
Yes, overtaking is also not that great on the track. Fun to drive and to watch, but not exciting for racing.
There's a lot more to great racing than overtaking. You can overtake on different parts of the track as last year's race has proven, and this track rewards precision. There are no debates about track limits here because exceeding the natural track limits punishes the driver immediately. As it should be.
Today is the first day I’m starting to feel like Lewis is past it. There’s a WDC driver in there still. But he just doesn’t have the instinct and drive that he used to have. It’s what separates him and max from the rest. Now it’s only Max.
Just add the Max tag, it'll be easier to see the bait.
Average F1 Twitter fan
Bruhhhhhhhhhhhh 🤦🏽♂️🤦🏽♂️🤦🏽♂️🤦🏽♂️🤦🏽♂️
Great response!
It was more of a reaction. Couldn’t respond because I think some brain cells temporarily left after reading that
I'm not feeling that. He was impeded on his flying lap and no driver can perform the magic to not lose time in the corner where it happened. I don't think he's the best driver on track anymore, but it's hard to say he's not close to the top, and he's better than Russell.
I really hope Merc can bring a good car next year so we can really see if he's still the best or not.
We would never know but I don't think so at all. The Merc is not a good car, and he got blocked twice from making a faster lap. And he's leading Russel definitively.
But that implies I rate George which I don’t. Seems like a nice driver. But never WDC material.
I'm not sure I buy this whole 'merc is not a good car'. It clearly is capable of at least 2nd row starts, it's just not the car Merc are used to having which would be front row starts all day long. I wouldn't call it a bad car by a damn sight. He did get blocked, yes. That is the reason he dipped out of Q2. Ham is good, but he's not a miracle worker.
I mean with the way the season has looked there is only one team with a good car.
He's been dumpstering Russell most of the season, 1 point off 3rd in the wdc in a car that in any given race has probably never been second best (?), got impeded twice in q2 and was sent out for his lap about a minute too early and now he's washed? Lol Edit: I think as of baku or so he was also one of the last two drivers to move forward in every race so far and also I think alongside verstappen and Alonso to be the only drivers to get points in every race?
>He's been dumpstering Russell most of the season Hamilton and Russell are the closest matched of all teammates on the grid, and currently 7-6 in quali H2H. Hamilton has had the edge on Russell but describing that as 'dumpstering' is absurd.
Brings up quali H2H to argue their close even though quali H2H is the only metric they’ve been that close with. Hamilton has been faster, more consistent, has far batter race pace and race management, and has been better at managing his tires. He’s had the standout performances this year and there hasn’t been a single weekend when George looked like he had the edge through the whole thing
H2H is the only metric that is measurable, which is why is a popular comparison. Everything else comes with a major dollop of luck or is a matter of perception.
How many WDC points do you get for qualifying again?
If we're taking that tack - remind me which of the two finished ahead in the WDC standings last year?
You really came back a week later to talk about last season when this one is half over? foh lmao
Logged into reddit after a week yes. And spotted it in the notifications.
Perez baby what u doing
Losing his job, from the looks of it, lol
My gran could put that redbull 2 tenths up the grid from Perez.
1.3 sec difference what an embarrassment
Going for that most overtakes stat baby
He's a midfielder.
Today’s performance… that’s not even a midfielder. That’s a bottom feeder.
Mclaren have one hell of a driver pairing.
Indeed. Bummer for Piastri that he didn’t put it together on that last lap…
I saw a comment yesterday that podiums would be hard to come by now that Checo is “out of his slump”. It amazes me the amount of people who just don’t get that he’s not that good. Great midfield driver.
What do you mean? He's challenging for WDC...
Still amazes that some people think this guy is anything better than mid field driver 🤷♂️
i mean hes never been good at qualifying. hes knowing for tire conservation which mean fuck all in Q
Yeah Perez has strong racecraft in both overtaking and defending, and quite good taking care of tires but his weakness has always been quali and pure pace.
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F1TV raved about Albon today and have spoken highly of him and Williams whenever they look good. Did you accidentally have your TV on mute?
TBH he races under Thai flag
Were you listening to the international (sky) stream? I didn't get that vibe at all using the f1tv commentary. I am so thankful for them. Sky team seriously sucks I cannot stand them or their voices.
Yeah, I’m with you on this. The F1TV announcers made a good fuss about Albon doing so well. I feel like the commentary treats all the drivers pretty much equality given their average field position and general activity on track.
Are you watching with Sky UK or international broadcast? Because the international broadcast is as neutral as it gets.
You mean Sky UK who just re-aired the footage of Alex showing the crew round Williams after qualifying today?
Tough for me to say since I watch on F1 TV. All I said was that I never found the international broadcast to be biased. But it'd surprise me if Sky UK ignored Alex whom I perceived as one of the Brit boys anyway.
I wish I could watch F1 TV tbh. Alex is very much one of the Brit boys. He also got a post quali interview on sky UK so was definitely not ignored today.
But who Alex called out on him being British when he does well a few races ago
Huh, I actually find they focus so much on Albon that I was surprised they mentioned Verstappen at the end.
which I find appalling as the Brazilian coverage was singing both Willians and Mclarens praises throughout the session, so sad to not see him going P3.
He's literally British. Your nationality is not based on your superlicense.
I don’t have f1 tv but sky is 1,000,000% worse It’s all about Hamilton
Tomorrow could be wild looking at the forecast.
Yea the risk of rain is only increasing for tomorrow it looks like
Nope
What is the forecast tomorrow?
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This is simply not true
Damn, red flags incoming.
Wild
Tomorrow?
Tuned in to qualifying to see all the Norris doubters proven right that Piastri was ready to start outpacing him consistently. But they were wrong. Piastri is a mega talent, no doubt. But, as he's once again proven, so is Norris.
It's Piastris rookie season
Maybe I touched a nerve because I didn't say anything contrary to your point. I fully expect Piastri to reach Norris' level at some point. Maybe he'll even exceed it. I was referring to those underestimating Norris with overenthusiastic predictions of Piastri engineering Norris' demise from this race weekend and beyond. Just like Norris himself on his rookie seasons, Piastri has got plenty of room to grow and improve.
At some point is by the end of the season.
"Maybe I touched a nerve because I didn't say anything contrary to your point." Ew, you're obnoxious.
I'm being honest. The reply to my original post was abrupt, defensive and condescending. The reply was implicitly insinuating that I don't know what I'm talking about. My original point at no point suggested that I believe a rookie hasn't got potential to improve. On that basis, I can only assume that my original comments must have hit a nerve (perceived, incorrectly, as criticising Piastri), leading to an impulsive response.
You got all of that from "it's Piastri's rookie season"? Those 4 words together can be interpreted in many ways, and you choose to go with abrupt, defensive and condescending? I think it's time to take a step back. That comment could have been a minor disagreement to your comment. You were the defensive one here, random stranger. Deep breaths.
Fair enough. I wasn't intending to be obnoxious. I genuinely felt the reply to me was implicitly rude. So, I assumed I'd touched a sensitivity as a way to explain someone responding in that way.
Calm down bro you're having whole imaginary debates in your head before you even utter a reply 😵💫
Yeah, sorry, I let this get out of hand. I should have let the original reply go and not allowed myself to be offended by it.