[Other Sport] F1 2020

[Deleted member 2719]

Mc Laren getting 2nd and 4th might just make this season a more exciting watch.

 

[Bozza]

I’ve thought all season that Albon is getting a free ride from the Sky pundits. He’s got the second best car on the grid and he’s routinely failing to score any/many points and sometimes not even making Q3, yet they continually talk him up. However, last year they were whipping up the pressure on Gasly from virtually the first couple of races.

There’s just something I don’t like about Albon’s attitude and something I really do like about Gasly, so I was delighted to see how it turned out for both of them today. I hope Gasly continues to make it very awkward for Red Bull.

Jolyon Palmer penned a very good piece last week, which looks even better today: https://www.bbc.co.uk/sport/formula1/53985873

 

[Turkey]

I’ve thought all season that Albon is getting a free ride from the Sky pundits. He’s got the second best car on the grid and he’s routinely failing to score any/many points and sometimes not even making Q3, yet they continually talk him up. However, last year they were whipping up the pressure on Gasly from virtually the first couple of races.

There’s just something I don’t like about Albon’s attitude and something I really do like about Gasly, so I was delighted to see how it turned out for both of them today. I hope Gasly continues to make it very awkward for Red Bull.

I totally get where you're coming from regarding the Sky pundits but I think it was the Spa practice session where they were getting pelters on twitter for discussing the possibility of Red Bull dropping Albon to Red Bull. I think in fairness, to both Sky, and those speaking up for Albon, is that people realise now how Red Bull's ruthless decision making can affect these young drivers mentally. Kvyat had a horrible time of it, then Gasly was dropped after just 12 races last year. Albon was chucked into a seat he probably wasn't ready for. Competing with Max in his debut season. I get the sink-or-swim take on it, Hamilton certainly swam in his debut year at McLaren, but the likes of Lewis and Max are the exceptions. Looks inevitable that Gasly will be back in the Red Bull come 2021, if not sooner at this point mind. Feel sorry for Albon though as if it wasn't for those two unfortunate collisions with Lewis I wonder how different things could have been for him.

 

[Pavilionaire]

i think it's harsh that whether you're leading by one second or fifteen seconds it is wiped out completely with a safety car.

Hamilton was given - in effect - a 30 second penalty but is given no credit for the 13 second lead he'd built up through great driving. That completely goes out of the window.

 

[amexer]

Dont usually read threads about F1 because find it boring. However after reading these threads realise it is because I just dont understand it

 

[FatSuperman]

i think it's harsh that whether you're leading by one second or fifteen seconds it is wiped out completely with a safety car.

Hamilton was given - in effect - a 30 second penalty but is given no credit for the 13 second lead he'd built up through great driving. That completely goes out of the window.

They couldn't do anything but give him a penalty, all the other teams / drivers would be up in arms if they hadn't. There may have been mitigating circumstances - maybe the light indicating the pits were closed wasn't one when he went in. But he was never going to get away with that. They don't seem to mind giving him tough penalties. Luckily Bottas is nowhere near Rosberg's level, so not really that much of a disaster for Lewis.

I can't wait until he beats Schumacher's main records.

 

[JJ McClure]

Great race and good to see the new young guns at the front.

Albon's confidence looks shot to bits much like Gasly at the stage he was dropped last season. Red Bull have been making all the right noises about backing him but they are pretty ruthless and I wouldn't trust anything that comes out of Horner's mouth so we'll see how that develops.

Watching the F2 over the weekend and the current top 3 in the championship (including a certain Mick Schumacher) are all in the Ferrari young driver programme, a couple of them may end up in Alfa or Haas seats next year.

 

[Icy Gull]

Saw an interview with Albon where he said the Red Bull was a really hard card to drive, quicker but more skittish than the Toro Rosso/Alpha Tauri, and that he struggled to be confident in it. He did say Max could take it to the limit much better than he could. Maybe the car is set up for Max’s style, Red Bull do seem to favour him massively.

So far Kvyatt, Gasly and Albon have been underwhelming in their stints in the Red Bull. Do they put Gasly back in it or persevere with Albon?

Yesterday was great for F1 though. Before the penalty Hamilton was over a second quicker than everyone else most laps and it was turning into another borefest. The stewards do like to really hammer Hamilton when they get the chance to give him penalties though. I don’t remember Vettel getting penalties like Lewis when he was winning.

 

[Icy Gull]

Agreed. Have always felt Christian Horner has a touch of the smug Eddie about him and is actually a bit of a *******

Hadn’t thought of that before, and although I enjoy listening to Horner, you are right, he is the Smug Eddie of F1.

 

[Audax]

The stewards do like to really hammer Hamilton when they get the chance to give him penalties though. I don’t remember Vettel getting penalties like Lewis when he was winning.

Giovinazzi got exactly the same penalty for exactly the same offense (and was announced before Hamilton's). I believe it's prescribed in the rulebook - stewards had no choice really.

At the end of the day, both Hamilton and Wolff have accepted it was his (and the team's) fault. Hamilton admitted he wasn't aware of where the signs were that would tell him the pits were closed (and thus wasn't looking for them), and Wolff admitted that the team weren't looking at the right page on their timing screens and thus didn't see the notice there. All the other drivers (except Gio) stayed out, they wouldn't have done that unless they knew the pits had been closed.

 

[A1X]

One thing I will say, had the Hamilton and Bottas positions been reversed and Hamilton had restarted in 8th I suspect he would have got at least a podium out of that race. Bottas is a good driver but he's not a racer, as evidenced by the fact that despite everything Hamilton was maybe only 2-3 laps away from actually catching and passing him on track. But I suspect both Red Bull and Ferrari (despite all their problems) are ultimately looking at that in the same way Spurs and Arsenal look at Leicester's title win, a rare chance which they fluffed.

 

[zefarelly]

Best race of the season. MAy as well call it quits now.

 

[zefarelly]

Agreed. Have always felt Christian Horner has a touch of the smug Eddie about him and is actually a bit of a *******

Having witnessed his behaviour at very close quarters ( Goodwood) I concur. Seems to be what you need to succeed in F1

 

[Pavilionaire]

One thing I will say for Lewis is that he took the penalty with good grace and congratulated Gasly on the win. I fancy the Lewis of 10 years ago would have thrown his toys out of the pram.

The positive reaction to Gasly's win by the media and the drivers is testament to how dominant Hamilton and Mercedes have been over recent years.

I still feel sorry for Lewis, he's been in the zone and driving like a beast all season.

 

[Audax]

I believe it's prescribed in the rulebook - stewards had no choice really.

Confirmed - the penalty is written into the rules: https://the-race.com/formula-1/fia-clarifies-four-points-of-contention-over-closed-pitlane/

 

[Marty___Mcfly]

Agreed. Have always felt Christian Horner has a touch of the smug Eddie about him and is actually a bit of a *******

I agree. I don't think it's a coincidence that Gasly was decent at Torro Rosso, then moved to Red Bull and has to deal with CH as a team boss and performs terribly, then goes back to Torro Rosso and is immediately decent again. And Albon moves to RB and is suddenly struggling.

I feel like CH ass-kisses the No.1 driver and builds the team around them, and shafts the No. 2 driver and makes their life a misery. At Torro Rosso possibly a greater respect paid to both drivers as is the case at other teams.

Basically- CH can only run a team which keeps 1 driver happy. Their No. 2 driver has been consistently miserable -- Webber -> Ricciardo -> Gasly -> Albon.

 

[Garry Nelson's Left Foot]

I agree. I don't think it's a coincidence that Gasly was decent at Torro Rosso, then moved to Red Bull and has to deal with CH as a team boss and performs terribly, then goes back to Torro Rosso and is immediately decent again. And Albon moves to RB and is suddenly struggling.

I feel like CH ass-kisses the No.1 driver and builds the team around them, and shafts the No. 2 driver and makes their life a misery. At Torro Rosso possibly a greater respect paid to both drivers as is the case at other teams.

Basically- CH can only run a team which keeps 1 driver happy. Their No. 2 driver has been consistently miserable -- Webber -> Ricciardo -> Gasly -> Albon.

I've been thinking something similar. It seems to be set up to maximise one driver. The number two's job appears to help number one at all costs and if you can't do that you're fired. Probably why Vettel and Ricciardo both got out of there pretty sharpish when a younger driver came in and started to challenge for/take over their number one role.

Delighted for Gasly, always comes across as a very likeable guy and he deserved some luck after the year he's had.

 

[Audax]

I agree. I don't think it's a coincidence that Gasly was decent at Torro Rosso, then moved to Red Bull and has to deal with CH as a team boss and performs terribly, then goes back to Torro Rosso and is immediately decent again. And Albon moves to RB and is suddenly struggling.

While I agree that RBR, and Horner is a big part of that, struggles with keeping the #2 driver happy if that #2 driver is quick enough, and I'd also agree they struggle with helping under-performing drivers get their confidence back, I think the issue with Gasly and Albon has a lot more to do with the characteristics of the car. Even Verstappen struggled with the car in the early races. They've been pretty open that it's a very tricky car to drive at its full potential. Unlike, for example, the Alpha Tauri car. It's not as quick in terms of peak laptime, but it's easier to drive which means it's easier for the likes of Gasly and Albon to achieve the peak laptimes (and, thus be faster than whichever of them is in the RBR car struggling to get it to the peak laptime).

basically Red Bull have built a car that only the genuinely top drivers will be able to drive fast. I reckon Hamilton, Verstappen, Ricciardo could consistently drive it at peak. Everyone else, probably not. I'd expect Bottas in the RBR to be found out very quickly. I suspect Vettel in his current form would be found out. Leclerc ... I'm not sure yet, he might be able to drive it quick.

 

[Marty___Mcfly]

Glad we are all agreed that Horner is a massive tool [emoji38][emoji38][emoji38]