[Other Sport] F1 2022

[Garry Nelson's Left Foot]

Discount Mercedes at your peril, history suggests they will get this right. They are nowhere near there yet but they are still hanging in

They're hanging in thanks to Red Bull not finishing half of their races. Plus I reckon George and Lewis will take too many points off each other before, or if, the car is ready to truly challenge.

I'd love Lewis to win his 8th but I fear that opportunity has gone unless he can be the Tom Brady of F1 and keep racing at peak levels into his early/mid 40's.

 

[drew]

Verstappen is an arrogant muppet and deserves the shit luck he's getting at the moment due to the contrived title he won last year. However, are people really moaning about the fact he's chosen to be the same nationality as his dad rather than his mum?

 

[crodonilson]

Gutted for Lewis, that car is an absolute disgrace. We all know Lewis is quicker than Leclerc, something has gone badly wrong and needs to be rectified.

 

[mikeyjh]

I think Albon chose Thai nationlity because he's half Thai and it helped with financing his career. I might be wrong but I have a memory of seeing an interview with him where he said that.

Got it - Thai for the money I mean, I'm Irish for the passport so people in glass houses and all!

 

[Bold Seagull]

Yes, there are 20 more I think. But as Max himself said in his post race interview to get the points back you need to both be quicker and to finish and today they were neither.

Another DNF at Imola coupled with a race win for Leclerc and Max will be 70+ points behind. Could Red Bull develop their car to such an extent that they could overturn that points difference? It is of course possible but I'd suggest unlikely. That's why I think it's perilously close to being over. One more DNF and they'll be in real trouble and relying on snookers.

Didn’t Button win the first 6 races when he won the title then didn’t win a race after that, it went down to the wire after RB had caught their development up. Someone like Mercedes, Apline, McLaren could spring from the pack if they find speed from somewhere. Ferrari aren’t with out problems as Sainz found this weekend, and the European tracks could pose new problems.

 

[Garry Nelson's Left Foot]

Didn’t Button win the first 6 races when he won the title then didn’t win a race after that, it went down to the wire after RB had caught their development up. Someone like Mercedes, Apline, McLaren could spring from the pack if they find speed from somewhere. Ferrari aren’t with out problems as Sainz found this weekend, and the European tracks could pose new problems.

Yeah, all true. I was going to use Button as an example of why I thought it was dangerously close to being over. Despite not winning another race he still won the title. The lead he amassed at the start of the season was ultimately insurmountable.

I just can't see a team the size of Ferrari mucking up enough to let other teams overtake Leclerc if his lead gets too much bigger. It's retrievable at the moment, I just don't think it will be if it gets another 20 or so points bigger. So Red Bull now have very little margin of error.

Unless Mercedes or McClaren improve to the point of being contenders by the next race or two I think the gap will be too big for them.

I would absolutely love a title fight consisting of Verstappen, Hamilton, Norris and Leclerc, ably backed up by Perez, Russell, Ricciardo and Sainz.

 

[A1X]

Discount Mercedes at your peril, history suggests they will get this right. They are nowhere near there yet but they are still hanging in

What Mercedes have done well so far is prove that it doesn't matter so much if you're not the quickest if you're reliable. They've had two finishers in the points in every race so far this season, whereas Red Bull have only had 3 in total.

Of course it's all relative, they're still on their own as the third fastest team on the grid (the McLarens did well today but I think ultimately I'd back Mercedes in a head-to-head with them to win out easily).

 

[arfer guinness]

Gutted for Lewis, that car is an absolute disgrace. We all know Lewis is quicker than Leclerc, something has gone badly wrong and needs to be rectified.

It's hard to tell if Hamilton is quicker than Leclerc, as for the last 7 years Miss Daisy could have won a GP in that Mercedes.

 

[Nobby Cybergoat]

It's hard to tell if Hamilton is quicker than Leclerc, as for the last 7 years Miss Daisy could have won a GP in that Mercedes.

Poor Valterri

 

[Bold Seagull]

Poor Valterri

Who has already shown how fast he is driving the wheels of the Alfa so far, as he did at Williams pre-Mercedes of course. Not that it supports the narrative of some.

 

[Guinness Boy]

Poor Valterri

In fact the one thing we CAN tell is that Hamilton is (a lot) quicker than Bottas.

 

[Icy Gull]

Gutted for Lewis, that car is an absolute disgrace. We all know Lewis is quicker than Leclerc, something has gone badly wrong and needs to be rectified.

We don't actually, he has had some good tussles with Lewis when the Ferrari was not as quick as the Merc. He has already proved that he is not vaguely intimidated by Max too. I really hope Red Bull, Ferrari and Mercedes can all be competitive at the same time. Much as I'd like Lewis to win the potential for a three way fight is mouth watering. We might also be able to chuck Fernando in too as the Alpine is looking useful

The fact that cars can run close to others is great as tyre wear will be increased as keeping someone behind is now difficult. I think you need a computer for a brain to go with the driving skills these days.

Or have I forgotten that anyone's dead grandmother could win a race if she was in the fastest car, having also been able to score a sitter Maupay missed the previous afternoon

 

[Nobby Cybergoat]

Who has already shown how fast he is driving the wheels of the Alfa so far, as he did at Williams pre-Mercedes of course. Not that it supports the narrative of some.

Fair enough if you want to challenge my narrative ... that Hamilton is faster than Bottas ... challenge away mate

 

[Bold Seagull]

Fair enough if you want to challenge my narrative ... that Hamilton is faster than Bottas ... challenge away mate

Quite the opposite. There isn’t a narrative of Bottas being faster than Hamilton, but there is one that Bottas wasn’t fast enough as a credible challenge.

 

[Nobby Cybergoat]

Quite the opposite. There isn’t a narrative of Bottas being faster than Hamilton, but there is one that Bottas wasn’t fast enough as a credible challenge.

Totally different discussion to the post I was replying to (408) about how Miss Daisy would perform well in a Merc, but yeh happy to open a new one

Edit just for clarity .... I thought the post I was replying to comparing Bottas to Miss Daisy was ill informed and inaccurate.

As I understand Miss Daisy didn't drive and was chauffered around

 

[Bold Seagull]

Totally different discussion to the post I was replying to (408) about how Miss Daisy would perform well in a Merc, but yeh happy to open a new one

Edit just for clarity .... I thought the post I was replying to comparing Bottas to Miss Daisy was ill informed and inaccurate.

As I understand Miss Daisy didn't drive and was chauffered around

Okay Nobby, don't get your knickers in a twist.

 

[Guinness Boy]

Fair enough if you want to challenge my narrative ... that Hamilton is faster than Bottas ... challenge away mate

He was violently agreeing with you.

 

[Guinness Boy]

It's hard to tell if Hamilton is quicker than Leclerc, as for the last 7 years Miss Daisy could have won a GP in that Mercedes.

In fact this does need a proper response.

Driving Miss Daisy starred Jessica Tandy who died in 1994. I assume you're not tasteless enough to suggest that a long dead actress could beat, say, Danny Ric in a Red Bull.

On the other hand the film was actually about Morgan Freeman driving her around. So, let's put Morgan in a 2020 Merc and Lewis in a 2020 Haas. We both have to stake our life savings on a three lap shootout. Mine's on Lewis.

 

[Bold Seagull]

Sprint Race could be fun tomorrow 5 different teams P1 - P5, wonder how many times that's happened?

Norris and McLaren looking quick. Mercedes going backwards. Haas and others seemingly finding pace. Interesting weekend.

 

[Guinness Boy]

Sprint Race could be fun tomorrow 5 different teams P1 - P5, wonder how many times that's happened?

Norris and McLaren looking quick. Mercedes going backwards. Haas and others seemingly finding pace. Interesting weekend.

A very interesting quali.

"Stay off the white lines at Agua Minerale" seems to be impossible Could be a real stop / start race if it's a touch wet. Mercedes porpoising looks worse. Good sesh for Lando except how it ended.