[Other Sport] F1 2022

[Garry Nelson's Left Foot]

If the Mercs start getting some podiums together, then the points difference could start showing some dramatic movement. Verstappen and LeClerc are due a clash at some point. Plenty of races to go.

I'm coming round to your point of view on the title race. After saying that Red Bull were perilously close to being out of the drivers title race it's taken Max three races to get the lead!

If Mercedes do become genuinely competitive at which point do they back one driver over the other? And who do they back? Russell is only 36 points behind Verstappen whereas Hamilton is 60+ Are they going to tell Lewis he has to support George?

 

[Bold Seagull]

I'm coming round to your point of view on the title race. After saying that Red Bull were perilously close to being out of the drivers title race it's taken Max three races to get the lead!

If Mercedes do become genuinely competitive at which point do they back one driver over the other? And who do they back? Russell is only 36 points behind Verstappen whereas Hamilton is 60+ Are they going to tell Lewis he has to support George?

Given their issues I would think their only priority at this stage is to win a grand prix and it won't matter who does that. Both drivers have had good and bad moments with their cars where they've been trying different things. Without any doubt Russell has had lady luck on his side so far with 2 SC pit stops in terms of championship points - but has showed real pace to keep Lewis well on his toes. That said, Lewis showed what consistent race pace is during that stint in Barcelona.

Until they hit the front, I don't think there will be any orders as such as they seek to tweak and massage pace out of the car. So IMHO I think they are a long way from making one driver favourite or a defacto no.1.

 

[Garry Nelson's Left Foot]

Given their issues I would think their only priority at this stage is to win a grand prix and it won't matter who does that. Both drivers have had good and bad moments with their cars where they've been trying different things. Without any doubt Russell has had lady luck on his side so far with 2 SC pit stops in terms of championship points - but has showed real pace to keep Lewis well on his toes. That said, Lewis showed what consistent race pace is during that stint in Barcelona.

Until they hit the front, I don't think there will be any orders as such as they seek to tweak and massage pace out of the car. So IMHO I think they are a long way from making one driver favourite or a defacto no.1.

Yeah, I agree. I was just letting my imagination run away a bit and started picturing Mercedes winning regularly.

 

[Icy Gull]

Given their issues I would think their only priority at this stage is to win a grand prix and it won't matter who does that. Both drivers have had good and bad moments with their cars where they've been trying different things. Without any doubt Russell has had lady luck on his side so far with 2 SC pit stops in terms of championship points - but has showed real pace to keep Lewis well on his toes. That said, Lewis showed what consistent race pace is during that stint in Barcelona.

Until they hit the front, I don't think there will be any orders as such as they seek to tweak and massage pace out of the car. So IMHO I think they are a long way from making one driver favourite or a defacto no.1.

Hamilton jostling with Verstappen will be interesting, as Lewis has so much less to lose than Max

 

[Bold Seagull]

Yeah, I agree. I was just letting my imagination run away a bit and started picturing Mercedes winning regularly.

I'm not a Mercedes fan by any means, but currently Mercedes doing well does seem like our best chance of British winners this season - so it is exciting to have the prospect of both Lewis and George involved at the front. Two British flags as a podium backdrop would certainly be great - if memory serves last time that happened was Button and Hamilton in 2011 while at McLaren. Speaking of McLaren, if they could find a bit of pace, a full dream British podium isn't out of the question!

 

[Worried Man Blues]

In the Mercs it will be interesting to see how needy Russell is compared to Hammy, who thought about stopping instead of racing coz it warrent going too well! Under pressure who will be the best performer.

 

[Garry Nelson's Left Foot]

I'm not a Mercedes fan by any means, but currently Mercedes doing well does seem like our best chance of British winners this season - so it is exciting to have the prospect of both Lewis and George involved at the front. Two British flags as a podium backdrop would certainly be great - if memory serves last time that happened was Button and Hamilton in 2011 while at McLaren. Speaking of McLaren, if they could find a bit of pace, a full dream British podium isn't out of the question!

Lewis, Lando and George at Silverstone. What a moment!

 

[Bold Seagull]

Hamilton jostling with Verstappen will be interesting, as Lewis has so much less to lose than Max

It will be interesting because at present I feel like Verstappen has moderated his driving this season. His battles with LeClerc in particular have seemed fair and without the dramatic movements we saw MV take against LH. Whether that continues, who knows, but perhaps having the world title monkey off his back, he's feeling that a bit circumspect and just throwing his car about and hoping the other guy avoids him.

 

[Bold Seagull]

In the Mercs it will be interesting to see how needy Russell is compared to Hammy, who thought about stopping instead of racing coz it warrent going too well! Under pressure who will be the best performer.

The flip side is, LH showed experience in considering the whole season given last year they took engine penalties. In his mind why put a full race through the engine for a few points when he knows in future races this can be a winning car. As it was, he did enough to show he could have won the race without the incident, but that also shows they can win future races, but may have to take an engine penalty at some point.

 

[Worried Man Blues]

The flip side is, LH showed experience in considering the whole season given last year they took engine penalties. In his mind why put a full race through the engine for a few points when he knows in future races this can be a winning car. As it was, he did enough to show he could have won the race without the incident, but that also shows they can win future races, but may have to take an engine penalty at some point.

Yes but you have to keep racing because you don't know what disasters will take some on the leaders out! Especially as Verstappen was one of them!

 

[Bold Seagull]

Yes but you have to keep racing because you don't know what disasters will take some on the leaders out! Especially as Verstappen was one of them!

Yep, which he did, from 38 secs from the back of the field, was the fastest car in the race and only missed out on 4th due to a leak. He had a real needy sulk didn't he.

 

[Icy Gull]

In the Mercs it will be interesting to see how needy Russell is compared to Hammy, who thought about stopping instead of racing coz it warrent going too well! Under pressure who will be the best performer.

Hamilton has absolutely nothing to prove about coping with pressure, he is a 7 times World Champion (should have been 8), you don't do that without being good under pressure. Russell has still to prove he can deal with it, although the signs are promising.

 

[Audax]

Mercedes had a quick car at Barcelona. Still not quite on Leclerc / Verstappen pace, but a trouble-free run for both drivers would have been good to see. As it was, Russell was restricted early in the race due to overheating, and Hamilton's charge from the back after being bumped by KMag was curtailed by a leak. To be in a position to take 3rd and 4th on merit (or 4th/5th had Leclerc's car survived) after both cars were compromised would have been unimaginable earlier in the season.

Easily the third quickest car on race day. And that's with a car that they've not yet optimised - what they achieved at Barcelona was understanding the porpoising and being able to run the car in a setup window where they could get more performance out of it. Beyond that, the car is *undeveloped*, unlike others on the grid.

They'll win at least one race this year. Won't be Monaco, barring miracles, but they'll win. And they'll do it on merit.

Depending on how quickly they can bolt on performance now they've got the porpoise domesticated, we could see Russell become a title contender (even Hamilton late season could become a factor, depending on the next few races) - especially if Ferrari and Red Bull continue dropping points through reliability issues.

 

[Worried Man Blues]

Yep, which he did, from 38 secs from the back of the field, was the fastest car in the race and only missed out on 4th due to a leak. He had a real needy sulk didn't he.

Yes fantastic drive but he mooted he could stop to save the engine so would have been pointless.

 

[Iggle Piggle]

Dug out the tweet. The data is based on GPS traces through the final chicane, and is backed up by other sources as well. Just be wary of the actual graph - the Y-axis exaggerates a bit. Still - Alfa fastest of all through that specific section bodes well for them at Monaco. Talk is that it appears their car is a) very good through the slow corners, and b) very good on traction out of the slow corners. Both very good traits for Monaco. Podium for Bottas if he finishes the race?

[tweet]1529063950595284993[/tweet]

Well, he's 100-1 to win and 50-1 for Pole (only checked 365 could be better elsewhere), so well worth a poke at those odds.

 

[Worried Man Blues]

Hamilton has absolutely nothing to prove about coping with pressure, he is a 7 times World Champion (should have been 8), you don't do that without being good under pressure. Russell has still to prove he can deal with it, although the signs are promising.

He might now have a better teammate another sort of pressure...all good stuff

 

[Icy Gull]

Hamilton is really struggling this year in a car he has no confidence in. After more than a decade of driving and trusting a car that is predictable it seems he is not willing to really push this dog. Russell has only ever driven dogs in F1 so is coping better..imo. It could of course be that he’s a better driver than Hamilton but I don’t believe that.

https://www.bbc.co.uk/sport/formula1/61610047

 

[GREASED WEASEL]

Loved Brundle's sidetrack analysis yesterday

You really got the sense of speed these cars are travelling at

 

[A1X]

Many congratulations to *insert name of pole-sitter here* on their victory this weekend

 

[Guinness Boy]

Many congratulations to *insert name of pole-sitter here* on their victory this weekend

That'll be Leclerc then.

I said to my son halfway through Q1 "someone's bound to stack it at some point". Didn't realise I'd have to wait until the last sets of flying laps. There'll be a few engineers doing overtime tonight.

Merc probably have to hope for a crash or reliability issue to get anywhere near decent points.