No F1 thread?

[duncs500]

Nice result, decent race, although the apparent dominance of the win would have been different if LH hadn't had the VSC pit and hence had to sit in dirty air trying to get past the Mercs before his tyres were cooked. Happy for him though, great to see him back on form.

Where did GR's pace go though? Seemed comfortable in the first stint but KA had the better of him in the other two, he got very lucky that KA retired.

[Marv]

Merc dropped the ball not putting one of their drivers on a 3 stop strategy too, right? (of course, it would have been to no avail with Antonelli) Russell was struggling quite badly when the tires went off.

Kind of reminds me of what Max was doing last year when the McLarens were failing to cover him off, because they were too busying racing each other, and also compromised their strategy ultimately.

That was actually a decent GP though, happy for Hamilton and I've been waiting a long time for an all British podium too, so it's nice for it to finally happen in my lifetime

[GG.]

Whatever Kim is doing to Lewis I 100% approve it

She’s extracting every last gram of performance - read into that what you will

[MikeHunt]

This was the first real race since the engine rule change and stricter compression test which seems to have pegged back mere more than their customer cars such as McLaren, make of that what you will.

Interesting that Lewis on better tyres couldn't beat George to the first corner, I also thought it was a mistake for the teams to react to the early tyre change from Lewis as they should have stuck to their race plan.

It is very sad that this will be the last race here for a while, it doesn't feel like a lot of the changes being made are for the better.

[jamcg]

This was the first real race since the engine rule change and stricter compression test which seems to have pegged back mere more than their customer cars such as McLaren, make of that what you will.

Interesting that Lewis on better tyres couldn't beat George to the first corner, I also thought it was a mistake for the teams to react to the early tyre change from Lewis as they should have stuck to their race plan.

It is very sad that this will be the last race here for a while, it doesn't feel like a lot of the changes being made are for the better.

It feels like everything is all for the money and the drive to survive crowd rather than the long time fans

[jamcg]

Nice to see kmag still giving the sound bites

[integrale_evo]

Thoughts on George getting pole despite passing through a yellow flag zone on his pole lap?

Seems very dodgy to me, but if the rules say he did enough to comply then he played it absolutely perfectly.

But it still doesn’t sit right with me.

Sure, he lifted out 100m early, lost 2/10ths of a second, but his apex speed, on the corner max lost it at and was still sat in the car against the barrier, was as high as his previous flying lap. That doesn’t really seem ok to me

I guess it’s one of those things where the rules are very specific and drivers are going to drive as close to them as possible, but do wonder if they will have a closer look and make an adjustment for future rounds.

[Mito Man]

It’s a piss take. Also made even more fishy by the fact that there were actual double yellows waved but it seems like the digital system only showed single yellows. Antonelli seemed adamant it was double yellows till Toto shut him up.
Perhaps it’s just the FIA not wanting him to run away with the championship.

[mik]

Stapp back to his “I’ll just run you off the road again” antics in his battle with HamBone.

[integrale_evo]

Yep, I thought Hamilton battled hard and fair. Then later when max came through it was move or go off the road.

As long as it works and he sees no consequences he’ll keep doing it.

[jamcg]

[mik]

Yep, I thought Hamilton battled hard and fair. Then later when max came through it was move or go off the road.

As long as it works and he sees no consequences he’ll keep doing it.

Agree.

In case anyone is wondering - lap11, and again lap22.

I'd be interested to see Stapp's in-car for lap22 as his change of line looks particularly blatant (3mins20 : turn 6)

edit: won't embed with a timestamp - jump to 2mins05 for coverage of lap11


No in-car I can find for lap22, but there is for lap11. Clear run-Hambone-off-the-road at turn 3, but whereas I thought HamBone had left just enough space for Teh Stapp at turn6.... no, not really. Hence lap22 move is described as "returning the favour". Pundits all seem to be relatively happy with this "running them wide" practice.......

[Mito Man]

Leclerc/Hamilton was the same, Hamilton got pushed clean off by his own teammate…

Also contrary to the whole internet I thought the Ferrari strategy wasn’t bad, the car just had no pace. If anything it’s Red Bull that pitted Max too late and lost the win because of it as he was the fastest car on track.