OV9

I think Hamilton will block GR going to Mercedes while he is still driving as he knows GR will be quicker.

I don't agree, LH seems to relish a challenge.

Zonda_ wrote: Thu May 27, 2021 12:40 pm I think Hamilton will block GR going to Mercedes while he is still driving as he knows GR will be quicker.

How does he know that?

DeskJockey wrote: Thu May 27, 2021 3:40 pm

Zonda_ wrote: Thu May 27, 2021 12:40 pm I think Hamilton will block GR going to Mercedes while he is still driving as he knows GR will be quicker.

How does he know that?

Hamilton is coming to the end of his career, Russell is just starting and we saw how much quicker he was than Bottas.

Well the worlds longest pit stop is over.

Zonda_ wrote: Thu May 27, 2021 3:52 pm

DeskJockey wrote: Thu May 27, 2021 3:40 pm

Zonda_ wrote: Thu May 27, 2021 12:40 pm I think Hamilton will block GR going to Mercedes while he is still driving as he knows GR will be quicker.

How does he know that?

Hamilton is coming to the end of his career, Russell is just starting and we saw how much quicker he was than Bottas.

Maybe he is, but he's stil delivering pretty much every race. And being faster than VB doesn't equal being faster than Lewis.

DeskJockey wrote: Thu May 27, 2021 7:19 pm

Zonda_ wrote: Thu May 27, 2021 3:52 pm

DeskJockey wrote: Thu May 27, 2021 3:40 pm

How does he know that?

Hamilton is coming to the end of his career, Russell is just starting and we saw how much quicker he was than Bottas.

Maybe he is, but he's stil delivering pretty much every race. And being faster than VB doesn't equal being faster than Lewis.

Agreed, love him or hate him Lewis is a bloody quick driver and he makes very few mistakes. I guess Mercedes will have a hard decision to make as new regs will be enough to deal with for 2022. A potentially disruptive second driver might be a step too far but it would be a bloody shame for GR to spend 4 years with back marking team when younger drivers are coming in and are in faster cars. It would be a real shame for him to end his career as Jos Verstappen did or Stoffel or a host of others who just never had a decent car underneath them for a season even.

DeskJockey wrote: Thu May 27, 2021 7:19 pm

Zonda_ wrote: Thu May 27, 2021 3:52 pm

Hamilton is coming to the end of his career, Russell is just starting and we saw how much quicker he was than Bottas.

Maybe he is, but he's stil delivering pretty much every race. And being faster than VB doesn't equal being faster than Lewis.

Apparently Bottas was in the running for the Alpine seat before the Renault board said to get Alonso.

Gavin wrote: Thu May 27, 2021 9:25 am

duncs500 wrote: Thu May 27, 2021 8:27 am

Gavin wrote: Thu May 27, 2021 8:16 am Inside LIne and seemingly all Motorsport websites have pretty much written him off for next year though, a lot of speculation that GR will be alongside Lewis next year.

If it happened it would be great, I don't mind VB but he's had his chance and shown that he doesn't have what it takes to consistently duel with the elite drivers. GR deserves a shot to show he can be the future of the team, what better yardstick than to go up against LH.

Surely when GR passed him twice on his first race in the car, his career, long term with Merc was over.

As you say, VB is a nice guy and a really talented driver but he is a DC or a Rubens, great on their day, but perhaps not quite at the very to, like Alonso was and Max and Lewis are.

If the 2022 regs tighten the field you could have so many teams with really good driver line ups fighting for wins. Lando, Sainz, Leclerc, Russell as well as Ricciardo Perez etc. Even Vettel looks to be recovering his form so Aston Martin could be in with a shout.

I think Ricciardo, Sainz and Perez struggling to get used to their new cars this season also shows how well Russell did to jump in the Merc last year and only lose out on pole by a small margin then outrace Bottas, who has driven a Merc for years.

Especially when you consider he was too tall for it and was forced to wear a shoe one size too small because his feet didn’t fit in it

That was an excellent quali! I can't begin to imagine the mental state of these guys doing 200mph+ on a narrow street circuit.

Yeah, a bit of a shame not to see the last round of laps, but it's great how closely matched a number of the cars are.

Hopefully a good race tomorrow, perhaps not in wheel to wheel racing, but there'll probably be a few thrills and spills.

When Perez flew round after Max had pitted and then pitted himself, I said out loud "this'll be a slow stop". What a surprise, it was a slow stop.

That was quite a shunt for Stroll. Good to see he's OK.

Not long before Bottas tangles with a Williams again

Here's hoping for a 2 lap standing start sprint here!

I wonder if the teams who have been the victim of a shite tyre construction issue will be reimbursed by Pirelli for rebuilding their cars as apparently every bit of damage significantly reduces the R&D budget now we have cost caps.

And not a pleasant one for Verstappen either!

Pirelli: It'll be fine.

mr_jon wrote: Sun Jun 06, 2021 2:54 pm Pirelli: It'll be fine.

It’s always a cut and nothing to do with them…