Blimey. That Bortoleto crash. Not so long ago that would have been a dead racing driver.
But cracking day for Lando.
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Antonelli is impressive. Nice to see him beating Russell who should spend less time smoothing his flowing locks. And Ollie Bearman is great too. Lots of potential there.
What’s ‘is name didn’t do so well today, which was surprising, but I can live with that. Quite odd how Norris and Piastri seemed to have swapped roles. Sadly I think Hamilton should go off and spend more time with his money next season.
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I agree it was good to see Antonelli beat Russell, but I got the feeling Russell could have pushed his way past, but felt the risk-reward balance wasn’t worth it. Albon was lucky and unlucky today; he would have been wiped out, but as it was, he just collected some debris under his sidepod.
If the weather is like today for the main race, then it could be very interesting for the spectators, if not for the drivers.
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It was a very weird qualifying session with what appeared to be random successes and failures. At one point it looked as though Charles LeClerc might not make it through to Q3. In Q3 he turned it around with a great lap whilst Lewis Hamilton did not get past Q2. Max Verstappen could not make it past Q1.
I do wonder if the ride height changes, temperature changes and random tail winds which scuppered downforce produced an unpredictable cocktail on the day which spat drivers out of quali.
LeClerc spun off in qualification for the sprint race and the resultant yellow flag prevented Lewis Hamilton and others logging a decent lap. Hamilton’s start in the sprint race was exceptional.
Quite what basis you have for singling Hamilton out to conclude he should retire is beyond me. Presumably on that basis Max shouldn’t even bother starting tomorrow and would be better if he just retired tonight - he wasn’t capable of getting into Q2 for the main race. Baffling logic.
I agree with Jamiewednesday - the impact of Bortoleto’s car when he crashed was horrendous. I can’t imagine what shock must have been transmitted through his body and amazing that he was able to walk away from such an impact. I suspect he won’t be feeling the best tomorrow morning when he wakes up!
Peter
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Lando is looking every bit the World Champion. Think if he wins tonight he’ll win the title and I think his team will act accordingly.
On the basis that judging by the whole season so far, he isn’t able to beat his team-mate in the same car and it seems very unlikely that he will ever get another championship. Meanwhile there are young talented drivers waiting for a decent car.
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Sadly, I must agree with you David.
I put his lack of form for the two seasons after he was deprived of his 8th championship down to the massive disappointment he must have felt together with the fact that Mercedes were unable to produce a competitive car.
After that I suspect that age began to take its toll but, he felt, that he still had enough in the tank to win another title with the right car.
For me, his decision to go to a team with Ferraris haphazard performance & organisation for the past nearly 20 years was baffling. At his age, any movement at all should have been to a seat with a better chance of winning from day one. As McLaren & Red Bull were presumably not available, perhaps he should have remained at Mercedes?
For someone who made all the right decisions out of the cockpit for the majority of his career, the move to Ferrari always appeared strange to me.
Having said all that, Ferrari will probably have by far the best car next season & Lewis will leave everyone in his dust!
Which young talented drivers? So far they have been a poor bunch. The step up top F1 seems to elude them, too young, too soon?
Hadjar, Bearman and Antonelli would seem to be young and talented drivers ready to step up, isn’t Antonelli already there as number 2 at Mercedes.
Not sure any of them are ready for the pressure cooker of Ferrari.
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It’s just excruciating listening to Martin Brundle waffling on doing that walk down the track these days. I just have to change the channel and go back just before the GP starts.
“With a long race ahead from P16 on the grid, Red Bull have elected to fit a new Honda power unit to Verstappen’s RB21, as well as making various set-up changes under Parc Ferme conditions, triggering a move to the pit lane for lights out.” F1 Website
His new set up appears to be working.
MV’s charge up the field reminds me of when John Watson won from 22nd on the grid in 1983. Afterwards he was asked if he had ever come from behind like that before. He said “ Yes, but not in a racing car”
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Well done, Kimi. Nuff said!
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I rather imagine Piastri might have a few words to say after picking up a penalty for something he had no way out of. Antonelli shut the door leaving no alternative for Piastri. Probably should have been classed as a racing incident as seems the preferred way these days on opening laps - baffled why Piastri picked up a 10 second penalty for that. LeClerc certainly made a point of not pointing the finger at Piastri for having his race brought to an end over that incident. That aside, great drive by Antonelli, particularly towards the end with Mad Max bearing down on him - he held his nerve well.
Outrageous drive by Max - what on earth did Red Bull do to his car which was more like a wheel barrow before they changed the engine!
As for Lewis Hamilton, oh dear…..!
Overall mega weekend for Norris winning both races from pole position - can’t get better than that; and the championship looks very close to being secured.
Peter
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We do agree on something, Peter!
Kimi is learning very fast that if you want to get somewhere in F1 you’ll have to have thick skin and very broad shoulders.
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We must have a very different view. I was just saying to my gf that it’s a ridiculously good crop. Between Hadjar, Bortoletto, Bearman & Antonelli, who do you think is not deserving of a seat next year? Doohan and Colapinto are a different story.
Perhaps this weekend is not an advertisement for Bortoletto, but I don’t think they’ve been poor or it’s been too soon.
He could have lifted. No other racing driver would have, but unfortunately that’s the rules. It was Antonelli’s corner, he was not entitled to any room. Had Leclerc squeezed Antonelli it would have been a racing incident.
Same thing as last race. Morally and technically right aren’t/weren’t the same.
To avoid previous accusations of inconsistency F1 has clearly defined rules for the stewards, which we fans are now complaining about. It’s a bit like VAR.
Not just we fans - the three Sky commentators after playbacks concluded at best a racing incident. LeClerc was very clear where he saw the source of the problem. I’m not suggesting Antonelli should be penalised. Merely observing that Piastri had no way of backing out and Antonelli followed the line of Norris when he had an option to hold his line - as LeClerc did. On previous races, these first lap incidents were viewed by the stewards as racing incidents, so not sure about the consistency you allude to. You could also say that poor old Piastri’s form continues to desert him when it matters compared with earlier in the season.
Peter
I don’t think we need to argue about the incident, I think we view it similarly. Unfortunately, the rules do not.
Perhaps good to point out that it wasn’t a first lap incident. This happened on lap 6, a safety car restart. Usually with similar incidents (on the first lap, which this wasn’t), which are judged differently you’ll find that the middle car is being squeezed, which wasn’t the case here.
Regarding consistency. I do think there’s more consistency than before. Previously it was all a bit random, depending on the whim of the steward, with some drivers being treated much more harshly than others. Now at least the rules are clear.
PIA did not establish the
required overlap prior to and at the apex, as his front axle was not alongside the
mirror of Car 12, as defined in the Driving Standard Guidelines for overtaking on the
inside of a corner.
The inconsistency here is that it’s probably too simplistic a rule to judge every incident. In some cases it could be fair (there wasn’t any gap to go for; braked way too late and oversteered into car X), in some cases it’s unfair (let them race, there was plenty of room for both).
We can agree to disagree, but while I don’t necessarily like the current rule, I would also hate to go back to the whims of whichever steward is there that particular race and their biases like we had a few seasons ago.
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