He’s done a good job of avoiding issues like today. I laughed at the radio call when Max somehow tried to blame Kimi for the accident.
He’s forcing his way into being the top driver at Ferrari. If he wins at Monza this weekend the drama will be off that charts inside that team.
The Autosport podcast that came out today discusses this. The narrative has gone from he needs to prove he is a capable #2 to making a case to be #1. At least in qualifying he's been better, in racing it's more of a mixed bag but Seb could really use a win at Monza.
only caught the last half of the race on sunday, but it sounds like charles doesn't win without seb holding off hamilton for longer than an avg driver would? is that fair?
Maybe. Seb only "held him off" for roughly 2 laps at the most iirc. Even if Hamilton would have had an open track in front of him to Charles, it's not a given he would have passed him. That track had a couple of long straights where the cars get to top speed. That's where the Ferrari cars are the best. I would say that it would have been a more entertaining finish at the top if Hamilton was closer but overall it was a damn entertaining race regardless.
Man, I can't wait for this weekend. I'm golfing Saturday morning, then Huskers/college football all day/night Saturday, F1 on a good track Sunday morning, then NFL after that. Let's gooooo!!
hamilton got pretty fucking close near the end. or at least it seemed like it to me. keep in mind i have only paid attention to this since like july after watching the netflix doc
This stat doesn't really tell the story. In Austria, GB, and Germany Vettle had car issues. No doubt Leclerc is a good driver, but he shouldn't be compared to seb yet
Even in race i'm not sure he hasn't been clearly better. Seb has gotten a free pass by him a few times. Charles also had two 1st place finishes taken from him out of his control. I think Seb knows the championship is not in the cards this year and it's why he was a good teammate. But the narrative about who should be #1 will start if this trend continues. Lets see how good of a teammate Seb will be then.
If we had 2 or 3 more laps it would've been very interesting if he could've found a way around Charles. Ferrari had so much pace on the straights
The Merc has never been as good passing or fighting through traffic. They often catch cars and struggle to pass. They've always been a front-running car.
Alonso was interviewed during FP and essentially confirmed he will return to F1 by 2021. The guys went on to speculate this crazy ass driver lineup Ferrari - Lewis Hamilton & Charles RedBull - Max and Seb Mercedes - Alonso - Ocon Another had it... Ferrari - Charles - Alonso RebBull - Max and Seb Mercedes - Lewis and Ocon
I don't see Hamilton going to another team and not retiring. Toto understands the appropriate leash to provide him with his bullshit. I don't see Lewis signing up for a new boss.
At face value I agree, but with his ego, if he felt even the tiniest bit slighted (as I imagine Seb feels currently) and another team offered him a bajillion dollars, he might consider it.
I've never seen this in my entire life watching the sport. 9 of 10 racers did not cross the line in time to do a final attempt to qualify. Charles gets pole. My goodness
Lewis is such a bitch trying to blame the Ferrari's for the back up when they didn't even lead the pack till mid lap.
Just watched the qualifying. So good lol. I've said it before but qualifying is sometimes as entertaining as the actual race.
This race is fucking awesome so far!!! Hamilton is going to stay on Charles ass since he's on the softer tire.
That was great stuff. The Ferrari masked up some of Leclerc's mistakes. Seb on the other hand.... I was holding my breath when he was pulling that bullshit. Of course they cut to a crowd shot right after he spun.
Lewis put a ton of pressure on Charles. He didn't fold but he did budge. He's 21 and under so much pressure in that car, in that spot, on that track, in that country. Great race. True or not today is going to be looked at as the passing of the torch.
Leclerc did a great job of pushing it about as far as you can without drawing a penalty a couple times, and I mean that as a compliment. That's great racing. The Merc still isn't a great passing car. It is a front-running car.
I agree and I'm 100% ok with that racing. It was tough and it was on the line maybe a shade over but they let the drivers do what they are paid to do. Charles learned from what happened with Max a few weeks back. He wasn't going to be a nice guy. You want past you better have the balls to pull it off. And I love it. Also Seb offered no help this week. He won a race 2 v 1 and that's more impressive than last week.
It's over for Seb and the Ferrari dream. He may be back in 2020 but at this point in his career it's hard to see him fixing his issues. Since Germany last year he's just pissed away 8 races (count according to Autosport podcast) which is basically one in three.
I’ve been looking into some local track days and getting a track car (have looked at mini coopers, 350Z, FR-S/BRZ/86, still undecided there.) Anyone here run their car on the track? If so, what’s your setup? What’s something you wish you had known before getting into the sport?
Haas bringing back both drivers for 2020. Amazing for the Netflix doc. Yikes for the actual race results.
Poor Hulk... after a respectable 5 place finish too. Kubica is out at Williams next year. Not sure if Hulkenberg would want to wallow in that situation though.
What is left? If I'm Red Bull I would consider him. Otherwise Alfa could let him keep Mic's seat warm for a year which would actually make a lot of sense. Ferrari gets a look at him for a possible option for 2021 and they know that Mic will be in that car the next year. Giovinazzi hasn't really shown anything this year. I am guessing that Haas wanted to set their lineup and Hulk wanted to wait.
Yeah I'm guessing that Hulk is holding out for Alfa or Red Bull and Haas didn't want to wait. I think it makes sense too with how lost Haas is this year. If Red Bull or Alfa don't work just go to Indy where he probably dominates for the remainder of his career.
Mic will be at Alfa next year. As mentioned above Antonio hasn’t shown any glimpse of fight all year. Really all that leaves is the RedBull circus. Three seats left open. And the final Williams seat.