Ocon is a better driver than Albon tho, I may be too much a slave to qualifying time, but when it comes to mediocre drivers give me the guy with raw pace. The rest of the shit comes down to luck
100% agree here, give me that pure pace. Race results especially for lower teams is more about the quality of the car, health of its car parts and some luck.
It’s three hours later than usual, I lost a half hour of sleep to watch practice? We talking about practice? but it did have some insights, Perez made an engine switch but Max hasn’t yet and it’s showing. Related, Max’s soft tire performance was worse than Lewis’ medium. This track, as has been said, favors Merc. I would bet a Merc front row lockout at least into sprint Q.
Toto thinks Red Bull had Max’s engine massively turned down. I expect Lewis to get pole but I think Max has more pace than he showed in FP1
Always dangerous to read too much into practice results but I'm somewhat surprised given the hype around Ferrari's engine upgrade how far down the grid they were.
Ridiculous. When 80% of the commentary centers on the traffic backups and the near misses, it just makes the whole sport look shitty.
Didn't realize it was a sprint this weekend. That's what I get for not following the thread too closely
Between that last lap and the fastest lap shenanigans at the end of the Dutch GP, Bottas is on a heater
Daniel has done a good job of settling, he was so shaky at the start of the season. Norris still a shade above I think, and younger, but a good teammate duel there.
Red Bull just doesn’t have the pace this weekend. I’d expect a Lewis, and McLaren podium this weekend
Can’t wait to see what happens tomorrow when Mercedes inevitably tells Bottas to let Lewis through so he can get the extra points.
I was completely wrong about RB getting the aero right for Monza. Max couldn’t get close even with Perez and Gasly slip steaming him.
It’s a online popularity contest that at least early on Mazepin should’ve won weekly. They just cook the results.
He also didn’t get out of Q1 because the team put him out to late and he got held up in traffic to get to the line. Small but important detail there.
I know they mentioned yesterday that Merc might be looking to steal a point or 2 from Max this morning with Bottas using the new power unit, but my initial thought was: isn't this a bad track to take the grid penalty and start from the back when it appears Bottas would almost be a lock for the podium under normal circumstances? Would they have been better off taking the penalty at a track where they might not be as strong?
Fortunate for the back half of the pack that Pierre's wing cleared the track and didn't cause a complete pileup
Ah, softly clipped the McClaren in front of him. Seen much more contact with less consequences, poor Gasly.
I don't fully understand their strategy, but if you believe in it, I think the blame lies fully in Hamilton's execution and not in the strategy
Tomorrow is going to be interesting, especially if the top 4 get thru the first turn in the same order as their grid start. Lewis should have one hell of a tough time trying to get past both McLaren's. Bottas has got to be frustrated af starting in the back after winning both quali and the sprint but he'll have a hell of a fun time in that race tomorrow. He'll be passing people constantly.
Top 10 for Bottas seems like a very safe bet. I am of the belief that he will drive pissed off for the rest of the season.
What a disaster for Lewis. Lost more points to Max during the sprint and will likely have no way to challenge Max for the win tomorrow.
Also I wasn’t a fan of this sprint format. first go round had me likening it more. this go round not so much. kinda feel like we can do without this. or let Perrelli design a super short life tire so we see pit stops maybe people some people trying to milk tires and others going balls to the wall.
Need to pick more interesting tracks. Monza feels like thr complete opposite of what you're looking for