I think George finishing top 6 would be a success. I would expect they purposely slow the car down some. I think there is clearly more pressure on Bottas than George.
He is a Mercedes development driver and they own his rights long term. Toto is his manager as well. I'm also guessing it's either in his contact that if he is needed at Mercedes they get to take him or they are being compensated for his services
The big thing for him (and all drivers this week) is avoiding mistakes in q1. I guess the lap is really short which means one mistake is amplified and the track will be crowded.
Big news day around F1 huh? Im excited Haas. Sure both drivers will be rookies, but one is the son of an all time great, and the other a billionaire. The Haas fan support will likely go way up and so will their sponsors. This is a perfect way to stabilize the team for the coming couple of years until the cost cap hits. At that point people think junior engineers from the top teams will become available to them. It will be kinda funny that they will have a driver who wishes Putin happy birthdays on Instagram driving a car with a big ol’ American flag on it
Ahhh. Quite the set up for Mercedes. It would be like the Yankees stashing Clint Frazier with the orioles.
True. I guess I’m not used to seeing it typically with teams who compete against each other but it certainly happens.
What in the world?!? This isn't Big Bob's Karting. It's F1. They aren't going to hamper him by putting a speed limit on it. People act like the difference between the Merc car and his Williams is like if a Chevy Volt owner tried to drive a Bugatti. Even though Williams, Alfa, Haas, cars are "trash" compared to the Merc, they're still incredibly fast. Hell it's not uncommon for .5 sec to be the difference in qualifying 3rd or 13th.
George is gonna win on Sunday unless something goes wrong with the car. Its gonna be a balls to the wall pure pace race on a short track. Like mentioned above as long as he can get out of Q1 (its gonna be a shit show) he's gonna finish on the first row of qualifying and he's gonna win. Bottas is a nice driver, but people act as if he would be a multi time world champion if not for Hamilton. He's Lewis version of Rubens Barrichello. A solid steady driver who's in the seat to score points, not crash and not threaten the #1. That way they can win constructors titles because ultimately that means more to the team vs a drivers champion.
Will be interested to see how he handles that car in traffic compared to Bottas. It’s pretty much that cars only weakness.
The only question for next season is what redbull does. They have an opening next to Max and a opening next to Gasly
Hopefully Haas can get some good people as resources shift around with cost limits. All the more reason for them to take pay drivers. (I don't know if Schumacher comes with money himself but I'm sure there is a massive economic benefit to putting him in the car). Really for the next couple of years the driver's for them aren't nearly as important as the engineers.
That car is just head and shoulders above anything on the track. George has the talent for sure to be a number 1
Bottas gotta be feeling so much pressure this weekend. If he doesn't beat George he's going to be looked at like a shitty driver in a great car...which may be true anyway but George could really hurt his rep by jumping into the car for the first time and beating him.
George is currently P1 in FP2. Like @1 said, I think the biggest takeaway from this season is how much Valtteri is going to be stressed. Also, how the hell do I tag you 1?
yep. P1 in FP1 and FP2. I know this doesn't really mean much, but I think it's a great start. So hyped for quali tomorrow.
Looks like Bottas had a bunch of laps deleted/aborted and went on the hards for the end. He had a 54.5 deleted that was barely past the limit.
This was such great analysis. The greatest drivers (at least in this era of F1) are the people that can wring the most out of the car AND understand the data. I think this is why Alonso has been eclipsed. He's one of the all time greats with the former (see his whole latest McLaren stint) and pretty mid-pack with the latter (at least RE communication). Regarding Bottas, there have always been guys (Barrichello example above is perfect) who are "that guy". They can contribute, understand the data, just don't have the last 10th of greatness. Ferrari was so weird during the Massa days because he really was more of "that guy" and not a #1, at least to me. I don't think that can be replicated anymore, at least not with a car like the Merc at the top.
I even think it shows the difference between a guy like Gasly who may be too timid/afraid to ask a stupid question to get the performance that he needs to stay at a top car.
Damn! George soooo close! Can't wait for tomorrow with Max putting pressure on George and Bottas with the most pressure on him out of everyone. Btw, the Merc car livery is so much better looking than any other car out there. Just gorgeous.... especially under the lights.
I got to disagree on a couple of points. First I think those who have excelled in this car generation have understood tire wear the best. We have seen drivers in other cars who can extend runs and outperform teammates just on being able to handle the lack of grip or extending stops. I don’t think the sport left Alonso behind. It’s pretty clear when Lewis and Alonso each made the move away from Ferrari and McLaren that Lewis chose correctly and Alonso didn’t and that’s largely based on power unit. Honda promised a ton when they came into the sport. They are on record as saying they would compete for world championships by 2016/2017 and the end result was disaster. I believe had he stuck with Ferrari and Ferrari didn’t make the move to Seb he would’ve won a world title or two with Ferrari. Especially in the 2018 season.
Mick won the F2 championship this morning. Beating out fellow Ferrari academy driver Illiot who probably has a F1 seat in 22
Charles being 4th on this grid is nothing short of amazing. What he’s able to pull out of that piece of shit car is unreal. Every Ferrari powered car is at the back of the grid and he sits on the 2nd row. I’m sure it won’t take long for him to get crushed on these DRS straights and lose spots. I really hope Ferrari fixes the engine for next year because he got the talent to win multiple titles.
That looks like it’s more on Perez. I mean it doesn’t matter now because it’s probably a racing incident more then anything. Sucks because nobody is gonna challenge George or Bottas now
I hate it when Max is out of any race. He's so vital for the sport right now as the only one who can keep Merc on their toes.
Not sure I agree with Brundle that Perez is at fault. He definitely could have left more room but Leclerc has a habit of diving too aggressively down the inside.
F1 on a track that is gonna be the best we get to a NASCAR oval. With a noon start. Sucks we lost three fast drivers.
Seb just doesn’t give enough fucks to push that Ferrari. I must say his inability to push a imperfect car is striking.