[FURY_44]

I was absolutely stoaked when Mercedes announced Russel would be driving for them for the Shakir Grand Prix, he is brilliant and a fast driver, I always had a soft corner for him seeing the way he used to wrestle the Williams into Q2 and was close to points a couple of times. Put a fast driver in a fast car, we've all seen the results ourselves over the weekend. But Bottas, oh man, he beats Hamilton one time in 10 races and he's like "To whomever it may concern, go to hell", I did not like that gestures at all from him.

Would love to see Hamilton & Russel paired up in the Mercedes, the young protege pushing the old horse and I also have a hunch Hamilton will retire this year (me being a fan of him), I guess he is bored of winning without much competition, it's the end of the season next race and the contract is not renewed yet.

My number 1 team in F1 fantasy consists of Hamilton, Verstappen, Riccardo, Perez and Gasly, these are guys you can bet on any weekend this year. To some it up, I had joined the Team BHP fantasy club for which the link was shared before the season begun in the F1 thread, I was 45th out of 53 participants at the start of the season and these guys have propelled me into the top 5 after the last race, I am 5th btw.

Here's how the standings are before the season finale next week.

[raghu.bramha]

Absolutely disappointed for George Russel. He was at one point ahead comfortably, then some unnecessary pit stops ruined his run. Absolutely dismal from Mercedes pit crew, i have no words to describe how disgusted i am.

After yesterday's race, there is lot of discussion exploding in social media about the fact that "It's the car". Which i am, hard pressed to say, yes. Taking the "Car" factor out, the only difference which was evident between Hamilton and Russel was "Experience". I am pretty sure Hamilton would have refused for the illogical double pit stop during safety car. That is where he makes the difference.

I am happy for Checo though, his impressive overtaking skill to jump two places, beating Albon and Ocon was certainly my favorite bit of the race. Checo is properly competitive driver when you see the contrasting performance from his team mate. What impresses is his ability to sustain tire life which may remind some of Jim Clark back in the day. Although it's sad to see him without a seat for 2021 yet, i am pretty sure something will work out. I personally would have him race in place of Bottas in 2021 with likes of Vettel, Alonso and of-course Hamilton, all in competitive cars. Let's see what happens. F1 certainly is more entertaining than what people think,

[SideView]

What a race!!!.

Heart breaking for Russel, man the kid gave it everything. Sometimes it all comes down to luck.

If Bottas doesnt step up to Hamilton next year, atleast in my eyes it is clear who gets the seat in 2022.


Checo you beauty, what a drive from last place on lap 1 to race win. Did everything right on his part to take advantage of the Mercedes screw up.

Can we have 1 more week for Russel?

[varun.ppl]

Originally Posted by AbelAFC

i thought this race was gonna be boring after seeing leclerc and max crash out, but boy was i wrong. toto has gotta rethink having bottas in that place ahead of russell. what a drive, what a drive. mercedes dont do anything by halves though. they win big, they lose big.

this race will help me forget that wretched football club i support. GO GEORGE!

Don't tell me that you're also an Arsenal supporter?

What a fantastic race and the (under a minute) laps just flew by. There were ample of opportunities to overtake and Mercedes & Pink Mercedes had a hay day. Checo really deserved the top step of the podium and he does warrant a seat next season.

Mercedes are on a different playing field and if no other constructor pulls up their socks for '21, why not hand over the trophy to Merc right now and get done with it.

[FettyG]

Originally Posted by imzahid

I genuinely feel Bottas is surviving just because of the absolute supremacy of this Mercedes car.
=====
It's time for Merc to look for better drivers who can challenge Lewis (although I'm not sure whether they would be wanting that situation ).

Russell smoked everyone in his F2 season and won it by a considerable margin. He's a superb driver and there's a reason why Mercedes is positioning him as the next Lewis and not the next Bottas. His racing mentality is brilliant (miles ahead of Max and Charles).

[batladanny]

Originally Posted by imzahid

A youngster who has ZERO points this year shouldn't be giving him a run for his money provided the fact that he has been in the team for 4 years now! Another possibility is that George Russell is actually a better driver than the likes of Verstappen and Leclerc which, frankly, is absurd IMO.

Judging Russell for his points tally when driving a Williams won't give any understanding of how good a driver he is. He had beaten his teammates in 36 consecutive qualifying sessions since making his debut. Second only to Schumacher and Senna.

And it is not absurd that he may be better than Verstappen and Leclerc. For comparison, he has an identical record to Leclerc in GP3 and GP2. Both of them won those series in their debut campaigns and immediately progressed to the next tier.

He is very highly rated and if given a good car can easily be a multiple time champion

Originally Posted by imzahid

It's time for Merc to look for better drivers who can challenge Lewis (although I'm not sure whether they would be wanting that situation

As you said, why would they want that? They win both the drivers and constructors championships each year and have no internal drama. It would've been a possibility if Bottas' performances weren't enough to get them the constructors crown but as long as he keeps delivering that, he will stay till Lewis stays.

[Simha13]

Finally an awesome race over the weekend after a long long time. Was exciting from the word go. Really gutted for Russel, he is a future champ for sure. Happy for Perez, he deserved it, Redbull give him the seat as I say.

PS: It is actually the car!

[Yusha]

Originally Posted by batladanny

As you said, why would they want that? They win both the drivers and constructors championships each year and have no internal drama. It would've been a possibility if Bottas' performances weren't enough to get them the constructors crown but as long as he keeps delivering that, he will stay till Lewis stays.

Lewis Hamilton and George Russell will be racing together in 2022. May not be possible next year but Bottas will be gone in 2022.

But this depends on LH's contract for next year and beyond which is till not finalised.

[sgiitk]

I am quite shocked by the following:

1. Why was Fittipaldi condemned to be 20th for the start. Eduardo is the grandson of Emerson. Was it the lack of a super license.

2. What resulted in Russel and Bottas having to make additional stops. If this was not there then Russel & Bottas would have been one and two.

[Dippy]

One race Hamilton sits out and you get this. What a race and I absolutely loved this outer track at Sakhir. Was totally gutted after what happened to George. He not only had a brilliant start, but even the restart post safety car and that overtaking move on Bottas was amazing. I really wanted him to win.

That said, a a great win for Checo and Im very happy for him. Hope he gets that seat next year.

Lewis should rest and sit out the Abu Dhabi Grand Prix as well. We would surely get a cracker of a season finale. Get well soon to him.

And is it the car? Me thinks yes. George accelerated off into the distance just like Lewis would at the start.

[DevilzzzzOwn]

Absolutely, Bottas is a substandard driver..

But boy, was it an Epic GP.. I spent the first hour (before the GP) penning down my predictions. And then comes, one Russell, with better reflexes.. Absolutely pinned the start. And Bottas, what a sad story for him.

By the time the race ended, I was smiling and crying, at the same time.. How do you screw up things SOOOO royally?? Why Merc? George's first GP with Merc with a win would have been phenomenal for the brand too. Where was all the staff at planning and race development?

Having said all this, I am so relieved, Checo finally receives the stamp of authority.. He will always be known as Winner at Formula 1. Such a pity about his next year though.

I absolutely loved this format of Bahrain. Hopefully, it can be made permanent. All kinds of predictions get thrown out of the window.

Lastly, Max!! Such a pity. It was his race to loose, and he did, not from his fault.

And the 3 place penalty for LeClerc, is not enough, I feel. He changed the destination of the entire GP wih his, as always, stupid lockups.

[Mik]

If it wasn't evident before, its crystal clear now. Bottas needs to be booted out. If the Merc is going to be this pacy next year too, atleast give us some spunky upstart who takes it to Lewis. 2014 to 2016 were so much fun!

[Red Liner]

Originally Posted by DevilzzzzOwn

And the 3 place penalty for LeClerc, is not enough, I feel. He changed the destination of the entire GP wih his, as always, stupid lockups.

I am sure none of us here are even at 0.00001% the pace or mental cognition of any F1 driver past or current.

For someone like Leclerc to take that old flailing dead horse to P4 was in itself a phenomenal achievement. Look at where the 4 time world champ is.

Leclerc knew that he has to take every conceivable chance in the GP to even be in the points. Such is the pathetic state of the car, the strategy team, and even the pit crew! Look at what happened to both of Sebs stops. Terrible.

Considering all the ways Max has dumped his car in the past, Leclerc's driving is admirable. Max in his position would have assassinated every member of the Ferrari team by now (which is also why Ferrari will never ever hire him).

As a racing driver whose only ambition is to win, he took a call at that split moment which unfortunately did not work for him. Other drivers will always complain about other drivers. Leclerc is not a dangerous driver like Romain. He is just pushing his driving to the limit to keep his part of the terrible bargain Ferrari have signed with him so far.

He still has a great gentlemanly attitude post incident, accepting his fault fully with no defence and taking a three spot grid penalty in the next race. How many other drivers have come forward and accepted fault straight away?

https://youtu.be/c_m0EWyGmRc

In my mind, Leclerc is easily the best driver on the grid right now. Put any one of the other drivers in a politically charged environment like Ferrari up against a 4 time world champ who has been there for over 5 years, and a car that is easily the slowest (down by 40-50 hp), and a strategy team that is downright useless, and this kid still brings home points, podiums, and smiles.

The future championships are between Leclerc, Max, George, Lando, and Pierre.

The future is bright.

[klgiridhar]

Incredible race. I am so happy for Perez. I feel he deserves it more than anyone else, especially after being in F1 for 10 years, always fighting in a midfield team. I hope he lands the Redbull seat for next year.

What a drive from George . Definitely a champion material. Luck is not on his side yesterday, but he will get to the top soon.

Originally Posted by DevilzzzzOwn

Absolutely, Bottas is a substandard driver..

Before commenting on this, I will put forth that I am a hardcore Seb fan (also Riccardo but not as much as Seb)

I don't think Bottas is sub-standard at all. Yes, he has to improve his race starts. But, he is a very good racer and is unstoppable when he is in his zone. He is getting too much hate of late but no one had the amount of bad luck he had this season. He had 5 pole positions and 2 race wins this season but there are around half a dozen races where he lost points due to reasons beyond his control. It makes the points gap to Lewis even bigger.

1. Late tyre failure just after the pit entry in Silverstone (zero points while Hamilton scored 25)

2. Collected the Ferrari "tractor" debris in Imola and lost close to 1 second per lap and lot of downforce points.

3. He was left nursing damage in Turkey following a turn 1 crash with Ocon. Again not his mistake.

4. Leading the race at Nurburgring from pole but had to retire following a power unit issue. (Again zero points vs Hamilton 25)

5. Suffered damage in Monza, again beyond his control. Finished fifth.

Even Hamilton said last week that Bottas throws enormous challenge on him during qualifying where both of them differ by the smallest of margins and called on the F1 community to give Bottas greater recognition than downplaying him with hate.

Sakhir qualifying was not his best but still got pole. There was another tenth or two in it where he could have improved.

Coming to the race, George was indeed brilliant. Full credits to him. Future champion in the making. Due to poor start, Bottas lost the race leader position to George. We have seen such things happen to Hamilton as well this season. But just like Hamilton, Bottas always maintained around 2 seconds gap with George, managing his tyres. In a race having 87 laps, we can't expect him to push from lap 1. Then on lap 46, Russel pits and the gap was around 2.7 seconds before his pit entry. Mercedes for some reason didn't pit Bottas the next lap (don't know why?) and George gained a massive undercut advantage due to this. Then on lap 49, Bottas comes in for hards. By the time he exits the pits, he was trailing George by around 9 seconds. But after that, I saw signs of Hamilton class in Bottas. He kept pumping fastest laps, lap after lap. Within the next 10 laps, he closed in by 5 seconds, lapping 0.35s faster than George per lap, before they again pitted for the horrendous pitstop. So by the time the second pit stop happened, both almost entered pits at the same time. Gap was around 4-5 seconds. Down from 9 seconds. Still there were around 27 laps left. If there wasn't a VSC, I think he would have overtaken George.

But again his luck is so bad, he lost a truckload of time in the pits as well as came out in that same old used softs. George was also unlucky, tragic even, had to pit again to change the wrong set put on his car earlier but had much fresher mediums. This gave him much much greater pace than Bottas and was able to overtake many. Bottas' tyres were done by then, so horrible that even Sainz, Albon and Gasly passed him and eventually the race ended in P8 and P9.

So that's how the Mercedes saga turned out yesterday and Bottas is no way a substandard driver. Lewis just has more consistency and better tyre management. Other than that, both are almost similar in pace and neck and neck in qualifying. The F1 twitter has become so toxic and lately are trying a lot to break him emotionally. The kind of hate comments I see in his timeline is apalling. But I truly admire how he sidelines all the negativity and maintains that calm demeanor, returns to the next race week with the same positive attitude. He has the pace, he needs to develop the consistency required to beat Hamilton.

Next year, it is Ham and Bot for 2021. In case, if Ham win another championship and retires, we will see George and Bottas teaming up. If he outperforms Hamilton, anything is possible. Both may stay for 2022 or one of them leaves.

One final race to go then. Hope Hamilton recovers well but I also want George to have another chance in that Merc as well

As for Seb, I wish it was over already. Thankfully, only one race left. F2 pitstops are quicker than Ferrari's. Had enough of their clown show, week after week.

[PGNarain]

Originally Posted by sgiitk

2. What resulted in Russel and Bottas having to make additional stops. If this was not there then Russel & Bottas would have been one and two.

Essentially a tyre mix up once Mercedes decided to pit both their cars at the same time and then ended up mixing up the tyre allotments for each driver, followed by the puncture on Russell's car, for which he had to pit again. Below is a post race interview with Toto giving his explanation.

https://m.youtube.com/watch?v=GbUweFvEi-M