Formula 1 Discussion - And favourite driver?

  • 🏰 The Fediverse is up. If you know, you know.
  • Want to keep track of this thread?
    Accounts can bookmark posts, watch threads for updates, and jump back to where you stopped reading.
    Create account
Bottas' patience with Mercedes team orders is wearing thin quick. If they announce his replacement at any point they can kiss goodbye to any team orders trying to beat redbull. The redbull guys on the other hand seem perfectly happy to work together to defeat Mercedes.
I'd love to see Bottas completely ignore team orders for the rest of the season and go balls out until his car gets sabotaged by obviously staged incompetence in the pits. What is Mercedes gonna do, fire him? Meanwhile, I find it very interesting that he did much better with Hambone's chassis than he did with his own.

It was great seeing Hambone as the meat in an RB sandwich on the podium. Max and Checo showing it how it's done. If RB has any sense they'd sign Checo up for the 2022 season. He's exactly what the team needs rn i.e. a team player who is there to help RB win a Constructor's Championship, and he's been the most reliable wingman for Max thus far.

Big ups to Lando and Danny Ric for a solid race. Stroll the Younger is really beginning to show some chops as an F1 driver. He's no George or Lando, but he might just shake off the pay driver tag in the same way that Checo has though it'll be difficult given that AM is effectively the Stroll family business. That all boils down to how AM performs under the new 2022 rules and beyond.
 
And now imagine if they really ditch Bottas and replace him with Russell. Hamilton might be shaking in his boots because Russell is fast and young and probably not as "soft" as Valteri. Silver Wars reloaded perhaps?
I doubt Russel would be in a position to challenge Hamilton. Not for a lack of talent, but he'd get a contract that makes it very clear that he either plays by Merc's rules or he's out. And even for someone as promising as Russel, it might be hard to find a new ride. Mercedes might even throw their weight around so anyone tied to them will unfortunately not have a free seat for some weird reason either.

And on a sidenote:
Get bent, fucko. This vegan faggot can't beat RB on the track for once, so now he tries to beat them off the track. Truly something worthy of the "GOAT" driver.
Apparently, Mercedes is now looking into "illegal pit equippement" or some such bullshit, no trick is too dirty, no scheme too obvious.
 
Get bent, fucko. This vegan faggot can't beat RB on the track for once, so now he tries to beat them off the track. Truly something worthy of the "GOAT" driver.
Apparently, Mercedes is now looking into "illegal pit equippement" or some such bullshit, no trick is too dirty, no scheme too obvious.
Oh I am just waiting for RedBull to take Mercedes to the FIA courts because of their own Flexi frontwings. Wouldn't that be funny if Mercedes gets punished while RedBull will not?
 
Oh I am just waiting for RedBull to take Mercedes to the FIA courts because of their own Flexi frontwings. Wouldn't that be funny if Mercedes gets punished while RedBull will not?
Would be the funniest thing in a long time.
Mercs bitch about a flexing rear wing on RB, kicks FIA into high gear so they make a new system to check for wing flexibility and RB end up being awwwright while Merc's front wing suddenly gets the shaft.

Would be like something straight out of a comedy.
FIA: "So it has been brought to our attention that someone -I don't wanna name any names here- is using a rear wing that's too flexible. We have decided to change our system to test the flexibility of wings, so we will perform checks on every rear wing..."
Mercedes: *chortles in the background*
FIA: "... and on all front wings."
Mercedes: *muffled squeaking sound while their monocle drops from their eyelid* "All what now?"

Edit:
Toto going "It's great! Finally [Valteri] starts to criticise!", jfc.
 
Last edited:
Toto going "It's great! Finally [Valteri] starts to criticise!", jfc.
Who in their right mind believes anything at Mercedes is "great" right now? One driver is too used to everything going his way, the other is fed up with nothing ever going his way, and Toto's pretending it's all smiles.
 
racefansdotnet-yas-marina-changes.jpg
Yas Marina changing track layout to aid overtaking at F1 season finale (21st June 2021)
Major changes are being made to two sections of the Yas Marina circuit in Abu Dhabi ahead of the Formula 1 season finale in December.

The circuit owners are understood to have approved plans to aid overtaking at the track by removing two series of slow corners.
The image above, produced by RaceFans, reflects the changes which are being made to the track. Turns four, five and six will be replaced with a single left-handed hairpin, leading drivers onto the first back straight.

Later in the lap the current turns 11, 12, 13 and 14 will be replaced with a single, sweeping left-hand curve. This will also be slightly banked.

The circuit, situated on the purpose-built island of Yas, has been the venue of the final race of the season every year since 2014. However drivers have regularly described it as one of the most difficult circuits to overtake on.

The first changes to the track, which F1 has raced at since it opened in 2009, are likely to significantly reduce lap times. Lewis Hamilton established the course record during qualifying for the 2019 race with a best lap of 1’34.779.

It is the latest in a series of circuits to undergo revisions this year. Last month F1 at the Circuit de Catalunya, which featured a remodelled turn 10. The Albert Park circuit in Australia, which is due to host the 21st round on the calendar, is also being extensively reworked.

With the addition of the new Jeddah Street Circuit as the venue for the penultimate round of the world championship, the final three races of the 2021 F1 season will all take place on new or significantly altered layouts.

If only they could turn the double chicane after the first straight into just one turn, and change some of the turns in sector three... but these changes look pretty promising. Of course it will not be amazing, but the circuit could raise from terrible to ok.
 
Apparently, Mercedes is now looking into "illegal pit equippement" or some such bullshit, no trick is too dirty, no scheme too obvious.
Called it. I knew after all the wing batching didn't stop redbull they'd be crying about something else. They just can't understand they're being beaten fair and square.

If only they could turn the double chicane after the first straight into just one turn, and change some of the turns in sector three... but these changes look pretty promising. Of course it will not be amazing, but the circuit could raise from terrible to ok.
If only they could turn it into an entirely different track, in an entirely different place without going anywhere near yas marina.

In before these changes *somehow* massively favour merc and hambone.


Also apparently Mercedes strategy with Bottas was just fine. It was all Bottas' fault it wasn't a merc 1-2.
SmartSelect_20210622-224008_Brave.jpg
SmartSelect_20210622-224017_Brave.jpg

I've never understood Rossberg's boner for Hamilton. The amount of times Hamilton spat the dummy and ran Rossberg off the track when he was overtaking, insinuated that Rossberg doing well was because his mechanics were sabotaging his car and generally being a piss baby that someone dared to stand up to to him and not roll over. Than again it is a prerequisite of a Sky F1 job so I suppose he had to kneel down and start slupring like the rest of them.
 
Last edited:
I've never understood Rossberg's boner for Hamilton. The amount of times Hamilton spat the dummy and ran Rossberg off the track when he was overtaking, insinuated that Rossberg doing well was because his mechanics were sabotaging his car and generally being a piss baby that someone dared to stand up to to him and not roll over. Than again it is a prerequisite of a Sky F1 job so I suppose he had to kneel down and start slupring like the rest of them.
Rosberg is very active as a commentator in German F1 circles and I usually liked his input, but when I read those comments he made, I literally went "What the fuck is wrong with this fool?"
Bottas was left out to dry on dead tyres, Mercedes can be happy both cars made it to the finishing line. Imagine a tyre failure or them starting to slip off the track during corners or having the wheels outright explode.
 
Rosberg is very active as a commentator in German F1 circles and I usually liked his input, but when I read those comments he made, I literally went "What the fuck is wrong with this fool?"
Bottas was left out to dry on dead tyres, Mercedes can be happy both cars made it to the finishing line. Imagine a tyre failure or them starting to slip off the track during corners or having the wheels outright explode.

If he's still getting paid as an ambassador for Mercedes' brand it makes sense not to ride them too hard about what they do on the track.
 
Coulthard thinks highly of himself these days

SmartSelect_20210624-114154_Brave.jpg SmartSelect_20210624-114208_Brave.jpg SmartSelect_20210624-114218_Brave.jpg

You do crap commentating for free race hilights, I doubt you are particularly high on his radar let alone having strong feelings about you.

That and you must have known saying a driver is finished, has no way back and is just there as a punchingbag for the owner's son would probably lower your access to him giving you voluntary interviews right?
 
Coulthard thinks highly of himself these days

View attachment 2290403View attachment 2290404View attachment 2290405

You do crap commentating for free race hilights, I doubt you are particularly high on his radar let alone having strong feelings about you.

That and you must have known saying a driver is finished, has no way back and is just there as a punchingbag for the owner's son would probably lower your access to him giving you voluntary interviews right?
Oh boy, 90s version of Bottas weighs in, I'm sure on the edge of my seat with this one! :story:

Joking aside, what does Coulthard expect, that literally every driver owes him time and affection for being a driver himself?
Maybe Vettel really dislikes Coulthard, maybe he just is entirely indifferent towards him? This whole thing sounds like a "please don't forget I still exist" kinda thing tbh.
 
Yes, even plebitors aren't having it.
We've had a few failed stops where a wheel wasn't propperly attached and the car needed to be stopped, but this is a solution in want of a problem.
The few times a car had a loose tyre it stopped pretty much right after leaving the pits or even within the pits (like Mick recently, who got wheeled back to his pit and the wheel propperly attached).

They'd do far better not changing anything and forcing teams to work properly. Fuck, with this stupid new rule, they might as well make it mandatory for pitstops to have a minimum duration of 5 seconds or something equally shitty.
RB has the best pitstops, Mercedes were less efficient cause they didn't need to be, thanks to their cars dominance. Now that the air is becoming thinner FIA is suspiciously putting a stop to anything that gives any non-Merc car an advantage. Boggles the mind. How can that be. Now, if only I could put 1 and 1 together, cause fuck me if that riddle in front of my eyes isn't worthy of Sherlock fucking Holmes.

It's not even just that it panders to a specific team that has been running the show for the majority of the past decade, it's also a very shitty rule that makes the sport less interesting as a whole.
This is the kind of stuff that slowly whittles away my investment in the sport as a whole. If this shit continues and 2022 doesn't shake up F1, I'll just punch out for a few years until the sport either dies or becomes less of a shitshow.
 
Might as well chime in with some babble.

I knew I should have dropped Ferrari/drivers from my Fantasy teams before Q in France. I didn't of course. I am definitely doing a clean sweep of both teams this weekend. I check the standings after each race (sometimes after Q LOL) and its surprising how big the gaps are throughout. I thought we'd all be within 200 of each other and be battling it out. Weird.

Coulthard/Vettel contretemps. That reminded me of Johnny Herbert. I have a soft spot for Johnny knowing about his serious crash and being able to come back and win 3 races in F1, including for Jackie's team. I watched F1 all through 90s so am very invested in that era. So, was so cool to see that win by Johnny. Anyway, Herbert a few years back said Fred should retire (during the pitiful years he spent with Button at McL) and I remember Fred coming up to him on air and berating him a bit about it. HAHA I felt bad for Johnny, but a race ort two letter he was on the parade lap truck and him and Alonso hugged it out, so that made me feel better! BUT, to finally get to the point, when Johnny said that, I think he just meant he should retire because the fucking car sucked and it'd be better for Alonso to leave then go through that. Not that Alonso himself sucked.

I saw that pitstop changes article (at least it is not until after Hungary, so still 3 races before it comes into play) and yeah, it just seems very suspect to do that. Just take a look at the top pitstops this year, and it is easy to see why it looks like something else to advantage Mercedes.
Fastest pitstops of 2021 so far

Pos.TeamDriverEventTime (sec)
1Red BullVerstappenBAH1.93
2Red BullVerstappenAZE1.98
3Red BullVerstappenPOR1.98
4Red BullPerezBAH2.00
5Red BullVerstappenMCO2.02
6Red BullPerezFRA2.04
7Aston MartinStrollPOR2.08
8WilliamsRussellAZE2.13
9Alfa RomeoRaikkonenAZE2.13
10Aston MartinStrollESP2.16

So, we have the first of two in Austria starting tomorrow. A fully wet Q and Race would be nice! Have a normal weather race next weekend. Had a quick look and from an article today, here is forecast:

Friday is set to see cool track temperatures with an 80% chance of rain and also thunderstorms being predicted in the afternoon.

For qualifying on Saturday, things will be cool again though the threat of rain is a lot less, currently standing at a 40% chance for the afternoon.

On Sunday, meanwhile, we're currently on course for a dry afternoon with things likely at their warmest for the whole of the weekend.

Also, final note, the W Series will be supporting F1 this weekend. Unless weather does come in to play, the W races may be better than the F1 race. Austria is pretty much a normal type track isn't it? Doesn't produce many spectacular races, but isn't Monaco either. I can't really recall if Austria is a track that one should get overly excited for is it?
 
Remind me FIA how many unsafe releases have we seen this season for this new pit stop rule to be pushed through now? If I recall all of 1, and the car never left the pits. Its just blatent bullshittery. What next, no energy drink sponsorship because they're bad for you? Wouldn't suprise me.
 
austria, i think the circuit is on the better side although not the best...short length, many quick turns. But if Max does well the orange crowd is gonna be electric which is exciting in itself.
If the FP1 is any indication Mercedes will have 4 Red Bulls to compete with (Red Bull and Alpha Tauri). though of course that was just the Free Practive. Imagine Lewis angry noises if Yuki would make his life difficult
 
Back
Top Bottom