F1 2021 Season

Mickeza said:
I’m very much in the camp they always intended starting on the soft - mainly because they expected Lewis to be faster than he was - but ruining a set of mediums to do it makes no sense. They could have just sent Max out on softs at the end to “cover” track conditions improving which happens most weeks.
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I thought merc might have split strategies and sent botas out in softs

Gonna be interesting to see if they pace bottas to ensure he's going to be a mobile chicane for max when he pits

Also the red bull is fairly good on its tyres... could max pull off a one stop?


If they do go a 2 stop starting in softs and can see max having to pass bottas... whilst Lewis goes full hammertime ... and then at the end possibly fresher tyres on the merc
 
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RB didnt intend to start both cars on soft. Max said that himself. He flat spotted his only set of mediums in q2 and forced RB to go to softs. Perez was due to start on softs as a split strategy.

You definitely want to be on the Mediums for this race as traditionally the one stop has been the fastest strategy.
 
sun_tzu said:
I thought merc might have split strategies and sent botas out in softs

Gonna be interesting to see if they pace bottas to ensure he's going to be a mobile chicane for max when he pits

Also the red bull is fairly good on its tyres... could max pull off a one stop?

Looks possible from this
https://www.formula1.com/en/latest/...-the-saudi-arabian.OLJj6fLMDonxNxu1f2aQS.html

If they do go a 2 stop starting in softs and can see max having to pass bottas... whilst Lewis goes full hammertime ... and then at the end possibly fresher tyres on the merc
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Yeah cos Bottas has done so well this season in slowing Max ?

Done more for Max than Perez has.
 
dinostar77 said:
RB didnt intend to start both cars on soft. Max said that himself. He flat spotted his only set of mediums in q2 and forced RB to go to softs. Perez was due to start on softs as a split strategy.

You definitely want to be on the Mediums for this race as traditionally the one stop has been the fastest strategy.
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I agree. It's definitely looking like 2 stopper for Verstappen. The softs wont last long (10-15 laps at most?) while Hamilton will play the long game with the mediums then go hard tyres until the end. Verstappen also doesn't have a fresh set of mediums to use now.
 
I thought Lewis had the red soft tyres on in q3? Could have sworn I saw them on his car unless I'm going mad
 
Honestly the whole weekend it looked like the Mercs were way faster than the Red Bulls untill Max all of a sudden pulled off a mega lap in Q3 which somehow shuffled the cards a bit. Still, I thinks this is Hamilton's to lose. He was faster all weekend and the races before. His car is obviously quicker. He starts on the mediums so can go long. I expect him to win.
 
ArjenIsM3 said:
Honestly the whole weekend it looked like the Mercs were way faster than the Red Bulls untill Max all of a sudden pulled off a mega lap in Q3 which somehow shuffled the cards a bit. Still, I thinks this is Hamilton's to lose. He was faster all weekend and the races before. His car is obviously quicker. He starts on the mediums so can go long. I expect him to win.
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I was not expecting that Q3, RB pulled off a cracking job, all credit to them.
Think Max flat spotting his mediums in Q2 , could be his downfall, despite what Horner says, I dont think he wanted to start on the softs.
Earlier I was 50/50, but thinking about it and Max starting of softs, I have swayed 55/45 towards Lewis, I cant see Max getting a pit on front and rumours are he will pit twice and Lewis only once.
Long stint on his mediums and then end the race on softs.
This is all new for Max and his temperament has been under question the past few races, he need to hold it together, where has this is old hat for Lewis, he has been here before and won.
It should be a cracking race.
 
Some things of interest. Max was mighty in Saudi quali and nowhere near in the race. How punchy will Norris get at the start? Lewis can lean on his tyres a little more in the first stint. Can RB do a 1 stop? If everything goes to plan Lewis will end up catching max up with fresher tyres.
 
ArjenIsM3 said:
Honestly the whole weekend it looked like the Mercs were way faster than the Red Bulls untill Max all of a sudden pulled off a mega lap in Q3 which somehow shuffled the cards a bit. Still, I thinks this is Hamilton's to lose. He was faster all weekend and the races before. His car is obviously quicker. He starts on the mediums so can go long. I expect him to win.
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The practice times were pretty misleading - when RB were doing race simulations they looked as quick as Mercedes.

They've definitely set the car up well, both Max and Checo were fast in qualifying (although best performance has to go to Norris, he's been driver of the year for me).

If Max was on mediums there wouldn't be much question if who wins, but now a lot depends on how well the softs hold up. It isn't anyone's to lose, but I'd suggest it's advantage Max just for having pole.
 
slyadams said:
Some things of interest. Max was mighty in Saudi quali and nowhere near in the race. How punchy will Norris get at the start? Lewis can lean on his tyres a little more in the first stint. Can RB do a 1 stop? If everything goes to plan Lewis will end up catching max up with fresher tyres.
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Yeah interesting points. I think that’s why there is so many variables at play tomorrow! Both of them look really confident. They are at the top of their game and should be a cracker!
 
Assuming no safety car how on earth does Max 1 stop? Aren't C5s (softs for race) a maximum of 20 laps, more like 15? That leaves 38-43 laps on C4s (medium) which is also a stretch. Perhaps needs C3s (hards) for the 2nd stint? Not convinced Lewis can go medium then soft either. Perhaps medium and hard for lewis?
 
As long as Max has track position its never going to be easy.
 
was a great lap by max, he nailed the 3rd sector which made all the difference.

interesting down the straight he was actually quicker than hamilton.

it’s clear their plan is get in the lead and be fast enough that he’s not easy to overtake on the straights - we shall see if that’s possible.

Lewis is the king of making his tyres last so he will go long on his first stint to make sure he has tyres to attack max late on.

I’m not sure red bull will go to a 2 stop, unless he absolutely bolts it on the first stint and pulls a huge gap he won’t want to be put back into traffic which could hold him up big time.

It really is going to be tight, something as simple as a bad pit stop could cost either of them.
 
Tom Van Persie said:
I agree. It's definitely looking like 2 stopper for Verstappen. The softs wont last long (10-15 laps at most?) while Hamilton will play the long game with the mediums then go hard tyres until the end. Verstappen also doesn't have a fresh set of mediums to use now.
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Sorry, missed this and then posted something similar. This looks right to me. Safety car could change everything though.
 
I’m actually nervous for tomorrow. Only started watching F1 this season after binging DTS in april. This is more exciting for me than even important United games.

I just don’t hope Max wins. He’s so narcissistic, incredibly deluded and always pushes the rules and tries to cheat. Doesn’t help that Horner is almost as bad. Been a thrilling season but seeing Max win would be seriously off-putting for my F1 interest, don’t really fancy sports where the best or most deserving sportsman/team doesn’t win.
 
Macern said:
I’m actually nervous for tomorrow. Only started watching F1 this season after binging DTS in april. This is more exciting for me than even important United games.

I just don’t hope Max wins. He’s so narcissistic, incredibly deluded and always pushes the rules and tries to cheat. Doesn’t help that Horner is almost as bad. Been a thrilling season but seeing Max win would be seriously off-putting for my F1 interest, don’t really fancy sports where the best or most deserving sportsman/team doesn’t win.
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It's all relative. I don't like Max, but after so many seasons of Mercedes and Hamilton, I'd take anybody over them. The sport will change completely next year regardless due to the new rules, so I wouldn't walk away regardless of the result.
 
SirAnderson said:
Wakey wakey F1 thread.

Let's have some handbags in here before the race please, need some pre-match thread build up in here.

Coming off a high on the MMA thread :lol:
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:lol:There's plenty of time for that. The race is at 9pm here, so I guess finishes around 11pm. I'd imagine by the time I log back in tomorrow there'll have been about 15 new pages added to this thread.
 
Going to be a bloodbath in here no matter what happens. :drool:

Half expecting a first corner smash and a race-long inquest.
 
I still think Max will do a 1 stop. Softs onto Hard. Lewis will also 1 stop, but his mediums will last longer than the softs so he’ll have fresher tyres at the end. It’s going to be exciting.

I think Lewis might lose a few places at the start aswell, lots of people on softs around him. Both him and max just need to keep out of trouble on lap 1, although I expect max to disappear off on the softs
 
Macern said:
I’m actually nervous for tomorrow. Only started watching F1 this season after binging DTS in april. This is more exciting for me than even important United games.

I just don’t hope Max wins. He’s so narcissistic, incredibly deluded and always pushes the rules and tries to cheat. Doesn’t help that Horner is almost as bad. Been a thrilling season but seeing Max win would be seriously off-putting for my F1 interest, don’t really fancy sports where the best or most deserving sportsman/team doesn’t win.
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You are watching the wrong sport then. In F1 it is very rare that the best driver wins. Best team, sure.
 
Lewis needs a good start, or he could be behind a few cars. From Lando’s interview he said he doesn’t want to do anything that could affect the championship, so I wouldn’t expect him to be pulling off moves into turn 1 except if they were clean. Perez in 4th will be a problem as he will won’t hold back.

I think RB have to to try to make a one stop work, but for that to happen Max will have to nurse the sorts in the first stint, which will play into Mercedes hands as the tyre advantage would be wiped out. Lewis will go longer in the first and then shorter in the second. I expect to see Lewis coming out around 10-15 seconds behind Max for his second stint. Max’s tyres will wear towards the end and Lewis is the master of hunting down. This will be close.

Track position is normally key for this circuit, the last 6 poles have gone on to win. I hope Lewis can break that record.
 
altodevil said:
You are watching the wrong sport then. In F1 it is very rare that the best driver wins. Best team, sure.
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Surely this year the best or at least 2nd best driver will win though surely? I'm no expert but both Max and Lewis seems very far ahead of the rest not only car wise, but also talent wise.

I'd be interested to see if what would happen if you put Max and Lewis in a Haas and the Haas boys in a Mercedes. Where would they both end in the WC.
 
KirkDuyt said:
Surely this year the best or at least 2nd best driver will win though surely? I'm no expert but both Max and Lewis seems very far ahead of the rest not only car wise, but also talent wise.

I'd be interested to see if what would happen if you put Max and Lewis in a Haas and the Haas boys in a Mercedes. Where would they both end in the WC.
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Yes I'd agree they are the two best for now. That's an anomaly though.

In your scenario, given they are rookies, I'd expect the Haas drivers to finish 3rd and 4th. Possibility of Mazepin getting beat by leclerc. Red bull would have locked up the championship already. Haas might have had a couple of low point finishes but not much more.
 
KirkDuyt said:
Surely this year the best or at least 2nd best driver will win though surely? I'm no expert but both Max and Lewis seems very far ahead of the rest not only car wise, but also talent wise.

I'd be interested to see if what would happen if you put Max and Lewis in a Haas and the Haas boys in a Mercedes. Where would they both end in the WC.
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altodevil said:
Yes I'd agree they are the two best for now. That's an anomaly though.

In your scenario, given they are rookies, I'd expect the Haas drivers to finish 3rd and 4th. Possibility of Mazepin getting beat by leclerc. Red bull would have locked up the championship already. Haas might have had a couple of low point finishes but not much more.
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The trouble with these comparisons also is that cars are designed with the driver in mind. If you swap Max and Lewis, neither would replicate the performance of the other right now, they wouldn’t even be close.

It’s true though that a great driver will very very rarely if ever win without a great car. But a great car could carry a good driver to a win.
 
theyneverlearn said:
Lewis needs a good start, or he could be behind a few cars. From Lando’s interview he said he doesn’t want to do anything that could affect the championship, so I wouldn’t expect him to be pulling off moves into turn 1 except if they were clean. Perez in 4th will be a problem as he will won’t hold back.

I think RB have to to try to make a one stop work, but for that to happen Max will have to nurse the sorts in the first stint, which will play into Mercedes hands as the tyre advantage would be wiped out. Lewis will go longer in the first and then shorter in the second. I expect to see Lewis coming out around 10-15 seconds behind Max for his second stint. Max’s tyres will wear towards the end and Lewis is the master of hunting down. This will be close.

Track position is normally key for this circuit, the last 6 poles have gone on to win. I hope Lewis can break that record.
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lando just wants to stay ahead of leclerc to get 5th in the championship.

Even if he does somehow get ahead of lewis I can’t see him holding him up for long personally.

The start at abu dhabi isn’t really long enough to make lots of moves anyway. unless lewis gets a bad start on the mediums he should be fairly safe.

I think it’s fair to say this race will unfold towards the end rather than the beginning IMO
 
Bloody working. Thought it would be evening race uk time. Normally I'd avoid spoilers and catch C4 highlights but I know someone will blab about it during my shift. So I'll watch the opening lap on the sly and then commentary fir the rest :(
 
Gringo said:
Bloody working. Thought it would be evening race uk time. Normally I'd avoid spoilers and catch C4 highlights but I know someone will blab about it during my shift. So I'll watch the opening lap on the sly and then commentary fir the rest :(
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What’s your job? I’m confident you can do it while watching the race.
 
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