Well done to Lewis.
F1 2021 Season
- Thread starter pauldyson1uk
- Start date
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In the latest episode of the United Hour Podcast, Nik (@Rood) is joined by CEO Duncan Drasdo and Financial Director Andy Green from the Manchester United Supporters Trust for a special episode on all things behind the scenes at Old Trafford including a brief history of MUST and their aims today, views on INEOS and Sir Jim Ratcliffe so far, and the Old Trafford regeneration.
Been that way for weeks if you read the thread, Merc keep repeating it too even though every race and qualifying shows it's absolute bollocks. And now I read posts about how RB and Max are just now realising how good Lewis is.. as if they didn't know that already after he's won it all for years? Weird. This season is no different than the last or the one before, or the one before.. the Merc is still the quickest car. The difference between them is a bit smaller, that's all. Lewis isn't now somehow proving anything or showing anything new. But the Merc spin is he's beating Verstappen even though the RB is quicker. Yawn. I think if Merc replaced Bottas with Russell or Norris it'd be a Merc 1-2 every race. Bottas just keeps underperforming. Unfortunately for RB, so does Perez.
Spanish GP Result
| POS | NO | DRIVER | CAR | LAPS | TIME/RETIRED | PTS |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | 44 | Lewis Hamilton | MERCEDES | 66 | 1:33:07.680 | 25 |
| 2 | 33 | Max Verstappen | RED BULL RACING HONDA | 66 | +15.841s | 19 |
| 3 | 77 | Valtteri Bottas | MERCEDES | 66 | +26.610s | 15 |
| 4 | 16 | Charles Leclerc | FERRARI | 66 | +54.616s | 12 |
| 5 | 11 | Sergio Perez | RED BULL RACING HONDA | 66 | +63.671s | 10 |
| 6 | 3 | Daniel Ricciardo | MCLAREN MERCEDES | 66 | +73.768s | 8 |
| 7 | 55 | Carlos Sainz | FERRARI | 66 | +74.670s | 6 |
| 8 | 4 | Lando Norris | MCLAREN MERCEDES | 65 | +1 lap | 4 |
| 9 | 31 | Esteban Ocon | ALPINE RENAULT | 65 | +1 lap | 2 |
| 10 | 10 | Pierre Gasly | ALPHATAURI HONDA | 65 | +1 lap | 1 |
| 11 | 18 | Lance Stroll | ASTON MARTIN MERCEDES | 65 | +1 lap | 0 |
| 12 | 7 | Kimi Räikkönen | ALFA ROMEO RACING FERRARI | 65 | +1 lap | 0 |
| 13 | 5 | Sebastian Vettel | ASTON MARTIN MERCEDES | 65 | +1 lap | 0 |
| 14 | 63 | George Russell | WILLIAMS MERCEDES | 65 | +1 lap | 0 |
| 15 | 99 | Antonio Giovinazzi | ALFA ROMEO RACING FERRARI | 65 | +1 lap | 0 |
| 16 | 6 | Nicholas Latifi | WILLIAMS MERCEDES | 65 | +1 lap | 0 |
| 17 | 14 | Fernando Alonso | ALPINE RENAULT | 65 | +1 lap | 0 |
| 18 | 47 | Mick Schumacher | HAAS FERRARI | 64 | +2 laps | 0 |
| 19 | 9 | Nikita Mazepin | HAAS FERRARI | 64 | +2 laps | 0 |
| NC | 22 | Yuki Tsunoda | ALPHATAURI HONDA | 6 | DNF | 0 |
What race were you watching? Lewis was much faster and with fresher tires. No chance Max defends 20 over laps successfully.
Second pit stop strategy was to force Red Bull into a standstill and gamble that Bottas could get second.
Red Bull should have gambled after Lewis made that second stop, but the people going in on them for not pulling Max in are pretty damn ignorant 
Mercedes could do what they did because Bottas had him covered off. If Max had pitted he ends up with Lewis a second or two behind on the same age medium tyres, which the Merc is much faster on, but also with Bottas ahead of him. It might have worked out better for Max in the end, but it's anything but guaranteed.
Perez needs to step up, Max is always going to be at a massive disadvantage if he's leading two Mercedes 15 laps into every race.
Mercedes could do what they did because Bottas had him covered off. If Max had pitted he ends up with Lewis a second or two behind on the same age medium tyres, which the Merc is much faster on, but also with Bottas ahead of him. It might have worked out better for Max in the end, but it's anything but guaranteed.
Perez needs to step up, Max is always going to be at a massive disadvantage if he's leading two Mercedes 15 laps into every race.
For all the flak Bottas gets, he's the perfect second driver and Max would kill to have him in the Red Bull instead of the Mercedes.
At some point Perez has to start getting in the mix, even if that’s battling Bottas. Perez has never been a strong qualifier but he has to start keeping in the pit stop window.
Bottas is quick over one lap and that’s what keeps him in the mix, fair to say on race day he’s not on that level of Ham/Max but by being in and around it he’s in play.
Bottas is quick over one lap and that’s what keeps him in the mix, fair to say on race day he’s not on that level of Ham/Max but by being in and around it he’s in play.
Nightmare time for this race to be on as United fan. I caught the first lap and Max overtake at the start obviously. Came back and watched at half time when not a whole lot had changed, other than that Hamilton was right on Max. Then when Lewis pitted unexpectedly (to me at least) and came out putting in some serious laps times, I knew I'd need to leave this on my phone and keep one eye on it while I was watching the match.
Glad I did in the end as it was a great relentless drive from Hamilton to close him down and pass Max. Wish we would have gotten a bit more of a battle but was never likely on this track, plus Max's tyres were gone.
Glad I did in the end as it was a great relentless drive from Hamilton to close him down and pass Max. Wish we would have gotten a bit more of a battle but was never likely on this track, plus Max's tyres were gone.
Verstappen would have still been behind Hamilton, as that's how an undercut works.
Does anyone know who the Indian lad doing analysis for Sky is?
He's a brilliant pundit. Very knowledgeable and speaks so well.
He's a brilliant pundit. Very knowledgeable and speaks so well.
Redbull design a car that suits Max, the 2nd driver has to adapt to the car. Perez even said he is changing his driving style to copy how max drives. That tells you that car is built for Max. That strategy advantages max but disadvantages the 2nd redbull driver. Merc on the other hand build the fastest car they can. That is why Russell got in it and drive well. Redbull puts all their eggs into the max wagon, but that costs them races.
Yeah its not ideal for the nerves for both to be happening at the same time.
On the positive side both United and Hamilton won so Im a happy bunny.
Its Karin Chaundok I think. Former driver for Jordan/Force India I think. Memory of the F1 midfield from previous years is a bit hazy.
Well that was a slow burner wasnt it. Though Lewis would have overtaken max the lap max he came in for for his stop. Good strategy by Mercs though i thought it would be too much of an ask to pull off.
Bottas is a prat. If he wants to keep his drive for next season he needs to do as hes told and get the feck out of Lewis's way.
Perez needs to switch over to his own setup and stop using verstappen's car setup as its not doing him any favours.
Bottas is a prat. If he wants to keep his drive for next season he needs to do as hes told and get the feck out of Lewis's way.
Perez needs to switch over to his own setup and stop using verstappen's car setup as its not doing him any favours.
You say that but Red Bull / Verstappen would most likely be winning the championship this year if not for Hamilton.Hilarious how people on here still buy into the Merc underdog rhetoric
Cheers. I don't remember him at all but he's great on tv.
It isnt as simple as people think. Getting the tyred into the right operating window is key. Some tracks will suit the Mercs better than the Mercedes. RB on long runs seem to be better on Softs than Merc. But Merc seem to be better on Med than RB on long runs.
It wouldnt suprise me if Verstappen won Monaco. I think RB have an advantage on the softs and that will give them pole and possibly the race win next weekend.
Its gonna be nip and tuck for a good while yet. The closer this battle is the more it will cost both teams in terms of next years car development. Ferrari have already said 95% of their resources are committed to the 2022 car.
He's been Merc's perfect little lap dog for over 4 years now, I think he's earned the right to show how fed up he is about it even though he's known even before he signed for them that this would be his role.
Could be, if hypothetically Mercedes truly fecked up their choice of drivers. But that's like saying Red Bull wouldn't be on the podium without Verstappen. Which is probably true too. But it all depends on who you'd put in their place doesn't it? Fact is, Mercedes still have the best car so if the drivers are equal they win.
Midfield is being kind from what I remember. He was a poor driver in an awful car, and only had 1 year in F1.
He is knowledgeable on TV though
A few posters are being pretty harsh on Red Bull’s strategists. It caught out the commentators, Red Bull and I didn’t see any posters calling for it beforehand (although I was watching the United game too).
Rumour from a credible podcast is that he's been told already that he's not getting his contract renewed for next season.
Also what is it about the second Red Bull driver falling to pieces/seriously underperforming as soon as they become the second Red Bull driver? Perez seems to be really struggling more than I thought he would so far.
Hes not stupid, he surely knows unless he has a season like Rosberg in 2016 he must realise that theres very little chance he would be kept. Going against team orders and making things difficult probably not such a good idea though.
His timing of doing that couldn't have been worse though. He's had numerous opportunities over the years on similar tyres and similar strategies, but he decides to defend his position when Hamilton is 1.5 seconds a lap faster than him and is on tyres that give him no opportunity to defend. Result is Bottas loses position on the 3rd corner
I think today was a perfect proof that he definitely isn't staying.
He'd rather cost Hamilton the chance of winning, I hope when it's Bottas' turn he does exactly the same, watch him cry on the radio.
It wasn't so bad today, if he did that at monaco, it would surely screw up the race. Anyway lewis probably wants to keep bottas in the team rather than have the challenge of George Russell to contend with. Though give russell a season or so and i think he would be more rosberg than bottas.
Mainly because Hamilton's tyres were so new he had no chance to defend, but that 2 or 3 seconds extra he lost while trying to chase Verstappen down could have cost him.
He's an absolute baby, I have no idea why he even thinks he's got a chance at the title, just look how far behind he is every race. It'll be Hamilton and Russell next year.
But Hamilton just loves a challenge and Russell would give him exactly that.
Now that would be fantastic.
To be fair , in the last 2 races, Max has pitted to get the fastest lap, today he got the extra point, last week track limits got him.
The last 2 races, Lewis's experience and strategy has beaten Max, I bet Lewis had a say in the second pit, a radio message that we did not hear. Red Bull strategists are a bit like Ole and his subs, sometime they dont have a clue.
Lewis certainly looking the better driver and with better package. But 14 point gap can change in one race, or with one new car development.
Will be tight.
Will be tight.
I agree and seemingly Bottas isn’t going to play the team game. Bottas has far more capability to be taking points away from Hamilton than Perez does from Max and that could be key.
The top 3 is going to be fairly consistent and that means nobody will streak ahead on points, it may come down to reliability.
All Mercedes to be fair, their Q2 run indicated that they were looking for an extra set of mediums for the race. This wasn't an off the cuff call today, and one stopping at Barcelona is a very difficult strategy to work.
I dont think we will see many for the rest of the season , most if not all team are concentrating on the 2022 car.
Ferrari have already said 90-95% of work being done is for 2022.
https://www.autoweek.com/racing/for...rid-have-already-given-up-on-the-2021-season/
The risk Bottas runs is losing the seat mid-season. Bottas' main job is to spoil.Max's weekends, whether that's out qualifying him, beating him in the race or taking away strategic options. He does those 3 things adequetly, but what he did today was beyond the pale team wise.
I dont think he will lose his seat this season, it is a given , he wont be at Mercedes next season and Russell will take his seat.
His actions today were understandable, frustration and not really wanting to let Lewis past, but Lewis was 1-1.5 second a lap faster, making Lewis actually perform a real overtake was just Bottas throwing his toys out, it did not affect Lewis in the end.
Bottas is a good driver and I think would walk in to any of the top teams, if he had not been racing at the same time as Lewis, he would've had a couple of WC by now.
Toto will have a word, dont think we will see it happen again.
I meant Bottas. he’s nowhere near the pace of hamilton and verstappen.
for the way he acts you’d think every point matters, but we all know he’ll end up 50+ points behind. his talks of having a run at the title, i’m not sure he even believes it now.
Bottas is miles behind Hamilton. He massively underperforms versus Hamilton even compared with Rosberg did if you look at points gap.
If I was being very kind to Bottas, I would say he is as good a driver as Perez. But that is a disservice to Perez.
Perez is also a massively overacted driver. Neither Perez or Bottas are anywhere near WDC standard.