F1 2021 Season

Channel 4 won't be even showing highlights of this tonight it seems. So weird to have quali, nothing about it on TV and on a Friday,, I only stumbled into this thread to read about any Russell to Merc posts and qualifying is happening. :)

Will have to watch some F1 YT channel summary later as waiting for Channel 4 to show bits late on tomorrow isn't without seeing spoilers happening.

So the new format quail will be a pay per view thing outside of the British GP
 
Bottas to take grid penalties
That's a development - confirmation from the FIA that Valtteri Bottas has taken a raft of new engine elements for this weekend.

They are beyond his penalty-free allocation for the season so he's set for the back of the grid on Sunday (when the penalties are applied as usual, not for the sprint).
 
That’s odd that Bottas would take his penalty here, a track he can legit finish ahead of Max on. Seems like a tactical error from Merc.
 
Why are they allowed to release cars side by side into the pit Lane? That is just stupid. I assume the Vettel thing was just a dumb error but plenty of cars going side by side, which should just outright be banned.
 
Leg-End said:
That’s odd that Bottas would take his penalty here, a track he can legit finish ahead of Max on. Seems like a tactical error from Merc.
Click to expand...

Agree, it looks an easy race for Mercedes Sunday and he's likely to finish 2nd as Max is struggling, you think they'd wait until a weaker race

When does he get the penalty for the sprint race or the actual race?
 
Leg-End said:
That’s odd that Bottas would take his penalty here, a track he can legit finish ahead of Max on. Seems like a tactical error from Merc.
Click to expand...
I suppose they're hoping theyll be so dominant they can get him back up to the top 3 - but not sure it'll be possible with the DRS train.
 
United Hobbit said:
Agree, it looks an easy race for Mercedes Sunday and he's likely to finish 2nd as Max is struggling, you think they'd wait until a weaker race

When does he get the penalty for the sprint race or the actual race?
Click to expand...

Actual race oddly enough.
 
Adam-Utd said:
I suppose they're hoping theyll be so dominant they can get him back up to the top 3 - but not sure it'll be possible with the DRS train.
Click to expand...
Considering how shit he was overtaking last year on this track with an incredibly dominant car, yeah, I'm not sure he'll manage it.
 
Leg-End said:
That’s odd that Bottas would take his penalty here, a track he can legit finish ahead of Max on. Seems like a tactical error from Merc.
Click to expand...
It makes no sense that he can take his grid slot in the sprint race, which is a point scoring race, and only gets demoted for the main race
 
Mercedes also not doing the tow when everyone else is, Red Bull using all 3 cars to do it properly and nearly pegged them.

Mercedes really need to stop being so conservative, this is a proper battle.
 
Why does Bottas get a turn to decide where and when he goes out in qualifying? I could understand if he was in the mix for the title, but he's not, so surely it should always be Lewis' choice?
 
The new engine is probably worth a fair chunk around here, I don’t really understand why Lewis wasn’t taking Bottas’s slipstream though.
 
rpitroda said:
That was a scintillating lap by both Mercedes. No idea why Hamilton kept such a big gap?
Click to expand...

Pretty baffling isn’t it?

Mercedes surely won’t be dumb enough to let them race for P1 tomorrow but still you never know with them. Bottas will be quick from the back on Sunday but he won’t be catching Max to take points from him. I don’t really get the logic behind what they have done.
 
I was just reading comments about Michael Schumacher from his wife. I know we always suspected this, but the wording confirms that there's no real form of meaningful communication going on to me :(

"We're trying to carry on as a family."

The Schumacher family have kept his medical condition private as they say those would be his wishes.

His wife added: "'Private is private', as he always said. It's very important to me that he can continue to enjoy his private life as much as possible. Michael always protected us, and now we are protecting Michael."

Giving more detail about everyday life, Corinna said: "We live together at home. We do therapy.

"We do everything we can to make Michael better and to make sure he's comfortable. And to simply make him feel our family, our bond."
Click to expand...

Michael Schumacher: Legendary F1 driver 'different, but here' says wife Corinna in documentary - BBC Sport
 
F1 chief Ross Brawn says the sport is considering elevating Saturday's sprint qualifying event in 2022 to the status of a "standalone" race that would no longer decide the grid order for Sunday's Grand Prix

2 races some weekends :wenger:
Thought F1 wanted to save money, thus will just mean more wear and tear on engines.
 
pauldyson1uk said:
F1 chief Ross Brawn says the sport is considering elevating Saturday's sprint qualifying event in 2022 to the status of a "standalone" race that would no longer decide the grid order for Sunday's Grand Prix

2 races some weekends :wenger:
Thought F1 wanted to save money, thus will just mean more wear and tear on engines.
Click to expand...
What the actual feck. Have they gone mad?
 
pauldyson1uk said:
F1 chief Ross Brawn says the sport is considering elevating Saturday's sprint qualifying event in 2022 to the status of a "standalone" race that would no longer decide the grid order for Sunday's Grand Prix

2 races some weekends :wenger:
Thought F1 wanted to save money, thus will just mean more wear and tear on engines.
Click to expand...
ArjenIsM3 said:
What the actual feck. Have they gone mad?
Click to expand...
Think you're misreading it.

They mean they want the sprint race to have no effect on Sunday's race.

So essentially qualy friday, stand alone sprint race saturday and then race in qualy order from friday.
 
How about one race Ross, you know the way it’s worked for I don’t know, 72 years?

The format is totally fine as is, fix the cars.
 
Adam-Utd said:
Think you're misreading it.

They mean they want the sprint race to have no effect on Sunday's race.

So essentially qualy friday, stand alone sprint race saturday and then race in qualy order from friday.
Click to expand...
My comment is still valid, they want to reduce costs, but they want to add a second race :wenger:
OK the race might not count for Sunday, but I bet there will be points awarded
Keep the format the way it is, it works and works well.
 
pauldyson1uk said:
F1 chief Ross Brawn says the sport is considering elevating Saturday's sprint qualifying event in 2022 to the status of a "standalone" race that would no longer decide the grid order for Sunday's Grand Prix

2 races some weekends :wenger:
Thought F1 wanted to save money, thus will just mean more wear and tear on engines.
Click to expand...
That's better than the way it is at the moment
 
An independent sprint race only makes sense to me if it's different somehow. Having 2 races for points in a weekend seems stupid. It'll also give the first place qualifier more points unless they reverse positions for the sprint.

Making it a race about drivers would make it a lot more fun by giving them a standardised car for the sprint race but that won't happen. That would also address the engine mileage issue which I'm sure the teams aren't happy about.
 
pauldyson1uk said:
My comment is still valid, they want to reduce costs, but they want to add a second race :wenger:
OK the race might not count for Sunday, but I bet there will be points awarded
Keep the format the way it is, it works and works well.
Click to expand...
That isn't what he's saying though. They aren't saying they want 2 races.
 
Leg-End said:
That’s odd that Bottas would take his penalty here, a track he can legit finish ahead of Max on. Seems like a tactical error from Merc.
Click to expand...
Youve got that wrong mate as martin brundle said. Its smart from Mercedes. Bottas starts in front of max for the sprint so in theory can take points off max. He needed a new engine anyway and Mercedes are so quick around here that Bottas should be able to get a good haul of points on sunday.
 
dinostar77 said:
Youve got that wrong mate as martin brundle said. Its smart from Mercedes. Bottas starts in front of max for the sprint so in theory can take points off max. He needed a new engine anyway and Mercedes are so quick around here that Bottas should be able to get a good haul of points on sunday.
Click to expand...

But it’s only 3,2,1 points in the sprint. He would have done more damage finishing 2nd if Lewis wins to Max’s 3rd.
 
Will Bottas try to actually win tomorrow or will Mercedes piss their collective pants again and demand he cede that 1 extra point for winning the sprint to Lewis?

What am I saying it's Bottas. He'll be 4th before the chicane.
 
They'll make Bottas get straight out the way, then back him into Max letting Lewis disappear into the distance. I hope Bottas defies team orders to make what I can forsee being a dull race, interesting

Why not qualify Friday, then do a stand alone reverse grid (based on say either finishing order from last race, or championship) on the Saturday, for half points, then use Fridays qualifying for the race as normal Sunday.
 
Surely the FIA are going to have to not allow towing anymore somehow, being able to gain up to 7 tenths of a second simply by having a good tow surely isn’t fair? Would also stop the dangerous queues we are seeing.

Regarding the new sprint race format, I’m okay with it & thought it was exciting at Silverstone but I don’t like how it takes away qualifying giving you pole position, what I would suggest is keeping the sprint race but the top three from qualifying stay the same for the race on sunday regardless of what happens in the sprint race.

An example would be:

Qualifying Result:
Bottas
Hamilton
Verstappen
Norris
Ricciardo
Gasly
Sainz

Hypothetical sprint race result:
Ricciardo 3 pts
Sainz 2 pts
Norris 1 pt
Verstappen
Hamilton
Gasly
Bottas

Would be grid for Sunday:
Bottas
Hamilton
Verstappen
Ricciardo
Sainz
Norris
Gasly

This seems to work for me in my head but i’m sure there’s some flaw in it that someone will find.
 
Last edited:
hobbers said:
Will Bottas try to actually win tomorrow or will Mercedes piss their collective pants again and demand he cede that 1 extra point for winning the sprint to Lewis?

What am I saying it's Bottas. He'll be 4th before the chicane.
Click to expand...
Totto has already said bottas will get out of lewis way. Bottas is starting from back of grid on sunday so no point holding lewis up. That is obviously dependent on lewis getting a good start and getting past bottas without max overtaking him or bottas.
 
dinostar77 said:
Totto has already said bottas will get out of lewis way. Bottas is starting from back of grid on sunday so no point holding lewis up. That is obviously dependent on lewis getting a good start and getting past bottas without max overtaking him or bottas.
Click to expand...
Really? From past behaviour and his interviews in Drive To Survive, I got the impression that Bottas had always been pretty unhappy to have to cede to Hamilton. I'd expect him to do it less now it's already certain he's switching teams next year. We'll see, I guess.
 
Bottas' spinelessness is pretty impressive. To still bend over for the team that's ditched you, even after all the times they've hung you out to dry, when you have a seat at a different team with a different engine already signed.... should be prioritising himself since this is the last time he's ever going to be in a competitive car or have a chance to rack up any more GP wins or podiums.
 
Cheimoon said:
Really? From past behaviour and his interviews in Drive To Survive, I got the impression that Bottas had always been pretty unhappy to have to cede to Hamilton. I'd expect him to do it less now it's already certain he's switching teams next year. We'll see, I guess.
Click to expand...
I have always thought that Bottas knew he was second fiddle, despite Mercedes saying there is no team order, Lewis has always been top dog.
I have no doubt he did not like it.
Could he have won a WC or 2, yes I think he could have, if Lewis had not been around.
You got the impression from his radio after qualifying he was rather pleased at beating Lewis, the laugh was a feck you laugh.
 
hobbers said:
Bottas' spinelessness is pretty impressive. To still bend over for the team that's ditched you, even after all the times they've hung you out to dry, when you have a seat at a different team with a different engine already signed.... should be prioritising himself since this is the last time he's ever going to be in a competitive car or have a chance to rack up any more GP wins or podiums.
Click to expand...
How exactly is bottas going to win the gp from the back of the grid?
 
You must log in or register to reply here.