The Official Formula One Thread!

[texasmade]

Mazespin doesn’t disappoint! Good lord Haas.

[Jackie Daytona]

Originally Posted by OmegaJJH

MazeSpin!

Worst F1 debut weekend ever...?


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LOL! Poor car made it 3 corners into the season.

[sillo]

That Sainz-Vettel-Alonso scrap was awesome

[texasmade]

Wow gripping stuff for the first race.

[strettyend]

Wow!


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[Jackie Daytona]

Great race. I can’t believe how well Hamilton manages those tires. Went from struggling for any sort of grip and not overly impressive laps to loosing Verstappen a bit towards the end. It’s amazing stuff and he seems to do that often. Obviously Verstappen gave him the position back but that was very impressive on Hamilton’s part.

[huncho]

i have no idea how lewis pulled that one off

[walds11]

Originally Posted by huncho

i have no idea how lewis pulled that one off

Tire management?

I’d like to hear everyone’s take on Max giving back the position to Lewis.

[AzHadEnuf]

Wow! Could be a very exciting season.

[huncho]

Originally Posted by walds11

Tire management?

I’d like to hear everyone’s take on Max giving back the position to Lewis.

well i mean i know it was tire management, but i meant how he managed everything so perfectly. he had no business winning that especially after going wide and losing like half a second

[OmegaJJH]

Originally Posted by walds11

Tire management?

I’d like to hear everyone’s take on Max giving back the position to Lewis.

He clearly went off track making the move so absolutely had to give place back.

I really thought he’d pass him again though. Merc have some real work to do! RB are clear favourites.

What an epic race all round.

As someone else has said - Should Mazepin even have a super licence?


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[sillo]

Originally Posted by OmegaJJH

He clearly went off track making the move so absolutely had to give place back.

Yeah, it was either this or finish in 1st and end up with a penalty to knock him back down to 2nd anyway.

[RMF]

That was an amazing race Lewis and team pulled off! It’s going to be a great season fighting it out with RB.

[texasmade]

Originally Posted by walds11

Tire management?

I’d like to hear everyone’s take on Max giving back the position to Lewis.

He had to give it back since he was completely off track when he overtook Lewis.

[The Joker]

Just EPIC

Lewis proving his mettle yet again

[Sjmoore11]

What a great start! Awesome qualifying and awesome race. Should be a fun season.

And Mazespin...teeheehee

[Speedbird-1]

Arise...Sir Lewis!
Woohoo!

[dauster]

Originally Posted by walds11

Tire management?

I’d like to hear everyone’s take on Max giving back the position to Lewis.

why didn't he wait a bit to give back the position. looks like he could have waited for the straight, no? did he have to do it immdiately?

[enjoythemusic]

Originally Posted by walds11

Tire management?

I’d like to hear everyone’s take on Max giving back the position to Lewis.

Simple longstanding rule, you can't pass while going off-track like that. Verrrry longstanding and commonly known rule.

[JonaG]

“Alonso retired with suspected brake issues”

“Mazepin with suspected crashed himself out of the race”

[SDGT3]

Congratulations to Mercedes - brilliant strategy to undercut RBR even before anyone thought a pit stop on the mediums were expected and then executing the plan to the end of the race. I can’t help but wonder if the diff problem Max was experiencing contributed to the race result but nonetheless, it was a great race and looking forward to Imola. I do believe LH and MV are in a different class but Perez may join them. Bottas is pretty much done I believe and is keeping the seat warm for young George.

Drivers of the race for me were Perez from pit lane to 5th and Lando Norris for a very quiet and drama free P4.

Vettel appears to have started 2021 where he left off the previous few years at Ferrari with multiple unforced errors.

It's a shame that Alonso had brake issues as he made a very solid reentry to F1 after a 2 year break.

Trivia question: Did Nikita Mazespin complete more laps this weekend in qualifying and the race or spins? I can just hear Gunther Steiner giving his honest account of the situation in next year's Drive to Survive series!

[Speedbird-1]

Originally Posted by JonaG

“Alonso retired with suspected brake issues”

“Mazepin with suspected crashed himself out of the race”

Brake fade and brain fade.

[77T]

Originally Posted by dauster

why didn't he wait a bit to give back the position. looks like he could have waited for the straight, no? did he have to do it immdiately?

Tactically, because it was so late in the race, the sooner he gave it back then he had more places to make another pass. The straight would lose more time to HAM’s tail due to disturbed air.

He didn’t have to giveback immediately, just before the checkered flag or before passing any backmarker.
In other words, before the advantage gained became lasting.

Teamwise, failing to obey Horner’s message (as obtained from Race Control) would end up relegation to 2nd + penalty points + potential probationary sentence. A driver who chooses to leave the final classification to the Stewards is an unwise move. Better to “reset”, then chase and pass on-track to regain P1.


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[77T]

Originally Posted by walds11

I’d like to hear everyone’s take on Max giving back the position to Lewis.

Here is Michael Masi’s take (from post-race interview):

“What was mentioned and discussed with the drivers at the drivers meeting is that if an overtake takes place with a car off-track, and gains a lasting advantage, I will go on the radio and suggest to the team that they immediately relinquish that position. And that was made very clear.”

“Red Bull were actually given an instruction immediately by myself. I suggested that they relinquish that position as listed in the sporting regulations, which they did.”

“It wasn’t for exceeding the track limits. It was for gaining a lasting advantage by overtaking another car off the racetrack.”

BTW - Max would’ve been reported to the Stewards for 2 infractions had he not relinquished the position.

So likely a 10 seconds penalty + another potentially more creative one for stubbornness. They can direct him to spend an entire “off” weekend serving a “timeout” in an FIA Stewards Room somewhere.


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[Zakalwe]

Somebody at Merc needs to tell Bottas he’s the number two driver. There’s a reason teams have historically had a number one and a rear gunner and it’s because if the teams at the front are closely matched then taking points off your own title challenging driver is senseless. Merc have been fortunate to have either had a car that was miles better than the competition for 7 seasons or, when it was closer - Ferrari had a car that was very close to Merc and actually faster at several points during 2017 and 2018 - they had the benefit of the main opposition shooting themselves in both feet at the pills.

The reason for Bottas’ apparently aimless second stop was to force Verstappen into an earlier second stop, thereby reducing his last stint fresh tyre advantage in the battle with Hamilton, by threatening to undercut him. Bottas was about 6 seconds behind at that point so if the stop hadn’t been botched Max would’ve had to come in after a couple of laps. That’s why Bottas complained about his “defensive” strategy. Effectively he was treated as the rear gunner in the race.

[denmanproject]

Perez is a joy to watch, looking forward to more from him and RB this year

[Sleepy996]

A shot of Alonso over the weekend wearing his RM while driving for Bell & Ross and Alpine. This must drive the marketing team at BR insane.

[enjoythemusic]

GREAT pic of Alonso, thx for posting!

i was in Barcelona when he earned his Driver's Championship, it was three days of non-stop partying in Spain :)

[texasmade]

Originally Posted by Sleepy996

A shot of Alonso over the weekend wearing his RM while driving for Bell & Ross and Alpine. This must drive the marketing team at BR insane.

I saw a shot of Vettel wearing a GP Laureato in his AM getup. Looks like GP is now sponsoring the team.

[buckrogers0025]

Originally Posted by walds11

I’d like to hear everyone’s take on Max giving back the position to Lewis.

The issue is ‘gain a lasting advantage.’

Unfortunately, the stewards policed the limits at Turn 4 during practice and qualifying... but, not during the race. Classic stewards.

Max passed Lewis on the outside, Lewis continued to push him farther ‘off’ the track, then complains about Max going off the track. Classic Lewis.

Max at that point needed to be patient and pass Lewis on the front straight where could use DRS and not be so bothered by the dirty air. Pass Lewis into Turn 1 and disappear.

Red Bull’s continued strategy is to be in reactive/panic mode rather than actually think through what’s presented.