2022 Belgian Grand Prix - Spa-Francorchamps - Aug 26 - 28

[Zynerji]

1 safety car = Max podium
2 safety cars = Max win

[Cs98]

No, i don’t think so either, especially as Max is already 80 points up despite not having a dominant car yet. Today he did. But points are tomorrow, dangerous first corner, what will the weather do, SC or not?

That's not the point, the domination is not in the car it's with the drivers. They don't need a dominant car to be dominant, you just need to have the mentality and supreme skill, confidence to win and a car capable of winning races. Lewis won this way 2017-2019, and now two years in a row we see Verstappen outperforming everyone in a car that is simply capable of winning races. Doesn't even have to be 3 or 4 tenths faster in an objective sense.

It's more like Ferrari imploding and Redbull team having good strategy.
The only time I can really say the drivers made much of a difference for redbull.. I cannot even tell this year.
Max simply had no competition and did not even have to push.
The first few races with him and leclerc were Okay and that's about it.
I cannot say I have seen anything magical from the front runners this year. Max drover harder last year. This year, the pitwall and the top speed of the car is doing the work, oh and yes a very compliant #2 in Perez.

I do understand why his detractors are in pain now. Sometimes his success gets tiring; but i am all for it.

[ringo]

That's not the point, the domination is not in the car it's with the drivers. They don't need a dominant car to be dominant, you just need to have the mentality and supreme skill, confidence to win and a car capable of winning races. Lewis won this way 2017-2019, and now two years in a row we see Verstappen outperforming everyone in a car that is simply capable of winning races. Doesn't even have to be 3 or 4 tenths faster in an objective sense.

It's more like Ferrari imploding and Redbull team having good strategy.
The only time I can really say the drivers made much of a difference for redbull.. I cannot even tell this year.
Max simply had no competition and did not even have to push.
The first few races with him and leclerc were Okay and that's about it.
I cannot say I have seen anything magical from the front runners this year. Max drover harder last year. This year, the pitwall and the top speed of the car is doing the work, oh and yes a very compliant #2 in Perez.

I do understand why his detractors are in pain now. Sometimes his success gets tiring; but i am all for it.

I am not a Max detractor. Just a fan of the sport. In fact you would be hard pressed to see me denigrate or bash him, as would the LH detractors.
It is simply my opinion that this year, there were no great drives thanks to the lack of competition from another team.
Qualifying we have seen some semblance of rivalry, and Leclerc has been stellar there. If it were a qualy championship, crown Ferrari. But it isn't. During the races the redbull is the stronger race car, and redbull are the stronger team strategically, and this explains the 80 point gap despite Max having no memorable drives this year.
He is driving well, not making any major errors and doing his job. But he has not competition, not even from his teammate, and that's a fact.
There is no pain from us F-1 fans. The season has been okay, nothing bad, but nothing great.
Max will win at least 6 more races this season. I don't expect Leclerc to win anymore. Sainz, and Perez and Mercedes have a better chance of a win.

[codetower]

What are the strategies for tomorrow? One stop? Two? Looks to be a dry race. What tyre allocations do the drivers have left?

[Cs98]

It's more like Ferrari imploding and Redbull team having good strategy.
The only time I can really say the drivers made much of a difference for redbull.. I cannot even tell this year.
Max simply had no competition and did not even have to push.
The first few races with him and leclerc were Okay and that's about it.
I cannot say I have seen anything magical from the front runners this year. Max drover harder last year. This year, the pitwall and the top speed of the car is doing the work, oh and yes a very compliant #2 in Perez.

I do understand why his detractors are in pain now. Sometimes his success gets tiring; but i am all for it.

I am not a Max detractor. Just a fan of the sport. In fact you would be hard pressed to see me denigrate or bash him, as would the LH detractors.
It is simply my opinion that this year, there were no great drives thanks to the lack of competition from another team.
Qualifying we have seen some semblance of rivalry, and Leclerc has been stellar there. If it were a qualy championship, crown Ferrari. But it isn't. During the races the redbull is the stronger race car, and redbull are the stronger team strategically, and this explains the 80 point gap despite Max having no memorable drives this year.
He is driving well, not making any major errors and doing his job. But he has not competition, not even from his teammate, and that's a fact.
There is no pain from us F-1 fans. The season has been okay, nothing bad, but nothing great.
Max will win at least 6 more races this season. I don't expect Leclerc to win anymore. Sainz, and Perez and Mercedes have a better chance of a win.

, that's hilarious. My response was actually a direct quote from YOU during the 2020 season, talking about Lewis.
viewtopic.php?p=939782#p939782

You remember 2020... the season Lewis won like every race in perhaps the most dominant car of all time. So we see your take then on Lewis, and your take now on Max. Yet, you are "not a Max detractor". You might be the single biggest Max detractor on this entire site.

[ringo]

Lewis had competition though...
Fast teammates, no #2, fast competition from ferrari, diva cars that sometimes had issues with setup, poor pit wall strategy that he had to sometimes drive the balls off the car to correct the team's mistake. You know.. those kinds of things that makes races memorable. It wasn't boring as you make it out to be; at least not as boring was we have now.

Max doesn't have enough success as yet to cruise into the record books. So I am not all for it.

[AR3-GP]

It's more like Ferrari imploding and Redbull team having good strategy.
The only time I can really say the drivers made much of a difference for redbull.. I cannot even tell this year.
Max simply had no competition and did not even have to push.
The first few races with him and leclerc were Okay and that's about it.
I cannot say I have seen anything magical from the front runners this year. Max drover harder last year. This year, the pitwall and the top speed of the car is doing the work, oh and yes a very compliant #2 in Perez.

I do understand why his detractors are in pain now. Sometimes his success gets tiring; but i am all for it.

I am not a Max detractor.

and this explains the 80 point gap despite Max having no memorable drives this year.

[search]

What are the strategies for tomorrow? One stop? Two? Looks to be a dry race. What tyre allocations do the drivers have left?

unconfirmed, based on my own notes:

[Cs98]

Lewis had competition though...
Fast teammates, no #2, fast competition from ferrari, diva cars that sometimes had issues with setup, poor pit wall strategy that he had to sometimes drive the balls off the car to correct the team's mistake. You know.. those kinds of things that makes races memorable. It wasn't boring as you make it out to be; at least not as boring was we have now.

Max doesn't have enough success as yet to cruise into the record books. So I am not all for it.

"Lewis had competition though...". Not in 2020 when you made this comment. The RB18 is no W11. Yet when Lewis was in the W11 all you had to say was "I do understand why his detractors are in pain now. Sometimes his success gets tiring; but i am all for it".

Now in a much more competitive season we get "the only time I can really say the drivers made much of a difference for redbull.. I cannot even tell this year. Max simply had no competition and did not even have to push".

You are a Max detractor, own it.

[ringo]

Lewis had competition though...
Fast teammates, no #2, fast competition from ferrari, diva cars that sometimes had issues with setup, poor pit wall strategy that he had to sometimes drive the balls off the car to correct the team's mistake. You know.. those kinds of things that makes races memorable. It wasn't boring as you make it out to be; at least not as boring was we have now.

Max doesn't have enough success as yet to cruise into the record books. So I am not all for it.

"Lewis had competition though...". Not in 2020 when you made this comment. The RB18 is no W11. Yet when Lewis was in the W11 all you had to say was "I do understand why his detractors are in pain now. Sometimes his success gets tiring; but i am all for it".

Now in a much more competitive season we get "the only time I can really say the drivers made much of a difference for redbull.. I cannot even tell this year. Max simply had no competition and did not even have to push".

You are a Max detractor, own it.

Nope. I am a fan. I bleed orange. I have seen the light through tangerine shades. I hope he wins tomorrow.

Anyhow, I think the race will not be straight forward for him and Leclerc. They can overtake, but crashes and redflags and safety cars can really stir things up. The redbull will be 1 second a lap faster than every other car, but you never can tell.
What is the weather looking like for tomorrow?

[Cs98]

Lewis had competition though...
Fast teammates, no #2, fast competition from ferrari, diva cars that sometimes had issues with setup, poor pit wall strategy that he had to sometimes drive the balls off the car to correct the team's mistake. You know.. those kinds of things that makes races memorable. It wasn't boring as you make it out to be; at least not as boring was we have now.

Max doesn't have enough success as yet to cruise into the record books. So I am not all for it.

"Lewis had competition though...". Not in 2020 when you made this comment. The RB18 is no W11. Yet when Lewis was in the W11 all you had to say was "I do understand why his detractors are in pain now. Sometimes his success gets tiring; but i am all for it".

Now in a much more competitive season we get "the only time I can really say the drivers made much of a difference for redbull.. I cannot even tell this year. Max simply had no competition and did not even have to push".

You are a Max detractor, own it.

Nope. I am a fan. I bleed orange. I have seen the light through tangerine shades. I hope he wins tomorrow.

Anyhow, I think the race will not be straight forward for him and Leclerc. They can overtake, but crashes and redflags and safety cars can really stir things up. The redbull will be 1 second a lap faster than every other car, but you never can tell.
What is the weather looking like for tomorrow?

A detracting orange bleeding heart fan then Rare species.

Nice pivot to weather btw, I do believe the forecast is dry.

[PlatinumZealot]

Merc, merc, merc, merc.... and some breadcrums for the rest

I'm a fan of the sport. The team doesn't matter to me as long as there is a proper fight.

The fight for this championship fizzled out five races ago. Just midfield squabbles and the frequent Ferrari cock ups are what's left of this cold dinner.

[PlatinumZealot]

1 safety car = Max podium
2 safety cars = Max win

Gwt what you are saying. But Not needed. Red Bull is slippery and pretty much 1.5 seconds faster than the midfield. I give Max 10 laps to be deep into the top ten.

[GSBellew]

So RB and Ferrari weren't cheating with their floors? Mercedes gaps look simmilar to previous quali sessions

The FIA gave them plenty of time to bring a solution...

Mercedes have had even more time to bring a solution.........

[napoleon1981]

1 safety car = Max podium
2 safety cars = Max win

More important when the safety car comes out. A safety car on lap 1 is not that useful. Im sure Max would like one, 10-15 laps in or later. That being said, i would be surprised if he wins the thing without a single safety car. He is head and shoulders above the rest.