2017 Italian Grand Prix - Monza, 1-3 September

[Restomaniac]

In my country, many recognize Hamilton as a great driver, but he is perceived as a big douche because of his attitude. His attitude being his perceived fakeness, arrogance, his bling factor, etc. Basically he looks and talks like somebody with half a brain you find in any club. Does that make him a bad driver? no. But it is a factor why many people don't like him.
And I am from Belgium, so we don't have an agenda on Seb vs. Hamilton. We are already happy that we have a Belgian in F1.

I have never noticed that...
He talks with a normal British accent, if you had a phone conversation with him you would not think he was dumb, secondly how many Brits are there in Belgian clubs,how many dudes in Belgian clubs walk around with millions worth of jewelry? (Maybe you have been huffing to much race fuel or something?)

People tend to not like dominant drivers very much, i think that's the issue.(Unless he's in "your team" obviously.)

And saying that the Merc engine was better than the Ferrari engine in Monza was bound to get a response.(He was speaking the truth, but still.)

The comment about the Merc engine was after the booing not before.

[Restomaniac]

I see a lot of people talking about liking Hamilton as a driver and not liking his off track persona for his lifestyle, bling and what not. The problem is, majority of people across the world are raised in conservative cultural backgrounds, regardless of which country they are from. They are taught, anything more than average is EXCESS and THAT IS NOT GOOD. Hippies are not good, punks are not good, tattoos are not good, bling is not good and what not.

When people raised in such environments meet people who belong to these EXCESSES, the natural expression is, "I DON'T LIKE" them.

It takes a lot of wisdom to learn and accept that, there are various different ways of living life and all are ACCEPTABLE AND ARE JUST FINE. Just because I have been taught one particular life style, that shouldn't deter me from appreciating contrasting life styles.

Because Schumacher and Vettel have a quiet life and hence "I LIKE THEM" means, they suit the narrative that my upbringing has handed over to me. "I DON'T LIKE" bling and EXCESS because that was NOT the narrative that my upbringing has handed over to me. In fact, many a people are almost unaware, when that "I DON'T LIKE" crossed the fine line and fell into "I HATE IT" zone.

I personally never liked Hamilton as a person because of some of his reactions/comments in the past and during the last years. Nothing to do with his lifestyle, its good for F1 to have a "bad" boy.

I have really liked how he has reacted after having broken Senna and Schumacher´s pole records though. Nice words and a truly touched man wich shows how much he loves F1.

I also like how close to the fans he has been recently, good use of social media.

About Italian fans reaction against him, I dont like when fans boo another driver, but Rosberg suffered this the last seasons so it has to do more with fans education and lack of respect rather than with a certain driver´s lifestyle.

No different from Vettel then. I assume you dislike him too?

The fans booed Rosberg because of his actions ON TRACK. Pure and simple.
Hamilton did NOTHING to generate that reaction yesterday.

[Vasconia]

Now the hindsight, Ferrari was really lucky in this race because of RedBull penalties. Without penalties I think they would have been in front of Ferraris. I think RedBull may even win the Singapore.

Overall, kudos to Hamilton for the last two weekends. He did what he had to do for the championship. Sumblime driving from him.

As a side note, in my opinion, Mercedes will not be behind Ferraris in any of the coming races. The narrative they are bad in slow circuits coming from the "pre-update" car. Since the update they have been very much equal or better never worse.

Hungary tellls a different history.

[SiLo]

I see a lot of people talking about liking Hamilton as a driver and not liking his off track persona for his lifestyle, bling and what not. The problem is, majority of people across the world are raised in conservative cultural backgrounds, regardless of which country they are from. They are taught, anything more than average is EXCESS and THAT IS NOT GOOD. Hippies are not good, punks are not good, tattoos are not good, bling is not good and what not.

When people raised in such environments meet people who belong to these EXCESSES, the natural expression is, "I DON'T LIKE" them.

It takes a lot of wisdom to learn and accept that, there are various different ways of living life and all are ACCEPTABLE AND ARE JUST FINE. Just because I have been taught one particular life style, that shouldn't deter me from appreciating contrasting life styles.

Because Schumacher and Vettel have a quiet life and hence "I LIKE THEM" means, they suit the narrative that my upbringing has handed over to me. "I DON'T LIKE" bling and EXCESS because that was NOT the narrative that my upbringing has handed over to me. In fact, many a people are almost unaware, when that "I DON'T LIKE" crossed the fine line and fell into "I HATE IT" zone.

I personally never liked Hamilton as a person because of some of his reactions/comments in the past and during the last years. Nothing to do with his lifestyle, its good for F1 to have a "bad" boy.

I have really liked how he has reacted after having broken Senna and Schumacher´s pole records though. Nice words and a truly touched man wich shows how much he loves F1.

I also like how close to the fans he has been recently, good use of social media.

About Italian fans reaction against him, I dont like when fans boo another driver, but Rosberg suffered this the last seasons so it has to do more with fans education and lack of respect rather than with a certain driver´s lifestyle.

No different from Vettel then. I assume you dislike him too?

The fans booed Rosberg because of his actions ON TRACK. Pure and simple.
Hamilton did NOTHING to generate that reaction yesterday.

Except humiliate Ferrari at their home track. It wasn't anything nefarious, but Mercedes absolutely destroyed them this weekend.

[Vasconia]

No different from Vettel then. I assume you dislike him too?

The fans booed Rosberg because of his actions ON TRACK. Pure and simple.
Hamilton did NOTHING to generate that reaction yesterday.

First time some "fans" booed Rosberg was after Spa 2014. I have seen many times actions like the one we saw on that race and never the fans started to boo a driver for that. It was the hysteric reaction of some(ehem British) media and fans who made that fight much worse than it really was.

I agree with the fact that Hamilton did not deserve to be booed. In fact, as I have said I dont like when people boo another drivers, its a total lack of respect. F1 used to be much better than this.

[Restomaniac]

No different from Vettel then. I assume you dislike him too?

The fans booed Rosberg because of his actions ON TRACK. Pure and simple.
Hamilton did NOTHING to generate that reaction yesterday.

First time some "fans" booed Rosberg was after Spa 2014. I have seen many times actions like the one we saw on that race and never the fans started to boo a driver for that. It was the hysteric reaction of some(ehem British) media and fans who made that fight much worse than it really was.

I agree with the fact that Hamilton did not deserve to be booed. In fact, as I have said I dont like when people boo another drivers, its a total lack of respect. F1 used to be much better than this.

It was an overeaction I agree but at least there was some reason for it. Yesterday there was no reason for it at all.

That's the point at least at Spa we can see a reaction as over the top as it was to something. Yesterday was nothing more that sour grapes. And some on here have tried to defend it.

[Restomaniac]

I personally never liked Hamilton as a person because of some of his reactions/comments in the past and during the last years. Nothing to do with his lifestyle, its good for F1 to have a "bad" boy.

I have really liked how he has reacted after having broken Senna and Schumacher´s pole records though. Nice words and a truly touched man wich shows how much he loves F1.

I also like how close to the fans he has been recently, good use of social media.

About Italian fans reaction against him, I dont like when fans boo another driver, but Rosberg suffered this the last seasons so it has to do more with fans education and lack of respect rather than with a certain driver´s lifestyle.

No different from Vettel then. I assume you dislike him too?

The fans booed Rosberg because of his actions ON TRACK. Pure and simple.
Hamilton did NOTHING to generate that reaction yesterday.

Except humiliate Ferrari at their home track. It wasn't anything nefarious, but Mercedes absolutely destroyed them this weekend.

Sour grapes then.

[Vasconia]

]It was an overeaction I agree but at least there was some reason for it. Yesterday there was no reason for it at all.

That's the point at least at Spa we can see a reaction as over the top as it was to something. Yesterday was nothing more that sour grapes. And some on here have tried to defend it.

Thankfully I am not one of them.

I hope this "boo trend" ends because I hate it.

[wickedz50]

Hi guys,

What's your prediction of which of the remaining tracks is a Merc, and which a Ferrari,... or even a RB track?

- Singapore
- Malaysia
- Japan
- US
- Mexico
- Brasil
- Abu Dhabi

I was asking myself the same question and came to the conclusion that:

- Ferrari have a great chance to win (and maybe 1-2) in Singapore
- they have a very good chance in Abu Dhabi
- they should be right in the hunt in Brazil

But there's a four race stretch after Singapore that I think are just nailed on Mercedes tracks, and that would lead one to believe that Ferrari need something unusual or to capitalise on a mistake in order to win even the drivers championship.

Now they have a new PU to come and maybe that will help (let's assume for now thete won't be turbo related grid penalties) but I think it's more than pure engine power and Lewis alluded to the fact that Ferrari are strong when they can ADD downforce to their car; their low downforce package is not strong at all and this would seem to make sense as RB's competitiveness - despite having a less powerful engine - was good versus Ferrari both at Monza and Baku. RB seem to be able to maintain a better balance with low DF.

I think Spa worked for Ferrari because they actually didn't trim as much df - they kept it for the middle sector, perhaps with an eye on tyre wear also -so this may mean Suzuka and to some extent Malaysia are decent for them.

Still, I suspect we'll come to Abu Dhabi with the title still open but a long shot for Seb.

All depends on the new engine which Ferrari will introduce shortly. I personally feel that its game over unless they pull something out of the blues from somewhere.

[AshSIreland]

Hi guys,

What's your prediction of which of the remaining tracks is a Merc, and which a Ferrari,... or even a RB track?

- Singapore
- Malaysia
- Japan
- US
- Mexico
- Brasil
- Abu Dhabi

I was asking myself the same question and came to the conclusion that:

- Ferrari have a great chance to win (and maybe 1-2) in Singapore
- they have a very good chance in Abu Dhabi
- they should be right in the hunt in Brazil

But there's a four race stretch after Singapore that I think are just nailed on Mercedes tracks, and that would lead one to believe that Ferrari need something unusual or to capitalise on a mistake in order to win even the drivers championship.

Now they have a new PU to come and maybe that will help (let's assume for now thete won't be turbo related grid penalties) but I think it's more than pure engine power and Lewis alluded to the fact that Ferrari are strong when they can ADD downforce to their car; their low downforce package is not strong at all and this would seem to make sense as RB's competitiveness - despite having a less powerful engine - was good versus Ferrari both at Monza and Baku. RB seem to be able to maintain a better balance with low DF.

I think Spa worked for Ferrari because they actually didn't trim as much df - they kept it for the middle sector, perhaps with an eye on tyre wear also -so this may mean Suzuka and to some extent Malaysia are decent for them.

Still, I suspect we'll come to Abu Dhabi with the title still open but a long shot for Seb.

Interesting. I hadn't thought about the difference between a low- and high-downforce setup for the same car.

Wrt your predictions
1. Couldn't RB be in the mix in Singapore?
2. Would you have said Malaysia and Mexico were nailed on Mercedes at the start of the season? Average speeds in Sepang are not unlike Bahrain, where Seb won. And Mexico has its twists and turns (albeit with a high top speed)

[f1316]

Hi guys,

What's your prediction of which of the remaining tracks is a Merc, and which a Ferrari,... or even a RB track?

- Singapore
- Malaysia
- Japan
- US
- Mexico
- Brasil
- Abu Dhabi

I was asking myself the same question and came to the conclusion that:

- Ferrari have a great chance to win (and maybe 1-2) in Singapore
- they have a very good chance in Abu Dhabi
- they should be right in the hunt in Brazil

But there's a four race stretch after Singapore that I think are just nailed on Mercedes tracks, and that would lead one to believe that Ferrari need something unusual or to capitalise on a mistake in order to win even the drivers championship.

Now they have a new PU to come and maybe that will help (let's assume for now thete won't be turbo related grid penalties) but I think it's more than pure engine power and Lewis alluded to the fact that Ferrari are strong when they can ADD downforce to their car; their low downforce package is not strong at all and this would seem to make sense as RB's competitiveness - despite having a less powerful engine - was good versus Ferrari both at Monza and Baku. RB seem to be able to maintain a better balance with low DF.

I think Spa worked for Ferrari because they actually didn't trim as much df - they kept it for the middle sector, perhaps with an eye on tyre wear also -so this may mean Suzuka and to some extent Malaysia are decent for them.

Still, I suspect we'll come to Abu Dhabi with the title still open but a long shot for Seb.

Interesting. I hadn't thought about the difference between a low- and high-downforce setup for the same car.

Wrt your predictions
1. Couldn't RB be in the mix in Singapore?
2. Would you have said Malaysia and Mexico were nailed on Mercedes at the start of the season? Average speeds in Sepang are not unlike Bahrain, where Seb won. And Mexico has its twists and turns (albeit with a high top speed)

I want to put it into a spreadsheet when I get the chance between the work I'm supposed to be doing but working it through in my mind I have:

- if all goes how I would expect, Ham wins by 16 points
- if Vettel manages 2nd at the strongest Merc tracks & Kimi gets 2nd in what I see as Ferrari tracks (Sing + AD) then Ham wins by Six points

So all being what I'd call 'normal', Ham wins either way, in my mind. The X factor is whether Ham has the same kind of quali struggles in the low speed high downforce package as he did in Monaco + to a slightly lesser extent Hungary.

As you say, what if an RB gets ahead? What if Bottas and the RBs are ahead on the grid in Singapore?

To me, it kinda needs that kind of thing and/or other unforeseen circumstances for Merc - with zero issues or grid penalties for Vettel - for Ferrari to win the WDC. I personally think it's unlikely that a new PU will bridge the gap we've seen on low downforce unless allied to a much more effective low df package, but this is also based around current relative strengths and weaknesses (for all we know Merc could be stronger in Sing or Ferrari's Spa compromise with a new PU could be the fastest package in Suzuka).

Like I say, I'll try and formulate thoughts into something a bit more illustrative later.

[Phil]

Personally, I wouldn't bet against Ferrari and Vettel taking it. Mercedes seems more vulnerable on tracks that doesn't suit them than the other way around. I think Ferrari is more consistent and has been so far.

Look at it this way: Hamilton has 2 more wins than Vettel (6 vs 4), but they are virtually tied in points (3 points in Hamiltons favor). One would think given he has two more victories to his name, he'd be more ahead than he is. This shows the strength of the Ferrari in performing on tracks where the Mercedes was quicker.

When the Mercedes works, it's brilliant, but when it doesn't, they might face a puzzling performance that might be quite damaging to the WDC.

[Big Mangalhit]

I think Mexico could be good for Ferrari no? It is a max DF track considering the thin air.

I think that the difference of the pace is also related to the lap length and the consequent harvesting. A shorter lap equalizes the PU cause both can max harvest form the K and use similar H harvesting. Although this is more my impression than anything else

[Schuttelberg]

Oh Max... I just watched the race again. What a pity about that lap 3 incident. If he had only waited another lap, the DRS would have surely made it quite a straightforward pass before the chicane. That would have been a guaranteed podium for him, surely.

I appreciate that Dan is driving more intelligently most of the time, but Max is the quicker in raw-pace so far this season (and yes, I'm a Ricciardo supporter).

Nailed it! Max gives me the impression of being a bit impatient at the moment.

[Restomaniac]

]It was an overeaction I agree but at least there was some reason for it. Yesterday there was no reason for it at all.

That's the point at least at Spa we can see a reaction as over the top as it was to something. Yesterday was nothing more that sour grapes. And some on here have tried to defend it.

Thankfully I am not one of them.

I hope this "boo trend" ends because I hate it.

I agree totally.