Lewis Hamilton has taken another massive step towards winning this year's World Championship by dominating the Japanese Grand Prix while Bottas completes the Mercedes 1-2. Max Verstappen finished a close third. Championship contender Sebastian Vettel was 6th at the finish line.
Ye, agreed. Look at Mansell for example. He did a lot of back and forth between teams, winning the title he deserved at the end. Alonso could've been back at Ferrari, and once again paid top dollar for it. But his, his.. how do I put this politely.. umm.. 'incompatible personality' made such a move impossible.
Everybody keeps forgetting Kovalainen. Great talent, ambitious and wrecked by McLaren and Hamilton in 2008 and 2009. Where Vettel and especially Alonso had this number one position very well sorted in their careers, Hamilton for most of his career just been one of the two drivers. Just now as a (almost) 5 times world champion he gets his lead driver position.GrandAxe wrote: ↑07 Oct 2018, 12:09Lewis was paired with the reigning world champ in his very first year and did an impressive job by coming out tops, losing the WDC by only a point.
What member of the current pack is as good as Alonso?
Lewis doesn't need to be paired with anyone to prove anything further.
That, sir, is indeed a kind way of laying out pressing concerns.
Exactly. People said a lot before Kovalainen hopped in the next car, then less and less after he seemed to be moving backwards relative to Lewis unrelenting talent. Lewis has always had to fight for his ground, never #1.Jolle wrote: ↑07 Oct 2018, 12:22Everybody keeps forgetting Kovalainen. Great talent, ambitious and wrecked by McLaren and Hamilton in 2008 and 2009. Where Vettel and especially Alonso had this number one position very well sorted in their careers, Hamilton for most of his career just been one of the two drivers. Just now as a (almost) 5 times world champion he gets his lead driver position.GrandAxe wrote: ↑07 Oct 2018, 12:09Lewis was paired with the reigning world champ in his very first year and did an impressive job by coming out tops, losing the WDC by only a point.
What member of the current pack is as good as Alonso?
Lewis doesn't need to be paired with anyone to prove anything further.
Just ignore my comment there. It is just boring to watch how he will get his 5th championship easier than ever. It was supposed to be maybe his most challenging battle for the championship and then Ferrari and Vettel keep punching the championshipnaway from them
Vettel threw away around 50 points this year on mistakes. Hamilton's big lead isn't because he's in the best car, it's because he didn't make those mistakes. You can't blame him for good driving.F1NAC wrote: ↑07 Oct 2018, 13:02Just ignore my comment there. It is just boring to watch how he will get his 5th championship easier than ever. It was supposed to be maybe his most challenging battle for the championship and then Ferrari and Vettel keep punching the championshipnaway from them
Indeed. Hamilton is a nightmare to beat on form and currently he’s on form.Jolle wrote: ↑07 Oct 2018, 13:11Vettel threw away around 50 points this year on mistakes. Hamilton's big lead isn't because he's in the best car, it's because he didn't make those mistakes. You can't blame him for good driving.
I don't blame him. Tf? I never said he doesn't deserve. He was driving magnificent this year. But till the middle of the season this one looked like one of the most intense season in recent years. Yet Vettel and Ferrari derailed and we are now watching championship being clinched in USA alreadyJolle wrote: ↑07 Oct 2018, 13:11Vettel threw away around 50 points this year on mistakes. Hamilton's big lead isn't because he's in the best car, it's because he didn't make those mistakes. You can't blame him for good driving.
Claiming that he is not in the best car (especially after the last 2-3 races) is, well, ridiculous. Even when (around mid-season) Ferrari had the edge pace-wise, Mercedes was the better team (regarding strategy, decision making etc) overall.Jolle wrote: ↑07 Oct 2018, 13:11Vettel threw away around 50 points this year on mistakes. Hamilton's big lead isn't because he's in the best car, it's because he didn't make those mistakes. You can't blame him for good driving.
I feel you. Even as a Lewis fan I felt a sense of anticlimax when Vettel flunked Q3, then his performance in the race just took away any lingering hopes of excitement.F1NAC wrote: ↑07 Oct 2018, 13:20I don't blame him. Tf? I never said he doesn't deserve. He was driving magnificent this year. But till the middle of the season this one looked like one of the most intense season in recent years. Yet Vettel and Ferrari derailed and we are now watching championship being clinched in USA already
I didn’t claim he’s not in the best car, I said that his lead is this big because Vettel made a mess of it. If Vettel preformed as Hamilton, Hamilton would be leading with 10-20 points right now and we would have a real championship battle.SchuMassa wrote: ↑07 Oct 2018, 13:20Claiming that he is not in the best car (especially after the last 2-3 races) is, well, ridiculous. Even when (around mid-season) Ferrari had the edge pace-wise, Mercedes was the better team (regarding strategy, decision making etc) overall.
I think that is too much. There were no 25 points in Germany, with the pace of Ham on the better tire he would have easily overtaken. Same Monza. I do not see how this should be won by Ferrari even without driver faults...Jolle wrote: ↑07 Oct 2018, 13:30I didn’t claim he’s not in the best car, I said that his lead is this big because Vettel made a mess of it. If Vettel preformed as Hamilton, Hamilton would be leading with 10-20 points right now and we would have a real championship battle.
Might want to see the 98' season and the guy whose helmet is your avatar.
He has nothing to lose at the moment. When the season had started, it did look for a while that it could be a 3 way title fight and it looked like it would be Ricciardo who would be carrying the honours for Red Bull. He's probably the most talented kid I've seen since Schumacher but he's not as calculated as him. Dirty, yes. Calculated, no.Shrieker wrote: ↑07 Oct 2018, 15:04https://streamable.com/4oh8k
Verstappen is a smart cookie. That, and flat out dirty. Watch that video a couple of times, and tell me why he doesn't try going a little bit straight (cutting the exit of the chicane a little more). Ding ding ! If he does that, he'll be a sitting duck on the straight, since Raikonen has momentum coming out. The reason behind what he did was to block Raikkonen, compromising his exit to prevent him from overtaking. 5 seconds for this is basically getting off scot free.
