2020 Sakhir Grand Prix - Sakhir, Dec 04 - 06

[maxxer]

Does russel get Bonnington as race engineer then?

[bosyber]

Unless Bonnington has to quarantine due to contact with Hamilton, I'd say yes to that.

Yeah, Russell is for now an unknown, and we have seen it is hard to make an immediate impact in a new car,team in the current F1, even though Hülkenberg did great in the races right away. For now I'd think his goal should be to keep Albon behind him at the least, and aim for a podium spot. Anything else would depend on how the weekend goes.

[Sieper]

It is hard to say, but I do think the is a big talent. He himself quite clearly thinks it. And that is an important factor. Not all drivers have that same level of conviction, of self believe.

He will be in the best car (especially wih the lay out for this weekend), he needs no luck of others crashing out, he already is now. There will be pressure on both him and Bottas, and maybe also even for Hamilton. If Russell makes it a resounding success, that will weaken his bargaining position for increased salary.

In any case, unfortuante as it is for Hamilton to contract covid 2 weeks before season end, it will be a very interesting weekend for all us onlookers!

[Zynerji]

So,

What does it say about Hamilton if George sits in his car, and absolutely crushes Bottas? I mean, what if George is up by 3-5 tenths in Q3? Does it prove that it really is THE CAR, and not the driver?

If George finishes ahead of Valteri, he may push Bottas directly into retirement. Can you IMAGINE the never-ending questions from fans and media of "George is faster than you, when do you expect to be replaced by him?" Ugh! Straight to retirement...

[PlatinumZealot]

Official now; Russell to drive for Mercedes and Jack Aitken for Williams.

Poor Van-doorne! Whats thevpoint of being a reserve these days?!

[PlatinumZealot]

George can totally win the race if he can get into acclimating quickly. Car set up from last Sunday should work fine so they can probably fine tune and get him up to speed quickly. I'm sure it's possible for him to win. Why not.

Let's just see how he compares to Bottas and Max it will be a good peak into so many things.

1. How big of an impact is Hamilton.
2. How good is Bottas.
3. What is the true gap of the cars between RedBull and Merc.

I mean too bad for Hamilton but not a bad at all situation for the fans so we can get some data to compare the top 2 cars/& Max/Bottas/Ham with a good outside reference in George.

Number 1 is not even a valid question over the years.

Anyway George needs to be pumping in laps upon laps to get up to speed with this level of downforce. I dont expect him to outrace Bottas but he could steal one in qualifying.

[DChemTech]

Official now; Russell to drive for Mercedes and Jack Aitken for Williams.

Poor Van-doorne! Whats thevpoint of being a reserve these days?!

They're there for making a podcast, that's all.

[matt_b]

So,

What does it say about Hamilton if George sits in his car, and absolutely crushes Bottas? I mean, what if George is up by 3-5 tenths in Q3? Does it prove that it really is THE CAR, and not the driver?

If George finishes ahead of Valteri, he may push Bottas directly into retirement. Can you IMAGINE the never-ending questions from fans and media of "George is faster than you, when do you expect to be replaced by him?" Ugh! Straight to retirement...

Says nothing about Hamilton as he is not there this weekend but I'm sure the detractors will have a bunch of narratives to spin whatever the outcome.

[SiLo]

So,

What does it say about Hamilton if George sits in his car, and absolutely crushes Bottas? I mean, what if George is up by 3-5 tenths in Q3? Does it prove that it really is THE CAR, and not the driver?

If George finishes ahead of Valteri, he may push Bottas directly into retirement. Can you IMAGINE the never-ending questions from fans and media of "George is faster than you, when do you expect to be replaced by him?" Ugh! Straight to retirement...

Says nothing about Hamilton as he is not there this weekend but I'm sure the detractors will have a bunch of narratives to spin whatever the outcome.

It's also not likely to happen.

[NathanOlder]

So lets look at the likely qualifying order here. Remember Monza was probably the closest we have to this track ? maybe Austria ? But if we look at Monza, RedBull qualified behind Mercedes, Mclaren and Racing Point. Renault were only 0.069 behind Max. So I have a feeling Max may have to worry more about Sergio, Lance, Lando, Carlos, Danny and Esteban more than looking at Russell and Bottas.

[TNTHead]

This HAM quarantine comes exactly at the right time for MERC to test RUS and compare him with Bottas. I am not implying it is constructed, but it still isn't impossible either....

[basti313]

So lets look at the likely qualifying order here. Remember Monza was probably the closest we have to this track ? maybe Austria ? But if we look at Monza, RedBull qualified behind Mercedes, Mclaren and Racing Point. Renault were only 0.069 behind Max. So I have a feeling Max may have to worry more about Sergio, Lance, Lando, Carlos, Danny and Esteban more than looking at Russell and Bottas.

Very difficult to predict, as there is a big swing depending on the quality of the simulations they do.
But in general I would expect cars that are harder to control also to be harder to set up. Except for the bubble tires I did not see a bad setup at Merc this season. The Istanbul issue will work in favor on this track to protect the rears.
So I expect a much bigger gap to RedBull and Ferrari out of Top10.

[Just_a_fan]

So,

What does it say about Hamilton if George sits in his car, and absolutely crushes Bottas? I mean, what if George is up by 3-5 tenths in Q3? Does it prove that it really is THE CAR, and not the driver?

If George finishes ahead of Valteri, he may push Bottas directly into retirement. Can you IMAGINE the never-ending questions from fans and media of "George is faster than you, when do you expect to be replaced by him?" Ugh! Straight to retirement...

It says nothing about Hamilton because there is no Hamilton time to compare George's with. Maybe Hamilton would have been 7 or 8 tenths up on Bottas, maybe Bottas would have been quicker than Hamilton - it does happen now and then, don't forget.

If George pushed Bottas in to retirement and then immediately replaced him in the team, it would only be once he raced against Hamilton that we would know the relative positions.

It's worth remembering that your scenario could actually be a demonstration of how good George is. Maybe he is as fast as Hamilton and thus faster than Bottas (on average). Maybe George is actually a faster qualifier than Hamilton. We won't ever know unless both of them drive the same car at the same tracks.

It's a nice attempt at a narrative that tries to denigrate Hamilton, however.

[Sieper]

So lets look at the likely qualifying order here. Remember Monza was probably the closest we have to this track ? maybe Austria ? But if we look at Monza, RedBull qualified behind Mercedes, Mclaren and Racing Point. Renault were only 0.069 behind Max. So I have a feeling Max may have to worry more about Sergio, Lance, Lando, Carlos, Danny and Esteban more than looking at Russell and Bottas.

Exactly, and this is also what Max has predicted himself already. They Miss power for all these straights. Monza was indeed similar and tough for them as well.

[Big Tea]

So, do we think George will be told to 'assist' Botas with his fight for 2nd in the table?
As strange as it sounds, it may well ease the pressure on George if he know he was playing second to Botas not fighting for the seat.