2020 Sakhir Grand Prix - Sakhir, Dec 04 - 06

[Restomaniac]

What I want to know is why everyone focuses on Bottas as a #2 . . .

. . . when Albon is getting wiped off the face of the earth by Verstappen every weekend.

Put Lewis in the #2 RB and maybe Verstappen is getting his teeth kicked in every weekend.

We simply don’t know because Albon is the worst driver on the grid.

Merc has to be sending a bottle of champagne to RBR thanking them for keeping Albon next year.

This is very true. This is also why after today Mercedes cannot keep making Russell wait. He will now be getting plenty of attention I bet. After all dragging the Williams into Q2 is one thing but taking close (after 2 days in the car) a guy who has often taken close and sometimes beaten a 7 time WDC? Well that’s different.

[zibby43]

What I want to know is why everyone focuses on Bottas as a #2 . . .

. . . when Albon is getting wiped off the face of the earth by Verstappen every weekend.

Put Lewis in the #2 RB and maybe Verstappen is getting his teeth kicked in every weekend.

We simply don’t know because Albon is the worst driver on the grid.

Merc has to be sending a bottle of champagne to RBR thanking them for keeping Albon next year.

This is very true. This is also why after today Mercedes cannot keep making Russell wait. He will now be getting plenty of attention I bet. After all dragging the Williams into Q2 is one thing but taking close (after 2 days in the car) a guy who has often taken close and sometimes beaten a 7 time WDC? Well that’s different.

He's gotta be in the car by 2022.

[Moore77]

What I want to know is why everyone focuses on Bottas as a #2 . . .

. . . when Albon is getting wiped off the face of the earth by Verstappen every weekend.

Put Lewis in the #2 RB and maybe Verstappen is getting his teeth kicked in every weekend.

We simply don’t know because Albon is the worst driver on the grid.

Merc has to be sending a bottle of champagne to RBR thanking them for keeping Albon next year.

One thing people forget is, how driveable W11 is and how difficult RB16 is. When W08 was a diva, Bottas struggled on days it misbehaved. Similar trend continued with W09, to lesser extent. So if Bottas was put in that RB16, he would struggle as much or maybe more. Gasly who is doing so well in AT now after a similar time in RB15 tells the story.
Who knows, if Albon drives W11, he might do better than Bottas. We would never know.

[ringo]

To me, Bottas is consistently 2 tenths quicker at the moment than Russel; which is to be expected and not too bad for both of them. Bottas could have done better on the last lap, and Russel did benefit from a tow. The car can be in as much as 2 to 4 seconds behind to benefit , and with such a short lap that's a lot of distance.
What this does confirm is both drivers are very good. Bottas is not rubbish, he is infact the real deal'; a top driver.
And Russel is very talented, and has a lot of potential to be promoted to a top team. What can help or hurt him now is how he races. His racing prowess is pretty much nonexistent at this stage.
We haven't seen him much in the races, and he at least needs to be P-4 to show that he is not another Jarno Truli.
Finaly, i can see the extra tenths Lewis puts in the mercedes to make it appear super dominant. When in fact it's barely quicker than the redbull. For all we know the redbull can be equally good chassis, but just compromised because of the Honda engine. Max is very close to the W11, and i suspect he will have the better race pace.
Looks like Lewis is worth his weight in gold.

[Hoffman900]

To me, Bottas is consistently 2 tenths quicker at the moment than Russel; which is to be expected and not too bad for both of them. Bottas could have done better on the last lap, and Russel did benefit from a tow. The car can be in as much as 2 to 4 seconds behind to benefit , and with such a short lap that's a lot of distance.
What this does confirm is both drivers are very good. Bottas is not rubbish, he is infact the real deal'; a top driver.
And Russel is very talented, and has a lot of potential to be promoted to a top team. What can help or hurt him now is how he races. His racing prowess is pretty much nonexistent at this stage.
We haven't seen him much in the races, and he at least needs to be P-4 to show that he is not another Jarno Truli.
Finaly, i can see the extra tenths Lewis puts in the mercedes to make it appear super dominant. When in fact it's barely quicker than the redbull. For all we know the redbull can be equally good chassis, but just compromised because of the Honda engine. Max is very close to the W11, and i suspect he will have the better race pace.
Looks like Lewis is worth his weight in gold.

This totally discounts Lewis's brilliance in a race. No one manages their tires and car better than him. I know Lewis idolized Senna growing up, but he really is the Alain Prost of this generation. Lewis regularly turns a .1-.2 advantage to a 30s-60s win.

[dans79]

To me, Bottas is consistently 2 tenths quicker at the moment than Russel; which is to be expected and not too bad for both of them. Bottas could have done better on the last lap, and Russel did benefit from a tow. The car can be in as much as 2 to 4 seconds behind to benefit , and with such a short lap that's a lot of distance.
What this does confirm is both drivers are very good. Bottas is not rubbish, he is infact the real deal'; a top driver.
And Russel is very talented, and has a lot of potential to be promoted to a top team. What can help or hurt him now is how he races. His racing prowess is pretty much nonexistent at this stage.
We haven't seen him much in the races, and he at least needs to be P-4 to show that he is not another Jarno Truli.
Finaly, i can see the extra tenths Lewis puts in the mercedes to make it appear super dominant. When in fact it's barely quicker than the redbull. For all we know the redbull can be equally good chassis, but just compromised because of the Honda engine. Max is very close to the W11, and i suspect he will have the better race pace.
Looks like Lewis is worth his weight in gold.

This totally discounts Lewis's brilliance in a race. No one manages their tires and car better than him. I know Lewis idolized Senna growing up, but he really is the Alain Prost of this generation. Lewis regularly turns a .1-.2 advantage to a 30s-60s win.

That's how Lewis tricks people. He makes you think he's just a really good qualifier when in fact his real advantage is elsewhere!

[Hoffman900]

To me, Bottas is consistently 2 tenths quicker at the moment than Russel; which is to be expected and not too bad for both of them. Bottas could have done better on the last lap, and Russel did benefit from a tow. The car can be in as much as 2 to 4 seconds behind to benefit , and with such a short lap that's a lot of distance.
What this does confirm is both drivers are very good. Bottas is not rubbish, he is infact the real deal'; a top driver.
And Russel is very talented, and has a lot of potential to be promoted to a top team. What can help or hurt him now is how he races. His racing prowess is pretty much nonexistent at this stage.
We haven't seen him much in the races, and he at least needs to be P-4 to show that he is not another Jarno Truli.
Finaly, i can see the extra tenths Lewis puts in the mercedes to make it appear super dominant. When in fact it's barely quicker than the redbull. For all we know the redbull can be equally good chassis, but just compromised because of the Honda engine. Max is very close to the W11, and i suspect he will have the better race pace.
Looks like Lewis is worth his weight in gold.

This totally discounts Lewis's brilliance in a race. No one manages their tires and car better than him. I know Lewis idolized Senna growing up, but he really is the Alain Prost of this generation. Lewis regularly turns a .1-.2 advantage to a 30s-60s win.

That's how Lewis tricks people. He makes you think he's just a really good qualifier when in fact his real advantage is elsewhere!

That and his whole "tires are struggling", "the competition is close", "they're making me work for it" act. He knows its entertainment, and he needs to make a show of it or create the illusion that it's close and he's struggling. Not that I am implying he isn't trying hard, he is, but he knows he needs to make more of a spectacle of it.

[Moore77]

Oh boy, the PR machinery is on now. The guy isn't even racing this weekend.

[zibby43]

What I want to know is why everyone focuses on Bottas as a #2 . . .

. . . when Albon is getting wiped off the face of the earth by Verstappen every weekend.

Put Lewis in the #2 RB and maybe Verstappen is getting his teeth kicked in every weekend.

We simply don’t know because Albon is the worst driver on the grid.

Merc has to be sending a bottle of champagne to RBR thanking them for keeping Albon next year.

One thing people forget is, how driveable W11 is and how difficult RB16 is. When W08 was a diva, Bottas struggled on days it misbehaved. Similar trend continued with W09, to lesser extent. So if Bottas was put in that RB16, he would struggle as much or maybe more. Gasly who is doing so well in AT now after a similar time in RB15 tells the story.
Who knows, if Albon drives W11, he might do better than Bottas. We would never know.

No way Albon is quicker in the W11. The Red Bull has been much improved in terms of stability the second half of the season. It's not like Albon is a few hundredths off. He's an eternity away.

Russell may end being the most talented out of the Verstappen and LEC trio. And that's saying something.

And Bottas still covered him off.

Today has confirmed a few things: 1) Lewis is the fastest on the grid; 2) Bottas' pure quali pace is outstanding; 3) Russell is the future at Mercedes.

Red Bull/Ferrari better end up building monster cars in 2022.

[Hoffman900]

Oh boy, the PR machinery is on now. The guy isn't even racing this weekend.

Not true. There is a large enough dataset with Lewis to know he would likely be qualified on the front row right now.

Should we discuss Vettel and Leclerc this weekend?

[Morteza]

[NathanOlder]

To me, Bottas is consistently 2 tenths quicker at the moment than Russel; which is to be expected and not too bad for both of them. Bottas could have done better on the last lap, and Russel did benefit from a tow. The car can be in as much as 2 to 4 seconds behind to benefit , and with such a short lap that's a lot of distance.
What this does confirm is both drivers are very good. Bottas is not rubbish, he is infact the real deal'; a top driver.
And Russel is very talented, and has a lot of potential to be promoted to a top team. What can help or hurt him now is how he races. His racing prowess is pretty much nonexistent at this stage.
We haven't seen him much in the races, and he at least needs to be P-4 to show that he is not another Jarno Truli.
Finaly, i can see the extra tenths Lewis puts in the mercedes to make it appear super dominant. When in fact it's barely quicker than the redbull. For all we know the redbull can be equally good chassis, but just compromised because of the Honda engine. Max is very close to the W11, and i suspect he will have the better race pace.
Looks like Lewis is worth his weight in gold.

George was 6 seconds behind Bottas on track on their last run. He wasn't getting any tow. Mercedes did similar in Monza if I remember, neither driver getting a tow on a very important 'tow track' . As always, Mercedes being so fair on both drivers. It even costs them a chance , like today it almost put Max ahead of them.

[NathanOlder]

What I want to know is why everyone focuses on Bottas as a #2 . . .

. . . when Albon is getting wiped off the face of the earth by Verstappen every weekend.

Put Lewis in the #2 RB and maybe Verstappen is getting his teeth kicked in every weekend.

We simply don’t know because Albon is the worst driver on the grid.

Merc has to be sending a bottle of champagne to RBR thanking them for keeping Albon next year.

One thing people forget is, how driveable W11 is and how difficult RB16 is. When W08 was a diva, Bottas struggled on days it misbehaved. Similar trend continued with W09, to lesser extent. So if Bottas was put in that RB16, he would struggle as much or maybe more. Gasly who is doing so well in AT now after a similar time in RB15 tells the story.
Who knows, if Albon drives W11, he might do better than Bottas. We would never know.

No way Albon is quicker in the W11. The Red Bull has been much improved in terms of stability the second half of the season. It's not like Albon is a few hundredths off. He's an eternity away.

Russell may end being the most talented out of the Verstappen and LEC trio. And that's saying something.

And Bottas still covered him off.

Today has confirmed a few things: 1) Lewis is the fastest on the grid; 2) Bottas' pure quali pace is outstanding; 3) Russell is the future at Mercedes.

Red Bull/Ferrari better end up building monster cars in 2022.

Yeah I agree with this, what I also think happened here today, unless George does something crazy tomorrow, he has just pretty much shut the Mercedes door for Max.

[siskue2005]

What I want to know is why everyone focuses on Bottas as a #2 . . .

. . . when Albon is getting wiped off the face of the earth by Verstappen every weekend.

Put Lewis in the #2 RB and maybe Verstappen is getting his teeth kicked in every weekend.

We simply don’t know because Albon is the worst driver on the grid.

Merc has to be sending a bottle of champagne to RBR thanking them for keeping Albon next year.

One thing people forget is, how driveable W11 is and how difficult RB16 is. When W08 was a diva, Bottas struggled on days it misbehaved. Similar trend continued with W09, to lesser extent. So if Bottas was put in that RB16, he would struggle as much or maybe more. Gasly who is doing so well in AT now after a similar time in RB15 tells the story.
Who knows, if Albon drives W11, he might do better than Bottas. We would never know.

Did u find that from your personal testing with the W11 car?

[LM10]

Everyone talking about Russell, but what about Leclerc? He definitely was the real deal today. How on earth did he put that Ferrari on P4 on this track? I was lost for words, sublime performance.

That was a great lap. In recent races, Ferrari have made good progress in qualifying trim. The tyre usage still is a big problem and he might fall back in race, which is sad.

Tyre wear has improved as well, but qualifying performance stood out more recently, yea. Seems like the car behaves in a strange way at times, showing awful behaviour on a tyre set and then much better pace on another set in the same race. Happened last week, for example.