Max Verstappen took the lead of the race at the wet start, and maintained that until the very end. Behind him however, lots was going on due to the mixed conditions. Lewis Hamilton fought back from an error into second while Norris put McLaren on the podium for the first time this season.
It's going to make the season that much more exciting to have 4+ cars vying for pole. Lewis is going to absolutely love that. Something about inter-team competition that brings out the best of him in quali.
hey max, i know this is not what you wanted to hear, but calm down and think about it.langedweil wrote: ↑18 Apr 2021, 05:45Dude, slow down with the beef and keep things straight ..MKlaus wrote: ↑17 Apr 2021, 23:50if the season goes like this, max would very well settle down and stop saying, "anybody on the grid can win in those merc cars". because right now, despite having faster car, he isn't doing the job. he would now understand the pressure of expectations that can bog a driver down. being in a situation of fighting for title can induce a lot of mistakes. like marko said, what lewis has over max, is loads of experience and consistency of getting the job done at the front. not many on the grid can claim to have that. hope max can show he is a great talent and can get the job done.
The Merc that was referred to was the one that would easily be 1s ahead over 1 lap; guess GR's drive only proved that point (too lame they took his win though).
I think it will be hard on this track, as his battle with max last year showed. His best bet imo is to jump as many as he can in the first lap or two and then bide his time and try and extend his stint.
Honestly I don't think Perez can undercut without extenuating circumstances. I think he has to 2 stop and that's really going to hurt him on this track with Lewis and Max going for a 1 stopper, and Bottas being 50/50 depending on how his first handful of laps goes and how spread out the field gets.
Thinking exactly the same, it’s reverse Bahrain, but, without overtaking Max or Checo have to pull the drive of their life, to pass on track. You need a solid second a lap in pace to do it, and however good that Bull is, it hasn’t got a second a lap in it over the Merc. I would say the only major difference is that Checo is really good on tyres. Second to maybe only Hamilton. That will play a major part. I seriously see RedBull pushing him to do a one stop as well, knowing Sainz had literally no deg after 20 laps on the soft in FP. The only way Bulls win this, is pass on start, preserve first stint, sacrifice one car.Bandit1216 wrote: ↑18 Apr 2021, 08:10Would not be surprised Checco will be leading, perhaps even in the first corner, or at least pressure Lewis, costing Lewis critical time and given Max the win in the end.
God damn Italy man, heaven on Earth. Would be nice to see the stands full, with the full blown Tifosi, and maybe some increased support for the Aplha Tauri.
The DRS zone is longer than last year, and Honda may have more ERS deployment at the end of the straight, so things will be interesting. There is also the threat of Leclerc taking out Max like Bahrain last year. A first lap incident seems highly likely.mafeotul wrote: ↑18 Apr 2021, 08:55Thinking exactly the same, it’s reverse Bahrain, but, without overtaking Max or Checo have to pull the drive of their life, to pass on track. You need a solid second a lap in pace to do it, and however good that Bull is, it hasn’t got a second a lap in it over the Merc. I would say the only major difference is that Checo is really good on tyres. Second to maybe only Hamilton. That will play a major part. I seriously see RedBull pushing him to do a one stop as well, knowing Sainz had literally no deg after 20 laps on the soft in FP. The only way Bulls win this, is pass on start, preserve first stint, sacrifice one car.Bandit1216 wrote: ↑18 Apr 2021, 08:10Would not be surprised Checco will be leading, perhaps even in the first corner, or at least pressure Lewis, costing Lewis critical time and given Max the win in the end.
Aye, Charles is the Dark horse in this for me, if they sacrifice a car ( RedBull) to act as roadblock for Hamilton, the risk of the cars in 4-6th to snatch the podium is massive. Unless one of the Bulls drivers are ahead on lap 1, I can’t see both on the podium. Either they sacrifice one car and win, or they don’t and lose the win but double podium. In the grand scheme of things, points wise i would choose the second option. Championship is a lot longer, snd these early wins aren’t that damaging yet.ispano6 wrote: ↑18 Apr 2021, 09:47The DRS zone is longer than last year, and Honda may have more ERS deployment at the end of the straight, so things will be interesting. There is also the threat of Leclerc taking out Max like Bahrain last year. A first lap incident seems highly likely.mafeotul wrote: ↑18 Apr 2021, 08:55Thinking exactly the same, it’s reverse Bahrain, but, without overtaking Max or Checo have to pull the drive of their life, to pass on track. You need a solid second a lap in pace to do it, and however good that Bull is, it hasn’t got a second a lap in it over the Merc. I would say the only major difference is that Checo is really good on tyres. Second to maybe only Hamilton. That will play a major part. I seriously see RedBull pushing him to do a one stop as well, knowing Sainz had literally no deg after 20 laps on the soft in FP. The only way Bulls win this, is pass on start, preserve first stint, sacrifice one car.Bandit1216 wrote: ↑18 Apr 2021, 08:10Would not be surprised Checco will be leading, perhaps even in the first corner, or at least pressure Lewis, costing Lewis critical time and given Max the win in the end.
Merc cars in which Lewis won(bar 2018) were all much more dominant then RB is this season. We are talking about RB being smidgen faster, whereas Merc used to have 0.5-1s advantage in their hayday (even last season for first half of it). Big difference.MKlaus wrote: ↑17 Apr 2021, 23:50if the season goes like this, max would very well settle down and stop saying, "anybody on the grid can win in those merc cars". because right now, despite having faster car, he isn't doing the job. he would now understand the pressure of expectations that can bog a driver down. being in a situation of fighting for title can induce a lot of mistakes. like marko said, what lewis has over max, is loads of experience and consistency of getting the job done at the front. not many on the grid can claim to have that. hope max can show he is a great talent and can get the job done.
It's not like you have to run one power unit all year though, and the gearbox as well, everyone is allowed 3 engines, and 3 MGU-K and 3 MGU-H. And even so far as now, The engine modes narratives simply don't pan out well, the speeds in speed traps for the RB16B are essentially the same as those from the W12. Both of whom, when compared to the other teams who have the same engines, are actually some of the slowest. Williams, AT, AMR & McLaren are all faster in the speed traps, this is also consistent with the way it was in Bahrain, Williams and McLaren were quicker on straights than almost every other team, whilst AT were quicker than RedBull on the straights.proteus wrote: ↑18 Apr 2021, 00:55Mercedes simply downplayed their game as they used to do it with Ferrari. Probably lowered engine setups, to keep wear and tear under control and they will jet again cruise towards another championship, while RedBull with Honda went all in and they are allready suffering from malfunctions right at the start of the season... I dont doubt that RedBull guys will claim few wins in this season, but i am pretty sure Lewis and Mercedes will lock titles confortably quite a few races before the end of the season....And ofcourse we will be hearing how hard and difficult it was, how handicaped they were and etc...and i have to admit i am affected by boredomefest which we are watching for last 7 seasons, so i am overly harsh about it and sarcastic.godlameroso wrote: ↑17 Apr 2021, 23:52He made a huge mistake in sector 3 as well, messing up on the exit of the final corner which cost him another .2 he should have had .4 on Hamilton with no mistakes. Still, he has to deliver when it counts or potential is meaningless. We'll see what happens in the race, I have a feeling it'll be hard for Hamilton to keep his position. If Perez undercuts him, he'll come out behind him when he pits, if he covers off Perez he loses track position to Verstappen. Also RBR has an excellent pit crew, Mercedes may lose some time on the pit stop. So Hamilton will have to be mm perfect as well as the team, all race long if he's going to hang on to the lead.dans79 wrote: ↑17 Apr 2021, 21:39
No, you're making my point for me!
If the car was as dominant as so many here claimed just a few weeks ago, they would have beaten Lewis regardless of the mistakes.
Helmet himself said Max's mistake cost him 0.2. so he would have been on pole by a little over a tenth without the mistake. That is hardly the sign of a dominant car.
Would like to refer you to 2017-2018 and the back end of 2019. Mercedes has not been demoralisingly ahead as much as the numbers say it, in actual pace terms. Numbers which have been altered by Hamilton’s unreal performance in 2017-18-19. If you want to look at a good driver and the Mercedes car, look at Bottas’s position at the end of the Championship in those years in comparison to the rivals. I know you mentioned 2018 but, without Lewis churning monster races, i highly doubt anyone bar Sebastian would have won in those years.ferkan wrote: ↑18 Apr 2021, 10:21Merc cars in which Lewis won(bar 2018) were all much more dominant then RB is this season. We are talking about RB being smidgen faster, whereas Merc used to have 0.5-1s advantage in their hayday (even last season for first half of it). Big difference.MKlaus wrote: ↑17 Apr 2021, 23:50if the season goes like this, max would very well settle down and stop saying, "anybody on the grid can win in those merc cars". because right now, despite having faster car, he isn't doing the job. he would now understand the pressure of expectations that can bog a driver down. being in a situation of fighting for title can induce a lot of mistakes. like marko said, what lewis has over max, is loads of experience and consistency of getting the job done at the front. not many on the grid can claim to have that. hope max can show he is a great talent and can get the job done.
I disagree that it's irrecoverable but I am quite reserved about his performances so far, although he did not make Q3 again. The car is looking quite good for a midfielder in the hand of Stroll. If by Rd. 5 in Spain he is not performing too well relative to Stroll then I think I will think he has really lost it.
You do realise this would be his third competitive season in consecutive years in which anyone will struggle to find people that are worse than him based on actual racing performance. I think it’s far gone, in terms of actual edge. And it’s heartbreaking to do so. I mean if Alonso can take a sabbatical and come back looking like he is having a good time.. how many excuses are we going to make for him.politburo wrote: ↑18 Apr 2021, 10:28I disagree that it's irrecoverable but I am quite reserved about his performances so far, although he did not make Q3 again. The car is looking quite good for a midfielder in the hand of Stroll. If by Rd. 5 in Spain he is not performing too well relative to Stroll then I think I will think he has really lost it.
