2021 Italian Grand Prix - Monza, Sep 10 - 12

[ispano6]

If many different people are all writing roughly the same thing (aka Verstappen is better than Hamilton), then it’s not spam, but merely a general consensus of what the fans think.

That assumes its not several individuals colluding with others to intentionally annoy others, or an individual with several accounts. Behind closed doors it has been discussed amounts several members that's one or potentially both of these cases are currently happening. No one has acted on those assumptions though, because many believe nothing will be done about it.

Ridiculous, driver of the season right now is Verstappen by a mile with Norris second. Hamilton has been unimpressive

Absolutely, Max actually has 8 race wins compared to hams 4 if you include the sprint race.

[Tvetovnato]

A driver who qualifies third in Friday qualifying and finishes second in the sprint race should NOT be credited with pole position in the history books. That is properly messed up.

Why not? Pole position is always credited after grid penalties. The Sprint Race is, albeit illogically, considered to be Qualifying.

I'm not a huge fan of the conservation regulations, but they are what they are.

How impressive is Max though?

Max is driving the same as always, his car is just a little bit more competitive.

Of course, there is no reference like a Ricciardo or Leclerc or Alonso or indeed Hamilton in the second Red Bull, so it is harder to judge Verstappen's relative performance. Red Bull were keen to secure Russell for this season, but alas it was not to be.

I don’t buy the ”rules are what they are” thing. The rules also said that we award racing points for two laps behind the SC, which was even worse. Pole position for me should be credited to the guy who is quickest over one lap in qualifying, period. Max today didn’t even need to do anything else than sit comfortably in P2 and wait for that stat to come to him. I also think it’s wrong that a driver with a coming grid penalty in a normal quali gets stripped off pole (the stat in the books, that is), unless the penalty is a result of the quickest guy impeding a rival during qualifying of course.

[langedweil]

Another thing that was apparent today was that the red flag needs to be brought out immediately if there is an incident on lap one. With the awful sprint race being this short, any lap that is not racing is terrible.

And I seriously don't understand how F1 can come to decisions like introducing this kind of thing. It's like they have a picture in their head of what the best scenario is (drivers actually racing hard and taking risks in the sprint), but never consider the probability of that happening (basically zero). They seriously need to try to simulate how the teams would plan a weekend like this, and how the fans will react to the sessions. Not to mention the rules. A driver who qualifies third in Friday qualifying and finishes second in the sprint race should NOT be credited with pole position in the history books. That is properly messed up.

Point is that these cars/packages make Monza a track boring AF .. they go around corners as if on rails and most of the time they need to lift & coast.

To make things a bit more like they used to be, a car should have a way higher power-to-weight ratio (2000hp ?) and a built in desire to kill the driver that's trying to tame it. Then all of a sudden Monza won't be close to boring ...

[JPower]

Hamilton doesn't even deserve this championship anymore...

No one deserves a championship.

[ringo]

Funny how a little slow start of the grid is being psycho analyzed. Now Hamilton is afraid of Max.
And he is mistake prone, yet no one took note how he navigated the the straight and into first corner without crashing like Gasly. That poor start could have resulted in even worse result; but damage limitation and caution was used to avoid a norris crash and gasly squeeze.

If Max does not win tomorrow and Hamilton does I am predicting excuses for how lucky Lewis is. But it's all good. That's just simply what the modern F1 fan is all about.
Anyway for tomorrow's race, I predict a poor start for one of the Mclarens. Max to be tapped into turn 1 by a Mclaren.

[Ryar]

That assumes its not several individuals colluding with others to intentionally annoy others, or an individual with several accounts. Behind closed doors it has been discussed amounts several members that's one or potentially both of these cases are currently happening. No one has acted on those assumptions though, because many believe nothing will be done about it.

Ridiculous, driver of the season right now is Verstappen by a mile with Norris second. Hamilton has been unimpressive

Absolutely, Max actually has 8 race wins compared to hams 4 if you include the sprint race.

That, along with all the misfortune on Max's part, while Lewis has returned to the usual "error prone under pressure" driver that he has always been. That fact was shrouded by the dominant cars. Max is fighting for the championship for the first time and has been immaculate. A 23 year old man handling the pressure of expectations at home in zandvoort showed the progress Max has made as a driver. Yet, some people can't see beyond the smokescreen of 7 WDCs.

[Ryar]

Absolute desperatation from Ross Brawn in the media to justify this flop of a format. The top positions were decided in T1, the rest of the sprint was a waste of time. The qualifying on Friday was much more exciting.

Well, then watch Q and the race. No one forces you...

I think the sprint is great. Suddenly we have three sessions that count something. Without the sprint we have three boring session where we at the end try to figure who did what...
Especially if you are at the track. Every day a special and on Friday and Saturday two sessions where you can enjoy the cars and take pictures.

I know that people are a bit desperate that Hamilton can not overtake. But for me it was a completely ok session. In Q you have three exciting laps...today you had a really good start, a restart and a long time waiting for the tires of some people giving up. Nothing wrong here for me, better than a usual Q.

It definitely is a value for money for people that go to watch at circuits and of course for folks that watch TV or online. There is something every day, instead of boring free practice sessions.

[Chuckjr]

Ridiculous, driver of the season right now is Verstappen by a mile with Norris second. Hamilton has been unimpressive

Absolutely, Max actually has 8 race wins compared to hams 4 if you include the sprint race.

That, along with all the misfortune on Max's part, while Lewis has returned to the usual "error prone under pressure" driver that he has always been. That fact was shrouded by the dominant cars. Max is fighting for the championship for the first time and has been immaculate. A 23 year old man handling the pressure of expectations at home in zandvoort showed the progress Max has made as a driver. Yet, some people can't see beyond the smokescreen of 7 WDCs.

Absolutely spot on post especially the part about the 7 championships causing a smokescreen. Behind that smokescreen is a place where winning championships in a 1.5-2 second faster car means something. It’s like...

[Kingshark]

If Max does not win tomorrow and Hamilton does I am predicting excuses for how lucky Lewis is. But it's all good. That's just simply what the modern F1 fan is all about.

Winning tomorrow is exactly what Lewis should be doing based on the car advantage Mercedes have around here.

[holeindalip]

Ridiculous, driver of the season right now is Verstappen by a mile with Norris second. Hamilton has been unimpressive

Absolutely, Max actually has 8 race wins compared to hams 4 if you include the sprint race.

That, along with all the misfortune on Max's part, while Lewis has returned to the usual "error prone under pressure" driver that he has always been. That fact was shrouded by the dominant cars. Max is fighting for the championship for the first time and has been immaculate. A 23 year old man handling the pressure of expectations at home in zandvoort showed the progress Max has made as a driver. Yet, some people can't see beyond the smokescreen of 7 WDCs.

What pressures racing at home, these guys have been racing for years and when the visor goes down block all of that out. Which is why they are professionals,every single one of them….some more than others but you get the point.

[Hoffman900]

This place is literally the Groundhogs Day movie. The same thing and the same people, saying the same stuff, over and over and over again.

[Mr.S]

7 years of absolutely dominant car/team does that to the people. And Lewis is making a lot of mistakes this year. Give them a break, i actually can understand them.

Dont be so easily insulted. Tommorow will be an interesting race and Lewis has quite a big chance to win it, especially since Mercedes is the fastest car in Italy.

I'm sorry but I don't give a crap if it was 50 years worth of Merc dominance. The amount of petulance on this forum is unacceptable period, end of story. What is ridiculous is even if someone says something to the moderation staff nothing seems to happen unless race, religion, or politics is pulled into the childish ranting of a few select individuals on the forum.

I was giving my opinion that it is good to see a competitive season rather than 7 years of domination.

I am happy to see a driver winning on the back of a 1s faster car finally getting challenged by a younger much more capable currently & deserving guy. He is a good driver though whom I respect.

Now you can agree or disagree, I don't care. I gave my opinion !

[Mr.S]

Almost all the guys complaining about the sprint are Mercedes fanboys. I like the sprint as long as it is not overdone. It adds variety. Overtaking is possible & there were overtaking. LH just was behind Mclaren which had a Mercedes PU & on the straights has been a monster. The differential just was not there. Perez on Gio was too late, the tyres ran for 10-12 laps

Maybe than can chose Baku or Russia or Spa where overtaking is even more easier. But I don't mind sprint for 2-3 times a season - It adds variety. If you are complaining about lack of overtaking in a sprint -What about the race? So should the race be scrapped because everyone is following everyone. What about Monaco? LH was complaining about Monaco when he lost & did poorly.

Starts are a part of the game. The best drivers including MSC were brilliant in starts. You should be able to perform there. Another thing is I would want FP1 & FP2 on a Friday to sort out the car pace, setup, long runs etc. And then FP3 should be qualifying & then Sprint on a Saturday !

[darkpino]

Funny how a little slow start of the grid is being psycho analyzed. Now Hamilton is afraid of Max.
And he is mistake prone, yet no one took note how he navigated the the straight and into first corner without crashing like Gasly. That poor start could have resulted in even worse result; but damage limitation and caution was used to avoid a norris crash and gasly squeeze.

If Max does not win tomorrow and Hamilton does I am predicting excuses for how lucky Lewis is. But it's all good. That's just simply what the modern F1 fan is all about.
Anyway for tomorrow's race,I predict a poor start for one of the Mclarens. Max to be tapped into turn 1 by a Mclaren.

I agree on all of the first alinea, although if the bold part indeed happens than again Lewis is indeed lucky.

Other than that I can’t believe so many people think Max will just run away with the race win tomorrow. An unlucky safety car, or a safety car after the first pit stops (where I think Lewis will overtake the McLarens if he not did before) or even a red flag will open up the race totally. And that’s only two scenario’s. I’m sure there are like another 3 at least.

Edit: it’s btw a bit odd Lewis made this mistake on this track. Whole season it’s not really clear which car is the best for given circuit as Lewis and Max are awfully close. This is the first track this season (I think?) where Mercedes is clearly dominating and yet Lewis drops the ball.

In my opinion this is the perfect season for RBR/Max to take the WDC and WCC. It’s clear that Mercedes are not on top of their car after the rule changes, it’s clear that Lewis and Mercedes are not having the best relationship (anyone remembering the late contract announcement?) and now with Bottas being released it gives the perfect storm in the team where Bottas doesn’t have to be the team player he has been for the last 4 years.
It doesn’t get better than this, and it’s easy to see thinking about these things going on that the once-been military operation Mercedes was is stumbling. But I’m sure they will return, if not next year then by 2023 again

[aral]

Any chance of getting back on topic an away from all this fanboy stuff? Please stay on topic. A number of off-topic posts have been binned