New to F1? No a veteran, since 1986. Please don't give me that bullshit. Albon finished the race well ahead of Sainz. Sainz barely squeezed by in 10th. Albon had a PODIUM ROBBED FROM HIM. DID YOU FORGET THAT?Ground Effect wrote: ↑01 Dec 2019, 21:08“Sainz got super lucky” new to F1? It’s a 21 race calendar, not 2. If Gasly couldn’t lockdown 6th in the Championship after 12 races in a Red Bull, then he doesn’t deserve it. Albon had 9 races in a Red Bull, more than enough as well, considering Sainz scored zero points in the first 3 races after the summer break.ispano6 wrote: ↑01 Dec 2019, 20:54Sainz got super lucky with Stroll taking out Gasly, and Albon should have been clear of Sainz by plenty if it weren't for Hamilton taking him out in Brazil.Darth-Piekus wrote: ↑01 Dec 2019, 20:34The Sleeping Giant is slowly starting to wake. Secured 4th Place with almost 50 points from the 5th team and Carlos beat both Albon that had a superior car and Gasly for the 6th place. Now let's see if the new aerodynamic team is a team of wizards as they say. Let's see how fast can we close that gap.
Don’t get me wrong, Albon is a great prospect, bright future ahead. But where exactly was he before he got strapped into the Red Bull? He wasn’t beating Lando, he wasn’t even beating his team mate! If they had swapped Carlos into the Red Bull from Spa, I’m pretty sure he would end every race he finished well ahead of the midfield cars.ispano6 wrote: ↑01 Dec 2019, 21:16New to F1? No a veteran, since 1986. Please don't give me that bullshit. Albon finished the race well ahead of Sainz. Sainz barely squeezed by in 10th. Albon had a PODIUM ROBBED FROM HIM. DID YOU FORGET THAT?Ground Effect wrote: ↑01 Dec 2019, 21:08“Sainz got super lucky” new to F1? It’s a 21 race calendar, not 2. If Gasly couldn’t lockdown 6th in the Championship after 12 races in a Red Bull, then he doesn’t deserve it. Albon had 9 races in a Red Bull, more than enough as well, considering Sainz scored zero points in the first 3 races after the summer break.
I really feel sorry for these people. Honda is 21st in the all time standings for most wins as a team, and 6th as an engine supplier. I get it that some people favor the underdog, but please do that in the Honda threads._cerber1 wrote:ispano6 is an aggressive Honda fan, he is very offended by McLaren, he displays all the achievements of the team in black. Just ignore him.
Second thatMcL-H wrote:Let’s keep a positive atmosphere. We secured 4th in the WCC by a mile. Sainz finished 6th and got the team their first trophy since 2014. How? I honestly don’t care. All I care about is that this was the first season in 6-7 years that I could truly enjoy as a McLaren fan. And by looking at this thread all year, many of us enjoyed watching the team progress forward after many rough years!
It's even more sad...a veteran saying things like that.ispano6 wrote: ↑01 Dec 2019, 21:16New to F1? No a veteran, since 1986. Please don't give me that bullshit. Albon finished the race well ahead of Sainz. Sainz barely squeezed by in 10th. Albon had a PODIUM ROBBED FROM HIM. DID YOU FORGET THAT?Ground Effect wrote: ↑01 Dec 2019, 21:08“Sainz got super lucky” new to F1? It’s a 21 race calendar, not 2. If Gasly couldn’t lockdown 6th in the Championship after 12 races in a Red Bull, then he doesn’t deserve it. Albon had 9 races in a Red Bull, more than enough as well, considering Sainz scored zero points in the first 3 races after the summer break.
It's a 21 race season and the table reflects every result, so it's not what I'd call lucky, by any stretch of the imagination. He and the team did well. Obviously if Gasly had stayed in the Red Bull for the full season it might be different, but they changed and it worked out well for us. It's hard work, not luck.ispano6 wrote: ↑01 Dec 2019, 21:16New to F1? No a veteran, since 1986. Please don't give me that bullshit. Albon finished the race well ahead of Sainz. Sainz barely squeezed by in 10th. Albon had a PODIUM ROBBED FROM HIM. DID YOU FORGET THAT?Ground Effect wrote: ↑01 Dec 2019, 21:08“Sainz got super lucky” new to F1? It’s a 21 race calendar, not 2. If Gasly couldn’t lockdown 6th in the Championship after 12 races in a Red Bull, then he doesn’t deserve it. Albon had 9 races in a Red Bull, more than enough as well, considering Sainz scored zero points in the first 3 races after the summer break.
Let's not talk shiit.... we all know what is meant by lucky in both cases. Aka if it wasn't for a double red retirement, nobody would have been there. So lucky from that perspective. Earned from you have to be there to pickup the spoils..ispano6 wrote: ↑01 Dec 2019, 21:16New to F1? No a veteran, since 1986. Please don't give me that bullshit. Albon finished the race well ahead of Sainz. Sainz barely squeezed by in 10th. Albon had a PODIUM ROBBED FROM HIM. DID YOU FORGET THAT?Ground Effect wrote: ↑01 Dec 2019, 21:08“Sainz got super lucky” new to F1? It’s a 21 race calendar, not 2. If Gasly couldn’t lockdown 6th in the Championship after 12 races in a Red Bull, then he doesn’t deserve it. Albon had 9 races in a Red Bull, more than enough as well, considering Sainz scored zero points in the first 3 races after the summer break.
This whole thing reminds me when Mclaren got Mercedes Engines for the first time in 1995. They were like 4th two years in a row then in 1997 they were 4th but got some victories and then bam 1998 and total dominance after building the last 3 seasons their team getting Andrian Newey from Williams and some other great names. The situation is now similar. Last year they didn't do much but they started rebuilding the team which continued this year. I believe next year they will challenge for podiums and that also might include some race wins if they keep progressing like this.Xero wrote: ↑02 Dec 2019, 00:49I guess now is as good a time as any to reflect on the season as a whole.
Before the season started I think we all hoped (and expected) decent progress to be made. Finishing 4th in the constructors seemed like a realistic target, with Renault's 122 points from 2018 setting a good benchmark to reach. Minus a minority expecting too much too quick, it felt like that would be good step towards the front.
With pre-season suggesting it would be a challenge due to the single lap pace Haas showed, the race stints looked decent. Despite the vast majority of the media ignoring that data, and with some even pinning them to be 2nd last, it was clear we were in the mix of it.
Despite a difficult opening Australian GP the team bounced back at Bahrain with some genuine pace. We had some horrible luck with retirements, and more difficulties at the Chinese GP highlighting the cars weaknesses. But again we bounced back at Baku, showing just how efficient the aero package had become, giving the team an excellent result, and one that would pave the way for the start of the European season. They began to get on top of the the cars front end issues, and up until the break strung together a fantastic run of results. A couple of forgettable races at Spa and Monza after the break were quickly put behind us at Russia and Japan with some real exciting pace that allowed us to mix it with the boys at the front, however brief it was. The team were rewarded for their efforts with an unthinkable podium finish, the cherry on top of a wonderful season.
So they've ended the season with 145 points, landing them 4th in the constructors, 6th in the drivers with Carlos, and a trophy to boot. Could not be any happier with the season as a whole, and it certainly exceeded all my expectations! It's been such a pleasure to see the team grow with an incredible chemistry that will undoubtedly breed hunger, drive and success moving forward. Full credit to Zak for making the changes needed, it's obvious to see they're working, and in Seidl we have a top man steering the ship.
So what do we think for next season? There's still a fairly large gap to the front guys, and I think it's fair to say we haven't cleared the midfield yet. I guess the natural step would be to fall somewhere in that gap, and perhaps pick up a couple of podiums next year when the chances arrive? If we're consistently ahead of the midfield in that gap we should smash past the 200 point barrier, so perhaps that's a sensible target. At certain races where it suits the car (whatever that may be) perhaps mix it with the front runners more often and get them looking over their shoulder? I guess that's my hope for next season, to have the front 3 say "we need to keep one eye on the McLarens."