2021 Azerbaijan Grand Prix - Baku, June 04 - 06

[marvin78]

@NathanOlder: I did not say anything about a fault. They know that they cover a lot more than a british audience. They COULD do it in another way. For me it is no problem. I am a driver neutral F1 fan. So it does not bother me, if they favor one driver. I mostly don't listen to them. I only wanted to point out the difference here.

[El Scorchio]

Then I suggest the onus is on F1TV/FOM to use their subscriber money to put their own commentary team together rather than piggybacking on someone else's coverage because it's cheaper.

Yes, that's what the pit lane channel is for - but this weekend it was very disappointing. The normal commentators were replaced by Sky TV drones.

Aw well, still beats Dutch' Olav Mol though - who managed to utter something along the lines "So, it was actually Red Bull themselves that asked Charlie Whiting to call a red flag"

I think the main takeaway seems to be that most of us dislike most of the commentators for one reason or another
Personally I don't mind the Sky lot but I really dislike David Coulthard, who some people seem to really like.

To be fair I feel the same way in some other sports as well. Football (soccer for some) commentators and pundits are absolutely appalling these days.

[Artur Craft]

Hamilton's bad luck with having to wait for Gasly has given the race to Max. Perez's "unfortunate" slow stop was perfect for Max. And people moan about Hamilron being lucky.

Bad luck for Hamilton? From time to time, he has a few, isolated, bad luck incidents(like Melbourne 2014, Abu Dhabi 2012 or 2011) but, on the big picture, he has always been massively helped by luck.

The guy has some serious voodoo going his way. It´s insane how lucky he is.

I didn´t watch the race(was watching MotoGP, instead) but heard of what happened and I´m sure Max will not win the title, no matter how good he drives. Hamilton already had 3 pathetic performances this year(Imola, Monaco, Baku. Not to mention the lack of punishment in Bahrain that he got away with) and is still almost tied with Max. This guy can´t lose Max will need some bad luck from Hamilton to counter balance the imense luck LH had yesterday and on Imola. Similar to Sepang 2016 countered the bad luck Rosberg had on Austria where Vettel´s tyre blow out damaged his car and, ultimately, took many points away from Nico on that race.

[aMessageToCharlie]

Bit of a feel good result in the end with Checo scoring his first win for RB. Great performance all weekend from him and redemption from the slow pit stop where he almost got Max.

Hope to see him in the mix more now.

Feel good moment for Vettel as well. Good to see him smile again and hoping to see him bring his A-game more often now. Glad Stroll is ok, too. That was a big one.

Bummer for Max of course losing the win and valuable wdc points for no fault of his own. It KIND OF evened out in the end with Hamilton not scoring as well after almost taking the win, so I think it's an exceptable result for all of us, even if no one wants to see drivers retire from the lead/p2 in the last few laps.

For the sake of the championship, I hope that Mercedes will come back strong - as they always do and we'll see one hell of a championship battle between RB and Merc

[El Scorchio]

Hamilton's bad luck with having to wait for Gasly has given the race to Max. Perez's "unfortunate" slow stop was perfect for Max. And people moan about Hamilron being lucky.

Bad luck for Hamilton? From time to time, he has a few, isolated, bad luck incidents(like Melbourne 2014, Abu Dhabi 2012 or 2011) but, on the big picture, he has always been massively helped by luck.

The guy has some serious voodoo going his way. It´s insane how lucky he is.

I didn´t watch the race(was watching MotoGP, instead) but heard of what happened and I´m sure Max will not win the title, no matter how good he drives. Hamilton already had 3 pathetic performances this year(Imola, Monaco, Baku. Not to mention the lack of punishment in Bahrain that he got away with) and is still almost tied with Max. This guy can´t lose Max will need some bad luck from Hamilton to counter balance the imense luck LH had yesterday and on Imola. Similar to Sepang 2016 countered the bad luck Rosberg had on Austria where Vettel´s tyre blow out damaged his car and, ultimately, took many points away from Nico on that race.

It's all subjective. If you don't like Hamilton then you're bound to pick up on and amplify the things you perceive as lucky and ignore the rest, whereas if you do, then you'll remember the unlucky bits. The truth is undeniably somewhere inbetween. For instance I had it in my young head that Schumacher was the luckiest driver ever at the time he was winning everything, but I'm sure it wasn't actually true. However, what's true of both of them is that they are almost always in perfect position to take advantage of any good fortune and to mitigate any bad fortune by both luck AND design.

Interestingly there was a lot of 'Hamilton is so lucky' on here yesterday when Verstappen crashed, but barely any 'Verstappen is so lucky' when Hamilton had his brake setup issue and went off, when actually they were both equally lucky and unlucky at the end of the day, but the perception on here did not match the reality.

[El Scorchio]

@NathanOlder: I did not say anything about a fault. They know that they cover a lot more than a british audience. They COULD do it in another way. For me it is no problem. I am a driver neutral F1 fan. So it does not bother me, if they favor one driver. I mostly don't listen to them. I only wanted to point out the difference here.

But they are funded by British viewers' Sky subscriptions. Their primary duty is to cater for a British audience that pays their wages and get more British viewers watching to increase their revenue. So of course they say what British people probably want to hear and concentrate on the British drivers. It's basically incidental and happenstance that their commentary is used elsewhere.

As mentioned, you might as well in the same breath moan at Dutch or Italian broadcasters for hardly being neutral. They are doing just the same job as Sky but for different audiences. It's not Sky's fault that most of the world understands English and not Dutch or Italian.

[Juzh]

Hamilton's bad luck with having to wait for Gasly has given the race to Max. Perez's "unfortunate" slow stop was perfect for Max. And people moan about Hamilron being lucky.

Bad luck for Hamilton? From time to time, he has a few, isolated, bad luck incidents(like Melbourne 2014, Abu Dhabi 2012 or 2011) but, on the big picture, he has always been massively helped by luck.

The guy has some serious voodoo going his way. It´s insane how lucky he is.

I didn´t watch the race(was watching MotoGP, instead) but heard of what happened and I´m sure Max will not win the title, no matter how good he drives. Hamilton already had 3 pathetic performances this year(Imola, Monaco, Baku. Not to mention the lack of punishment in Bahrain that he got away with) and is still almost tied with Max. This guy can´t lose Max will need some bad luck from Hamilton to counter balance the imense luck LH had yesterday and on Imola. Similar to Sepang 2016 countered the bad luck Rosberg had on Austria where Vettel´s tyre blow out damaged his car and, ultimately, took many points away from Nico on that race.

Interestingly there was a lot of 'Hamilton is so lucky' on here yesterday when Verstappen crashed, but barely any 'Verstappen is so lucky' when Hamilton had his brake setup issue and went off, when actually they were both equally lucky and unlucky at the end of the day, but the perception on here did not match the reality.

Hamilton's "unlucky" moment was solely down to him making that switch change and that's an indisputable fact. No one else pressed it for him, it was him and him alone. In the end it was a mistake similar to Vettel's off in hockenheim 2018. A tiny error in the wrong place and time that in both cases compounded to maximum punishment possible. Error nonetheless, I aint buying any of that Toto crap how it wasn't a mistake. Might as well say his off in imola also wasn't a mistake because he had to lap traffic at a less than optimal damp part of track.

Verstappen's problem can't possibly be compared in the slightest. He was a passenger with zero control over what happened to him.

[PlatinumZealot]

Hamilton's bad luck with having to wait for Gasly has given the race to Max. Perez's "unfortunate" slow stop was perfect for Max. And people moan about Hamilron being lucky.

Bad luck for Hamilton? From time to time, he has a few, isolated, bad luck incidents(like Melbourne 2014, Abu Dhabi 2012 or 2011) but, on the big picture, he has always been massively helped by luck.

The guy has some serious voodoo going his way. It´s insane how lucky he is.

I didn´t watch the race(was watching MotoGP, instead) but heard of what happened and I´m sure Max will not win the title, no matter how good he drives. Hamilton already had 3 pathetic performances this year(Imola, Monaco, Baku. Not to mention the lack of punishment in Bahrain that he got away with) and is still almost tied with Max. This guy can´t lose Max will need some bad luck from Hamilton to counter balance the imense luck LH had yesterday and on Imola. Similar to Sepang 2016 countered the bad luck Rosberg had on Austria where Vettel´s tyre blow out damaged his car and, ultimately, took many points away from Nico on that race.

Ridiculous notion if you ask me. HAM might be in the talks for "GOAT" but he is not invincible! Max can beat him just as Jenson and Nico - who I consider lesser drivers - did in the past even without bad luck for Hamilton as you say. However IF - and that's a big IF - Hamilton goes onto full song - that is his usual mid-season hammer time, that purple rain (fire?!) - he's going to be insurmountable. IF Max and RedBull however, can steal a sustained march on Lewis and Mercedes early enough to get a good lead before mid-season they can take it home. I am under no illusions that Max cannot win.

I really don't get this defeatist attitude by RedBull supporters. I have been watching F1 long enough to know that when Adrian Newey designs a reliable car that is good on all circuits it results in championship win 99% of the time. Mercedes are good too, but there are clear signs of weakness in the chassis for qualifying, and tyre warm ups.

[marvin78]

@NathanOlder: I did not say anything about a fault. They know that they cover a lot more than a british audience. They COULD do it in another way. For me it is no problem. I am a driver neutral F1 fan. So it does not bother me, if they favor one driver. I mostly don't listen to them. I only wanted to point out the difference here.

But they are funded by British viewers' Sky subscriptions. Their primary duty is to cater for a British audience that pays their wages and get more British viewers watching to increase their revenue. So of course they say what British people probably want to hear and concentrate on the British drivers. It's basically incidental and happenstance that their commentary is used elsewhere.

As mentioned, you might as well in the same breath moan at Dutch or Italian broadcasters for hardly being neutral. They are doing just the same job as Sky but for different audiences. It's not Sky's fault that most of the world understands English and not Dutch or Italian.

As I said, I don't moan. I actually don't even care. I only care about the difference, which is there. Do you even read the text or are there just trigger words for you?

[PlatinumZealot]

Hamilton's "unlucky" moment was solely down to him making that switch change and that's an indisputable fact. No one else pressed it for him, it was him and him alone. In the end it was a mistake similar to Vettel's off in hockenheim 2018. A tiny error in the wrong place and time that in both cases compounded to maximum punishment possible. Error nonetheless, I aint buying any of that Toto crap how it wasn't a mistake. Might as well say his off in imola also wasn't a mistake because he had to lap traffic at a less than optimal damp part of track.

Verstappen's problem can't possibly be compared in the slightest. He was a passenger with zero control over what happened to him.

Juzh, i know you aren't addressing me, but you know what, I am not one of those Hamilton supporters that pretend he's faultless. Because anyone watching Lewis closely since the early days knows he is prone to a few brain-farts here and there. That's part of the fun of watching this pilot. The big difference as I always say, is that Lewis has afforded to make mistakes and still get away with it. He still somehow gets those inspired drives that bring him back into the fight later in the season. His rivals on the other hand, usually CANNOT afford to make the same number or size of mistakes as he does without going severely punished for them. Call it luck or whatever, it's just what I observe. Max MUST make less mistakes than Lewis if he wants to win.

[El Scorchio]

Bad luck for Hamilton? From time to time, he has a few, isolated, bad luck incidents(like Melbourne 2014, Abu Dhabi 2012 or 2011) but, on the big picture, he has always been massively helped by luck.

The guy has some serious voodoo going his way. It´s insane how lucky he is.

I didn´t watch the race(was watching MotoGP, instead) but heard of what happened and I´m sure Max will not win the title, no matter how good he drives. Hamilton already had 3 pathetic performances this year(Imola, Monaco, Baku. Not to mention the lack of punishment in Bahrain that he got away with) and is still almost tied with Max. This guy can´t lose Max will need some bad luck from Hamilton to counter balance the imense luck LH had yesterday and on Imola. Similar to Sepang 2016 countered the bad luck Rosberg had on Austria where Vettel´s tyre blow out damaged his car and, ultimately, took many points away from Nico on that race.

Interestingly there was a lot of 'Hamilton is so lucky' on here yesterday when Verstappen crashed, but barely any 'Verstappen is so lucky' when Hamilton had his brake setup issue and went off, when actually they were both equally lucky and unlucky at the end of the day, but the perception on here did not match the reality.

Hamilton's "unlucky" moment was solely down to him making that switch change and that's an indisputable fact. No one else pressed it for him, it was him and him alone. In the end it was a mistake similar to Vettel's off in hockenheim 2018. A tiny error in the wrong place and time that in both cases compounded to maximum punishment possible. Error nonetheless, I aint buying any of that Toto crap how it wasn't a mistake. Might as well say his off in imola also wasn't a mistake because he had to lap traffic at a less than optimal damp part of track.

Verstappen's problem can't possibly be compared in the slightest. He was a passenger with zero control over what happened to him.

I would agree they are indeed slightly different things, but it was of course a complete accident Hamilton hit that switch rather than anything he did on consciously, after having correctly turned it off as confirmed by the engineers.

Fair play to disagree but both for me still fall under the bad luck/freak happening category.

[El Scorchio]

@NathanOlder: I did not say anything about a fault. They know that they cover a lot more than a british audience. They COULD do it in another way. For me it is no problem. I am a driver neutral F1 fan. So it does not bother me, if they favor one driver. I mostly don't listen to them. I only wanted to point out the difference here.

But they are funded by British viewers' Sky subscriptions. Their primary duty is to cater for a British audience that pays their wages and get more British viewers watching to increase their revenue. So of course they say what British people probably want to hear and concentrate on the British drivers. It's basically incidental and happenstance that their commentary is used elsewhere.

As mentioned, you might as well in the same breath moan at Dutch or Italian broadcasters for hardly being neutral. They are doing just the same job as Sky but for different audiences. It's not Sky's fault that most of the world understands English and not Dutch or Italian.

As I said, I don't moan. I actually don't even care. I only care about the difference, which is there. Do you even read the text or are there just trigger words for you?

Yes I did, because you said 'They know that they cover a lot more than a british audience. They COULD do it in another way.' and I made the point that don't feel they should have to do things in a different way or adapt things, just because other people also receive their coverage second hand.

By that logic, the Italians shouldn't at all talk more about Ferrari, just in case there's a load of Italian speaking non nationals listening somewhere.

[RZS10]

It's truly fascinating how people convince themselves of certain things and choose to believe whether the information given out by teams/drivers is true or not depending on who the team/driver are ...

[TNTHead]

Aw well, still beats Dutch' Olav Mol though - who managed to utter something along the lines "So, it was actually Red Bull themselves that asked Charlie Whiting to call a red flag"

Olav Mol...a nice guy, but way off too many times. Also his simplistic and rough talking...quite annoying to me.

In that regard Sky is not that bad...

For the dutch Allard Kalff and Kees van der Grint are the best you can get (YT channel RTL Slipstream), along with Giedo van der Garden. But that's all after the race.

[sosic2121]

Who got the fastest lap?
Why Lewis finished the race, considering he was last. I'm asking because of gearbox. Is his gearbox due for replacement anyway?