Formula One

[C8RKH]

Oh dear Mercedes. FFS...   Oh well, no one can say this race was boring lol

[pete]

Funny they never cock up when Hamilton driving. In fact Hamilton would probably have refused to come in.

[C8RKH]

Gutted for Russell but cannot complain re Perez. Great racer. Great guy. Well deserved! Hope we still see him in F1 next year

[EldonZ]

Let's just hope that Russell doesn't get a penalty that drops him out of the points. I have to wonder too, if Hamilton would have overruled the stop under the safety car.

[C8RKH]

34 minutes ago, pete said:

Funny they never cock up when Hamilton driving. In fact Hamilton would probably have refused to come in.

2020 - Italian Grand prix - cock-up re pitting and Hamster got a 10 second penalty. That was only 3 months ago.

2019 - German Grand prix - Mercedes called it all wrong

And then twice recently Hamilton has over ruled the team from the cockpit re Pitstops and proven to be correct.

[Redwing]

I feel for poor Russell, Mercedes letting the Keystone Cops lose in the pit lane.

[LotusLeftLotusRight]

Truly embarassing performance by Mercedes pit wall team and not for the first time. From comfortable 1 - 2 to woeful 8 - 9. Who’s going to take the rap for that? Toto Wolff? Notwithstanding the final positions, Bottas’ future at MB must surely be in doubt, contract or no contract. Totally out-raced by someone who hadn’t even sat in the car until a couple of days ago. I hope GR gets another chance in Abu Dhabi. Finally well done Perez. About time his luck held. 

[C8RKH]

12 hours ago, Neal H said:

Russell’s not driven the 2020 W11 before or been in their simulator this year and he doesn’t really fit in the car properly, so all in all, very impressive. Such a short, dull and simple layout though that times were always going to be unusually tight. congratulations to Bottas, he got the job done.

I’ll be amazed if Albon is in the Red Bull next year.

Just checked, he did drive the 2019 car in Abu Dhabi and Bahrain testing where he was fastest. Only a year ago. 

[mg4lotus]

5 hours ago, EldonZ said:

Let's just hope that Russell doesn't get a penalty that drops him out of the points. I have to wonder too, if Hamilton would have overruled the stop under the safety car.

Hopefully the stewards will realise it wasn't Russell's mistake but the team's. Russell didn't gain any advantage from the mistake, in fact he was disadvantaged by it. He only had the wrong tyres on for a short distance  and that was under safety car and as soon as they realised the mistake it was corrected with a change to the correct tyres.

[Andrew C]

I had money on that Mercedes would not let Russell win did not think they would mess up so badly.

 

[mg4lotus]

As for Verstappen, have to say he was a bit unlucky. Would his evading manoeuvre have been the same if the gravel was a different colour from the track?

[C8RKH]

6 hours ago, Andrew C said:

I had money on that Mercedes would not let Russell win did not think they would mess up so badly.

 

Yeah. Total bastards, sticking that nail in his tyre to give him a puncture was the final straw. Without that puncture he would have won 

I'm probably very naive but can't believe the conspiracy theories or give them much credence. Probably because I fook up every day so know how easy it is to do 

Next people will be saying Perez only won as Mercedes A team laid it on for their B team 

[910Esprit]

The world has gone mad with conspiricy theories these days.   The reality was that Russell demonstrated himself to be a winner exactly because he had to deal with a start in an unfamiliar car, safety car, virtual safety car, dispatching an experienced teammate, overtaking, lapping slower cars, technical issues, pit errors and a puncture.  Definitely 'driver of the day' and a geat advert for himself.  

Edited December 7, 2020 by 910Esprit

[Chillidoggy]

George Russell - future world champ. No doubt about that in my mind. What a performance. Watching him and Bottas was like watching Hamilton and Bottas, especially when Russell pulled off that overtake. Astonishing stuff. Max had nowhere to go, bloody shame because his inclusion in the race would have made things even more interesting, although I see LeClerc has a 3 place grid penalty for engineering it all. Horner's reaction was priceless!

All this on what I thought would be a shitty track. Roll on Abu Dhabi, and hopefully Russell will get another shot at it.

[Neal H]

So disappointed for Russell, but equally delighted for Perez, no one deserved an F1 victory more. Another non-performance from Albon in the second fastest car, beaten by two Racing Points, two Renaults and a McLaren. Surely there’s no way back for him now?

While Russell will rightly be devastated by losing the win through no fault of his own, he can console himself with the knowledge that he couldn’t have done a better job and has pretty much guaranteed himself a Mercedes drive from at least 2022.

[geartox]

george ! george ! george ! george ! george ! george ! george !

[Techyd]

I was a little dizzy after 87 laps but what a race!!!  Really pleased for Perez too, I hope he gets the Red Bull seat next year although I'd like to see Albon carry on in F1; he's got some talent for sure, but Red Bull isn't the team for him to shine in.

[C8RKH]

I don't see anywhere for Albon to go if he loses his Red Bull seat. However he has under performed this year for sure.

[pete]

Will red bull want two competitive drivers 

[Neal H]

They need two competitive drivers if they ever want to compete for the world championship. Bottas, for all the grief he gets, is close enough to Hamilton to always pick up big points and wins if anything goes wrong for Hamilton. I think Ferrari have adopted the same approach with hiring Sainz. Red Bull need similar, and Perez does seem ideal. Probably not fast enough to seriously challenge Max, but fast enough to always be in the mix and take points of Mercedes if the cars competitive.

[Chillidoggy]

Will Russell get another shot at it in Abu Dhabi?

[gregs24]

I can't help but think there is more to happen with seat swaps this year. Christian Horner will have certainly given George a ring this week, put him alongside Max and let Albon go to Williams. Toto is in a bit of a spot, he can offer George a contract for 2022 but will that be enough for George at this point, he knows he can win races and so do a lot of other people now. He could play the long game but others have done that and are still waiting. In F1 you take your opportunities when they arise, that applies to drivers and team bosses.

[jep]

G Russ is a Merc employee. He can't go anywhere without Toto allowing.

Red Bull have not signed a non-Red Bull driver ever (if I recall correctly). They inherited Coulthard and Webber. This may change as Albon is poor but it will not be G Russ. 

Justin 

[C8RKH]

Toto can put George in the number 2 car, demote Bottas to reserve driver. But he won't.

Horner speaking to Russell. Now that would be something to really shake things up but actually I think Max would veto it. Max would be happy I think with Perez. He'd be confident he could beat him but also knows he would be an excellent, loyal, wing man for him.

I also believe part of Red Bull's problem is that they need an "older" experienced driver too to help with car feedback and development. When they were winning everything they had Vettel and Webber - huge experience from both drivers. The the experience of Vettel with the fast learning Ricciardo.  Max and Albon - hmmm...  One side of the garage will be too dominant for sure.

 

[LotusLeftLotusRight]

It’s simple really. Russell to Mercedes and Bottas back to Williams. Easy.