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Formula 1 Season 2019 |OT| Sons of Liberty (Media)

Makariel

Member
r/formuladank is overflowing with Bottas and Bottas-related memes at the moment.

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But also other teams and drivers get their share:

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Makariel

Member
We all saw Ferrari surprisingly slow, but I didn't expect that:

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Even Stroll in the Racing. was lapping faster than Vettel! The Honda-powered cars all looking rather well on this table, the Renault-powered, not so much. Fastest Renault being the Hulk in 12th.

Also, Williams...

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Yagami_Sama

Member
I missed the race, just had the time and chance to watch it now. And I must say that I am surprised with Bottas for winning this. I really thought that Hamilton would cruise to the end, but Bottas dominated. And man, Ricciardo still on his bad luck stream, last year he had several problems with the car, and started the season with issue; I think that he was too confident with that maneuver, but poor guy.

And i did not understand the damage Hamilton's mercedes had. A lot of people is saying that the floor of his car was damaged, for that reason, Bottar was so superior, but I failed to see that during the race.

Good for Redbull to end on P3, ahead of both Ferraris, at least this showed that Honda fixed most of their issues, and that, or a good car may help hide some issue...

Horrible for Sainz, be the first to DNF, and Norris performance also showed that McLaren is still in trouble, and if keep like that will be no match for Alpha Romeo.

And I must say that, when LeClerc was close to Vettel, I thought that te new kid would overtake him, and the drama on Ferrari would reach a new level. But I guess that the team controlled LeClerc and said to him to calm down.
 

xrnzaaas

Member
I'm very happy for Charles, I didn't imagine he'd get his first pole so soon. It would be awesome if he won tomorrow. :)

Gasly and Renault probably the biggest disappointments (I wasn't hoping for a Williams miracle ;)).
 

Makariel

Member
Leclerc is the 99th polesitter in the 999th grand prix!

The run to turn 1 tomorrow will be something else...

Also: McLaren are looking stronger again, while Renault was looking a bit poor. Haas still strong contender for best of the rest.

And Gasly out in Q2...

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At least he won't be stuck behind Kvyat this time. Unless Kvyat manages the undercut :p
 

Mohonky

Member
As said, dont read too much into the times in Australia. Ferrari definitely look like they might again have the better package for most tracks.

Also Gasly will be demoted by the end of this season at the current rate and hearing how choked up he was after qualifying he knows it. The Torro Rosso pairing are beating him up and he's not even remotely close to Verstappen.
 
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hariseldon

Unconfirmed Member
Gasly is ghastly. Tbh the red bull production line appears to be broken.
 
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hariseldon

Unconfirmed Member
Excellent race, very impressive drive from Leclerc, so unlucky not to get the win.

Riccardo has backed the wrong horse it seems, though I think staying at Red Bull risked him becoming Webber mk 2, his options were limited. It seems other teams didn't rate him.

I wonder what Vettel is thinking, having been outclassed in the first two races by his rookie teammate. History repeating itself...
 
Very emotional stuff with Leclerc there. Dude should have a tremendous career, such a clean and impressive race. Him and Max having equally good cars racing into the sunset should be a fantastic future for F1. Great stuff.

Now my man Seb needs to get his head out of his ass pronto. Dude looks washed up out there. Too slow, stupid mistakes, not enough anything. He is getting outclassed by everyone.

I'm half italian so yeah I'll always be sad when Ferrari doesn't win. But what Mercedes has been doing this past half decade is downright Rise of the Machines stuff. Hopefully this season isn't over at the halfway point. Again.
 

xrnzaaas

Member
Poor Charles, to lose your first win not from your mistake must really hurt. I hope he won't have to wait long for another opportunity this season.
 

Makariel

Member
Leclerc showed there is a bright future, today he looked much more in control than his 4 time world champion team mate.

Great battles between Ferrari and Mercedes and between team mates. Good stuff! After Australia this looked much more like it.

Mercedes show how reliability can win races. McLaren looked promising, but they still have Renault engines. Red bull having ditched them are still losing podium places thanks to the Renault engine :p both works Renault failing in the same corner just before the end... I would be not be surprised if heads would start rolling in Paris before the halfway point of the season.

Red bull had a second car I think? Not been noticing Gasly, except when he struggled to get past the sister team.
 

Fox Mulder

Member
Couldn't watch the race but bummed for Leclerc. He should have plenty of chances though.

Really hope it's not just another Merc season after all the hype.
 

Breakage

Member
Caused by tyre vibration which was caused by wrecking his tyres in the spin. Bad luck yes, but he didn't help himself.
I thought the spin happened after he lost the wing – at least that's how it was shown on the highlights I was just watching. Perhaps they got the footage the wrong way round.
 

Mohonky

Member
This weeks GP;

Merc - Lucky. I mean no other way to put it to get that 1-2. Hamilton drove well, I really thought they cocked up when they put the Softs on at the first pitstop, they just weren't any faster than the Medium and degrading quickly. When I saw the Mediums go on and the speed Hamilton had I was thinking oh boy second place possible? Yeop. Just plain drove around the outside of Vettel. That's why I am a Hamilton fan, he is just supreme wheel to wheel and doesn't do stupid shit when he realises it's not worth the risk. I mean I loved the guy from his first race back in 07, he was wicked fast then but lacked composure (as all young drivers do at times). But the guy is just a machine these days, anyone who argues his success is all down to a dominant car is deluded. Obviously very lucky (or #blessed) to take home the victory, but I'll take it.

Bottas still maintaining his balls but kind of nowhere in the end of the race. Apparently he had a bag hanging out on his wing slowing him down, certainly saw a few of them during the race just blowing their way across the track.

Ferrari - Have to wonder if the MGU-H issue was something Ferrari were aware of in Australia and were controlling, certainly been rumours that Ferrari maybe have overdone it sucking the car in with those small cooling pods. They were undoubtedly the car to have in Bahrain on pace and I didn't take Mercs pace for granted even after Australia, there was always the feeling Ferrari had either stuffed something up in setup or something else was going on. So long as Leclercs issue was an isolated one, like last year they look like they could be the fastest, if not most consistent well rounded package. We'll see what happens.

Speaking of Leclerc, he really had this one in the bag. Mercedes had absolutely no answer for his pace. Feel for the guy but unfortunately it happens. Not the first driver to drop out of a race win through no fault of his own. The only bit of saving grace coming in the form of the Safety Car finish which kept him on the podium at the very least.

Vettel also had no answer for Leclerc and again, Hamilton just piling on the pressure had Vettel turn himself around. If Vettel is to get a 5th title, it's clear he doesn't have just Hamilton to worry about. This is where it gets tricky for Vettel, he's the old dog now and he has a team mate who everyone is expecting big things from, Vettel could be about to find out what it's like being on the other foot with a Golden Child about.

Redbull - Business as usual for Verstappen. Too fast for anyone behind him, not quite fast enough to challenge the Merc or Ferrari but certainly close enough to be an annoyance. Still always exciting to see when a back marker tries to unlap themselves, always heart in your chest moments those. Horner will probably age 30yrs in the time he oversees Verstappen.

Gasly nowhere still. Yeh he's saying the RB is a bit tricky right now, but Verstappen is in the same car saying the same thing and it's like they are in two totally different teams in terms of pace. He's going to (if he isn't already) start getting concerned about his seat if it doesn't improve, it's not like RB don't have a history of dropping drivers mid season and demoralising them.....

Renault - Ricciardo all over the shop, that bump with Hulk, his lack of pace in general....not really proving to be quite the steal Renault would have hoped. Meanwhile Hulk performed brilliantly, easily best of the rest and showing Renault do have some excellent race pace

…...till both cars died in the ass at exactly the same time and place. How is that even possible? Did the team accidently hit the killswitch back at the factory? Renault ensuring RB are happy with that Honda deal already.

McLaren - back in the fight! Saintz had a good qualy and could have been on for a good race if it weren't for his tussle with Verstappen (first rule of Fight Club, you don't fight Verstappen). Norris though, performing like a trooper. McLaren did well to have him in the seat.

Racing Point - Dunno that there was much to say outside of Strolls fancy firework display on the opening lap. Not looking that to strong and going backward compared with when they were Force India.

Alfa Romeo - Giavonaci continues to be more or less a bit shit. Raikkonen pulling an Alonso a bit here I think, sticking that car more or less in places it may not ordinarily belong, they might have lucked out in getting Raikkonen even if we've been asking for years now why Raikkonen is still racing.

Torro Rosso - Still a decent pace, Kyvat still performing on his return, kids got a strong will and Albon being very impressive too. Place your bets on which one will make their way into Gaslys seat by the end of the year.

Williams - Who cares.

Haas - I always forget these guys and girls exist for some reason, probably because K.Mag just sort of goes about his business doing well, not remarkable or unremarkable, just....well and Grosjean exists in the same way Williams does; they're their, but do you give a shit? No.
 
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hariseldon

Unconfirmed Member
I thought the spin happened after he lost the wing – at least that's how it was shown on the highlights I was just watching. Perhaps they got the footage the wrong way round.

He spun when he was fighting with Hamilton. The wing came off a minute or two later.
 

xrnzaaas

Member
Renault - Ricciardo all over the shop, that bump with Hulk, his lack of pace in general....not really proving to be quite the steal Renault would have hoped. Meanwhile Hulk performed brilliantly, easily best of the rest and showing Renault do have some excellent race pace

…...till both cars died in the ass at exactly the same time and place. How is that even possible? Did the team accidently hit the killswitch back at the factory? Renault ensuring RB are happy with that Honda deal already.

yep, looks that way ;)

 

TTOOLL

Member
I'll tell you something, I would love to enjoy F1 again. I tried and tried but couldn't get into it again.

I'm from Brazil so Senna got me into the sport, I was 9 when he died. After that I kept watching but my interest started to decline together with the lack of talented Brazilian drivers.

Anyway, I'll try again this year, let's see if I can watch an entire race. Already missed the first 2 races...
 

Yagami_Sama

Member
I missed the race again, due to my weird working shifts, so I was avoiding spoilers until I have the chance to watch the race. And that was a good race, full of actions and drama.

Leclerc was so unlucky, but he need to get used to that kind of things, car failures is a possibility in any and every race. I remember one race in which Hakkinen was winning the race, after a long drought for McLaren and his car "died" on the last corner. He just need to understand that and don't be affected by that and if he keep having good races like that, it just a matter of time to win a race, since Ferrari is looking to have a good car.

Vettel is feeling the pressure, dude is very unstable and committing a lot of mistakes, nowadays his team mate is far superior than him and I will not be surprised if Vettel have the same futures as Alonso. Probably if Ferrari fire him, he will quit F1, he was already saying something about quitting if the rules was not good for him or something like that.

Mercedes need to improve their strategies, because on the last two races, their strategy for Hamilton was not good, if it was not for the issues on Leclerc car, it would be another failure for them.

Both Renault dying on the same lap was bizarre, and shows that they have a lot of things to take of. And Ricciardo had another tough race, hitting their team mate is never a good thing to do. Maybe he is feeling the pressure too, maybe he was too spoiled on the RBR cars "quality" and Renault is making him work harder than he used to.

And for McLaren I am pretty happy from them. Looks like the car is not that bad and maybe they score a podium this year. I think Sainz is overdoing things, if he was more patient might have overtook Verstappen without issues, two races two DNF, is not a good start for him, while Norris is doing very well, P6 was a great result.

I really hope that McLaren keep on improving, and if they keep like that, and score a podium, and if Norris got a podium, on the next race, Alonso is back replacing Sainz. XD
 

Yagami_Sama

Member
I was not expecting Bottas be on pole position. Dude is pushing very hard in order to make a name for himself and get rid of the image of wingman.
 

Makariel

Member
Bottas v2.0 is back again. My hope for this season is a new world champion, be it Bottas, Leclerc or Verstappen.
 

Makariel

Member
Albon and Kimi were driving great today, Albon deservedly got driver of the day, from the pit lane into the point, respect!

The return of the torpedo, but the drive through was a bit harsh, a five sec stop go would have been plenty and I don't think the mclaren were entirety without fault there. I think it was sainz who was essentially off track that corner and just cut back with little regard for the torpedo. Clearly Ericsson hit them (scnr). Haas good in quali but again no race pace. Renault another dnf but at least 50% of Renault powered cars made it to the finish today.

Where was Gasly? Even after his stop max was a few seconds clear of him. He got fastest lap but that was more of a joke.

Ferrari did what ferrari does, tried to maximise the team result. Didn't quite work out, in the end leclerc simply didn't have the pace to catch up with max.

Mercedes... More dominant than ever, but still pretending in interviews that the ferrari would be sooooo fast lol. It's alright guys, really time to drop the act after the third 1-2 in a row.
 

xrnzaaas

Member
What a boring race (except for the torpedo moment and Alex's comeback). Also the celebrations for the 1000th GP were really low-key. I feel like they would've been much much bigger if we had a European circuit or even Abu Dhabi as the 1000th race.
 
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Breakage

Member
I haven't watched the race, but I had a feeling that Bottas' joy would be short lived.
All this pre-race “Ferrari has the better car” stuff is hilarious.
 

Mohonky

Member
Still at work, but just got done finishing watching the race. Even when Bottas has the edge in Pole, Hamilton just has the race pace, same as when Nico was there. Hamilton can and does go off for periods of a season, but for the most part, he just always seems to somehow have things covered. It might have been a case of him cruising around in China but really Bottas should have been hurrying up more goong off FP and Qualy pace but he never even looked like troubling Hamilton after that first corner.

Kyvat penalty seemed a little shitty to me. He got a bit of over steer on the first lap while Norris was squeezing Sainz between the pair of them. I would of put that down as a racing incident.

Gasly putting the Redbull up there, but man he is so far off Verstappen. I dont like Verstappen, but will admit hes a damn fast driver, but Gasly is just way too far off his team mates pace for there not to be a question mark there.

Albon still impressing, another good drove from him.

Renault...get your shit together.

Ferrari strategy calls.....Leclerc is far to good to be getting so screwed over by leaving him out to be a moving obstacle. Bahrain was a big showing of how good he is compared to Vettel, he is at the very least right on Vettels heels and he knows he can take it to him, 3 races in and we're already hearing the question marks about strategy and order calls. He seems like he might be too nice a guy to get properly pissed, but I reckon its going to happen at some point.
 

Yagami_Sama

Member
It was not a good race, but was not that bad either. I must say that I very disappointed with McLaren performance, this race could have exposed or show the weakness on their car. And man, that incident with both McLaren was bad, two cars of the same team colliding is bad, I think that Kvyat did not deserved that penalty, for me Sainz was the one which started everything, but what do I know.

Ferrari will have a tough season, Leclerc is not willing to obey orders, and Vettel is no willing to be the second driver, man if they hit each other in one race, the drama will reach new heights.
 

xrnzaaas

Member
Yep, friday delivered, saturday is delivering. Shame about Robert and Charles, those repairs (especially on Kubica's car) are going to be expensive. And who knows, with Williams part shortage Robert may even have to skip tomorrow's race.
 

Airbus Jr

Litigate my emotions, daddy!
Mercedes gona win 1-2 every race this is getting boring theyre just too fast compared to the other car
 
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Fox Mulder

Member
Perhaps you missed the part where Ferrari would have beat them handily had LeClerc not found the wall and they had to start later in the evening.....

Ferrari just always has issues or failures every year. It's inevitable. Mercedes is strong and rarely fucks up. They love playing the under dog in the media this year saying how great Ferrari is while they still got 1-2 every race so far.
 

xrnzaaas

Member
I wonder if Renault is more pissed at their car's performance or spending all that money on Ricciardo. How could he not see Kvyat in his mirrors?
 
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Mohonky

Member
I wonder if Renault is more pissed at their car's performance or spending all that money on Ricciardo. How could he not see Kvyat in his mirrors?

I wouldnt even know at this point, Ricciardo has been terrible so far this year and even toward the end with Redbull it was showing but this year is a whole new level of shocking.

Though Renault in general have just been woeful.

Was nail biting watching Ham chase Bottas at the end, a mistake and a lapped car giving Bottas DRS signalled the end of the challenge 2 laps from the end but I really thought Hamilton might just get there. Frustrating end after that.

Otherwise this was pretty uneventful as far as Baku goes, not a lot happening, LeClerc fast till the Soft went on, Verstappen mostly running around with noone to race, Renault just being shit all round, thought Ricciardo might be on the up, but nope, makes a mistake and then just flat out reverses into Kyvat, what a joke.

The only major highlight being the commentators taking the piss out of the Renault balloons, otherwise the only other shock was Vettel and Ferrari in general just not having the pace to match Merc.
 

Airbus Jr

Litigate my emotions, daddy!
This season is worse than Schumacher 2000-2004 era

Get ready Mercedes will win 1-2 podium all the remaining races
 

Redneckerz

Those long posts don't cover that red neck boy
I wonder if Renault is more pissed at their car's performance or spending all that money on Ricciardo. How could he not see Kvyat in his mirrors?
Dutch commentary revealed that Cyril said that the car will be back for the top end next race.

One minute later the Ricciardo thing happens.

Having seen parts of Driven to Survive, based on that, i wouldn't believe Cyril's words and the guy comes across as a fool when playing his own game.

It sucks that Ricciardo wanted to make a big jump, and (as of now) is rather in the doghouse with the car. Not what he wanted, i can imagine.

Verstappen and Leclerc did ace on the yellow's though. The red tyre was pretty much useless in terms of pace except for one lap, which LeClerc used to his advantage in the end.

Overall, this was Baku 2016 all over again: Profoundly boring. 2017 and 2018 were real bangers, but this circuit is very much a hit or a miss kind of track. Sadly, this year it was mostly a miss, in terms of racing.
 

Airbus Jr

Litigate my emotions, daddy!
Nah, Ferrari and Redbull will get wins this year. There's still 17 races left.

I dont see Ferrari or Red Bull chalenging Mercedes this time they seems to be leagues ahead

The only car that can beat Mercedes this year is another Mercedes car (Hamilton vs Bottas)
 
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Ellery

Member
I dont see Ferrari or Red Bull chalenging Mercedes this time they seems to be leagues ahead

The only car that can beat Mercedes this year is another Mercedes car (Hamilton vs Bottas)

Things can often look distorted when you don't start on P1+P2

I am certain Charles will get a win or two this year when he starts on pole and doesn't get hit by bad luck.

But I agree that Mercedes looks extremely strong. They seem to be the most reliable and fastest cars.

Atleast Bottas is strong this year and I hope he can keep it up
 

Yagami_Sama

Member
The race was okay. Nothing to write home about, besides Ricciardo's clumsy move of hitting Kvyat, Man that was dumb and I think that Ricciardo is starting to feel the pressure or was too spoiled with a great car, and now on a average one is struggling to adept.

I think that Hamilton was too friendly on the first corner, I think that he could have gone wilder and let Bottas to deal with it, but maybe he thought on the team 1-2 , and if he had done that, Bottas could have lost the second place.

Apart from that it was a good race for Mclaren, Sainz finally completed a race and ahead o Norris, I still did not understand, why he wen to the pits again, when he was kind of close of Perez.

I don't know in other countries, but the commentators here in my country are LeClerc fan boys, if the guys commits a mistake they start defending the guy like there is no tomorrow, and for guys like Kvyat, Stroll are too harsh.

And I really thought that Hamilton would win that race, when the closed the gap.
 
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