With regards to the Red Bull, I can’t believe Max would be that much better than all his team mates. Especially as Riciardo mostly kept him honest. I think it’s a combination of him being a great driver, being comfortable in that team after being there so long and being one of those drivers that has that extra ability to extract the maximum performance from a fruity handling car.
Poll: Official Chinese Grand Prix 2025 Thread - Shanghai International Circuit, Shanghai- Race 2/24
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Soldato
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This is fantastic
Edit. Seen it posted previously. The ghost lap is fantastic.
Edit. Seen it posted previously. The ghost lap is fantastic.
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Soldato
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Great result for Lewis but suspect its slightly flattered by both the Mclarens screwing up their hot lap.
Soldato
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The king is back on P1 where he should be! Great job Lewis!
Was interesting to see Perez drop off more each year - must've been a handling characteristic that he couldn't adapt to. It's not like Max has been super happy about the car but he obviously makes it work.
Max, Lewis and Alonso are probably the only 3 who can get the most out of any car.
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Really happy for Lewis. A lot of people who were saying he is past it yet you can see he is just as fast as everyone else. He is still the daddy at 40 years old.
Especially as Leclerc is famed for his 1 lap pace speaks Italian and knows the car inside out.
Especially as Leclerc is famed for his 1 lap pace speaks Italian and knows the car inside out.
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Yeah some very conspicuous silences right now!
Soldato
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Danny Ric was fully under Max's thumb by the time he left Red Bull though. Max is just that much better than his teammates. People seem to underestimate the variance in skill that exists in even the highest level of motorsport. You're comparing IMO the purest driving talent in F1 history (who dominated at karting/junior levels) to a bunch of drivers who at no point looked elite in their junior careers.
There are drivers on the grid who could keep him honest but no one in the Red Bull driver program is anywhere near him at this point in time.
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Not really. Max did heavily outscore him, but DR had terrible reliability that year, and still got as many wins as Max. I don't think I'd describe it as "under the thumb" particularly as it was also clear that Max had the full support of the team and DR didn't.
I don't disagree that Max is a top tier talent, but you're misremembering if you think Max dominated in the junior levels. In fact, he's one of the few drivers on the grid without a junior season win - although that is fairly ascribed to him being rushed into F1 rather than any lack of ability. I have no doubt he'd have won if he'd spent more time in the junior formulas.
They’ll be out of the woodwork as soon as they get a chance. Don’t you worry
Soldato
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By the end of the season Max had him fully under his thumb. He looked like the superior driver from Monaco onwards.
Maybe under the thumb is harsh but all that really means in this context is that Max was better to the point where he didn't really have to worry about Danny Ric, at that point he knew was the better and quicker driver.
By junior levels I just meant pre F1. His karting record is absurd.
He also competed in F3 at the age of 16 where he won 10 races (4 more than Ocon who won the title), set the most poles and was the very clear and obvious standout talent of that year despite finishing third due to DNF's/retirements and a DNS and having no experience in formula cars relative to Ocon. That season is what created the mega hype and got him into F1. No one remembers it for Ocon winning the title, they remember it for Max, specifically the three races at Spa which cemented his reputation as a generational talent.
I guess 'dominant' is the wrong word given he didn't win the title but anyone who watched that season knows who the standout talent was.
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Soldato
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I think it was Albon that described max and his car setup in a way I completely understand.
On your computer most people have their mouse sensitivity in a similar range.
Max can set his to 100%. The most sensitive. Normal people can’t use their computer like that, but max can.
On your computer most people have their mouse sensitivity in a similar range.
Max can set his to 100%. The most sensitive. Normal people can’t use their computer like that, but max can.
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For what, why create controversy when there isn't any. Clearly Lewis and Ferrari did a better job with the conditions and he/ they should be congratulated. It could all be different in the actual race qualifying, who knows..
Fair enough, I tend to use karting and junior to distinguish the karting/car crossover, and since you wrote karting/junior level I assumed you were doing the same. Max's single seater start certainly wasn't bad, but it wasn't Antonelli (who was younger at the time) either.
Either way, Max is certainly a prodigious talent.
Heard a wild stat watching the rerun of FP3. Apparently if you change just 4 of Lewis’ race results caused by issues out of his control, he’d have 11 championships! 
Thats nuts!
I can see max easily joining the 7 club if I’m honest. (And even surpassing it if the whole getting bored and leaving stuff isn’t a load of rubbish. lol)
Thats nuts!I can see max easily joining the 7 club if I’m honest. (And even surpassing it if the whole getting bored and leaving stuff isn’t a load of rubbish. lol)
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Apparently if you change just 4 of Lewis’ race results caused by issues out of his control, he’d have 11 championships!
2007 (Brazil gearbox)
2010 (Hungary gearbox)
2016 (Malaysia engine)
Not sure what the fourth example would be as I can't think of any mechanical issues during the 2021 season that caused him to drop points and from memory he finished more than one win behind the winner in all the other seasons.
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To be fair 2021 might not have been mechanical but it was totally out of his control
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