Soldato
You missed nothingFell asleep leclerc still winning by 6 seconds and woke up on the last lap
Poll: Azerbaijan Grand Prix 2019, Baku - Race 4/21
- Thread starter Shimmy
- Start date
Associate
No just the usual Mercedes 1,2
No they never purposely underperform.
They just concentrate on race setup, and race pace work.
Typicall German attention to detail.
Do it when it matters.
Turn it all on for Q3 and then just dominate the race.
Being fast in practice means nothing, and gets you zero points, so why bother?
Caporegime
Things are closer than the results so far make them appear. Ferrari could easily have been on pole here if Leclerc hadn't put it in the wall, and would likely have won from that position. They would have won in Bahrain - from pole, with the fastest lap - if Leclerc hadn't suffered a late technical fault. While in both China and Australia, poor Ferrari tactics and team orders that go against their best driver cost them points. With a little bit of luck, and some better tactical calls, Ferrari would be pretty much neck-and-neck with Mercedes with Leclerc battlind for the lead. The speed of the car isn't the problem; it's their ability to capitalise on it.
Associate
Yes that’s true, practice sessions is just what there called practice to get a hang of the track again, somehow though this was Ferrari’s race after leclerc being fastest all weekend maybe if he didn’t smash in Q2 it MIGHT of been different or maybe Mercedes would have wiped him in Q3
Soldato
- Joined
- 19 Jun 2012
- Posts
- 5,398
Pretty boring race....
Except for the lol moment where Ricciardo reversed into Kyviat.
Also Hamilton making out like he gave Bottas the race by being too nice in t1 & 2. He isnt happy about losing. Lol.
Shame for Leclerc but he knows his chance was thrown away in Q2. I think he got the best he could.
Except for the lol moment where Ricciardo reversed into Kyviat.
Also Hamilton making out like he gave Bottas the race by being too nice in t1 & 2. He isnt happy about losing. Lol.
Shame for Leclerc but he knows his chance was thrown away in Q2. I think he got the best he could.
Caporegime
He did. On the other hand, pushing Bottas into the wall wouldn't have been best popular with his time and would be as likely as not to have resulted in his own race ending as well
Associate
I was thinking that while watching it happen that if it'd been on a normal circuit, then he'd have taken the usual racing line once you get alongside on the inside and ran them out of road with nowhere to go but probably thought best not to run his team mate into the wall.
I think you're right, he will be more determined and a bit more ruthless, especially as the championship hots up
Soldato
You honestly think that Hamilton chose to give the lead away to someone? Did he balls.
Soldato
Not that much happened, Race Highlights: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8eE9bofwhhs
He probably chose to cut Bottas more slack than he would have cut a driver from another team, for obvious reasons. Hamilton really knows he should have put himself into pole and then the issue wouldn't have come up in the first place.
Baku isn't a particularly good track for Hamilton, so I expect him to gradually push Bottas down as the year goes on and we get to more of the tracks that Hamilton likes.
Soldato
- Joined
- 19 Jun 2012
- Posts
- 5,398
Giving another car room is a requirement really, particularly if its a team mate with no run off. As you point out the consequences could be dire. So it wasnt him letting Bottas past by being nice. It was him not running a car into to the wall in the interests of self preservation. Even if he did get ahead, it does not mean he would have stayed there. Chances are Bottas would have won it back as his pace was great this weekend. Just seems like sour grapes to me.
First Lewis said the race was lost in quali. Then it was lost by being too nice at the start of the race. Which is it Lewis? His entire body language post race puts the lie to his congratulatory comments. He was seething.
It was all smiles and back patting from Lewis when Bottas wasnt in contention. Now he has come back and shown not just clear intent for the WDC but also his driving ability, Lewis doesn't like it.
Caporegime
He didn't "choose to give the lead away"; he did choose to play soft ball with his teammate through the opening series of corners. The right decision, in my opinion, but it handed Bottas the race.
Man of Honour
- Joined
- 21 Nov 2004
- Posts
- 46,153
Because they were only viable for a tiny handful of laps.
Thanfully I came here before I decided whether to watch that race I has recorded. Saved me 90 minutes!
Kinda weird I need to vote before I can see the results of the poll though
Yeah I'm sure the voting wasn't like that last year? I found the polling useful whether to decide to watch the race or just read the headlines if I couldn't watch live
Ferrari basically left Leclerc out 5 laps longer than they needed to again to try to slow the Mercedes down to help Vettel (or maybe hoping for a crash?). It was a lot like China except they pitted Leclerc for the fastest lap bonus which was an easy decision for them this time given that Vettel never looked like being the fastest all weekend.
I'm happy for Bottas he comes across as one of the more likeable drivers, always carries himself in a calm and professional way rather than throwing tantrums when things aren't going well.
I'm happy for Bottas he comes across as one of the more likeable drivers, always carries himself in a calm and professional way rather than throwing tantrums when things aren't going well.