Caporegime
I don't get the negative assessments of last year, it was a fabulous season.
Poll: Bahrain Grand Prix 2021, Sakhir - Race 1/23
- Thread starter Shimmy
- Start date
I don't get the negative assessments of last year, it was a fabulous season.
Caporegime
Mazepin has had an awful time so far but that car looks ******* awful. I said to my partner that it looked like it was skating on ice and not because he is a **** driver either. Then the same thing happened to the other Haas. Seriously issues to sort out there.
As to Vettel, i've been saying this for years. Hes not a top tier driver. He was in a car that suited him perfectly and was a far better car than anything else on the grid when he won his world championships. Nothing he has done since then suggests that he was anything more than an average driver in an exceptional car. I don't know how anyone can argue for him anymore. He has been the number 1 driver at every team he has driven for (at least on paper until they realise their other driver is better) and he still doesn't perform to the standards of the car. Your two jobs as an F1 driver are to beat your teammate and get the most from your car. He can't do either.
Hamilton showing how good he is when it comes down to it. I don't think he is as good as some people make out but you can't argue with the end of that race. I know Max made a mistake and a more experienced driver would have passed Hamilton but he drove the end of that race perfectly.
Max just needs to calm down and I think that will happen if he can string a few race wins together. I think he puts too much pressure on himself and suffers as a result.
I'm not sure it was. The title race was a procession and much of the drama was crashes then laps of safety car. I want to see racing, wheel to wheel action, a title that isn't sown up before the season starts. Races that aren't full of pedestrian passes enabled completely by DRS/ERS.
Yesterday had some nice passages where 2-3 drivers were going at each other, trading positions etc. Thats real racing. Not someone carving past the guy in front because his tyres are better, hes in a faster car and has DRS. As much as the commentators try to inject excitement into every pass, most of them are foregone conclusions.
As to Vettel, i've been saying this for years. Hes not a top tier driver. He was in a car that suited him perfectly and was a far better car than anything else on the grid when he won his world championships. Nothing he has done since then suggests that he was anything more than an average driver in an exceptional car. I don't know how anyone can argue for him anymore. He has been the number 1 driver at every team he has driven for (at least on paper until they realise their other driver is better) and he still doesn't perform to the standards of the car. Your two jobs as an F1 driver are to beat your teammate and get the most from your car. He can't do either.
Hamilton showing how good he is when it comes down to it. I don't think he is as good as some people make out but you can't argue with the end of that race. I know Max made a mistake and a more experienced driver would have passed Hamilton but he drove the end of that race perfectly.
Max just needs to calm down and I think that will happen if he can string a few race wins together. I think he puts too much pressure on himself and suffers as a result.
I'm not sure it was. The title race was a procession and much of the drama was crashes then laps of safety car. I want to see racing, wheel to wheel action, a title that isn't sown up before the season starts. Races that aren't full of pedestrian passes enabled completely by DRS/ERS.
Yesterday had some nice passages where 2-3 drivers were going at each other, trading positions etc. Thats real racing. Not someone carving past the guy in front because his tyres are better, hes in a faster car and has DRS. As much as the commentators try to inject excitement into every pass, most of them are foregone conclusions.
Caporegime
You say that but near enough every driver needs the car to win a championship. Lewis wouldn't be 7 time world champion if he had stayed at McLaren for the past 7 years or had moved to Ferrari.
I always thought Vettel was average when he had to fight Mark Webber for a championship. He showed moments. Like his maiden win for Torro Rosso but he is no where near the caliber of someone like Mansell who only won one championship.
Man of Honour
Race control needs a kick in the nuts. Is it really too difficult to police track limits and keep the same rules throughout the weekend? Stay inside the white lines and you are fine, put all four wheels outside the white lines and get a penalty. Even better would be get rid of the massive amounts of concrete and replace it with gravel and it will police itself.
Vettel is deluded as ever. Why didn't he just retire?
Fantastic recovery drive from Perez.
Mazepin should not be in F1. Just think of the mayhem he could cause in a supermarket pushing a trolley around.
That was quite a enjoyable race which is a miracle for Bahrain. DRS is way to powerful here as it is in many other places. I really hope they get rid of it sometime soon. C4 seems to have gained a Crofty wannabee although he's not at the same level yet.
Vettel is deluded as ever. Why didn't he just retire?
Fantastic recovery drive from Perez.
Mazepin should not be in F1. Just think of the mayhem he could cause in a supermarket pushing a trolley around.
That was quite a enjoyable race which is a miracle for Bahrain. DRS is way to powerful here as it is in many other places. I really hope they get rid of it sometime soon. C4 seems to have gained a Crofty wannabee although he's not at the same level yet.
I'll leave the judgement for a bit. But I hope he is better.
I agree with others that vettel was never amazing. But you don't have to be now. As long as you are better than your team mate in the best car. It's the worst part about f1, but an integral part. You very rarely get to compare drivers. No idea if max or Lewis is better. Unless you put them in the same car. Shame we can't have fewer teams with 3 cars each. That would be better.
Yeah the new C4 commentator is not great. He's not dire, but no replacement. Which is a shame. But it's free. So can't complain.
Caporegime
I get the feeling with Vettel that he's simply bad at adapting to the car. He was amazing in that Red Bull, and damn good in the Toro Rosso too, but he just doesn't seem to be able to cope with the hybrid era cars and his foolish unwillingness to get the support of a Sport Psychologist really doesn't help. Only one race and all that, but it looks like he's on course for another miserable season to go with the last. Glance down the list of multiple champions and Vettel is the one that stands out as having failed to prove himself outside of those titles.
I totally agree with you about racing, but there was plenty of that last season too. Yeah, it wasn't for first place - with a few exceptions - but there was so much going on in almost every race and I don't think lewis sauntering into the distance really negates that.
Don
It's also quite odd that DC seems to have been demoted to just being a third wheel on the commentary team, with Billy Monger seemingly taking the second commentator role for whatever reason.
The new paddock reporter Lawrence Barretto also seems pretty terrible, especially when Ben Edwards had filled that role for the last couple of seasons since Karun Chandhok left
Caporegime
Thoughts on each team after the first race:
Mercedes have a fight on their hands. Red Bull have the better car, although not so much in race trim. The need for Hamilton is obvious. Bottas will struggle to get 4th in the Championship this year, I think
Red Bull have delivered the best car, and if Pérez can deliver for them the WCC beckons. Max, at last, has a chance to show he's more than another fast driver and is real champion material. I expect we'll see the balance shift back and forth between RB and Merc as the season progresses and Max needs to make the most of every opportunity if he's to stop Hamilton taking his eighth title.
I'm delighted to seeMcLaren defy my prediction that they would struggle this year and they will be in the hunt for 3rd place again. Norris got first blood against Dani Ric and that's going to be the teammate battle to watch this year, I think.
A revived Ferrari are surely the most improved team this year, and may have the pace to fight McLaren for that 3rd place. Sainz was closer to Leclerc than I expected through the weekend, but Charles pulled ahead when it mattered.
But Alpha Tauri are the surprise package of the year, leaping to solid second tier status. Gasly squandered his race early on, and Tsunoda had too much work to do after a mistake in Qualifying, meaning we didn't get a true measure of their race pace but I think they stand a decent chance of troubling Ferrari and McLaren for 3rd this season. You love to see it.
Aston Martin entered which such fanfare but look to be solidly on the back foot. Their move to low rake that looked so smart last season is hurting them under the new rules, and Seb needs to sharply improve if they're going to be anything other than a distant 6th or 7th.
Alonso may be impressing after the break, but that Alpine looks to have slid backward. They'll be struggling to pick up low order points all season I think.
Raikkonen is again the pick of the Alfa Romeo drivers, and Antonio must surely be looking at his last season in F1 unless he can turn that around. The team look to be one of the most improved, putting clear blue water between them and the Williams and Haas cars. May be able to fight Aston and Alpine for points on genuine pace at some tracks.
I'm sad to see Williams haven't made the hoped for step forward. Russell and Latifi are going to have another miserable year trundling round on their own this year, I think.
Haas have delivered a true turd of a car, and put the worst driver to enter F1 in some years in it. That's going to be an ugly combination. Mick seemed to settle as the race went on though, and by the late stages was faster than Latifi (who, to be fair, had a turbo problem slowing him down), but it's going to be a long and depressing season for him and the Russian.
Mercedes have a fight on their hands. Red Bull have the better car, although not so much in race trim. The need for Hamilton is obvious. Bottas will struggle to get 4th in the Championship this year, I think
Red Bull have delivered the best car, and if Pérez can deliver for them the WCC beckons. Max, at last, has a chance to show he's more than another fast driver and is real champion material. I expect we'll see the balance shift back and forth between RB and Merc as the season progresses and Max needs to make the most of every opportunity if he's to stop Hamilton taking his eighth title.
I'm delighted to seeMcLaren defy my prediction that they would struggle this year and they will be in the hunt for 3rd place again. Norris got first blood against Dani Ric and that's going to be the teammate battle to watch this year, I think.
A revived Ferrari are surely the most improved team this year, and may have the pace to fight McLaren for that 3rd place. Sainz was closer to Leclerc than I expected through the weekend, but Charles pulled ahead when it mattered.
But Alpha Tauri are the surprise package of the year, leaping to solid second tier status. Gasly squandered his race early on, and Tsunoda had too much work to do after a mistake in Qualifying, meaning we didn't get a true measure of their race pace but I think they stand a decent chance of troubling Ferrari and McLaren for 3rd this season. You love to see it.
Aston Martin entered which such fanfare but look to be solidly on the back foot. Their move to low rake that looked so smart last season is hurting them under the new rules, and Seb needs to sharply improve if they're going to be anything other than a distant 6th or 7th.
Alonso may be impressing after the break, but that Alpine looks to have slid backward. They'll be struggling to pick up low order points all season I think.
Raikkonen is again the pick of the Alfa Romeo drivers, and Antonio must surely be looking at his last season in F1 unless he can turn that around. The team look to be one of the most improved, putting clear blue water between them and the Williams and Haas cars. May be able to fight Aston and Alpine for points on genuine pace at some tracks.
I'm sad to see Williams haven't made the hoped for step forward. Russell and Latifi are going to have another miserable year trundling round on their own this year, I think.
Haas have delivered a true turd of a car, and put the worst driver to enter F1 in some years in it. That's going to be an ugly combination. Mick seemed to settle as the race went on though, and by the late stages was faster than Latifi (who, to be fair, had a turbo problem slowing him down), but it's going to be a long and depressing season for him and the Russian.
Deleted member 651465
D
Deleted member 651465
I’m sad to see the Schumacher name in such a dog of a car. Was hoping Kimi would have buggered off and Mick taken his seat at Alfa 
Man of Honour
I’m sad to see the Schumacher name in such a dog of a car. Was hoping Kimi would have buggered off and Mick taken his seat at Alfa
Yeah its sad to see Mick in such a poor car; I reckon a space at Alfa will be made available if he soundly beats Mazepin this season; although my money would be on it being Gio's seat and not Kimi's
I've heard this argued a lot, that he likes a planted rear/blown diffuser etc but it's like arguing someone who is bad at iracing only likes racing games with an arcade mode where the car handles a lot easier, I would have thought one of the basic requirements of being a top driver is their ability to adapt to different cars and characteristics and get the best out of whatever they have.
The entire F1 field would probably be a lot closer if they all raced with maximum downforce levels every race but straight line speed and lap times would both be a lot worse, if you want speed you have to sacrifice grip/car handling in most cases and that's where the driver ability comes in. I don't think it's a coincidence that Hamilton who is for me the most talented driver on the grid, is also a cut above everyone in wet conditions where the cars handle unpredictably.
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Caporegime
Sure, it's why I don't really rate him as a driver despite his championships.
Who do you think Bottas will be fighting with that will make 4th a struggle for him? I can agree it looks like Lewis and Max will be battling out for 1 and 2, Perez ought to push him for a battle for 3rd but not sure I see a particular McLaren, Ferrari (or Alpha Tauri maybe?) giving Bottas enough trouble to make 4th a worry for him (notwithstanding any awful reliability runs or DNFs etc.).
As for Ferrari, i'm still not convinced that car was as bad last year as people make out, rather Vettel completely phoning it in for a season. Leclerc finished top 6 in 7 of the 13 races he finished. You don't do that in a dog slow car. A more committed/capable driver and a few less DNFs and they'd have been in the mix last year too IMO.
Caporegime
Yeah, I just phrased that really badly. I meant more or less what you said, Bottas is going to come 4th after struggling with Pérez all season.
Yeah, I agree. Last year's Ferrari was poor, but Vettel made it look awful.
Soldato
If Redbull do have the pace to trouble Merc going forward and Perez steps up it's going to be a pretty interesting season.
Does anyone think Bottas has what it is going take to help secure WCC for Merc If we do see that play out?
I will be honest I know little about him and have no idea if he has that fight in him?
Does anyone think Bottas has what it is going take to help secure WCC for Merc If we do see that play out?
I will be honest I know little about him and have no idea if he has that fight in him?
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Soldato
The whole, "you can go off, but not if you gain an advantage" is just BS. The act of going wide is so that you don't have to slow down as much to actually get around the corner, hence you are gaining an advantage. When Hamilton went wide and off at turn 10, you could say he gained an advantage because if there were grass or a wall, or if he had slowed enough to actually make the corner, he would have been passed by Max.
stupid vague rules.
Soldato
Yep totally agree with this, I've grown rather fond of him it must be said, and was hoping the new AM drive would reignite his mojo, but he seems past it sadly.
Considering there has been as near to zero testing as worth talking about prior to this season as compared to when Vettel started in F1, I think he should be given some time to settle into the team and get used to the car before he gets written off as a has been.
This year the car is pretty much just an evolution of last years, so I doubt he has had much input into the design and construction at all.
Come next year I am sure he will have had more input, had it designed/modified to suit his style more, also he will have had a year getting used to the team etc and that is when he will either shine or crumble.
Soldato
Single year contract, with an option for another year.
I'd be surprised if he hasn't announced his retirement by the end of season fly-aways.