Poll: Official 2024 Sao Paulo Grand Prix Race Thread - Autódromo José Carlos Pace - Race 21/24

Rating

  • Total voters
    82
  • Poll closed .
Status
Not open for further replies.
413x said:
Oh congrats to verstappen on the WDC.

Sorry perez. You absolutely have to go.


One more...
Anyone know exactly why Hamilton was so bad vs Russell today?
I do wonder if the older drivers have a harder time with back pain in these bumpy tracks. (ie alonso and Hamilton etc)
Click to expand...

It seems / has been reported that Russell was running the 'old' spec car, and Hamilton the 'new' one - seemingly both drivers don't like the new spec and don't want to drive it but someone has to for data gathering.....

Hamilton also had this to say:
Asked about the condition of his car, Hamilton added: “It’s like a plank of wood, no suspension. Bouncing on the tyres, can’t get on the power anywhere. It’s the worst ride we’ve ever had, particularly through corners, it’s so stiff. Hopefully we won’t have any more bumpy tracks, the last three aren’t so bouncy. I could happily go and take a holiday.”
Hamilton also said over team radio immediately after the race: “A disaster of a weekend. That’s the worst the car has ever been.”
 
First race of the season that I had to watch on replay, was out and about. Quite the race! Thoroughly enjoyed it. Stroll and Perez continuing to stink up the grid.
 
imtoooldforthis said:
Norris did not throw away a title, Verstappen won it. You can't throw away something that was never really in reach.
Click to expand...
Well I guess you can't really throw it away if it was never within your ability anyway. Maybe they'll have learnt something come next year.

There are drivers on the current grid who would have been much closer, which might have added pressure and caused mistakes from RB, but hard to know without it actually happening. Also can't ignore fumbles from McLaren themselves.
 
Mesai said:
There are drivers on the current grid who would have been much closer, which might have added pressure and caused mistakes from RB, but hard to know without it actually happening. Also can't ignore fumbles from McLaren themselves.
Click to expand...

Are there? Lewis could have done it when he was at his best, but I'm not sure he's still got that extra edge - I'd see him bringing it twenty points closer at most. Leclerc or Russell would probably have done a little better, but both have got their own set of weaknesses so I can't imagine them really turning things around. Sainz would probably have delivered more consistency but he's not got Norris' edge of pace, and isn't up there with Leclerc. Who else is there? Alonso, maybe, but again I don't think Fred is still at the peak of his talent. Who else is there?

Honestly, I don't think either Norris or McLaren have performed particularly badly. Both have done well to get close enough to RB/Max through the latter half of the season to make people even entertain the always fanciful idea of a real title fight.
 
Mr Jack said:
Are there? Lewis could have done it when he was at his best, but I'm not sure he's still got that extra edge - I'd see him bringing it twenty points closer at most. Leclerc or Russell would probably have done a little better, but both have got their own set of weaknesses so I can't imagine them really turning things around. Sainz would probably have delivered more consistency but he's not got Norris' edge of pace, and isn't up there with Leclerc. Who else is there? Alonso, maybe, but again I don't think Fred is still at the peak of his talent. Who else is there?

Honestly, I don't think either Norris or McLaren have performed particularly badly. Both have done well to get close enough to RB/Max through the latter half of the season to make people even entertain the always fanciful idea of a real title fight.
Click to expand...

Yeh. Age and experience wise, Max is probably at or around his peak right now.

Max appears to think Leclerc is very good/closest to being his equal right now so I'd put money on Leclerc being able to challenge him in the same car.

Lewis also. Maybe. it's difficult to judge him this season to be honest. Well have to see if he's still got it when he goes to Ferrari.
 
Mr Jack said:
Are there? Lewis could have done it when he was at his best, but I'm not sure he's still got that extra edge - I'd see him bringing it twenty points closer at most. Leclerc or Russell would probably have done a little better, but both have got their own set of weaknesses so I can't imagine them really turning things around. Sainz would probably have delivered more consistency but he's not got Norris' edge of pace, and isn't up there with Leclerc. Who else is there? Alonso, maybe, but again I don't think Fred is still at the peak of his talent. Who else is there?

Honestly, I don't think either Norris or McLaren have performed particularly badly. Both have done well to get close enough to RB/Max through the latter half of the season to make people even entertain the always fanciful idea of a real title fight.
Click to expand...
Yep, those drivers. Not sure about Carlos, although he has moments of brilliance, but probably not consistent enough.

Prior to Brazil, between team and driver, they've probably left 20-30 points on the table. Norris was likely much quicker than George in clear air, so fumbling another start probably cost him 10+ points in Brazil. Ferrari taking McLaren's lunch money at a couple races hasn't helped either.

Car aside, I don't think there is a better combo than Max and RBR at the moment so you'd need a considerable car advantage to compete.
 
Be a much more interesting year next year if the pack is closer and Max doesn't have the big points lead to sit back on in the second half of the season.
 
Mesai said:
Prior to Brazil, between team and driver, they've probably left 20-30 points on the table. Norris was likely much quicker than George in clear air, so fumbling another start probably cost him 10+ points in Brazil. Ferrari taking McLaren's lunch money at a couple races hasn't helped either.
Click to expand...

I think they've only left points on the table compared to an unrealistic idea of what they should have achieved, and I think that doesn't credit just how good Norris has been in qualifying at some of these races. You can blame him for some weak starts, but - on the other hand - most other drivers would have been further down the grid to start with. Ferrari, with their equally excellent driver line-up,

Car aside, I don't think there is a better combo than Max and RBR at the moment so you'd need a considerable car advantage to compete.
Click to expand...

Max/RB is the best combo at the moment; but I don't think Max is actually a substantially better driver than the young cohort. Give Leclerc equal machinery and he'll make a fight of it, he might even win out some of the time. Really, all he needs to bring him up to Max's level is some consistency. Hopefully, we'll get to find out next year with the very real possibility of a season-long fight between RB, McLaren, and Ferrari - Merc might even join the party.
 
Mr Jack said:
I think they've only left points on the table compared to an unrealistic idea of what they should have achieved, and I think that doesn't credit just how good Norris has been in qualifying at some of these races. You can blame him for some weak starts, but - on the other hand - most other drivers would have been further down the grid to start with. Ferrari, with their equally excellent driver line-up,
Click to expand...
Most drivers probably would be further back, but I disagree in the context of Charles, Lewis, Alonso and Max. I also think that these drivers have better race craft than Norris, which is not to say that he lacks race pace.

I do hope that Ferrari have there car together next year, and that Perez is either booted or finds a magic genie.
 
Mesai said:
Most drivers probably would be further back, but I disagree in the context of Charles, Lewis, Alonso and Max. I also think that these drivers have better race craft than Norris, which is not to say that he lacks race pace.
Click to expand...

Given Lewis' qualifying struggles against Russell, I don't think he'd qualify ahead of Norris any more, although I do think he'd outperform him in the races. Leclerc I think is the best qualifier on the grid currently, but unfortunately prone to unforced errors (like Russell for that matter) probably more so than Norris. Alonso is hard to get a read on, given he's racing one of the most mediocre drivers on the grid, but he was pretty equal with Ocon in '22 in quali trim and I don't see Ocon as being a master qualifier so I don't think he'd be up there with Norris. I agree he's got better race craft though.

Max is clearly the more finished article overall, but I'd put him about equal with Norris is qualifying. But there's always a lot of guess work involved when comparing drivers.
 
In some respects, 2024 has played out quite similar to 2009, with Max/Jenson getting a big championship lead in the first half of the season while Norris/Vettel became much stronger in the second half... But the odds of catching the championship leader in both cases was very slim.

IIRC Jenson wrapped up the 2009 title in Brazil, Max hasn't quite mathematically yet, but is damn close.
 
IMO I just don't think Lando is as good as Max. Max is ruthless and fast and I feel only Lewis, Fernando and Charles can challenge him. Sorry to say he is also very childish at times with his overall behavior. Just watched the latest video from rocket powered mohawk and he points out how Lando was critical of Lewis for not winning every race when the Merc was the fastest car. Well Lando looks like you can do no better. In fact you are worse, heck you can't even convert your pole position into at the very least leading the first lap.
 
Last edited:
Status
Not open for further replies.
Back
Top Bottom