FORMULA 1 ROLEX BELGIAN GRAND PRIX-->RACE▄▀▄▀ SPOILERS ▀▄▀▄

Poor aero concept that I didn't understand last year (low downforce), was masked a bit because they had a great engine. Chassis hasn't been great for many years.

FIA pulled the plug on Ferrari's engine so Ferrari basically had to build a new engine ''from scratch'', so they're massively down on power...combined with very poor aero concept still and unfixed chassis makes for a frankly terrible car. Another season and half for this at least. 2022 earliest they can do *something*, but of course, with the FIA not allowing many engine upgrades...they better make some good ones or Ferrari is truly ****ed.

 

Kinda funny to see Seb & Charles trying to run each other off the road for P12 & P13

 

Man, Vettel must be thinking that he dodged a bullet with them not wanting to sign him again. Sainz, on the other hand, has to be sweating bullets and wondering what he got himself into. Leclerc has to be wondering how he can get a seat in a Mercedes. What a mess...

 

Makes you wonder , do we even need F1 nowadays?

Hard to imagine fans flocking back to the track after the covid eases up.Paying quite big $ to watch exactly what?

Are they missing the amazing noise the close racing, even Tifosi getting restless now ...maybe time to move on to whatever coming next?

 

Pandemic could possibly accelerate F 1 to the “next” thing!

 

The whole so called sport is in a huge mess. This is the first time in ages I've seen a sport whereby there's 100% no competition. Look at the race, if i recall, the same fellas who stated in the top 4 finished in exactly the same positions.

The biggest dumbo here has to be Bottas. What a lapdog. The message he shared on the team radio last year Australian GP, he should look himself in the mirror and mention that same message back to himself. What a wuss.

 

Typical drama of him with his BLM t shirt at the start of the race.

 

At this point, Ferrari should question themselves why are they even in the sport at the moment. Since the stupid hybrid era, there's just domination on one end. Each time Ferrari makes progress, it's considered cheating. I would pack up everything and leave the sport altogether. The way and direction the sport is heading is something Ferrari don't need to sell their cars.

 

I realized today with the spacing from #1 to #2 and how consistent the separation was, that even if Verstappen managed to magic his way around Bottas, the 6-second gap to Hamilton would be impossible to cover. I know teams work together, etc., etc., etc.. Bottas, though has flipped the old definition of being a back marker into the first world-class underachieving "front marker" in the field. Lots of guys here and elsewhere would be fine (privately) with millions a year in salary, the chance to drive and F1 car, and benefit from the superiority of the machine he has, so no critique of him as long as he never buys into that "That's OK, Valtteri, it'll be your turn soon, Lewis won't want to win them all forever...

 

I'm pretty sure Ferrari still makes money every year running their F1 team. That, and the loss of their prestigious ''competed in every single season of F1 thus far'' will get lost. Rather, they need the balls to tell F1 brass exactly why they need to allow development. It's not to bring Ferrari closer to the front....it's for the good of everyone.

2022 is the first time we can actually see genuine racing happen. I pray Mercedes gets real competition. Of course I much more hope they produce the dog of all dogs but that's unlikely to happen..

 

Bottas has no balls. None. Every single off-season he keeps telling everyone ''no guys, this year it's Bottas 2.0...3.0...4.0'' bla bla bla. He manages to stick it on pole sometimes when he's forgotten he's not allowed to do that, then dutifully move over to let his master go by and lead the way. Good start? Best not actually pass his owner...
Lap dog of the highest regard.

 

Please don't say that !
He is a such great driver ! ( Hammy fanboys echo )

 

100% agree

 

Bring back Luca for the sake of my ongoing and further love of Ferrari and stop this embarrassment

 

Yes, but we are used to it having sporadic periods of success for the last 50 years!

Poor Mr Sainz will struggle if they retain that car. I was impressed with Leclerc who dragged the donkey around that track but it didnt last when he destroyed his tyres and fell back just in front of Vettel.

 

Bring back Enzo as well, I'm sure he wouldnt stand for this FIA nonsense

Tell me you are joking -Luca De Montezemolo was the architect behind this shambles by basically sacking the dream team. Continuity went out the window like a bolt of lighting and the slide down started from there. Clever guy but made a serious error.

Best

tony

 

You know things are bad when even Toto is publicly saying that Ferrari needs to be at the front for the sake of the sport...

Turning to other interesting topics; is Albon a lost cause? We like to bash Bottas for being a poor number 2, but Albon makes him look like a multi WDC. Even Stroll is more impressive this year which has to be the ultimate insult..!

 

Both Albon and Gasly are good drivers.
The RB 16 is far from being a W11 contender.
Fact is Max is something else.

 

Didn't mention engine. The problems also include the aero package, suspension and current team staff on track and back at Maranello. They may be handcuffed by the FIA but other teams have figured ways to not embarrass themselves.

 

Plus the vig.

 

Again, what difference does any of that make when you have the slowest engine? I'll answer - nothing! Witness HAAS and Alfa - same engine, same results.

 

Couldn't disagree more.

I cant wait to attend another F1 race in person. Had tickets for this year's Dutch GP premier. Covid cancelled those plans. But with a vaccine I'll be back at the track next year. Just waiting for the announcements of the new racing dates.

 

I think most agree the state of F1 is in shambles and has been for some time... especially in the hybrid era when Mercedes, with the help of the FIA were able to lock in their initial dominance and never look back. I don't know that we've seen an era such as this were teams were forcibly handcuffed from development to catch the dominant team. It used to be the other way around. You can point to Red Bull's stint as proof. For Lewis to state "they're always trying to slow us down" is just about as ridiculous as it gets. The rulings of the FIA for this year and next basically handed Mercedes the both championships ... again. Yet no one seems even remotely curious as to why. No uproar from anyone... even the rival teams. Maybe there's more to it, but from a fan perspective, it looks awfully suspect after what's going to be 7 years of utter dominance. F1 has become almost more political as much as it is a sport. I think the politics of celebrity, messaging, and other social justice warrior issues really took hold and there seems to be more of an appetite for those political tangibilities than there does for pure racing as a sport. Whether or not 20 years from a story unfolds about the pure corruption of this era will be interesting. There's a lot of what's going on that just doesn't make sense.

Putting the grander conspiracy theory aside, I do have a legitimate and sincere question regarding Merc. It's obvious there's a lot of value in having Lewis be this utterly dominant driver in F1. He's truly the only celebrity on the grid... about as close as a household name as you get with F1. Now with his social justice warrior activism, I think it's even better for F1 to continue this story this season and next and ensure certain outcomes. There's no doubt...none whatsoever... that Lewis is a rare talent, but just given normal odds... there's seems to be an advantage that I just can't quite get my head around.

I think it's obvious that Merc is just toying with everyone else on the track and they still hold plenty in reserve as they seem to easily chip a second off any lap at will. I'm wondering about Bottas, however. Can... or maybe... would a team turn down the power ever so slightly on a driver's car just to knock off that small but all important couple 100ths... a tenth... at crucial times? Keep it close for sure... and most importantly for the reason of just making Lewis appear that much more of what he is to make him seem that much an impact and story? Just curious.

 

+1 Post of the Month

 

Lewis has a better feel for preserving tire life than anyone near the front of the grid.

After watching Botas for years, he is just not as fast as Lewis on flowing tracks, nor does he have the ability to preserve tires like Lewis.
I see no reason Mercedes would slow Botas and take a chance that Max could attack and steal some extra points.