FORMULA 1 AZERBAIJAN GRAND PRIX...2021...QUALIFYING...... ▄▀▄▀▄▀ SPOILERS ▀▄▀▄▀▄

How many WDC do each of them have?

Just saying.......

 

Button had a big car advantage at the start of his WDC winning season - Best engine on the grid, coupled to a double diffuser (Granted Brawn GP got lucky that the Mercedes engine worked well with their chassis)

Once the other's caught up with their car designs, he didn't look so good.

Just saying...........

 

To be fair, Red Bull gave him a chance but like so many of Max’s teammates, he didn’t get the job done. Max is the only one that can get the performance out of the car and that says a lot about his level of talent. It’s not like he’s driving a Merc where even a Bottas could win on a good day.

 

So you're saying his WDC has an asterisk next to it. I can live with that.

 

His excuse: "The pitlane might have been blocked" was a lttle bit weak.

The brakes on an F1 car are pretty good - He should have been able to slow down enough to make the pitlane entrance, and come to a halt if there was an issue in the pitlane entry.

A red flag means: "Session ended immediately - Reduce speed and return to the pitlane" - There's no: "Unless you think the pitlane might be busy or blocked" clause.

 

Agree'd. Yet they go for years without realizing possibly they need 2 drivers to bring wins and points and not just Max. They are not well managed and at times appear chaotic in their approach. The real fun will be with the engine factory. They will need to be patient. Very much a word that eludes them in other area's such as driver management. Horner is not at all on Toto's level of team manager. Very very far from it. He talks way way too much about absurd issues. His comments taking this to a personal level with Toto on the flex wing issues show you how inept he really is.

 

I think Horner is the sharpest guy on the pit wall. He’s tuned in to everything, from performance to strategy. He speaks well and and even as a Ferrari fan I appreciate his insight and am frankly jealous we don’t have someone like him though, admittedly, Binotto is improving by leaps and bounds, I think. And along with Binotto, Horner gives the best interviews on TV.

Toto, for me, is the one that strikes me as an insincere, tactless and vengeful bully. Just the juvenile fist banging outbursts of his speak volumes about his character.

 

I'm saying that Button had a car advantage that helped him at the start of the season,

Once that advantage was removed, he looked okay, but not brilliant.

Let's put it this way:

Do you think Button would have been World Champion if he didn't have the double difffuser from the start of the season, or if every other team had the double diffuser from the start of the season? - I'm seriously doubtful!

(Don't get me wrong, I like Button, but I think he was lucky to be in the right place at the right time, and lucky that it took the other teams so long to catch up)

 

RBR don’t have the luxury that Merc have (or had, hopefully) of just popping someone in that car and they’re up to speed, like Bottas or Russell. All Toto had to manage was having a driver not strong enough to challenge HAM but who was there to pick up the pieces when needed. Now—today as an example—picking up the pieces means being 8 places behind so let’s see how well Toto manages this.

If RBR have a problem it’s that it’s difficult to get the performance out of the car and mostly Marko’s old-school management-by-intimidation of the drivers which I don’t believe Horner is a part of.

 

Which FP session did Ferrari top this weekend?

Charles got pole position due to a tow from Hamilton, and a red flag in Q3 - Without those, I'd say he was doubtful for anything above row 2 on the grid.

The reality is, Ferrari are slower than Red Bull through the twisty bits, and slower than (Hamilton's) Mercedes on the long fast straight (Bottas is all at sea this weekend, and too busy fighting his own car to fight any of his rivals!)

Hamilton has realised his Mercedes is basically a pile of poo in general, and has sacrificed down-force for straight-line speed (which will give him a great opportunity of overtaking Charles, and help him fend off people trying to overtake him)

 

Agree but the last performances from Pierre are just mind blowing.
I just start to think he improved massively since the Red Bull drama.
Next year he will certainly leave the ship and replace Bottas.

 

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Anyone want to guess how many red flags during the race?

We could see all of the "usual suspects" crashing out, leaving unexpected drivers on the podium.

Any guesses how many cars will actually finish the race?
My guess: 12.

 

He has Honda to thank for the chassis

 

You can't blame a driver for being in the right car at the right time.

In F1 history, there have been plenty of WDC in Button's position.

 

Ross Brawn was behind the Honda chassis, no? He is the one who saved the team.

 

As often as drivers will be going beyond track limits, I guess.

 

Kudos to Leclerc for managing to get a tow from one of his rivals, I would say.

Fact is he got pole today, and tomorrow is another day.

 

And Lewis has taken more poles than any of us. Just saying...

 

Very happy for Charlie after what happened at Monaco. Honestly he could have won Monaco if it weren't for one mistake -- but that's all it takes.

 

Correct!

Hamilton has realised that he can't fix the car around the twisty bits, so his best bet is to strip off some down-force, be mega-fast along the 2Km straight, giving him the chance to overtake, and reducing the chance of him being overtaken (I'm expecting him to be ahead of Charles on Lap 2 or 3 at the latest! )

Bottas has tried to stick with getting the car sorted for the twisty bits, and he's got nowhere with it (actually, I think it was forced on him by the team, who have yet again sacrificed him for their beloved Hamilton - Bottas: "Guys, where is my tow?")

In an interview on the UK's Channel 4 coverage, Toto Wolff admitted he was wrong when he accused Bottas of helping create the wheel nut issue in Monaco, by claiming that Bottas had stopped out of position. He admitted that Bottas had stopped exactly on his marks, but then tried to blame the press coverage, saying that they were highlighting what he'd said unfairly.

It was bad enough Bottas being sacrificed by Mercedes at every opportunity for Hamilton, but now they're just s****ing on him in public!

 

+1000
Bottas is not good enough and they will regret Russell sooner than later .

 

If that's the case, how do you explain Bottas giving a tow to Hamilton for him to qualify so much ahead of him?

That's what Toto said.

 

Wait, the whole deal with HAM was engineering a tow from his teammate and you’re saying Leclerc is only ahead of Hamilton because HE got a tow?

Another sure Ferrari were any slower than Merc without a tow today and their middle sectors were genuinely fast both for Charles and Carlos.

The race tomorrow will depend on tire management and RBR are probably best placed for that.

Charles starting from pole will be vulnerable at the start because of the slipstream the guys behind will have on him.