FORMULA 1 GROSSER PREIS DIER STEIEMARK 2021....RACE....▄▀▄▀▄▀ SPOILERS▄▀▄▀▄▀.

Yes Bas, but not everyone has the talent to finish second an win the race.....for that you have to drive for Mercedes and be friend with Pirro

 

Your point is well taken. Ironically, your basic premise (that 90% of it is related to the car) is both true and also key to the discussion. Ever since Merc has dominated the V6 Hybrid era, there has been a suspicion that Sir Hamilton's talent (or lack thereof) has been rendered moot by the sheer dominance of the car. Thus, you will see repeated comments denigrating Hamilton's legacy.

My observation is simple: now that it appears the Mercedes steam roller is slowing, might this not be the opportunity for Hamilton to show his detractors the error of their thinking? If, on the other hand, it is indeed 90% car, then Hamilton's various records set during the Mercedes juggernaut are dubious indeed.

 

I read somewhere after the race that RIC had some engine glitch, whether or not that was what threw him down the standings I don't know, but after his 2nd or so in one of the free practice sessions, I think he's just slow in adapting to the McLaren, and we'll see him closer to Norris soon. Lando is just having a great year either way.
Congrats to MAX, thought he was a full of himself overblown hot shot at 17, but now that SOMEONE is finally beating Mercedes, I kinda like his style.
Now if we can get the Ferrari's up there, we'll be in great shape!

 

France was dominant?

This must be the comedy club section of Ferrarichat.

 

Round Two should start in reverse order of Round One. Otherwise Round Two = Round One.

 

Perez - new to the team. Not settled. Gifted win in Baku
The car from testing has been fast. As fast and possibly faster than Mercedes. Ferrari via Binotto think they updated the power unit and in the early days had to reduce power to make sure reliable. Now that appears fixed and the car is fast or even faster. Perez is always not so perfect on Saturday. Bottas is normally good in qualy. Perez is excellent in races. He is not Max overall but capable and experienced.

Bahrain - Max gave victory away
Baku -victory taken away - RedBull win but not by Max

So 6 of 8 races Max has been doing well. Domination after the last race appears to be growing. If Mercedes are reducing the updates then more so. Spain was the only race where Max and RedBull looked a touch weak.

 

???????????

 

That's what I think happened too. Only for the French GP did the Honda teams get new engines and perhaps with the power turned up.

Spain and Portugal, mercedes clearly had the fastest car. Bahrain I don't think it's fair to say Max gave the win away. Perez couldn't play back up after his car stopped, giving Mercedes free reign in strategy. After the pitstops where all done, Max's 2 second advantage became a 6.5 second deficit. Max closed this quite quickly and Hamilton pitted again before being overtaken. When Max pitted a while later, he was 7.6 seconds behind Lewis and had to do all the hard work again. In this time Lewis was cutting the track 39 times. By the time Max caught up he took the opportunity that was presented (if Memory serves, Lewis made a small mistake on exit of T1 and had a slow exit). It didn't pay off.

Imola affected by rain and the Merc looked very handy indeed in the quali. Honda engines turned down at this point, making the cars pretty equal. Max wins. Spain, portugal, as above (portugal Merc even had a 1-2 in quali). Monaco the 2 cars where still pretty equal, people forget that Bottas was just 0.05 behind Max and was running 2nd before his 3 day pitstop. Baku Max tried a different strategy in qualifying in order to get a good tow but it didn't work.

France new power units, France traditionally a Mercedes strong hold. Very close battle in both quali and race. Max win overtaking with 1 lap to go.
Austria. In the hands of Max, the car was indeed very quick and victory was imminent. Perez well clear however. Take into consideration that Austria is not one of Lewis' strong tracks, and Max is very good here.

Clearly a good step has been made for Red Bull.

I wouldn't call the car dominant by any stretch however. For that the car would have to finish plenty of 1-2s or at least 1-3s with ease. This is not happening. And it's not like they have a poor 2nd driver in that car. Bottas is far from world class, if the Red Bull was as good as some are trying to say, Perez would easily finish ahead of Bottas.

Max has a car since the start of the season to truly compete against Mercedes/Lewis. Could he have won Bahrain? With hindsight, yes. Had he held off and went for a slightly better overtaking spot, he'd have won the race. Certainly he was against 2 mercedes with no back up.

Lewis on the other hand is making mistakes and has underperformed. Imola (where he was extremely lucky to finish). Monaco. Baku. Austria (rattled during quali and qualified behind Bottas again). For years we've been told Lewis makes no mistakes. The fact that he wasn't under pressure by anyone was irrelevant. Max has beaten him for 4 races now and he's truly rattled.

2nd Austrian GP coming up. Softer tyres now so strategy will play a big part. Lets see what happens.

 

A gift.

Another.

+1 Excellent analysis Bas.

 

Good points from DF1 also.

I’m hopeful it’s going to be a ‘next chapter’ moment this year (it’ll coincide with my pre-season prediction) but Toto and Co. needs 2021 to make Hammy’s WDC record unparalleled. They’ll go all out to see it happen.


Merc was always going to be a 7 - 10 split.

Not going down easy.

 

Lol So you expect Lewis to win a championship every year and make no mistakes? Show me driver to do so. Max is great at the moment and he may win the championship. Alonso stopped Schumacher's reign in 05. This doesn't affect Lewis legacy, he has nothing left to prove.

 

LOL

 

I thought i was the only one thinking that

 

In my mind, Hamilton does indeed have something left to prove: that he can win consistently against a rival car/driver of equal or greater ability. The last time he was really tested, he lost the WDC to Nico. I guess the good news for all of us is that a resurgent RB/Max may give us a bit more insight into Hamilton’s true place in F1 history.

 

So when Schumacher got beat by Hakkenin, you think his legacy is tarnished? What about when Alonso spanked Schumacher 05 & 06? You think that tarnished Schumacher?
I'll correct you on Hamilton. He was challenged 2017&18, trailed the championship both years. Came back and won both years.

 

i don’t see it. Budget restrictions and 2022 development are priorities. I don’t think there is an easy fix to their floor/tire issues that doesn’t involve a suspension redesign

 

+1
The base issue - floor (with low rake) = suspension issues and balance + tire wear. This equation is not fully solved for Mercedes.

Honda with more efficient PU. RedBull via aero change(floor + inherent high rake/diffuser) and distinct improvement last year from Honda PU, better balance, tire wear etc. All elements came together perfectly in Austria race 1.

 

Not at all.
Everyone knows the FIA put a stop to Schumacher's reign by suddenly handing an advantage to Michelin teams.
Quite right too - most people were getting bored

 

So basically you are saying Schumacher could no longer win when he didn't have the advantage? I thought he was good at car developement, why didn't he develope the car around those issues? I thought he could win in any car?
Why are some Schumi fans so fake? Always looking for excuses to protect Schumi. If he got beat he got beat. If Max beat Lewis this year i will say Max beat him fairly, i don't need to make excuses because my confidence in Lewis has been since the start of his career. But some of you Schumi fans are so fake always trying to make excuses.

 

No, not everyone, only the conspiracy theorists on this forum.

The same who think Glock gifted a WDC to Hamilton.

 

The low rake/high rake is already disputed.
Merc started development of their 2021 car very early in 2020. There is no chance that if the low rake was such a massive disadvantage, they'd stick with it. Not happening. Both the low and high rake still have their merits.

Mercedes was already struggling with tyres for years. Not exactly a secret.

 

Rake is a slight but is a change. Combine with tire issue known and they have items that affect performance. The car seems to have the narrow operating window vs RedBull more flexible one.

 

It's a bit two fold really. Red Bull gets it's tyres into the right window much quicker, but Mercedes tends to wear theirs out quicker.

Quite why Mercedes never really fixed their tyre problem is beyond me. Arrogance that they had that much more pace in hand maybe?

Red Bull stuck with their high rake concept for all these years despite it being a "disadvantage". The reality is everything is a big (dis)advantage once you start nitpicking. The low rake wasn't the reason for all the success mercedes had in the last 8 years. It's purely part of their concept of the entire vehicle, as goes with Red Bull.

Mclaren switched to a lower rake concept as did Ferrari for their year and both improved quite handsomely.

Merc simply have been caught up in speed and there is now a very small difference between the cars, track, tyre and temperature dependent. Neither car is dominant over the other, yet.

 

Ahem.
There was no car advantage in 2000.
Straight and equal fight.

Do you have a problem that fact ?