2021 F1 Testing

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Whilst I don't think Russell was sabotaged, it's probably due to Mercedes' behavior/statements over the last 7 years it's questioned at all. A bit like the Irvine/Ferrari pitstop in 1999....when they had no wheels! There was talk among some that Ferrari didn't want to win the title with Irvine. A ridiculous notion.

Many of us poked fun at the Russell failed pitstop and subsequent antics, but it was just poor luck.

Everyone saw Russell's performance, and the failure to win has been written off as desperately poor luck by any sane person.


IF the Mercedes truly is a problematic car and not as fast anymore now, the best, very best thing that could've happened for Lewis is to not have signed the contract for 2021 and watch Russell/Bottas struggle. His fans would spin the narrative that all the winning was due to him and no one else ever.

 

What team has a better record or car. Russell tasted First Class after years in servant class. They had no reason wreck his race. Its an absurd but remotely possible notion. For about 1 second it might be a thought. Other than that, he tasted his future. No team is on offer or has seats avail to match the expected timeline of Russell into a Mercedes seat.

 

Are Merc,big as they are, really going to throw away something called prize money,which is also rather big for a win .

 

There is no prize money for winning individual races as far as I know. This was done away many years back.

 

Yes you are correct. Constructors get points and money based on finishing position on the whole year.So in this case Merc would still have won the WCC so not lose any money.

 

I’ve seen posts here discussing the new Ferrari PU for this year saying that it’s similar to last years turbo set up. I thought that as well. This new YT video from Unbeaten F1 (dumb name) says it’s “Mercedes” style split turbo...

 

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Craig Scarborough disagrees...

 

Every year this is the same story.
Would be funny if our 2021 PU is in fact the 2020 one but now the penance is over and we are allowed to use it 100%

 

Split turbo. More like split opinions.

 

Ferrari will go with a split turbo in the 2022 car......along with Renault.

 

the 2020 wasn't ''restricted'' by the FIA as punishment...it was a rushjob to get something together from their allegedly illegal engine from 2019. Mika Salo's comment was lost in translation somewhere and they where allowed to use just as much fuel as any other team, they just didn't use as much as they did in their higher power 2019 car..

 

Again this is a rumor coming from Nugnes and Co.
Huge pinch of salt I would say ..

 

Assuming Ferrari gets to fill up their tank to the brim this year, they should be a lot more competitive again.

 

If Mercedes didn´t want Russell to win, they had more effective ways to do it: change tyre pressures, restrict the power for "reliability issues", etc... Nobody would notice it and Bottas could grab the win. Faking a bad pit stop not only would make the team look stupid, but wouldn´t erode Russell´s image either, as everybody knows that he was the "moral winner" of the race.

 

Okay... let's presume there was something nefarious. I want to be clear... I have no idea and I'm not one of those people who like to state opinion as fact. I'm just willing to think about the differing opinions on the matter and at least be intellectually honest about the oddities that took place and what they could potentially mean.

Given that, I don't think it was about keeping other teams away at all. If we go down that road... it was all very much about protecting Lewis. Mercedes, Lewis, and F1 as a whole are all in this together. I think it's hard to ignore there's a vested interest in having Lewis succeed... and more so in the dominant fashion he has. They all need each other to reach both individual and joint objectives. The result of doing so generates money for all sorts of reasons I think most of us already understand. The SJW aspect is just the latest opportunity and resulting cog for that trilogy of partners. In my mind, to achieve those objectives, Lewis has to maintain that aura ... that rarified air or GOAT persona... all augmented by his desire, willingness, and command of his celebrity. If you now take a kid who's helmet was blocking part of the air intake, who had to wear smaller shoes just to get his feet properly on the pedals... and he just absolutely exceeds even the wildest expectations by winning a race... in a commanding fashion no less... on his debut... that has implications and not good ones for they mystique that is Lewis Hamilton. He is a gifted driver. I'd even say probably one of the best or at the very least the best at driving that car. If you assume that Bottas is given a fair shake and has same equipment, same opportunity, all things being equal, etc.... Valtteri has already proven that "it's just the car" assertion is largely untrue. You have to be able to drive the car to it's maximum potential ... just like Seb did back in his RBR days when most times he made Webber look like an "also ran." Like him or hate him, Lewis is a easily one of the best to have sat behind the wheel and both he and Merc deserve the success they have achieved. No one has come close to what they've done. You can argue it was rigged from the start of the new era and sure... there's a lot to discuss there as we all have, but it's hard to deny their continued success. This is just a different discussion or aspect of it all.

If you now put this kid in he car and he goes on to do what everyone thought they would see... that just creates a lot of questions... too many really and that not only interferes with the juggernaut that's been created, but potentially the legacy and story of Lewis that everyone is invested seeing through at this point. So if I go down this road, understand that corruption and collusion exist in any sport where so much is at stake... then I can see them deliberately killing that race for Russell. And what better way to do it then to make themselves look foolish in the process to further dissuade questions. In the modern era, I've never seen Merc make such a silly mistake... not even close. don't know that any team has really with the closest thing being Ric on Monaco but even that was just a completely different thing. This was so egregiously bad, it does beg the question.

So again, it's all speculation because none of us know what happened or why and we'll never know. But I think it's important as fans to at least entertain some of these questions... these anomalies that make no sense given the context around them.

 

I would add that Bottas is an average driver, and didn't rank in the Top 10 poll by his peers.

The fact that Bottas can still finish P2 in the WDC, complete with some DNF's, shows that it IS the car, but Lewis is better than Bottas, we can all agree on that.

 

Because Lewis is the best at tire preservation, and there are a lot of races that will be won on tire preservation this year.

Merc yes
F1 no. F1 appears to more of a pinnacle when records stand the test of time.

And obviously you.

 

That's part of racecraft in my book.

 

So is the pitstop.

Unfortunately Mercedes screwed it for Russell

 

Agree,
This sport must become analog, physical, manly again with the subtle pleasure of disengaging and the gear lever that comes in force..

 

I'm sure some of today's drivers could handle 3 pedals and a stick

 

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So was this actually "testing," or was it "rehearsing their alibis?"

 

No,
We are fully aware that the scuderia will not be able to do better than third. We just hope Max gets a car competitive enough to kick your beloved Lewis’s ass.

 

Big boys with small feet.