At 18 years old you got to give him a couple of seasons before any conclusions can be made
How do you "defend" in a straight line when your car is at least 15mph slower than your pursuer? By swerving perhaps? He would have been blamed for that too!! I think young Stroll is getting a bad rap for things that are beyond his control. Let's consider that Stroll achieved a F1 podium during his first half season of GP; that's something that some drivers NEVER achieve in their whole career!! He is not the best, or the fastest, or the more promising young driver, but still he kept his nose clean when many didn't, and climbed through the field, only to loose the second spot in the last sprint to the line. A good solid drive, IMO.
+1 fair enough though he could try taking a wider line, make Bottas take the long way around. He is learning F1 racecraft.
Are you really going to play so childish? Really? He could've moved left/right, whichever way Bottas first choice was going to be. Finish line wasn't far away, with some luck and good planning he could've kept 2nd place, if Bottas had to get out of the throttle or lost some speed jinking to the otherside again. As for defending in a slower car, look at Verstappen last year giving Rosberg (in undeniably a much faster car) a complete and utter masterclass in defending in a straight line (Canada). Lap after lap he held him off.
Screw a diagram. how 'bout a photo? An aerial. Bakou ? STATS F1 I don't know where you've raced, or what you consider a straight, but that's one to me. Next.....
Absolutely not. There would be no other way to hold Bottas off with his closing speed. Nothing childish about it. Just realism.
Here's a reminder for you all https://youtu.be/ohxp3NU08Jo?t=57 Yes, easily defended, or at least a reasonable attempt could've been made without either of them crashing.
Your post: " Check the course diagram for the "straightaway". " My response: Bakou ? STATS F1 necessitated: 'Class act for sure. I'm so offended. I'm so hurt.
Max Verstappen came into F1 at an even younger age than Stroll, and whilst a little unpolished and controversial at times, you could see his talent immediately - The same cannot be said of Lance Stroll. And it's not as though Verstappen immediately stepped into a car that was much more competitive than Stroll's Williams, Verstappen's Toro Rosso cars at that time were pretty much the equivalent of today's Williams. Give Stroll a couple of seasons? - The question is, can Williams afford to give him a couple of seasons? (and I'm not talking about "afford" from a purely financial point of view - Let's be honest here, Daddy can cover that one!). So far this season, in general he's been @ 0.7~1.0 seconds off his team mates pace, and his ability to develop the car is pretty much zero due to a lack of experience. Williams are a team who used to battle wheel to wheel with the likes of Ferrari and McLaren at the front of the grid. Today they are battling in the mid-field with the likes of Force India and Toro Rosso. They need to get their car further up the grid than it is now, both by getting the best out of both of their drivers, and with development of their car, and right now, Baku result not withstanding, Stroll is in reality, not adding much to the project. Sorry to p:censored:ss on Stroll's podium parade, but the harsh reality is: He got lucky in Baku! Yet again I say, had just about everyone else not done their best to mess up their race one way or another, then Lance Stroll would have been lucky to get a point in Baku for 10th place. I've yet to see even a slight spark from Stroll that says to Me that he is anything but a mediocre F1 driver at best. Verstappen on the other hand, has from day one shown some serious F1 racing ability, and that he can be a future F1 WDC!
Williams said that Stroll was struggling with the set up of the car in the first races,and i think we saw that in the way he seemed to be fighting it all the time. Now they have gone for a similar set up to Massa,and seems a bit easier to drive fast,which gives him more confidence which you need fo go faster. Everyone jumped on the bandwagon saying he is often crashing.which lap will he crash etc etc. So now he has had a couple of decent clean races and picked up points and a podium its just pure luck,so the other drivers who crashed did great right? I still think he will be giving Massa some heat before the end of the season,and quite likely in the next couple of races . That car could be right up there with one of the top drivers in it.Alonso must be salivating at the thought of getting his hands on it.
In accordance with the announced and stickied http://www.ferrarichat.com/forum/f1/495700-enforcement-rules-f1-forum.html, a 1-month ban has been applied for a personal attack. All the best, Andrew.
That's not particularly encouraging news regarding his ability as a driver. If you can't determine what you need and communicate it to your crew you're not saying much for your skill set....
I am also sure Massa -- the guy Williams booted to put Stroll in his seat -- wasn't too eager to help the young lad out. There is no way Massa wanted to retire. Williams wanted the cash and the opportunity to stop paying for one driver salary. I think its personal with Massa. Beating Stroll every race must make him pretty happy. And he WOULD have beaten Stroll in Baku if he didn't have a breakdown. Stroll may have been on a podium but he still has never beaten his teammate in a straight fight in qualifying or a race.
If he needs a couple of seasons to get acquainted with F1 that shows even more that he needed to have time in F2/ F3.5 first.
Is it just me, or does it seem like young Lance always faces the reporters in the bullpen with his grandma? I know all the drivers have PR assistants, but... And yes, Filipe has kicked Lance's ass all season.
