.......hurt by power deficit????? More like talent and race-craft deficit and not just in Brazil!!!! Williams says Stroll hurt by power deficit in Brazil https://www.motorsport.com/f1/news/williams-says-stroll-hampered-by-lack-of-power-in-brazil-979286/ … via @motorsport
Lol, a power deficit? A 2017 unit, albeit a few races old, is worse than a 2016 (or 17 for that matter) Ferrari unit, that are also old? And agains the Renaults, who ran lower power because their turbo kept shattering and they don't have any more replacements? And that Honda... Come on Williams, your driver sucks and you're not fooling anyone. They're doing something some teams just have to in this climate, take on a pay driver, and one with very deep pockets at that. A reasonable punt given that he managed to win the F3 title. After endless testing he's still ****. If he actually had talent the move would've been genius.
Unlike many of you I do not see Lance in F1 that negative.... F1 teams have sold their soul to Tabacco and Alcohol companies for ages so I do not see why putting a pay driver (that brings a lot of money) into the car is such a bad thing. As far as I can see Lance is not very competitve at the moment but he does not do bring anyone in real danger (I guess the cool down lap accident with Seb was not really dangerous but only expensive). I think it is legitime that a father (before any others) invests into the happiness and joy of his son. What I would be more interested in is whether Lance actually feels any joy at the moment. I guess one can be certain that his self-confidence is not really high at the moment and I wonder whether he enjoys the racing. When he is flying to the track, does he look forward to a race weekend or is he afraid to have another embarrassing race being schooled by his team mate? I doubt that he likes to read the papers on monday either...So how long will he stay in F1 giving it a try or has he already lost faith but is too proud to quit? That said I think it was too early for him to enter F1...
I agree, with an f.2 season behind him he would have been much more prepared adn with confidence to face f.1...just imagine putting him besides Leclerc in the same car...Leclerc would muderder him! it was an embareassment to watch gasly overtake him in a much inferior Toro rosso...for pit sake, it It was Gasly third race..or second?
Are they genuinely that stupid or do they get a container load of Michael Kors clothes send to their homes at the end of the season
I imagine him in F2 wouldn't have been much good either...Leclerc obviously untouchable this season and then you have guys like Rowland, Ghiotto, Latifi (another Canadian he is), Markelov...all stealing his thunder.
They had to swap his PU for an old one after practice, I don't understand what's so hard to believe. When I saw his qualy/race performance I surmised that was the likely issue, either teething problems after swapping the whole PU or they had to use an old one and turn it down. I know he's usually a little slower than Massa but not that much. After the first 5 races I thought we was the worst driver in f1, but you don't get a front row and a podium at 18 years old in the 4th best car (at best) without some real talent, retirements/conditions notwithstanding. Massa has neither of those this year. Yeah, he's inconsistent and around 2 years too soon to be in f1, but they put his feet to the fire and he responded pretty well after those first 5 races. However, with Palmer and Kvyat jettisoned and the 2 new TR guys doing pretty well given everything considered, he might be the worst driver in f1 again. The Haas guys have been kind of **** but I think it's them trying to compensate for a car that hasn't been developed and push it too hard. I'm hoping they put Kubica in the car next year as he should be a real measuring stick. I don't think Massa has it, or has had it any more, but he's plain faster than Stroll most of the time, so they need a guy who has proven one lap pace so they can know where their car is. We see Hamilton crushing Bottas, who crushed Massa, who is crushing Stroll, so who knows where that car stands right now. That said, the cars changed a lot this year and (supposedly) suited Massa, so maybe if Bottas were still there he would also be struggling a little and making Stroll look better.
So on sheer talent and no family input you would hire Stroll. I would not and if he left Williams with no family backing his entry to a race in F1 would be a ticket and not a F1 car seat. With a fully functioning power unit name an aggressive fully F1 move he has made this year. He has zero. His podium was the result of drivers out of the race in Baku. He is not at all an F1, star to be of the future. His benchmark is among others Max and LeClerc etc. He is not at all noteworthy in this sport. Its painfully apparent where he ranks. Brundle said it best in his report about Brazil. Fastest...not richest should be driving. And to be honest Brundle has been rather easy on him but that sums it up nicely.
Bottas never crushed Massa, bot even close, as for Elton vs Massa, we all saw them for several years in similar competitive cars, and Lewis was never faster than him...obviously now massa is clearly demotivated, but when he puts the foot down, Stroller is at least a full second adrift...
Exactly! Let's see who started in front of him: Hamilton - headrest Bottas - Flat tyre so was down to dead last (and still overtook him) Kimi - used as a bumper car by Bottas, eventual engine failure took him out Vettel - Red mist Perez - hit by Ocon Ocon - Hit Perez Verstappen - complete and utter engine failure Ricciardo started far behind him and won the race Bottas was lapped I think after the first lap, and finished ahead of him Massa started behind him and was well ahead before the SC but had accute suspension failure. It wasn't such a great race for the stroller.
Good question. From having talked to them in person on several occasions (we had Hobbs once at a FerrariChat event) I can say that they are not stupid. I think what is going on is that their network tells them to be nice to any North American driver because that's the majority of their viewership. Not that they would really make negative comments on drivers from other regions either, but in the case of Stroll they actually actively hype him every race and congratulate him on doing just a terrific job. Heck, they loved Speed (remember him?) for the brief and useless time he was in F1.
There are MANY other young drivers who would love Lance's seat and don't have Pappa Stroll's money to throw around. But they won't get the chance. The issue is: "who better can get points for the team?" The answer is: Massa over Stroll but it's Massa being forced out. F1 is the ONLY sport where that makes sense.
But the question is whether Massa with the money of Stroll in the team makes more points than Massa and whoever without the money of Stroll... Who knows where Williams would be without the money of Stroll, maybe Massa would fight with the Sauber and McLaren at the end of the field. Maybe on the long term Williams would even be in financial trouble, who knows? And then not just one place in the grid is lost but two and this would not give any other young drivers a chance either....
FROM THE ARTICLE: "The biggest issue with using engine number three was that there was no longer any scope for Stroll to use magic modes to help in overtaking "After stalling at the start, which was unfortunate, the biggest blow for Lance was getting stuck behind [Romain] Grosjean for far too long, which eroded his buffer and advantage to [Pierre] Gasly. "And without the mode in the engine that he is missing – as in effect we have consumed a lot of the quotas in that engine because it was not supposed to be used again – it made overtaking very difficult. "He then flat spotted a tyre in a desperate attempt to get past Grosjean, and that really then further ruined his race. It is one of the weekends which I am sure Lance will want to forget. But it was not kicked off by anything of his own doing." Lowe said Williams did weigh up fitting a brand new fifth engine for Stroll on race morning, but decided that the extra cost of doing so was not worth the benefit it would bring." SO, Willaims believed Stroll would not do any better with a fresher engine so they didn't put one in. Then Lance stalled on the grid. Then Lance couldn't pass Grosjean, who was floundering on the track. Then Lance flat spotted his tires trying to pass. BUT--- it's all the PU's fault! LOL!!!!
And then there's MASSA: Massa perfect Although Stroll's result was disappointing, Lowe had nothing but praise for the way in which Massa finished seventh, having overtaken and then held off Fernando Alonso. "Perfect," said Lowe. "We all remember Felipe's first retirement here last year which was very dramatic and you couldn't have scripted a better farewell, but this was actually far better because it was on the basis of a terrific drive. "Best of the rest. And under extreme pressure, I think he probably didn't have the quicker car overall but he managed to claim that position by really fantastic skill and experience, especially by managing the life of the tyres he had." But Williams wants to get rid of Massa to keep Stroll.
I think I said he's the worst driver in f1, but he's not the disaster he was at the start of the season, and he's still only 18. I think they brought him in 2 years early. As to him having the seat, yeah without the money he wouldn't be there. If I were a team that didn't have unlimited money like the 4 teams at the front, I'd certainly consider him, though.
His rookie year has not been a complete disaster,will be interesting to see who Williams bring in next year to partner him,and how he gets on.These cars are not at all easy to drive ,as we have seen Vettel and Lewis etc managing to let it get away from them at times. I say give the kid a break.He might still surprise a few folks .
Why? Because he's a kid? F1 is a sport. If you don't perform in a sport and you should not expect anyone to "give you a break".
If he can qualify within 107% of pole he is perfectly entitled to race.Which he obviously can quite comfortably do.
As an aside to the thread - the cool down accident was not Stroll's fault - when the FIA released onboard footage from Stroll's car a day or two later, it showed that Stroll kept constant steering angle on his car around that corner, ie he held his line, and that it was Seb who angled in to Stroll as he came alongside and in front of Stroll. It was Seb's fault.
Try taking a look at his F3 drives.I would call that racing.In F1 yes its a very steep learning curve ..some do it faster than others ..hare and tortoise :}
