[M5Rick]

It appears Mercedes are in chaos with Wolff's orders to his drivers not to collide with each other going in one ear and out the other with one particular driver.
Wolff stuck in Monaco recovering from an operation may be rueing having told 'subservient' Bottas to leave the team.
https://racingnews365.com/wolff-must...ussell-tension

*Just to add that both drivers were blaming each other for the collision and in the end Hamilton accepted blame after watching a replay.
What's particularly creamy is that Mercedes' replacement manager for the weekend praised Hamilton for his truthfulness.

[M5Rick]

I take with a pinch of salt what some of the drivers say publicly sometimes in the heat of the moment but must say Ocon's quip that he'd rather die or be killed than retire from a race is a new one on me.
https://racingnews365.com/ocon-would...-qatar-gp-hell

[Artemis]

Originally Posted by OG Shark

PER cannot drive this car fast at anything less than optimum conditions unfortunately.

IMHO he can, as he showed in the past.

But since some time he has lost his mojo. It's between the ears. Once he can fully focus again, good old Perez will be back.

"Perez admits to having psychological treatment" | Sep 28, 2023
https://thejudge13.com/2023/09/28/pe...cal-treatment/

[Artemis]

Originally Posted by M5Rick

*Just to add that both drivers were blaming each other for the collision and in the end Hamilton accepted blame after watching a replay.
What's particularly creamy is that Mercedes' replacement manager for the weekend praised Hamilton for his truthfulness.

Mercedes was very lucky to still collect 12 points for the race thanks to Russell's recovery to P4 after the Lap 1 incident.

Could have been a double DNF à la Barcelona/Spain 2016 (where both Hamilton and Rosberg were subsequently grilled by a furious duo in charge of Mercedes F1: Toto Wolff and Niki Lauda).

Wondering whether Hamilton received a heated long-distance phone-call from Toto Wolff once he had returned to the pit lane.

Hamilton once he DNF'd: taking no blame



Hamilton afterwards (replying that he hadn't seen the footage yet of the incident): taking the blame

Later:

[M3WC]

Originally Posted by Artemis

Maybe the race weekend results of Russell/Hamilton are part of the explanation why Hamilton (soft tires) was so eager to get past Russell (medium tires) and Verstappen (medium tires) in Turn 1 in Lap 1 of the race.

I don't even understand the soft tire call. Even if he pulled the move off, those tires were lasting maybe 6 laps. He would then have been released from pits down the field into a lot of traffic, that were all running longer on mediums. He would have lost loads of time and positions.

[OG Shark]

Originally Posted by Artemis

IMHO he can, as he showed in the past.

But since some time he has lost his mojo. It's between the ears. Once he can fully focus again, good old Perez will be back.

"Perez admits to having psychological treatment" | Sep 28, 2023
https://thejudge13.com/2023/09/28/pe...cal-treatment/

The key here being in the past. RB19 is a different animal though than anything he has driven before and the car has progressed consistently towards a heavier oversteer bias. While this creates the potential for a faster car it also makes for an increasingly less forgiving setup at the limit. The margin for error in difficult conditions is even more reduced with characteristics like this and this year there have been a high number of difficult situations. Lots of dry/wet changing conditions; slippery tracks; etc this season especially in qualy where he has overall struggled the most. Not saying this has been the only issue for him but once this started it seems like it started to play tricks in his head as well (understandably so though) further compounding his problems.

[Artemis]

Originally Posted by M3WC

I don't even understand the soft tire call. Even if he pulled the move off, those tires were lasting maybe 6 laps. He would then have been released from pits down the field into a lot of traffic, that were all running longer on mediums. He would have lost loads of time and positions.

• Most logical explanation: tire availability. Check below what Verstappen, Russell and Hamilton had at their disposal at race start (mediums: Verstappen had a better hand of cards to play; softs: Hamilton had a better hand of cards to play). Remember that teams and drivers did not expect a "maximum 18 laps" limitation that was imposed on race day, otherwise they would have adapted their tire strategy during free practice, qualies and Sprint (saving more medium tires).
• The Sprint session demonstrated a high chance of a safety car, allowing gaining a "free" pit stop advantage.
• Highest risk of safety car: first laps (nervous pack) and final laps (fatigue kicking in).
• Had Hamilton successfully managed to pull off the impetuous high-risk maneuver to overtake Russell and Verstappen on the outside in Turn 1 of Lap 1 (not impossible with softs, but requiring a very bold 'elbows out' maneuver), everybody would have been in awe and maybe it could have even mentally bothered Verstappen + he could have built a modest P1 gap (faster tires + no DRS during the initial laps + subsequently keeping Verstappen and Russell out of the 1 second DRS window) + considered a calculated chance of either a "free" pit stop because of a potential safety car or earlier pitting around Lap 9 in a calm pit lane as most cars would start on mediums pitting in laps 15-18.

Ironically, there was a safety car after Lap 1, but we all know why. If Hamilton had been a little more patient, Mercedes could have pocketed lots of extra points (Hamilton getting closer to Perez in the WDC + Mercedes further widening the gap to Ferrari in the WCC).

The Qatar race was a golden chance for Mercedes: starting P2 and P3 + Perez required to start from the pit lane + Sainz not starting. That chance was already squandered in Turn 1 of Lap 1. Toto Wolff must have gone ballistic while watching in Monaco (unlikely that he kicked his TV as he's currently recovering from knee surgery).

[///M Power-Belgium]

Originally Posted by M5Rick

Soft tyres or not it was an over-optimistic move from LEW with an almost guaranteed DNF.

Won't be the last time my friend ..

In other words : The Russell boy is not the Bottas lapdog .

It's Rumble in the Mercedes Jungle !

#Tarzoon !

[///M Power-Belgium]

Originally Posted by M3WC

I don't even understand the soft tire call. Even if he pulled the move off, those tires were lasting maybe 6 laps. He would then have been released from pits down the field into a lot of traffic, that were all running longer on mediums. He would have lost loads of time and positions.

1- Soft tires at the start means more traction .
2- More traction means faster in the first straight and more grip in T1.

1&2 = Win positions in the first lap , and then "elbows wide" to the first (mandatory)! pitstop for new mediums .

But LEW didn't make it that far with his dive-bomb in self-destruct mode , it was 100% his own beginners mistake ..

LEW and his 2021 brake-magic button mistake was even worse !
Because he actually lost The '21 World Title in the Azerbaijan GP by a button ...

[///M Power-Belgium]

Originally Posted by Artemis

Hm, where was Perez ?

Attachment 3295542

He was (still)! exceeding the track limits !

[///M Power-Belgium]

Originally Posted by M5Rick

I take with a pinch of salt what some of the drivers say publicly sometimes in the heat of the moment but must say Ocon's quip that he'd rather die or be killed than retire from a race is a new one on me.
https://racingnews365.com/ocon-would...-qatar-gp-hell

The Brazilian tigress loves her triple F1 World Champion !

Beauty and Speed

[Artemis]

Originally Posted by AmuroRay

Max has to be the most overrated driver in all of F1 history - bar none.

Originally Posted by AmuroRay

It's wild to me how anyone can look at Max and consider him "elite"

Some new stats since the Qatar race:

• At the Qatar 2023 race Verstappen won for the 14th consecutive time when starting from pole, the longest streak in F1 history.
• Verstappen broke Sebastian Vettel's record for the most laps led in a single season during this race (739), with five races still remaining in 2023.
• Verstappen extends his points-scoring streak to 36 consecutive races, the second-longest streak of all time.
• Verstappen has now won on 24 different circuits in his F1 career, passing Michael Schumacher's total and trailing only Lewis Hamilton’s (31).
• Verstappen now leads the drivers’ championship by over 200 points. The largest winning margin ever at the end of a season is 155 points by Vettel in 2013.
• The Qatar 2023 race was Verstappen's 10th hat-trick of win, pole position and fastest lap, surpassing the total of Juan-Manuel Fangio and trailing only Jim Clark (11), Lewis Hamilton (19) and Michael Schumacher (22).
  (source: https://www.formula1.com/en/latest/a...zH0U1853V.html)

Back in 2015 he was interviewed by a Dutch broadcast:

• Interviewer: "What do you want to ask your future self in 2030 ?"
• Verstappen: "Have I become world champion more than seven times ?"

It's 2023 and at the age of 26 he has already triple WDC under his belt as well as several F1 records. Let's see how many more F1 records he will have broken by 2030. In the meantime, by racing many more races, he will become an even more experienced and skilled F1 race machine. Except for a very bad car, an adverse event cutting his career short, getting bored of F1 racing and F1 rules changes or a future super talented driver of his mighty calibre surfacing and driving a competitive car, he's on his way to dominate F1 for many years to come.

But keep an eye on rookie Oscar Piastri. I said it before and say it again: super talent. I expect many Verstappen-Piastri on-track battles in the future.

August 2022 post:

Originally Posted by Artemis

With Alonso's seat up for grabs at Alpine, Oscar Piastri can at last enter Formula 1 in 2023.

Calibre: Leclerc, Russell, Sainz and Verstappen.



Dedicated training in 2022 by Alpine (English from 01:45 onwards):

[M5Rick]

Originally Posted by Artemis

Mercedes was very lucky to still collect 12 points for the race thanks to Russell's recovery to P4 after the Lap 1 incident.

Could have been a double DNF à la Barcelona/Spain 2016 (where both Hamilton and Rosberg were subsequently grilled by a furious duo in charge of Mercedes F1: Toto Wolff and Niki Lauda).

Wondering whether Hamilton received a heated long-distance phone-call from Toto Wolff once he had returned to the pit lane.

Hamilton once he DNF'd: taking no blame

'Red mist' while still pumped up.

[M5Rick]

Originally Posted by ///M Power-Belgium

The Brazilian tigress loves her triple F1 World Champion !

Beauty and Speed

Her dad is a triple world champ just like Max now !

[M5Rick]

Originally Posted by ///M Power-Belgium

He was (still)! exceeding the track limits !

No,, he did a Kimi..he would say 'I was taking a sh*t'

I'm sure Checo will be right up there with Max at Austin.

[///M Power-Belgium]

Originally Posted by M5Rick

Ricciardo to RB? Nope he remains at the soon to be renamed AT, and Checo drives for RB in '24, even if he doesn't hold on to second in championship. Only if Ricciardo is not fit to drive (with a brutal pre-race test on his hand) then Lawson drives the AT.

[M5Rick]

Originally Posted by ///M Power-Belgium

Christian must be excited

[///M Power-Belgium]

Originally Posted by M5Rick

Christian must be excited

Sure . And MAX will teach Horner how to run over 'Eau-Rouge at top speed ..

Update : Good news from Francorchamps !

Spa-Francorchamps (The Belgian GP) has been added to the 2024 + 2025 F1 calendar !

[M5Rick]

Originally Posted by ///M Power-Belgium

Sure . And MAX will teach Horner how to run over 'Eau-Rouge at top speed ..

Update : Good news from Francorchamps !

Spa-Francorchamps (The Belgian GP) has been added to the 2024 + 2025 F1 calendar !

How could one of the best tracks on the planet not be added

[five_timer]

Originally Posted by Artemis

[*]Verstappen now leads the drivers’ championship by over 200 points. The largest winning margin ever at the end of a season is 155 points by Vettel in 2013.

Different points system, can't compare. It would be interesting to do the conversion.

[M5Rick]

Bad news for McLaren & Merc in that Horner has warned there is more to come from RBR in '24 when the new RB 20 debuts in March and that is where the teams focus is on now, it was noticeable with McLaren moving up closer to the leading RB in hot as an oven Qatar.
What's happening at Ferrari is anyone's guess but with their noticeable drop in performance with the 55 car breaking down before the start it would appear to be the case also.
https://www.gpfans.com/en/f1-news/10...4-improvement/

[Marcoose]

Originally Posted by Artemis

Some new stats since the Qatar race:

• At the Qatar 2023 race Verstappen won for the 14th consecutive time when starting from pole, the longest streak in F1 history.
• Verstappen broke Sebastian Vettel's record for the most laps led in a single season during this race (739), with five races still remaining in 2023.
• Verstappen extends his points-scoring streak to 36 consecutive races, the second-longest streak of all time.
• Verstappen has now won on 24 different circuits in his F1 career, passing Michael Schumacher's total and trailing only Lewis Hamilton’s (31).
• Verstappen now leads the drivers’ championship by over 200 points. The largest winning margin ever at the end of a season is 155 points by Vettel in 2013.
• The Qatar 2023 race was Verstappen's 10th hat-trick of win, pole position and fastest lap, surpassing the total of Juan-Manuel Fangio and trailing only Jim Clark (11), Lewis Hamilton (19) and Michael Schumacher (22).
  (source: https://www.formula1.com/en/latest/a...zH0U1853V.html)

Back in 2015 he was interviewed by a Dutch broadcast:

• Interviewer: "What do you want to ask your future self in 2030 ?"
• Verstappen: "Have I become world champion more than seven times ?"

It's 2023 and at the age of 26 he has already triple WDC under his belt as well as several F1 records. Let's see how many more F1 records he will have broken by 2030. In the meantime, by racing many more races, he will become an even more experienced and skilled F1 race machine. Except for a very bad car, an adverse event cutting his career short, getting bored of F1 racing and F1 rules changes or a future super talented driver of his mighty calibre surfacing and driving a competitive car, he's on his way to dominate F1 for many years to come.

But keep an eye on rookie Oscar Piastri. I said it before and say it again: super talent. I expect many Verstappen-Piastri on-track battles in the future.

August 2022 post:

I don’t find Verstappen overrated. He is truly an exceptional driver. These stats are impressive and there’s more to come. But … he has no competition either from within or from outside. None. Even Schumacher, Vettel and Hamilton had competition in some years. And his first WDC, well, we all watched how ‘he’ won.

Yeah, Piastri is the new hot thing. Hopefully McLaren already ditched the 2023 car and are working on 2024.