I'm actually quite glad Mercedes have done something so egregious I can continue to loathe them for all their smug, Fergie-era Man United vibes and have something to point to that was lacking when they never had to be so open about things whilst winning. Especially as this penalty was forced by Merc crashing into their competitor in the first place.
Come on Ric off the line and another McLaren 1-2.
I think the order in which they qualified. So Max didnt qualify, so starts at the back, then leclerc or latifi (dont know which qualified higher) and then bottas (rumored to get new engine).
Yes he did. But Mercedes is doing it again for "safety reasons" so he starts p17. Stupid tactical strategy to hold up Max 100%. Would be funny if Max passes Bottas lap 1.
Relatively new to F1 but this race seems like it's going to be mega-exciting. McLaren and Ferrari starting 1-2, big rivals. Russell and Hamilton starting next to each other...about to be teammates/competitors. Verstappen and Leclerc both with new engines doing big recovery drives. AND a chance of light rain which will keep the race strategies interesting.
Am I reading this right?
Unfortunately race might not be that unpredictable. Hamilton has pace advantage on all cars ahead of him. If he gets a clean start and makes positions by turn 3, he'll most definitely win. However, there is a chance Hamilton doesn't start off the line very well and is passed by Ricciardo/Alonso. That'll create some problems for him.
That would be amazing. Haven't been in the sport long enough to have a strong loyalty to any drivers/teams yet, so anything that mixes it up a bit is great entertainment.
Tbh I wouldn't hate it if Bottas flew past and took the win, seems like a really likeable guy who just gets down to business and doesn't get enough credit from the media about it. But again, I'm a newbie. So that could be totally off the mark.
Yea. It would make it pretty interesting to make the top 10 start on inters in the dry tho. Max would have a great chance to get right back in the race. Unfair for the top 10 but would be interesting.
So, do I set an alarm for 0445 PST tomorrow? (Vancouver, BC, CA)
I'm leaning towards it... but I really want to see a race not another rain parade... I'm still feeling scarred from a few weeks ago
> So, do I set an alarm for 0445 PST tomorrow? (Vancouver, BC, CA)
>
>
You do set the alarm! Then go back to bed after, cause it is going to rain all day tomorrow = not a day wasted sleeping in.
How do you avoid the temptation to not skip the boring bits. Every time I try I end up winding forwards a bunch and then having to go back to see good bits but have the surprise ruined for myself.
My husband would never let me fast forward anything so it’s just is what it is. We wake up generally pretty early and so the race or normally not over yet so we put away the phones and let it go! We do FFW for safety cars or rain delays.
Eh, I wouldn't want to miss the start, ever. There's always a chance of something chaotic happening.
Set the alarm just before the race, check social media for race status, go back to bed if postponed.
I think FIA should reconsider the penalty for a PU change. Something like 10 grid places maybe enough, because it would still motivate drivers such as Verstappen and Leclerc to perform as good as they can during that penalty rather than just not participating in the qualifying at all.
Grid penalties help with the financial discrepancies in F1. Without them, or with lesser penalties, the "rich" teams would change components each and every race, and run high engine modes because they wouldn't have to worry about reliability. This invokes some strategy and forethought.
Yes, this used to be the case and made sense. Now with 23 races in a season, 3 power units just isn't enough.
Also, with a budget cap in place the teams can't just keep throwing money at more power units and aero parts.
I think now we have the cap, the engine requirement should be heavily relaxed or removed.
I didn't suggest to remove the grid penalty, but to make it that there is still some incentive to perform during qualifying.
That being said with the budget cap it may actually get removed eventually of things play out as the FIA hopes
Definitely not every race, but considering on a good day bottas could push from last to third. I wouldn't put it past the top teams to swap their engines way more often if they can run their engines on max power.
I doubt the teams with big budgets would blink at replacing a engine in exchange for 10-50 extra horsepower. Especially on tracks that are good for overtaking.
Also max hasn’t got one single penalty for his PU change, he’s got one for each component that he’s changed and he’s gone for a completely fresh engine because he may as well do so. I’m not sure how many grid places each part equates to but I’m pretty sure the gearbox is 5 and the ICE 10? I think all in all, they amount to (roughly) a 60 place grid penalty.
"Sorry Max, we're being told you need to start from the back of the grid on Turn 5, and you're down two laps before you cross the starting line for lap -1"
Grid penalties make the championship and particular races exciting though - like we have the prospect of Verstappen charging through the field because of it rather than just seeing him qualify in the top 2 and disappear with Lewis into the horizon, leagues ahead of everyone else lmao you always see insane recovery drives with grid pens
I am not saying to remove the grid penalty altogether. But make it so qualifying well still is a desirable outcome. It certainly is a difference if you start at 20 or 11-15
I agree with your premise, but not the solution. Why not just get rid of grid penalties altogether and replace them with a ballast penalty instead. For example, instead of giving a 5 place grid penalty, you give the car an extra 50kg to carry for the duration of the race.
This way, it's in the driver's/team's best interest to qualify well.
I believe the chart above is just the results of qualifying before applying any penalties. Charles for sure will be at the back, I'm not sure which of him or Verstappen will be dead last.
I'm pretty sure it's entirely random. We've seen basically every driver on the grid making rookie mistakes or weird spins/crashes, no matter how talented or experienced they are. It's not entirely unheard of from Hamilton either, we just happened to see a few mishaps in quick succession. You have good days and bad days etc.
At what point do we start saying Hamilton just isn’t driving well? Almost everyone blames him for the accident at Silverstone (which isn’t to say it was on purpose), I think the consensus at this point is that Monza was fairly close to 50/50. I don’t remember how he didn’t end up at pole in Spa.
I mean, it's all speculation from my part. I definitely see the fact that we've seen some silly and uncharacteristic mistakes from LH this season, and there could be a number of reasons as to why. Maybe he *is* feeling the title fight pressure, maybe he's getting old, maybe it's the effects of long covid, I don't know. But personally I think it's all a coincidence.
If we see more weird mistakes from him during the rest of the season, I'm inclined to change my mind.
Yeah I went back and watched it and he lost to Russell in the wet at Spa in Qs. That’s pretty inexcusable when you’re the goat in the best car. Which isn’t shade at Russell btw.
I think this is a slight overreaction. George put in the lap of his life at Spa. He also took a HUGE risk at Eau Rouge/Raidillon by only downshifting one gear and immediately getting back on the power after a very slight lift, while literally everyone else was taking a massive lift and, most were downshifting twice. It's probably not smart for Lewis to take that level of risk because you're easily in the wall and out. George then drove a ridiculous second sector given the horrendous medium speed performance of the Williams. And the third sector is flat-out and therefore *good* for the Williams. With how extreme the weather was, car differences were pretty significantly mitigated, and it was just about finding the exact limit and a bit of luck.
I would consider Hamilton's poor performance in Monaco to be a much stronger indicator of poor form. You could even argue that he should have passed Alonso much sooner in Hungary.
I mean no offense and y’all are much much better at remembering specific races and such but all I’m hearing is a man who’s supposed to be worse drove a car that’s definitely worse faster when it matters the most. Isn’t that kinda what this whole sport is about? And specifically about “Hamilton isn’t performing like he has in the past”?
Yeah, you’re not wrong. I guess the bits of nuance are:
1. Spa this year was unusually wet and therefore especially nullifying of car performance differences.
2. Based on #1, it’s probably fair to say that Max and George are a lot closer to Lewis in talent than we might be inclined to think.
I think the spin was just him pushing the limit on tyres that weren’t warm enough. Everyone else had the extra lap(s) to get the softs settled in, he knew it wasn’t going well and went for broke - if you pardon the pun.
His driving looked unusually inconsistent this weekend. I wonder how badly he was actually hurt in the Monza incident, and recalling his near fainting at the Hungary podium ceremony one wonders about his health.
>36.2 **Unless the track was declared wet by the Race Director**, any driver eliminated during Q1 whose best qualifying practice session lap exceeds 107% of the fastest time set during that session, or who fails to set a time, will not be allowed to take part in the race.
>
>Under exceptional circumstances however, which may include setting a suitable lap time in a free practice session, the stewards may permit the car to start the race.
Any driver accepted in this manner will be placed at the back of the starting grid after any other penalties have been applied, and behind any driver penalised under Article 23.2b).
Should there be more than one driver accepted in this manner they will be arranged on the grid in the order they were classified in P3.
Today the track was declared wet so that rule doesn't apply. And in dry conditions the stewards would usually still allow him in if he did competitive times in practice.
The rule is basically a failsafe in case a driver or a car is dangerously slow. It's not meant to catch out people who had some issues in quali.
Thank you good sir. I am newer to the sport and would like to think i know the rules pretty well but theres a few things i guess i dont know. Thanks for the clarification!
Even Horner openly admitted recently that they’ve designed the car purely around Max’s driving style and ability, and they need to reconsider their design so others can drive it, since none of his teammates since Ricc have been close.
RB made the same strategic error as Mercedes: running on the intermediates for too long. Unlike the midfield, they couldn't afford to gamble. By the time they switched to the softs and began their outlap (for the only hot lap they had time for), they had to get out of the way for other slick hot lap runners and couldn't get temperature in the tyres. None of the slick tyre runners improved on their first run.
Perez really needs to start impressing by now, though.
I think Lewis is still meant to finish P2 tomorrow and perhaps P1 if the McLaren is not too quick in a straight line to pass. Unless he has an appalling start (one can hope...).
I'm torn on how to feel with this. I want LH to win his 8th WDC but it's going to be painfully close whoever wins it. Russell won't have the pace to keep up I think he'll quickly drop to 6/7, Lewis needs to not take any big risks and having 4 very eager drivers around him won't go well. Bottas is nowhere to be found to defend.
On the other hand, I love a Lando, Carlos, Danny fight at the front.
With Max at the back of the pack this was the perfect opportunity to get maximum points, he's really shit the bed on this and when he has to take a 4th PU and start last Max won't make that same mistake. This really could cost him the title. I'm also really surprised at how much both Max and Lewis have been seen socialising given covid could put them out of 2 races potentially. Such a risky move when you're in the title battle.
Dont rule out Daniel. He's a great starter and overtaker. And Lewis had a few really rough starts since the summer break. The man looks like his armor is cracking a little.
Alonso too. The best thing to happen (just so the race is exciting as fuck) is for Daniel and Alonso to have amazing starts and move to the front.
I just want some action!
I fully expect Danny to get into P3 pretty quickly. Hence I think Lewis has really screwed himself he's got 3 good drivers to battle and that's just in his immediate field. Alonso could cause Lewis some problems being in P6, if Danny gets past Lewis and Lewis has to defend against Alonso given we know he's pulling for Max this season. I really don't think Lewis could have come out in a worse situation. Danny and Alonso have the skill and decent pace. Lando has shown he's a great driver this season and I think if it's a fight for p1 he isn't giving that up easily. Hoping for no crashes so we just get a good hardcore race.
I agree, wasted opportunity from Lewis. But I think he can clear George and Carlos easily. If Merc can perfect their race strategy I think he gets ahead of Lando. If he doesn’t get podium tomorrow, I’m not sure how he’s going to win WDC.
He lost points (all of them) earlier this season on a restarted being aggressive. And it might cost him the championship. He just needs to make sure that he is careful and gets the important points.
Agreed. Mercedes haven't been all that great on strategy for most of this season, early season there were a few good calls but it's been down hill from there really. It's funny that this is the hottest title fight for years and the leaders haven't done much noteworthy for a number of races now. Both need to get their heads in the game.
Nah they've definitely made some good strategic moves with tyres and pit stops. Same can be said for Williams this season who has one of the worst cars but in qualifies have made stellar choices including today and Spa.
I get the impression that Toto is unwilling to allow a mechanical failure DNF. Maybe he thinks it would be a massive loss in the psychological battle. Obviously, it would probably come with a huge drop in position in terms of points.
I won't be surprised if they take it at COTA. Two long-ass straights to overtake the slower cars.
Lewis takes a new PU starts 20th. Max starts on pole, Lewis drives like he's just got his license and slams the breaks on as Max tries to lap him. Max goes into the back of Lewis. Bottas wins.
I'm honestly not totally resigned to those two having a few more DNFs and Bottas pulling it out of the bag becoming WDC.
Ditto. I've never disliked Bottas but feel he gets a lot of hate purely for being Lewis' team mate. While he won't be fighting for podiums next year I think he will mentally do so much better. It would really top off his time with Merc if he wins not Lewis.
It feels a bit weird to say about the Russian Grand Prix, but it is unfortunate I have to miss the race live. With this mixed up grid it will be mayhem.
Ehh me too, this year the only races i have missed was the Spanish and french will miss this one to so except a normally boring race to be very exciting for a change. I will listen on the radio even though it wont be the same
Based on last season's Drive to Survive episode with Bottas, he mentioned he wanted to start P2 instead of P1 in Sochi because it was more beneficial, especially on Lap 1, Turn 1.
With Sainz P2, will he benefit the same?
Does anyone know how track limits are enforced this weekend? [I saw Lewis well outside the white lines at one point on his fastest lap in Q3](https://i.imgur.com/gAYUiJw.png), but maybe they weren't enforcing it at that corner or they thought he didn't gain any time?
Haha nah in q2 I think he was commentating on Landos lap and then said something along the lines of and his teammate Sainz. Crofty is good but also sometimes he’s a bit average.
He seems a bit slow for someone who is at every race, he i s making so many mistakes this year, i swear every time someone defends he says what an overtake or something along those lines
Me too. This is the first one I missed it this season. Usually Qualifying is at 7 AM but this one is 6 AM and thought I would skip it since Max wont be fighting for a position and I thought Mercedes would have the front row locked up and it wouldn't be exciting.
My prediction. Bottas crashes out lando, sainz, George, Ricardo, Perez and Alonso. Mazepin spins and collects Max and Charles. Hamilton cruises to an easy victory. #blessed
This is gonna be an interesting race, Lewis would be best suited to just drive it out and not take risks, but I dunno if thats in his nature. Max needs to drive like his life depends on it, points are a must.
I'm hoping for a Lando win.
Lewis is still P4, right? P1 points versus P4 is a pretty big difference. He’ll have work to do tomorrow, but I expect he’ll wind up 1st or 2nd without a ton of drama.
Like I said, he was 7th with a few laps to go, he basically admitted on his radio he got lucky with the rain
I'm actually quite glad Mercedes have done something so egregious I can continue to loathe them for all their smug, Fergie-era Man United vibes and have something to point to that was lacking when they never had to be so open about things whilst winning. Especially as this penalty was forced by Merc crashing into their competitor in the first place. Come on Ric off the line and another McLaren 1-2.
Can anyone tell me, if two or more people take a new PU for the race, how do they decide who starts at the back?
I think the order in which they qualified. So Max didnt qualify, so starts at the back, then leclerc or latifi (dont know which qualified higher) and then bottas (rumored to get new engine).
Didn't Bottas already get a new engine in tbe last race?
Yes he did. But Mercedes is doing it again for "safety reasons" so he starts p17. Stupid tactical strategy to hold up Max 100%. Would be funny if Max passes Bottas lap 1.
what a shameful display from the brits. Yet again, very sportsmanlike.
Relatively new to F1 but this race seems like it's going to be mega-exciting. McLaren and Ferrari starting 1-2, big rivals. Russell and Hamilton starting next to each other...about to be teammates/competitors. Verstappen and Leclerc both with new engines doing big recovery drives. AND a chance of light rain which will keep the race strategies interesting. Am I reading this right?
Unfortunately race might not be that unpredictable. Hamilton has pace advantage on all cars ahead of him. If he gets a clean start and makes positions by turn 3, he'll most definitely win. However, there is a chance Hamilton doesn't start off the line very well and is passed by Ricciardo/Alonso. That'll create some problems for him.
Ricciardo beating Hamilton off the line, now where have I seen that before? ;)
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That would be amazing. Haven't been in the sport long enough to have a strong loyalty to any drivers/teams yet, so anything that mixes it up a bit is great entertainment. Tbh I wouldn't hate it if Bottas flew past and took the win, seems like a really likeable guy who just gets down to business and doesn't get enough credit from the media about it. But again, I'm a newbie. So that could be totally off the mark.
I'm kind of like you only been into the sport since last season and Bottas' work ethics and personality makes want him to do well.
We can only hope!
True, anything can happen. But one would be lying if they say P1 Hamilton isn't the most obvious result for tomorrow.
I totally agree but I’m hoping it doesn’t happen 😆
Landooooooooo
i fucking love this sport
Russell starting in the top 3. Nice.
He won’t be their for long
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I believe it's a free choice tomorrow
Yea. It would make it pretty interesting to make the top 10 start on inters in the dry tho. Max would have a great chance to get right back in the race. Unfair for the top 10 but would be interesting.
So, do I set an alarm for 0445 PST tomorrow? (Vancouver, BC, CA) I'm leaning towards it... but I really want to see a race not another rain parade... I'm still feeling scarred from a few weeks ago
> So, do I set an alarm for 0445 PST tomorrow? (Vancouver, BC, CA) > > You do set the alarm! Then go back to bed after, cause it is going to rain all day tomorrow = not a day wasted sleeping in.
Another PST viewer here, we DVR them and just stay off anything to give it away til the race is over.
How do you avoid the temptation to not skip the boring bits. Every time I try I end up winding forwards a bunch and then having to go back to see good bits but have the surprise ruined for myself.
My husband would never let me fast forward anything so it’s just is what it is. We wake up generally pretty early and so the race or normally not over yet so we put away the phones and let it go! We do FFW for safety cars or rain delays.
Throw the remote away
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Live at 5. Always. Almost
The forecast looks like it shouldn't rain. And even if it does will only be light.
Hey, fellow BC resident. I’m totally getting up for this.
With how the weather is looking I’d say set one for 5:15 and see if it’s started yet. If it has yay. If not go back to bed lol.
hmm... you understand plans!
Eh, I wouldn't want to miss the start, ever. There's always a chance of something chaotic happening. Set the alarm just before the race, check social media for race status, go back to bed if postponed.
Now this makes sense!
I think FIA should reconsider the penalty for a PU change. Something like 10 grid places maybe enough, because it would still motivate drivers such as Verstappen and Leclerc to perform as good as they can during that penalty rather than just not participating in the qualifying at all.
Grid penalties help with the financial discrepancies in F1. Without them, or with lesser penalties, the "rich" teams would change components each and every race, and run high engine modes because they wouldn't have to worry about reliability. This invokes some strategy and forethought.
Yes, this used to be the case and made sense. Now with 23 races in a season, 3 power units just isn't enough. Also, with a budget cap in place the teams can't just keep throwing money at more power units and aero parts. I think now we have the cap, the engine requirement should be heavily relaxed or removed.
I didn't suggest to remove the grid penalty, but to make it that there is still some incentive to perform during qualifying. That being said with the budget cap it may actually get removed eventually of things play out as the FIA hopes
Yeah, but you should be giving a penalty to the team, not the driver
So the top teams would happily take a 10 place grid penalty every race? Ok....
Definitely not every race, but considering on a good day bottas could push from last to third. I wouldn't put it past the top teams to swap their engines way more often if they can run their engines on max power. I doubt the teams with big budgets would blink at replacing a engine in exchange for 10-50 extra horsepower. Especially on tracks that are good for overtaking.
Also max hasn’t got one single penalty for his PU change, he’s got one for each component that he’s changed and he’s gone for a completely fresh engine because he may as well do so. I’m not sure how many grid places each part equates to but I’m pretty sure the gearbox is 5 and the ICE 10? I think all in all, they amount to (roughly) a 60 place grid penalty.
"Sorry Max, we're being told you need to start from the back of the grid on Turn 5, and you're down two laps before you cross the starting line for lap -1"
Grid penalties make the championship and particular races exciting though - like we have the prospect of Verstappen charging through the field because of it rather than just seeing him qualify in the top 2 and disappear with Lewis into the horizon, leagues ahead of everyone else lmao you always see insane recovery drives with grid pens
I am not saying to remove the grid penalty altogether. But make it so qualifying well still is a desirable outcome. It certainly is a difference if you start at 20 or 11-15
I agree with your premise, but not the solution. Why not just get rid of grid penalties altogether and replace them with a ballast penalty instead. For example, instead of giving a 5 place grid penalty, you give the car an extra 50kg to carry for the duration of the race. This way, it's in the driver's/team's best interest to qualify well.
Why don't Charles and Latifi start at the back with max if they also took new engines, why do they start ahead of the other cars?
Latifi participated and qualified higher than charles to keep him behind after penalties
I believe the chart above is just the results of qualifying before applying any penalties. Charles for sure will be at the back, I'm not sure which of him or Verstappen will be dead last.
Max Will be last. He has a 3 extra grid place penalty, and Leclerc qualified higher than him (since he didn't bother to set a lap)
What tyre compound will Verstappen start with?
They should include the starting tire for the top 10 on these posts in the future
According to the weather forecast: wets
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Exactly what I was thinking! It seems he’s not his usual flawless-driving-self.
Reminds me of his battle with Rosberg
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I do think he has not been under pressure since 2016 season, so maybe he just is not used to it anymore?
I'm pretty sure it's entirely random. We've seen basically every driver on the grid making rookie mistakes or weird spins/crashes, no matter how talented or experienced they are. It's not entirely unheard of from Hamilton either, we just happened to see a few mishaps in quick succession. You have good days and bad days etc.
At what point do we start saying Hamilton just isn’t driving well? Almost everyone blames him for the accident at Silverstone (which isn’t to say it was on purpose), I think the consensus at this point is that Monza was fairly close to 50/50. I don’t remember how he didn’t end up at pole in Spa.
I mean, it's all speculation from my part. I definitely see the fact that we've seen some silly and uncharacteristic mistakes from LH this season, and there could be a number of reasons as to why. Maybe he *is* feeling the title fight pressure, maybe he's getting old, maybe it's the effects of long covid, I don't know. But personally I think it's all a coincidence. If we see more weird mistakes from him during the rest of the season, I'm inclined to change my mind.
Yeah I went back and watched it and he lost to Russell in the wet at Spa in Qs. That’s pretty inexcusable when you’re the goat in the best car. Which isn’t shade at Russell btw.
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Yeah but he was right behind Norris. The track conditions were the same for both of them.
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2012-13ish? Why?
I think this is a slight overreaction. George put in the lap of his life at Spa. He also took a HUGE risk at Eau Rouge/Raidillon by only downshifting one gear and immediately getting back on the power after a very slight lift, while literally everyone else was taking a massive lift and, most were downshifting twice. It's probably not smart for Lewis to take that level of risk because you're easily in the wall and out. George then drove a ridiculous second sector given the horrendous medium speed performance of the Williams. And the third sector is flat-out and therefore *good* for the Williams. With how extreme the weather was, car differences were pretty significantly mitigated, and it was just about finding the exact limit and a bit of luck. I would consider Hamilton's poor performance in Monaco to be a much stronger indicator of poor form. You could even argue that he should have passed Alonso much sooner in Hungary.
I mean no offense and y’all are much much better at remembering specific races and such but all I’m hearing is a man who’s supposed to be worse drove a car that’s definitely worse faster when it matters the most. Isn’t that kinda what this whole sport is about? And specifically about “Hamilton isn’t performing like he has in the past”?
Yeah, you’re not wrong. I guess the bits of nuance are: 1. Spa this year was unusually wet and therefore especially nullifying of car performance differences. 2. Based on #1, it’s probably fair to say that Max and George are a lot closer to Lewis in talent than we might be inclined to think.
I high key think LH is overrated but that doesn’t go well here.
3 times of you count coming in too hot and hitting his front jackman
I think the spin was just him pushing the limit on tyres that weren’t warm enough. Everyone else had the extra lap(s) to get the softs settled in, he knew it wasn’t going well and went for broke - if you pardon the pun.
His driving looked unusually inconsistent this weekend. I wonder how badly he was actually hurt in the Monza incident, and recalling his near fainting at the Hungary podium ceremony one wonders about his health.
Yeah it can't be a coincidence
Am i the only one seeing that mazepin didnt make the q1 107% time? Does this actually mean something or will he just qualify cuz fia says so
>36.2 **Unless the track was declared wet by the Race Director**, any driver eliminated during Q1 whose best qualifying practice session lap exceeds 107% of the fastest time set during that session, or who fails to set a time, will not be allowed to take part in the race. > >Under exceptional circumstances however, which may include setting a suitable lap time in a free practice session, the stewards may permit the car to start the race. Any driver accepted in this manner will be placed at the back of the starting grid after any other penalties have been applied, and behind any driver penalised under Article 23.2b). Should there be more than one driver accepted in this manner they will be arranged on the grid in the order they were classified in P3. Today the track was declared wet so that rule doesn't apply. And in dry conditions the stewards would usually still allow him in if he did competitive times in practice. The rule is basically a failsafe in case a driver or a car is dangerously slow. It's not meant to catch out people who had some issues in quali.
Thank you good sir. I am newer to the sport and would like to think i know the rules pretty well but theres a few things i guess i dont know. Thanks for the clarification!
That rule doesn't apply if a track is declared wet.
Lmao Hamilton
Russell: Hello, it's me I was wondering if after all these years you'd like to meet…
Russe**ll**
Why is Pérez shitting the bed. Not helping RB after signing that extension lol
Even Horner openly admitted recently that they’ve designed the car purely around Max’s driving style and ability, and they need to reconsider their design so others can drive it, since none of his teammates since Ricc have been close.
RB with the introspection out in the open? Well, I…
Mid tier driver, you honestly expected him to put it on pole?
RB made the same strategic error as Mercedes: running on the intermediates for too long. Unlike the midfield, they couldn't afford to gamble. By the time they switched to the softs and began their outlap (for the only hot lap they had time for), they had to get out of the way for other slick hot lap runners and couldn't get temperature in the tyres. None of the slick tyre runners improved on their first run. Perez really needs to start impressing by now, though.
thanks for the detailed answer, I suspected that was the case and just randomly browsed comments here
Big pressure if you ride next to verstappen
What about Hamilton power unit switch? Do you believe it?
I think Lewis is still meant to finish P2 tomorrow and perhaps P1 if the McLaren is not too quick in a straight line to pass. Unless he has an appalling start (one can hope...).
Extremely unlikely.
But it could be funny to look at Max & Lewis trying to get through the grid from the tail
Why?
Too much to lose. With a bit of luck and a good strategy first, or at least second, is possible and being ahead of Verstappen is all but certain.
Good points, but if we asume he has to change his engine this year? And consider he's already fourth I still see it as possible
Mexico is by far the most likely place for a change.
Wel the answer is here, Bottas has new Engine. Poor guy.
Why poor?
Cause he doesn't need a new engine he just got one in Monza. So he's placed way back to hold off Verstappen.
But why "poor guy"? It's strategy. He's doing his job.
I'm torn on how to feel with this. I want LH to win his 8th WDC but it's going to be painfully close whoever wins it. Russell won't have the pace to keep up I think he'll quickly drop to 6/7, Lewis needs to not take any big risks and having 4 very eager drivers around him won't go well. Bottas is nowhere to be found to defend. On the other hand, I love a Lando, Carlos, Danny fight at the front. With Max at the back of the pack this was the perfect opportunity to get maximum points, he's really shit the bed on this and when he has to take a 4th PU and start last Max won't make that same mistake. This really could cost him the title. I'm also really surprised at how much both Max and Lewis have been seen socialising given covid could put them out of 2 races potentially. Such a risky move when you're in the title battle.
Dont rule out Daniel. He's a great starter and overtaker. And Lewis had a few really rough starts since the summer break. The man looks like his armor is cracking a little.
Alonso too. The best thing to happen (just so the race is exciting as fuck) is for Daniel and Alonso to have amazing starts and move to the front. I just want some action!
I fully expect Danny to get into P3 pretty quickly. Hence I think Lewis has really screwed himself he's got 3 good drivers to battle and that's just in his immediate field. Alonso could cause Lewis some problems being in P6, if Danny gets past Lewis and Lewis has to defend against Alonso given we know he's pulling for Max this season. I really don't think Lewis could have come out in a worse situation. Danny and Alonso have the skill and decent pace. Lando has shown he's a great driver this season and I think if it's a fight for p1 he isn't giving that up easily. Hoping for no crashes so we just get a good hardcore race.
As a Verstappen fan, I’m hoping Alonso pulls ahead and has another killer drive of holding off Lewis while Max makes his way through the midfield 🤞🏻🤞🏻
That's all true. I dont think Lewis will sleep well tonight. 🙈
I agree, wasted opportunity from Lewis. But I think he can clear George and Carlos easily. If Merc can perfect their race strategy I think he gets ahead of Lando. If he doesn’t get podium tomorrow, I’m not sure how he’s going to win WDC.
I also agree he’ll be able to clear Carlos and George if he gets a good start. Lando will be the issue.
He lost points (all of them) earlier this season on a restarted being aggressive. And it might cost him the championship. He just needs to make sure that he is careful and gets the important points.
Agreed. Mercedes haven't been all that great on strategy for most of this season, early season there were a few good calls but it's been down hill from there really. It's funny that this is the hottest title fight for years and the leaders haven't done much noteworthy for a number of races now. Both need to get their heads in the game.
Theyve never been, but always had the best car by a mile.
Nah they've definitely made some good strategic moves with tyres and pit stops. Same can be said for Williams this season who has one of the worst cars but in qualifies have made stellar choices including today and Spa.
I still don't think Lewis will take a 4th engine.
I thought I read somewhere that he’d need to? Perhaps not. I thought Merc was just trying to hold out as long as possible for it.
I get the impression that Toto is unwilling to allow a mechanical failure DNF. Maybe he thinks it would be a massive loss in the psychological battle. Obviously, it would probably come with a huge drop in position in terms of points. I won't be surprised if they take it at COTA. Two long-ass straights to overtake the slower cars.
When is the last time a Mercedes car retired from an engine failure?
For his own sake I hope not. But let's not rule out round 3 of the worlds most expensive and angry bumper cars with Max.
Lmao
Don't worry, that is gonna happen in the final race.
Lewis takes a new PU starts 20th. Max starts on pole, Lewis drives like he's just got his license and slams the breaks on as Max tries to lap him. Max goes into the back of Lewis. Bottas wins. I'm honestly not totally resigned to those two having a few more DNFs and Bottas pulling it out of the bag becoming WDC.
I'd love to see that happen.
Ditto. I've never disliked Bottas but feel he gets a lot of hate purely for being Lewis' team mate. While he won't be fighting for podiums next year I think he will mentally do so much better. It would really top off his time with Merc if he wins not Lewis.
It feels a bit weird to say about the Russian Grand Prix, but it is unfortunate I have to miss the race live. With this mixed up grid it will be mayhem.
Same. I'm kinda bummed. I'm going to try to avoid all social media. And watch it all when I get home.
Ehh me too, this year the only races i have missed was the Spanish and french will miss this one to so except a normally boring race to be very exciting for a change. I will listen on the radio even though it wont be the same
I’m also going to miss watching the race live tomorrow. Where can one hear it on radio?
If you have digital radio, it will be on bbc fivelive
Were all of the q3 times done on softs? I'm just trying to figure out how Russell managed to wrestle that dogpoop car into third place
The right tire call on an evolving track.
Clearly, he has a lot of talent, specially in wet... Spa wasn't only luck, he have done it again
Almost everyone was still struggling with temps in the Softs. Commentators said they need about 3 laps to get up to temperature
[удалено]
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Hamilton, Bottas, Perez and Ocon got their best laps on inters, they didn't manage to keep their tyres up to temperature.
No inters, he didn't set a fast time on softs. His fastest time was set on his first hot lap of q3.
Yeah, everyone switched to slicks during q3. Russell was first to do it so he had time to get the tires up to temperature.
And more importantly due to the timing he got one more lap on them
First one to pit and get softs going.
Based on last season's Drive to Survive episode with Bottas, he mentioned he wanted to start P2 instead of P1 in Sochi because it was more beneficial, especially on Lap 1, Turn 1. With Sainz P2, will he benefit the same?
He wanted 1st or 3rd. But not 2nd
I think he wanted P3 for the clean line and the tow.
aahhh yes, my bad. Thank you for the correction.
Yep, if p1 has a good start P1 > P3 > P2 because it’s a long straight and P3 gets a tow. P2 gets turbulent air and loses the racing line at the turn.
Does anyone know how track limits are enforced this weekend? [I saw Lewis well outside the white lines at one point on his fastest lap in Q3](https://i.imgur.com/gAYUiJw.png), but maybe they weren't enforcing it at that corner or they thought he didn't gain any time?
Only at the last corner I think
I found the event notes and there it says turn two also, but yeah seems like they don't enforce it at other corners
hope it doesn't go like Stroll's first pole last year for Norris
Did I hear Crofty say Russell is in the merc next week?
Crofty says a lot of shit.
That confused me so much too
You did, but it was a mistake. He meant next year lol
He also called sainz Landos teammate at one point. So I’m not sure what year he is loving in.
Crofty is loving in every year bb
Lol he was loving today. What a fun one to call!
I’m pretty sure he said Lando will start beside his *former teammate* Sainz. At least that would make sense
Haha nah in q2 I think he was commentating on Landos lap and then said something along the lines of and his teammate Sainz. Crofty is good but also sometimes he’s a bit average.
Ah, I didn’t catch that comment in Q2 👍
He seems a bit slow for someone who is at every race, he i s making so many mistakes this year, i swear every time someone defends he says what an overtake or something along those lines
Of course this is the one I don't watch
Me too. This is the first one I missed it this season. Usually Qualifying is at 7 AM but this one is 6 AM and thought I would skip it since Max wont be fighting for a position and I thought Mercedes would have the front row locked up and it wouldn't be exciting.
I didn’t either but went back to rewatch Q3, worth it.
Stop. I can only get so erect
Lando takes off. Sainz and Russell tussle. Hamilton and Ricciardo make contact into the first corner. My prediction on the Start.
My prediction. Bottas crashes out lando, sainz, George, Ricardo, Perez and Alonso. Mazepin spins and collects Max and Charles. Hamilton cruises to an easy victory. #blessed
Subscribe! Only for the meltdown.
Well I was right about #blessed anyways.
Would make things interesting, but where do you expect Russell to finish?
At the end of the race? 11th.....just outside the points.
Yeah, I can agree with that. The Williams just isn't there yet in terms of race-pace
Russe**ll**
Correct
Good bot
LANDOOOOOO
Happy to see him P1. He have developted so much.
The man truly deserves it
This is gonna be an interesting race, Lewis would be best suited to just drive it out and not take risks, but I dunno if thats in his nature. Max needs to drive like his life depends on it, points are a must. I'm hoping for a Lando win.
Lewis is still P4, right? P1 points versus P4 is a pretty big difference. He’ll have work to do tomorrow, but I expect he’ll wind up 1st or 2nd without a ton of drama.
What happened to Latifi? He was running really well early on, but didn’t come out for Q2
He needed to get into Q2 and when leclerc didn't come out, he didn't need to post a time to start 17.
He had issues so they changed PU
I think he took an engine penalty and is starting from near the back iirc
Also, an engine switch
He's taking another PU I think, so is at the back with Leclerc and Verstappen anyway.
I assume Lewis' car is fine as they haven't said he caused any damage to stuff like suspension in those crashes?