f1

[manic-road]

That was a champions drive from Lewis, an entertaining race where Lewis looked like he had no chance of winning after the first couple of laps.

[Ad@m]

F1 is always better when it's raining!

[UK Redsox]

F1 is always better when it's raining!

Incredible that the Safety Car didn't get an outing.

Bottas must have arrived back in the Pits totally dizzy. I think that he had four separate spins.

It was interesting to listen to Stroll over race radio as he went from totally calm to stressed out.
Racing Point's tactics of setting the cars up to blitz the wet start, but knowing that they'd be fecked if the track dried out, almost got them a win.


UK Redsox (Motor Engineering CSE Grade 1 - with a project on F1 Aerodynamics of the 1970s and early 1980s)

[Ad@m]

Setup was virtually impossible on that track. It seemed to change sector-by-sector, lap-by-lap.

At one point the Racing Points were lapping 3/4 secs quicker than the field, then the Ferraris, then the Red Bulls, then the Mercedes - it was brilliantly insane!

And even if you happened on a window when your car was actually working, if you put it a couple of centimetres wide on some of the corners you'd end up in a puddle and quickly find yourself facing backwards!!

Once again, it demonstrated why Hamilton's the best F1 driver there's ever been.

[Simon Page]

He's ridiculously brilliant. I can't think of a better sportsman. I really hope he's appreciated properly because he's Pele, Woods, Williams, Federer, Ali level. And the second best sportsman from Stevenage after Ashley Young.

[Ad@m]

So much for modern tracks being overly sanitised and safe.

Today in Bahrain was the first time I've seen a "safety" barrier chop an F1 car in half, swallow the driver and nearly burn him to a crisp.

Thank goodness for the halo. Incredible Grosjean's still with us.

[UK Redsox]

Yep, that's the end of any arguments against the Halo

I suspect that we might see the medics (or at least someone in the medical car) in a fire protection suit and full face helmet from now on.

Credit to the doctor. Helped with the extinguisher and then headed towards the flames before it was clear that Grosjean was able to get out himself

[paul_e]

I think the whole thing is a incredible vindication of the safety measures that have been introduced, even 10-15 years ago he'd have been at best 50/50 to survive that, to walk away with the comparatively minor injuries he has is fantastic for the sport.

[UK Redsox]

Lewis got the 'Rona and is out of the next GP, and possibly the final race as well

[UK Redsox]

Romain Grosjean's replacement is Pietro Fittipaldi

I thought; ok, that must be Emerson's son

Nope, we're now on to the grandchildren of the drivers I watched when I had a real interest in F1 

[UK Redsox]

I watched most of the race yesterday, purely to see how George Russell did.

The answer is that he way exceeded expectations, despite a car setup that's too small for him (seating position, boot size and steering wheel button size).

How about starting a conspiracy theory that Mercedes threw the pitstop in order to prevent Russell winning and thus showing up Hamilton and Bottas ?

[Ad@m]

He showed a level of maturity beyond a 22 year old. Absolutely gutted for him.

And judging by Toto's reaction on Sky after the race, I'm pretty sure it wasn't deliberate!! 

Undoubtedly we'll see Russell get a Mercedes drive in 2022.

[UK Redsox]

Yep, Russell must be nailed on for Mercedes in 2022.

Whose place he takes depends on whether Hamilton retires. If he does, I'd expect Mercedes to keep Bottas.
I wouldn't expect them to go with two relatively inexperienced drivers in 2022.

[Ad@m]

Yep, Russell must be nailed on for Mercedes in 2022.

Whose place he takes depends on whether Hamilton retires. If he does, I'd expect Mercedes to keep Bottas.
I wouldn't expect them to go with two relatively inexperienced drivers in 2022.

I'm not so sure. Bottas is a safe pair of hands as a number 2 but even with the huge advantage that car currently has he's only just in 2nd place. If Hamilton wasn't there I'm not sure they'd back Bottas to win the title.

Going in to 2022 with a guy who's not good enough in Bottas and someone in Russell who's a complete gamble isn't really acceptable for Mercedes.

With the money saved on Lewis if he were to retire I could see them taking on a more experienced driver with a better track record than Bottas who could be the number 1 while Russell finds his feet.

[Jon Crofts]

Made me laugh.