Formula One starts this weekend, am I the only fan?
- Thread starter NenoFone
- Start date
I’m excited to see what Russell can do in a top flight car. If he gets up to speed quickly, Saturday will be quite a showdown between two great qualifiers.
What a lose-lose situation for Bottas though. You beat him and that’s what you were expected to do, but if you lose then everyone is calling for Russell to take his seat next year. Which he eventually will take it the year after that anyway.
What a lose-lose situation for Bottas though. You beat him and that’s what you were expected to do, but if you lose then everyone is calling for Russell to take his seat next year. Which he eventually will take it the year after that anyway.
This Russell drive will be interesting. He has the ability to wrangle that car to the top of the grid, but he also has shown that he can lose focus in a race. Which when driving a Williams at the back of the grid, might happen to everyone. If he beats Bottas, Bottas might retire. He has had some massive bad luck this year, but he still can't outperform Max, and Max is in lesser equipment.
A very small part of me wonders if Lewis is thinking about retiring and this is a get George up to speed drive just in case Lewis does decide to walk away. I saw an interview with Toto and he has said in the past he and Lewis get together and hammer out the contract in a day. That was supposed to happen prior to last weekend's race, it didn't. So just makes me wonder if Lewis wants to do something else. That is pure speculation.
Most likely Lewis has COVID and can't drive.
A very small part of me wonders if Lewis is thinking about retiring and this is a get George up to speed drive just in case Lewis does decide to walk away. I saw an interview with Toto and he has said in the past he and Lewis get together and hammer out the contract in a day. That was supposed to happen prior to last weekend's race, it didn't. So just makes me wonder if Lewis wants to do something else. That is pure speculation.
Most likely Lewis has COVID and can't drive.
Unless some miracle happens Bottas is losing his seat after next year no matter what Russell does this weekend and from what I understand about the quarantine rules in Abu Dhabi Lewis probably won't be racing next week either.
I'm kind of hoping that Schumacher gets a shot next week since Haas has him signed.
Lewis does have COVID and with the quarantine rules in Abu Dhabi probably can't drive next weekend either.
The thing I wonder with Russell is the same thing that has been evident with Bottas on occasion this season, unless you are out in front, the merc isn't nearly as strong. If Russell falters with qualifying it may not be an easy podium for him. The big winner in all this is Max. With Bottas in his sights in the standing, this is probably the best news he could ask for short of Bottas being out too.
Mercedes front row, George qualifying second in his first ever Q3.
Max not far behind and Charles with a crazy lap to grab fourth early in the session. So crazy that he didn't even try to hot lap at the end. I don't know that he'll keep fourth through the course of 87 laps tomorrow.
Max not far behind and Charles with a crazy lap to grab fourth early in the session. So crazy that he didn't even try to hot lap at the end. I don't know that he'll keep fourth through the course of 87 laps tomorrow.
Albon claimed he couldn't go any faster but man just another display of a huge disparity between the two Red Bull drivers. I'm starting to think Perez is more and more likely to actually grab the second seat and Albon will revert to the open Alpha Tauri seat.
I really want to see what Checo can do in 1st rate equipment. I hope Red Bull picks him up next year.
I wouldn’t be so sure that Albon would revert to AT if Checo takes the seat. Tsunoda in F2 more or less confirmed his superlicense for next year and it’s believed he’s taking the open seat. That’d leave Albon with no drive at all.
Don’t look now but Checo is leading the race with 17 laps to go after almost getting taken out by Lec.
I’m happy for Checo but absolutely heartbroken for George. I’ve never seen a **** up like that Mercedes stop and then to get the puncture on top of that, he deserved to win, he drove so well.
Until he got the puncture I thought Russell was going to win this damn thing. Either way would have been great.
As a casual fan, its hard not to like George. Really wanted him to have a great day.
Not a Merc fan but really wanted Russell to win. Even if the results didn't show it, he out drove Bottas by a lot today. I'm guessing his timeline for a full time Merc seat got a boost today.
Don't mind seeing checo win, him going to red bull has to be heating up. I don't like racing point taking back third from McClaren though. I wanted sainz to catch stroll so badly. Can't stand Stroll.
Don't mind seeing checo win, him going to red bull has to be heating up. I don't like racing point taking back third from McClaren though. I wanted sainz to catch stroll so badly. Can't stand Stroll.
Man, so conflicted. Absolutely happy for Checo, but absolutely gutted for George. He ran a great race and even after the bad luck by no fault of his own, he got more bad luck.
I’ve been rooting for Russell from the back of the grid all year but I’ll be honest, there are times when I really wondered if he had it in him. Today he proved that he does. He’ll get another shot, I’m sure.
Is it just me, or is Lawrence the easiest guy to hate in F1 right now? Checo clearly deserves a seat.
I’ve been rooting for Russell from the back of the grid all year but I’ll be honest, there are times when I really wondered if he had it in him. Today he proved that he does. He’ll get another shot, I’m sure.
Is it just me, or is Lawrence the easiest guy to hate in F1 right now? Checo clearly deserves a seat.
If Aston Martin/Racing Point was picking the best driver combo, Vettel and Checo would have been it. But money rules in F1 and Stroll clearly was chosen because his dad owns the team and not based on merit. It makes him easy to not like because no one likes it when the rich kid wins for no reason.
It’s not like Stroll is a bad driver, but when dad owns the team it’s really only a one seat team and if you have a choice between Vettel and Checo you take the 4x champ. Perez sounded like he has something lined up already though reading the tea leaves from his post race interview. That Red Bull seat might be in the cards. If that’s the case then he might actually bend up in a better situation than he started in.
