Posts by stormybadger8

swifttiger75 said:Just give me the total. That’s what matters!

Thanks for the congrats. Man, one little mistake next year and they'll slap a headline on you... such mediocre people. Glad I didn't end up like my coworker... 🕺

You aren't any better. 🙂
When you're first, I'm 13th 😁
When I'm first, you're 14th 😛🤣

1. Hamilton
2. Verstappen
3. Bottas

4. Vettel
5. Leclerc
6. Albon
7. Sainz
8. Ricciardo
9. Norris
10. Hulkenberg

11. Gasly
12. Kvyat
13. Stroll
14. Pérez
15. Räikkönen
16. Giovinazzi
17. Magnussen
18. Russell
19. Kubica

NOP Grosjean

PP Hamilton
FL Hamilton

1. Vettel
2. Verstappen
3. Leclerc

4. Albon
5. Hamilton
6. Bottas
7. Sainz
8. Pérez
9. Norris
10. Ricciardo

11. Stroll
12. Hulkenberg
13. Gasly
14. Kvyat
15. Räikkönen
16. Magnussen
17. Russell
18. Kubica

NOP Grosjean
NOP Giovinazzi

PP Vettel
FL Vettel

stormytiger4 said:I’m officially protesting how they’re counting my results and stormybadger8's. Canceling that third training session was announced well ahead of time because of the typhoon. It’s not like we were late posting the forecast, and now everyone’s acting like we’re making excuses because someone tripped on the track or there was a sudden power outage. We all knew the third session wasn't happening. You can't strictly judge us based on the original start time when the entire schedule changed.

Look, we could all just stand around protesting because I should've had more points...
Ali:

Terry Carter2 said:2. Here’s how the championship works: you gotta post your predicted grid before the deadline hits. You're ranking everyone exactly how you think they'll finish, plus two extra picks—the guy starting on pole and whoever pulls off the fastest lap. Once one round wraps up, you can get your next set of predictions out immediately. Simple enough, right? At the very latest. Regarding the scheduled start. Third official practice session this weekend, right before the big race.That deadline applies to every single race this season. You can tweak your picks or submit entirely new ones as many times as you want until the clock runs out. No limits.

The rules for this road are crystal clear. Honestly, there’s zero room to complain.
The rules are pretty clear on this one: they look at the scheduled time, not when the session actually kicks off. It doesn't matter if they started early or whatever—that’s irrelevant. Just stick to the schedule.
It might not make much sense, but hey, at least the rules are crystal clear.😉

What kind of math were you doing there?
From what I can see, the old score was 36, now it's 38 points. 🤔

If I missed the window for the new one, don't blame me—it's my own fault for sleeping in. 😬

1. Lewis Hamilton
2. Valtteri Bottas
3. Max Verstappen

4. Sebastian Vettel
5. Alexander Albon
6. Charles Leclerc
7. Carlos Sainz
8. Sergio Perez
9. Lando Norris
10. Lance Stroll

11. Nico Hulkenberg
12. Daniel Ricciardo
13. Pierre Gasly
14. Daniil Kvyat
15. Kimi Raikkonen
16. Kevin Magnussen
17. George Russell
18. Robert Kubica

No points for Romain Grosjean
No points for Antonio Giovinazzi

Max Verstappen
Valtteri Bottas, Lewis Hamilton

copperdrifter26 said:Sebastian Vettel's engineer was the first one to say it—immediately—to let Charles Leclerc through, because that was the deal.

If Sebastian Vettel knew he was going to have a shitty start, he would've just said "none" and kept his spot. He took the deal because it guaranteed him at least P2, and most likely P1, right after Turn 1.

If he hadn't agreed, and if he'd botched the start while Charles Leclerc dove to the right to give Lewis Hamilton a tow while holding the inside line at T1, he might have ended up third.

That was Sebastian Vettel's problem. He wants to have his cake and eat it too.

Where did you get the idea that Sebastian Vettel actually had a choice regarding this "deal"? Like he could just choose whether to accept it or not? 🤔
The team sets the strategy, and the drivers are supposed to execute it. It’s not like they get to sit around making executive decisions...

Besides, Sebastian Vettel was going to get a tow from that grid position regardless, whereas Charles Leclerc couldn't have gotten one from anyone else.☕

So the only real question is how hard Charles Leclerc would have fought at the start if there hadn't been a deal...
And the only person who actually had a choice regarding the tow was Charles Leclerc, not Sebastian Vettel...
As for giving the position back, there wasn't even a decision to make before the race. He already agreed to follow team orders the moment he signed his contract. It's settled. Period.

Regarding the start, of course he knew it would be a disaster...
Starting P3 in Russia is damn good. In theory, you're basically in the same boat as pole position, if not better, and that holds true every single year...
So there's really nothing to overthink here.☕

copperdrifter26 said:He could’ve defended, especially since he pulled that move to protect Valtteri Bottas back in 2018.

https://streamable.com/lomtv

Would he have defended? Hard to say. But it’s obvious everyone at Ferrari (including Sebastian Vettel) decided it was better to secure that 1-2 finish by staying in the tow and not defending Turn 1, figuring they could just deal with the fallout later.

What if Vettel had botched the start?...

And what if Charles Leclerc had a bad start? 🙂
Suddenly everyone would be singing the same old song about how he wanted to give the tow, how it was part of the deal, and how he basically had to hand the position back.🙂

The issue with these "deals" is that no matter what happens, someone’s going to be pissed...
The second issue is that Mattia Binotto clearly doesn't have the authority he should. If he actually did, then

A.) Charles Leclerc wouldn't be whining on the team radio the very second things go sideways like some hyperactive toddler. 🤦
Which is hilarious in its own right—if there's an agreement and everyone knows the plan, why is this kid blabbing on the radio, essentially tipping off Mercedes and Lewis Hamilton that a swap is coming down the track? 🙄
Either Mattia Binotto and his crew are total fossils who don't understand their own deals, or what kind of kid is this??? You don't scream stuff like that over team radio, knowing damn well it's public.
If they actually intended to let him through, there's no way Lewis Hamilton wouldn't have exploited that. The guys at Mercedes aren't idiots; they aren't going to ignore live, public radio from their direct competition. 🤦

B.) Why is Sebastian Vettel even weighing in on this, and why on earth is the team even talking to him, let alone repeating things?
If everything is pre-planned and Binotto actually had any authority, there'd be no debate. You execute the plan and move on.

C.) And why does Charles Leclerc go around after the race explaining to even the blindest person that his position was basically gifted back to him through the pits?
Then you've got Binotto trying to spin it, claiming they didn't intentionally put Sebastian behind him but rather just executed "perfect strategy" to cover Hamilton while accounting for a potential SC/VSC. 🙄

Basically, it's the classic Ferrari story: a bunch of clowns lost in space and time...

copperdrifter26 said:It’s basically impossible to get into the DRS zone on this track.

Unbelievable for Charles Leclerc. 🙂
I have zero clue why the other drivers were even in the DRS zone if it was supposedly impossible.
Let's be real: Valtteri Bottas spent six solid laps glued to Carlos Sainz's gearbox inside the DRS zone. Doing that in a German car—which is notoriously difficult to handle when you're stuck in dirty air—is no small feat.
Even if Bottas tried, he couldn't pull this off. 😁

Look, the reality is that if you don't have the raw pace, even being in the DRS zone won't save you from getting overtaken. Being able to enter that zone isn't half the battle.
If Charles Leclerc had been right in the DRS zone and Sebastian Vettel had actually pulled away, you can bet Ferrari would have insisted on swapping them. But since Charles couldn't even keep pace with Seb like a professional should, there was zero point in trying to coordinate a position swap on track.
That would basically be a massive middle finger from Lewis Hamilton.

copperdrifter26 said:I’m bringing up Singapore because you won't shut up about that 4-second gap, even though Charles Leclerc was right on his tail within 1.5 seconds through lap 10. But back then, when Sebastian Vettel was sitting 3.5 seconds behind after the first pit stop? Suddenly everyone was all, "Oh, he's just saving tires."

First off, Vettel was stuck behind Hamilton. You weren't going to just breeze past him on your own—unless that’s how it works in your little fantasy analysis.
And he wasn't even four seconds back from the car ahead—he was actually within two seconds of Lewis Hamilton for pretty much the entire 20 laps. 🙂

Another thing: the pit window gap in Singapore was only one lap. During that single lap, Sebastian Vettel clawed back way more ground on an undercut than Charles Leclerc managed to gain over his entire four-lap undercut attempt.

Got anything else wise to say?

Nicholas Newman2 said:Even if Ferkan has been a total mess in the past, I don't think they'd ask Sebastian Vettel to let the kid pass unless there was some kind of reason (a broken deal).

Whatever they talked about before the race or how far their imaginations went doesn't matter—though we could argue about it forever. I'm just convinced there was a reason for that request.
The proof is in the pudding: Charles Leclerc didn't even flinch when trying to defend first place.
And please, spare me the "he couldn't do anything" excuses. We know Charles. There is zero chance he’d just watch Sebastian drive by without something happening behind the scenes.

If there wasn't a deal, like some people on here claim (or wish), then that's actually a much darker scenario for Vettel.
Asking a multi-time champ and a highly paid driver to move over for no reason would mean Vettel is being phased out and the kid is being promoted to Number 1.

Who's claiming there wasn't a deal?
Every single person involved is saying there was one...
That's what Charles Leclerc, Sebastian Vettel, and Mattia Binotto all said...

The real debate is whether Charles Leclerc was overtaken because of that deal, or if he just got jumped because Sebastian had a killer start and Lewis Hamilton had a bad one (clearly due to those medium tires).

The only question is whether Charles let Sebastian through because of an agreement, or if he just blew it at the start regardless of any deal.

Charles clearly thinks he lost it because of the deal; Sebastian thinks he would've lost it either way.
Binotto is playing dumb, acting like both drivers are right and spinning fairy tales, claiming that if Sebastian hadn't pitted four laps later, he would've ended up behind Charles anyway.🙂🤣

All in all, this is the first real test of what kind of boss Binotto actually is, and so far, he's failing.
Instead of stepping up and being clear about how things work and who's right, he's trying to play nice with both drivers to stay neutral. That's not how this works.

copperdrifter26 said:In lap 8, Ferrari tells Vettel to let Leclerc through, and he just replies, "let him catch me." At that point, Leclerc was 1.5s back.

Basically, Seb knew perfectly well that trying to close the gap in clean air is damn near impossible. He knew it, and he used it.

Then we have geniuses like Tibi claiming Seb was saving tires in Singapore because he was 3.5s back before the pits, as if being fast means you won't manage your rubber. Pure nonsense.

Leclerc wasn't even in Vettel's DRS zone once. If catching him was impossible in the DRS zone, then forget about it.🤦
You can talk in circles all you want, but the fact remains: Leclerc didn't have Vettel's pace by a long shot...

Sure, he dialed in the qualifying setup, even if it totally screwed him for the race. But hey, no big deal—he can just cry on the team radio, and little manager Jean Todt will pressure the crew, maybe even call his daddy to fix it...🙂

And what the hell does Singapore have to do with this?
If Vettel had pitted the lap right after Leclerc (like happened in Singapore) just to get ahead, Leclerc wouldn't have even seen him...
But Vettel pitted four laps after Leclerc, Ferrari gave him a pit stop that was only 0.5s slower than Leclerc's, and he still came out right on his tail...

https://wtf1.com/post/leclerc-explai...-with-vettel/?

So this is what "team orders" look like according to Leclerc...

“If there was Lewis and Seb side by side, I obviously had to advantage Seb and not Lewis, which is normal. So, that was what was agreed.”

One tiny little detail the kid missed—or just conveniently forgot—is that Vettel and Hamilton weren't even side by side.
In fact, Vettel literally jumped past Hamilton right at the start. The ones actually racing side by side were Hamilton and Sainz...

And in all this nonsense, he didn't even notice the incredible start from both McLarens. Too bad they lacked top-end speed, otherwise Germany would have left them in the dust later on...

Gary Palmer8 said:Who cares if they could have done something differently? If there was an agreement to keep Lewis Hamilton behind those two, then that's what happened. Doesn't matter how they pulled it off. Vettel needs to let Leclerc through. Period.

It’d be a different story if there wasn't some kind of deal in place... then it would just be every man for himself.

Why on earth would Vettel be expected to just pull over on the track and let some slower driver pass him? 🙂
Besides just hating his guts, do you actually have a legitimate reason, or is that it?

If Leclerc had actually given Hamilton a decent slipstream during some sort of battle, we’d all be in serious trouble. God help us.

Keep an eye on the track right now. Vettel just swung to the outside and pulled it right past Leclerc.
It wasn't some slipstream thing, either. It was all about the setup. You could see it clearly during qualifying yesterday—Vettel just had way more punch on acceleration and a higher top speed than Leclerc.
What if Leclerc had gone the other way with his setup? Like, sacrifice some straight-line speed just to nail those slow corners instead.

Even if you want to blame the slipstream for the pass, it doesn't hold up. He wasn't fast enough to catch and overtake Sebastian Vettel at a normal pace, let alone have the speed to pull away from Lewis Hamilton. That's the real issue.
And then what? Vettel was supposed to just roll over, let Leclerc pass him, all while Lewis Hamilton is breathing down Leclerc's neck? And naturally, he'd have to lose ground to Hamilton along the way too... unbelievable.

And all that just because Vettel had a killer start. Yeah, right.
That’s exactly why the crew insisted on it. 🙂

Look, I know Ferrari’s tactics can be absolutely brainless sometimes, but let’s not act like everyone involved is a total idiot.

copperdrifter26 said:TBF1D

Look, you aren't in preschool anymore. You can't troll someone with attempts this pathetic...

Go practice on some toddlers at a local daycare first. Honestly, start with the infants—these older kids will eat you alive...

Richard Ross11 said:Haha, I’d actually love it if Sebastian Vettel did that on purpose. It would earn him some serious respect in my book...
There's gonna be endless chatter about this... 🙂

And Charles Leclerc is just a crybaby... if you aren't fast on the track, none of these deals matter... maybe he'll grow up eventually and learn when to shut up...

Nah, Ferrari pulled that stunt on purpose way before that.

Just listen to Vettel's onboard right when he's exiting the pits...

He's telling them something is wrong with the car, specifically that the MGU-K isn't working...
His engineer just replies—deadpan, mind you—"we know"...

Then Vettel keeps insisting there's no MGU-K and asks for something on the team radio...
It takes half a lap before they finally tell him to pit first, and then—get this—to stop the car on the track...

First off, they botched his strategy, but even that wasn't enough given how much slower Charles Leclerc was than him...
Then they again screwed up his pit stop, making it half a second slower than Leclerc's...

He comes out right behind Leclerc, but then the MGU-K dies immediately on the exit, and Leclerc just pulls away...

If we're looking for a conspiracy theory that actually makes sense, maybe Ferrari intentionally switched the MGU-K to some "safety mode." That way, they prevent any collisions at the pit exit or shortly after, while also widening the gap between the two drivers...

And maybe the MGU-K died because of that switch in the first place. Just a thought.

fadedwalker18 said:Sorry, but if that radio call telling Vettel to let Leclerc through was just some hallucination, what was it? Just us million-plus TV viewers making things up!?

Why would Ferrari ask Vettel to let Leclerc pass? For the hell of it?

Because there was an agreement—basically a pre-race strategy...

Another thing is that even if they wanted to, Leclerc couldn't follow the plan because Vettel had a killer start and Lewis Hamilton's start was absolute garbage...

Hamilton actually jumped ahead of McLaren at the start. Maybe they should've just swerved out of the way in the first lap and waited for a blazing fast Leclerc to blast past them, since he was giving them a tow anyway.🙂

And let's not forget Singapore and all the nonsense happening on the Ferrari pit wall trying to fix mistakes on the fly...
Anyway, after a few races where Ferrari actually had decent strategy, here we are again. Back in the zone where idiots make mistakes, and then make even bigger mistakes trying to fix those initial blunders.

Richard Ross11 said:I don't know, it was just weird how the car broke down the second he pulled out behind Charles Leclerc... 🙂
As for getting fired—if he actually did that, he'll get the boot, just maybe not within five minutes...
Even Niki Lauda once parked his car during a race at a Suzuki event and lost the championship because of it... drivers do crazy stuff... 🙂

Then I guess his race engineer should be the one getting sacked, since he's the one screaming "stop the car, stop the car" over the team radio instead of Vettel 🙂

Conspiracy theories are fun, but damn, they should at least have some logic...
And what you guys are spinning makes zero sense...☕

copperdrifter26 said:Vettel was absolute garbage. He starts P3, then Charles Leclerc gives him a tow because instead of taking the straight line—where he could've easily pulled away to help Hamilton and forced Vettel to sit behind him—he lets him through to take him in Turn 1.

We’re going to see plenty more of these two throwing punches before the season ends. Honestly, I’d just let them race like Red Bull does. Forget the Mercedes team orders; both of these guys are elite drivers and neither one wants to play butler.

Don't talk nonsense. Vettel had already cleared Hamilton before even hitting the white line, right at the launch before the rest of the grid even moved.

He put Hamilton on the defensive immediately at the start...

And no, Leclerc wasn't giving him some kind of tow. Where in the universe do you get a tow in the first ten meters of a start? 🤦

He could have swerved wherever he wanted for all it mattered...
Vettel passed him way before any "tow" would have even been a thing.

He was side-by-side with him the second they hit the straight, long before a tow could even have an effect.

Gary Palmer8 said:Racism isn't something you're born with; it's something you learn...

Sure, maybe...
But on the flip side, people are born with other things too, and there's clearly no fixing that either...

Nicholas Newman2 said:Oh, absolutely not🤦. His posts are just overflowing with wisdom and deep insight, totally free of any bitterness or malice—pure logic, really.

Most of his posts are basically just pure nonsense and venting frustration, let’s be real.
Honestly, if I were still a mod, he’d be the first one I’d kick off this forum, probably even before Gary Palmer8🙂

But he’s dead right about how Lewis Hamilton completely blew a mountain of pole positions and wins...
You can lie to yourself all you want, but deep down you know that's the reality.☕

Given the car and his standing in the team, he should've hit at least 120 podiums and 120 wins by now, plus at least 7 titles—and that’s not even counting this year.