Posts by stormybadger8

Jack Kelly5 said:Maybe try deciding for yourself which car is actually the fastest on the grid first. Then everything else will start making sense.
😬

What's the issue here?

We clearly don't have absolute monsters like the Mercedes-Benz from 2014-2021 this season. We aren't in that era where we know exactly who has a one-second advantage every single weekend. Instead, the top spot keeps shifting...
Right now, it’s just a toss-up between Ferrari and Red Bull Racing depending on the track....

Regardless, it wouldn't even be a massive shock if an Alpine, a McLaren, or even an Alfa Romeo or Mercedes-Benz snatched a pole position and looked like the fastest cars on track for a weekend, only to barely scrape through the first round of qualifying the next one...

I still don't doubt Mercedes-Benz will fix their mess, but clearly, it's taking longer than I thought.
At least based on all the nonsense Toto Wolff has been rambling about lately regarding how they found "several directions" to fix the car. If they've found "several directions," it just means they're still stumbling around in the dark and haven't a clue what the actual root of their problems is...

Richard Walker38 said:Coming from a guy who’s a die-hard fan of Sebastian Vettel—who grabbed his four titles doing exactly this, and then spent the rest of his career tanking his reputation by acting like a total clown on track.

Seriously, what's the issue? 🤔

I was pulling for Vettel back when he was at BMW, long before he ever landed at Red Bull Racing. ☕
To this day, Red Bull Racing remains my favorite team he ever drove for, and honestly, it was the absolute peak of his career...
And for some of those races he put in with Red Bull Racing, I'd value them more than all four of his titles or Lewis Hamilton's 7...

There's actually one tiny little difference between the two of them, and that's the fact that Vettel never actually had a car nearly as dominant as Hamilton's. Not even once. Not even in 2011 when Red Bull Racing was legitimately the class of the field.
Even then, the car wasn't so dominant that someone like Mark Webber could just toy with the competition whenever he felt like it... which the Mečka certainly was.
Let alone 2012, when Lujo actually had the fastest car on the grid by the end.
Honestly, it's an absolute embarrassment that despite having the fastest car, Vettel still took the title that year after battling Fernando Alonso, while Hamilton wasn't even in the conversation...

People love to credit Vettel with having a dominant car, but he didn't have one in any real sense of the word. Maybe 2011 if you're being generous, but definitely not 2013, and certainly not 2012 or 2010.
Then there's the other side: Alonso put in brilliant seasons during those years in a car that barely deserved to be in the top three. That's mostly thanks to Lujo and McLaren totally blowing it, Lotus and Kimi/grozan not even using half the potential that car had, and Webber—despite all the politics, the media whining, and the garage drama—couldn't even snatch points away from Alonso occasionally, let alone Vettel...

Vettel's seasons were more like this...
It's hard to say whether Ferrari was dominant or Red Bull Racing was dominant; one car would be better one race, then the other would be better the next.
But they weren't *so* much better that they could leave direct rivals 30-40 seconds behind or lap everyone else including the podium finishers.
Mercedes, for most of their seasons, was exactly that: a beast that played cat and mouse with everyone. If they hadn't been pushing at 100% from the lights out, you'd be counting the few races where anyone else managed to stay on the same lap as them.

graniteharbor502 said:Given the absolute chaos with the rain, the track drying, all those red flags, and safety cars everywhere, getting points was actually a massive win. If you don't get that, go ahead and draw...

Try drawing this instead...
With the mess of rain, a drying track, constant red flags, and safety cars flying around, Vettel scoring points in that total dumpster fire was a huge achievement...

Your "hero worship" would be just as ridiculous as me praising Vettel’s result in that same race...
Because honestly, pulling anything off in a complete disaster zone like that is a big deal...

But let's be real: it wasn't just pure driver skill. It was mostly just luck because Rick ruined the race for himself and Sainz, and Mick wrecked it for himself and Alonso...
So Vettel basically inherited four spots, plus he somehow managed to jump Magnussen too.
He ended up in 8th, but if those guys ahead hadn't crashed out, he’d have finished 12th or 13th at best...
Which, let's face it, would have been totally irrelevant and nobody would have even noticed...

graniteharbor502 said:Max Verstappen is the first driver in history to take home a PP, win the sprint, win the main race, and pull off a FL all during the same Grand Prix.

EOD.

Quite the resume...
He’s got the fastest car on the grid, his competition either gets crushed by Rick or just crashes out, and oh look, a miracle—he won 🙂
.
Seriously, praising him is like praising Hamilton for being able to land on the podium in every single race he actually finished in 2014 because he was driving that absolute beast of a Mercedes-Benz.🙂
It's not that Max isn't a good driver, but acting like this is some legendary feat when at least 30% of the guys on the grid could probably pull it off with that car is ridiculous. It doesn't earn him any "greatest of all time" or "best ever" nonsense.

Exactly ☕
If we’re judging greatness based on who managed to rack up the most points in a single GP weekend, then the list looks like this:
No. 1 - Lewis Hamilton...
No. 2 - always No2 Masica 😍

And don't even get me started on Maxić...

Haters gonna hate 🙂

graniteharbor502 said:Anyway, today’s greatest driver managed to snag 34 points in a single race at Imola, something nobody else in history has ever pulled off. Haters gonna hate 🙂

Some clueless hack journalist must have written that. Only an illiterate idiot could churn out such nonsense and still keep their job 🙂
https://www.formula1.com/en/results....ce-result.html

Unbelievable. Some illiterate reporter thinks history only counts from 2015 onwards... apparently everything before 2015 just doesn't exist 🤣

The whole Lance Stroll / Sebastian Vettel situation at Aston Martin is actually pretty funny if you think about it...
Lance Stroll basically did absolutely nothing all weekend besides overtaking Lewis Hamilton at the start just to snag a single point. 😳

Qualified 15th on Friday...
Finished 15th in the Sprint...
Started the race in 15th...
Overtook Lewis Hamilton at the start to move up to 14th...
And that was his entire contribution to the race.

Then Ricc slammed into Carlos Sainz, leaving both of them stuck behind Lance Stroll—so, Sainz DNF, Ricc falls to the back, and suddenly Stroll climbs to 12th...
Michael Schumacher collided with Fernando Alonso, so Schumacher finishes behind Stroll, and then Alonso gets a DNF too, landing him behind Stroll, which bumps Lance up to 10th...

And sure, everyone’s claiming the car and the team have "improved." Yeah, right.
They didn't improve; they just benefited because Ricc and Mick decided to wreck into the Spaniards, and because Lujo was completely checked out and basically fell asleep at the start...
Overall? It's a mess, not progress.

Sebastian Vettel is a pretty similar story. Better qualifying, sure, but by the end of the day, his only real "progress" was barely holding off Kevin Magnussen. That's about it.

graniteharbor502 said:Last year, those sprint weekends were worth more.
Everyone knows the rules—at Imola, you could have walked away with 34 points if you won the sprint, won the main race, and snagged the FL.

Blah, blah, blah...
It’s pure stupidity, just like that old madness where they gave double points for the final race.

There is zero justification for why Imola should be worth more than any other standard race.
Honestly, it's just a joke that people will eventually call out because it's unnatural and makes no sense.

The FIA is rigging it 🤦

Man, what kind of nonsense is this? Suddenly, one race is worth way more points than others? It’s giving me major flashbacks to those crazy double-points stunts Bernie used to pull at the end of a season...🙄

If the championship ends up being decided by just a point or two, this whole season is going to look like another absolute mess caused by the FIA's total incompetence...

Roger Wright94 said:AM only picked up points in Imola, and even then, both drivers had to do it. Stroll usually just cruises to 12th or 13th, and Vettel has basically one decent finish to his name, which isn't enough to actually judge anything. They aren't exactly at the bottom just yet, but whether they can keep scraping together tiny points remains to be seen.

Based on what I've seen so far, I'd say they definitely are...
I honestly don't see any car worse or slower than the AM 🤦

Sure, they're relatively lucky right now because Williams has Latifi, so they aren't guaranteed the last two spots on the grid...
but they can pretty much count on this thing failing spectacularly. Plus, other teams and drivers have been shooting themselves in the foot quite a bit lately...

But looking at race pace? They are absolute bottom-tier. Easily the worst on the grid, and I don't see any reason for them to be hopeful about anything.

To me, this whole situation reeks of a massive fiasco caused by Stroll's old man overstepping and trying to be too smart...
Which could very quickly lead to a fire sale of the team to anyone willing to buy this kramp and pull the dad out of the mess he created for himself....

James Allen9 said:Let’s take the spotlight off the top three teams for a second.
McLaren has come such a long way since the start of the season. Honestly, it’s great to see because I actually like both of their drivers. Even Williams is making moves—Alex Albon is looking solid. It’s not like Aston Martin is such a total disaster just because of Lance Stroll. Scored points in two races. You can actually see the progress.Alfa held their ground, pretty much like Red Bull Racing did. Alpine just can't catch a break—they’ve got Alonso, sure, but they're stuck being just another strong midfield team. The only one actually making moves is Haas. Their race pace compared to the start of the season has been absolute garbage. Only at the very end did Magnussen manage to hunt down Sebastian Vettel. He was close, but I doubt he would've cleared him if he'd had DRS; still, staying in that DRS train would have kept him from losing ground. Honestly, that probably would've cost Charles Leclerc even more time since Seb would've just kept him at a safe distance. At this point, trying to judge the Williams or Haas cars is a lost cause when you've only got one solid driver to work with.
Current lineup: Red Bull Racing, Ferrari, McLaren-Alfa, and Mercedes. Then you've got Alpine, AT, Haas, Aston Martin, and Williams.

Someone clearly swiped his points from one of those two races, because looking at the standings, he’s sitting on exactly one point. 🙂
Check out the current driver standings here: https://www.formula1.com/en/results....2/drivers.html

I honestly don't see where you're seeing any progress from Aston Martin. 🤔
Let’s be honest, their race pace is absolute garbage. Everyone—and I mean everyone—around them is consistently faster. We’re talking a gap of half a second per lap at minimum, if not way more. 🤦
The only reason they even touched the points was because they clearly had a wet setup. They didn't look nearly as pathetic when the track was damp.
They got lucky in qualifying. Between their chaotic timing and just plain luck, they ended up way higher on the grid than that car actually deserves.
They got lucky at the start just because they were on the right side of the grid when Ricciardo and Mick decided to play bumper cars with the other drivers.
They nailed the strategy. Switching to slicks at the perfect moment put them right at the front of the pack.
Even the race director was totally clueless. We went more than halfway through the race without any DRS at all. By the time they finally sorted it out, the track was such a mess that nobody wanted to risk stepping off the racing line.

Honestly, I don’t see any actual progress from them. They just had one lucky weekend where everything finally fell into place, and let's be real—Sebastian Vettel and Lance Stroll always kill it when it rains.

As far as the season and everything else goes, Mercedes is the only thing I actually care about. 🤣
I’ve got this gut feeling they’re actually going to turn things around, but there's a catch. By the time they finally get it together, George Russell will probably have a massive points lead over Lujo, leaving him with a theoretical shot at the title. Just my luck.
That’s going to be a massive headache. It'll end up looking like Lujo has to play the water boy... and I honestly can't imagine who on earth would be tasked with explaining to him that he's stuck playing Valtteri Bottas. 😬

Robert Cox46 said:The race is in the USA. You're doing marketing. Who else are you putting on a billboard if not Lewis Hamilton, Max Verstappen, or Charles Leclerc?

That’s not even a fair comparison...
In the States, when it comes to marketing and who people actually recognize, it goes 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8:
Lewis Hamilton
Lewis Hamilton
Lewis Hamilton
Lewis Hamilton
Lewis Hamilton
Lewis Hamilton the gangsta rapper
Sir Lewis
Sir Hammer time Lewis Hamilton
......
Who The fuck is Leclerc ????

Roger Wright94 said:Ha, it made total sense to me during the race. I don't think it was just about grabbing one extra point. But why not try the undercut?
I was already getting twitchy after a few laps wondering why they hadn't pulled the trigger yet. They lost precious time there because Charles was losing ground right before his pit stop. It wasn't huge, but he was fading and couldn't close the gap.

That tire change didn't really hurt them considering Lando finished fourth—the gap was at least 22-23 seconds (maybe even more).

And honestly, everything that happened after the pits proves they should have gone for the softs. Once those tires kicked in a lap or two later, Charles started closing in on Perez.

It’s just basic racing strategy to go for the swap and try everything available to get past Perez.

"Didn't hurt them"? They pit and come out behind Lando. 🙂
I don't see the logic here unless they were just hunting for fastest lap. 🤔 I really don't see it.

Because by making that useless pit stop (which was pointless since most drivers showed you could cruise to the finish on mediums), they basically handed Red Bull the luxury of choice.
Option A: Stay out on mediums until the end. There was zero chance Charles would catch them; he wouldn't even be in their rearview mirror. But they almost certainly would've blown the fastest lap attempt...
Option B: Easily cover their move by pitting and staying ahead on the same rubber...

Red Bull's only real headache was figuring out how to leave Perez out on mediums while bringing Max in for softs so HE could snag the fastest lap and finish ahead of Perez without looking like idiots with awkward team orders...
That was the only actual dilemma. Everything else is just noise...

The only genuine threat to Red Bull was if both drivers stayed out and a Safety Car came out, potentially letting Charles pounce on the restart (though that's a big "maybe"). Beyond that, no chance...
Catching someone is one thing, but actually overtaking is a different beast entirely, even under perfect conditions—let alone on a track with a dry racing line and a wet surface everywhere else.
Ask Charles Leclerc or Lewis Hamilton about that.
One guy tries and spins, another spends half the race on a long stint, and Pierre Gasly can't do anything despite clearly being faster. It's the same old story as Bottas vs Russell.
If you manage to catch someone and get in the DRS zone, but you don't have at least a second or two of pace advantage, it pretty much means nothing...

goldenranger6 said:He crashed because Haas hit him.

He wasn't hunting points; he was chasing something else. Ferrari played their hand well, but Leclerc took too much of a gamble and it blew up in his face today. Doesn't mean it won't pay off later, though. If he'd pulled it off, everyone would be patting him on the back right now.

It's just the start of the season. Everyone's shown they aren't invincible yet, so buckle up—it's going to get messy.

The wise Frederic Vasseur claims they were just seizing an opportunity. 🙂

It was not a necessity for tyres, we didn’t do that for the fastest lap. We did that because we thought it was the best option for us and try to create some opportunity. We knew Red Bull would react [as they did] so we would be again everyone resetting on new tyres

What kind of "tactics" are these? What on earth was the point? 🤔
Regardless of how badly Leclerc messed up, you have to ask: why even bother?
Let's be real, Ferrari had zero chance because Red Bull was clearly faster and obviously going to cover them, which they did.
A faster pit stop wouldn't have helped either, since it's equally obvious that Red Bull is just quicker...
Plus, they're notorious for being sloppy in the pits. Honestly, there was a higher risk of a botched pit stop ruining everything than there was any actual chance of gaining a massive advantage...

They didn't really have a shot at beating them on track. If anything, I expected them to stay on mediums rather than doing this.

So, what was the damn point?

Douglas Roberts49 said:Everyone’s yapping about Lewis, yet he’s nowhere to be seen on the radar...

Are you kidding me?
We spent half the broadcast watching a "duel" between Lewis Hamilton and Pierre Gasly...
It's not like he was invisible.

Arthur Chase said:And we're seeing that even a GOAT isn't much of one without the fastest car on the grid. ☕

The craziest part is that Russell has been scoring points in that exact same car every single race.
He hasn't just scored points, he's finished in the top 5 every single time—the only driver on the grid to pull that off.
Maybe he’s lost his "Mr. Saturday" title this season, but he's definitely consistent and the undisputed "best of the rest"—basically the reigning champion of Formula 1.5.

Louie is clearly still a total wreck mentally after that last race of last season,
and this isn't nearly as much about the car as it is about him...

Raymond Anderson4 said:Maybe this race serves as a wake-up call for an otherwise disinterested Aston Martin.
Though, who knows with them? Next weekend they could easily have both cars finish nowhere near the points.

Let's be real, they aren't even close to being point contenders...
This was strictly thanks to chaotic qualifying, a messy start, changing conditions—aka rain—and some solid strategy from Aston Martin...
If there had been DRS and a dry track, Sebastian Vettel would've just cruised right past everyone, gaining maybe 14 or 15 spots total, just like in the sprint...

In reality, these teams easily beat them:
Ford
Red Bull
McLaren
Alfa
Haas
AT
Mercedes

The rest of the grid is faster, though maybe Alpine (pretty fragile and unreliable) or Williams (they've got Nicholas Latifi) could snag something. But even then, it doesn't mean much because in a normal race, they're nowhere near scoring.

Based on what Aston Martin has shown all season, these will probably be their only points this year, unless we get another chaotic weekend lucky break...

So how did that wrap up? Did the GOAT finally pull ahead of Gasly, or did Perez and Norris lap the GOAT already? 🤔

ruggedcyclist56 said:Right after Leclerc's move... how much stupidity can Max actually pull off?

That move by Leclerc—well, more like a Ferrari move—was pure idiocy...
Why try to be a genius on a wet track using soft tires just to hunt for a single point for fastest lap?
In the end, you just screw yourself over and throw away points. All they needed to do was drive a clean race and grab a podium.☕

graniteharbor502 said:Who actually said you burned through those tires too fast after the sprint?
I'm done with the fanboy goggles. I can finally just enjoy the standout drives—which lately have mostly been Max's.

Carlos Sainz started P10, fought his way up to 4th, and was still pulling lap times comparable to the Red Bull Racing drivers in those final laps. So yeah, he proved you can make overtakes without absolutely shredding your rubber.
Charles Leclerc didn't have to fight for anything; he spent the whole race driving in clean air.

Look at where Sergio Perez started versus where he ended up.🙂

Honestly, it feels like Max won't have anyone left to chase if Red Bull lets Perez go,
because every single race this season, Perez is outperforming Max...
Which is weird as hell, because let's be real, Perez isn't even in the same league as a driver like Max.

Regardless of how much you praise him, I think Max is driving like garbage this season. He’s barely using even 70% of that car's actual potential...