Posts by Amy Castillo4

Raymond Anderson4 said:In my view, Ferrari and Red Bull Racing were actually neck and neck, but the tires really dictated the order. If we swapped their positions—if Max Verstappen and Sergio Perez had finished 1-3—I suspect Ferrari would have ended up looking like Red Bull Racing does today. They would have been trailing behind, only to realize pretty quickly that driving just one second behind kills your tires, forcing them to abandon the attack. Max Verstappen's aggressive moves were purely a result of having those tires up to temperature. Once Charles Leclerc defended effectively and got his rubber into the working window, Max Verstappen was left with no way to respond.
We’ll see how things shake out in the upcoming races, but if you asked me right now, I'd say Red Bull Racing is going to struggle with pace in Saudi Arabia. They look a bit sluggish through the corners. This is just my take, and I could easily be wrong, but Ferrari felt like they were a level above Red Bull Racing in those medium-speed corner sections, while remaining competitive on the straights.

Max Verstappen was breathing down Leclerc's neck today, even though he was nearly a full second back before that final target. There's still some room for Ferrari to grow here.

wanderingdrifter86 said:What is actually going on with McLaren right now?🤔

I see this happening all the time—it’s a recurring pattern. Honestly, you can just decline the nouns naturally, much like how we handle things back home. For instance, you could say something like "with the McLaren" or "with the Ferrari"—no need to be stuck with that rigid, capitalized "MCLAREN" or "FERRARI" style. It flows better that way.
Acronyms—you know, those little shorthand clusters like FIA, the EU, or NATO—should always be handled with a hyphen when you're changing their case, like if you were talking about the USA—well, the US—specifically.

McLaren looked pretty decent during testing, but honestly, it feels like they completely blew it with this new concept—it’s like they hit a wall. To make matters worse, they're running on those Mercedes-Benz engines which, let’s be real, seem to be performing below average lately. Just one thing after another.

Ferrari 🙏 🙏 🙏
Finally!

Looks like we have an incredible season ahead of us.

Finally, some movement from Ferkan.
3 teams at the top 👍

stormybadger8 said:

Your Mercedes seats are rattling like crazy 🙂🙂🤣

The whole crew was grinding all night—zero sleep—while the world tremble over whether we could actually fix these issues... and somehow, we managed to find a few seconds of improvement.

Post-qualifying statement.

What's with all this jumping around on level ground? 🤣
Just hoping nobody ends up with a serious concussion.

stormybadger8 said:One 😳
Bottas thinks Mercedes is in deep trouble and that his Alfa Romeo is actually faster than the Mercedes 😁

It honestly surprises me that Toto and Hamilton haven't already gone on record claiming the car is an absolute disaster—basically on par with Williams or Haas—which is the usual pre-season script we see.

And then, suddenly, everything just clicks during Q3...

I wouldn't call myself a fan, but honestly, the Mercedes car looks incredible this season. That turquoise shade is actually quite easy on the eyes.
After that criminal black look they were rocking last year, this is a total beauty.

It’s honestly pretty unsettling to see how he just strolled from a 25-place penalty straight back into contention during the first half of the race—not that I’m questioning his talent, obviously—but it really makes you wonder what kind of absolute monster of a machine they’ve been hiding under the hood for the end of the season.
I imagine there are going to be a lot of very long, very sleepless nights over at Honda in the coming weeks.

Douglas Roberts49 said:That’s why Bottas is actually decent—it's all thanks to the car... though I suspect Ferrari will end up passing him by anyway.

So we're just pretending Lewis was the only one with a top-tier engine?

Getting this kind of luxury just by having a decent day—it’s wild. Honestly, I’m baffled that a beast of a car like this hasn't already secured the championship a few races ago.

Susan Davis7 said:All those debates about car pace versus driver skill really need to factor in the fact that Hamilton’s basically gonna be redlining it just to stay relevant for the rest of the season—while Max just needs to play it smart and cruise to the finish.

That whole mindset of Alonso’s? It totally backfired on him back in 2012.

stormybadger8 said:Let's wait for the rear wing measurements. 😬

It’s insane how fast the Bear is. Alpine F1 Team and McLaren Racing are easily the fastest on the straights, yet this thing just breezes past them even with both cars running DRS. 😲

With a beast like this, I wouldn't be shocked if Luxury grabs the win tomorrow by a massive margin...
The podium is basically a lock. I don't see any way a struggling Sergio Perez defends against him, and the rest of the field isn't even in the conversation—they're clearly playing in a completely different league.

Must be nice having gear like that

darkmarlin16 said:Now Bottas just has to step up, play his part, and absolutely nail Verstappen

Ever since he found out he’s getting kicked out of Mercedes-Benz, he’s been acting way more cautious around Max than even Perez or those Alpha Tauri drivers do.

Linda Peterson43 said:They really ought to implement a rule where, in situations like this, the team gets to decide exactly when they take their penalty. Ideally, it should happen before qualifying begins... 🙂
And perhaps, if they take it on Saturday, it would result in a 3-place penalty since it's the sprint race, whereas if they wait until Sunday, it would be a 5-place penalty... 🙂
But again, I maintain that they should have to declare their intentions BEFORE qualifying starts... 🙂

No, the penalty applies to Sunday and there's no reason to mess with that.

je

Sam Clark75 said:I’m just now getting through Lujo-like's statement, and honestly, it’s almost absurdly delusional—first he blames Bottas for a poor start (of all people to say that, considering he’s been struggling with starts himself lately and has a habit of running straight into corners), then he claims he "envisaged it differently," implying Bottas somehow outmaneuvered him while simultaneously blocking Max Verstappen. That whole "I had envisaged it differently" line is just too much. My bad that the universe didn't align perfectly with your specific vision and grand design. 🙏

At this rate, we might as well expect Bottas to drive the entire race for him, while Lujo shows up to collect the trophy at the podium, waving to the masses during a brief intermission from composing symphonies and designing hideous outfits. Look, obviously two drivers in a team are supposed to cooperate, but how Mercedes-Benz expects to pull that off with a driver they just kicked to the curb is something even a dog wouldn't bother trying to figure out. Good luck in the Alfa Romeo seat, Bottas—you'll be fighting for 10th place on a good day, but you certainly won't find any of this high-level mental chess there.

https://www.racefans.net/2021/11/07/...-at-the-start/

He also went on to claim that Mercedes-Benz stood no chance in a duel against Red Bull Racing. Of course—if he had actually won, he’d insist it was due to his own genius rather than the sheer power of the Mercedes-Benz car.

cosmiccyclist8 said:...starting a thread about New York City instead of reminiscing about the most intense race ever held at Indianapolis Motor Speedway 🕺...

Honestly, starting a thread like this is really just an excuse to check the schedule and maybe see if it's going to rain.

Rough race. I can’t for the life of me figure out why that bot was braking so early in turn one.

They’re being a bit much with this whole "best crowd in the world" thing. It reminds me way too much of those overhyped winter sports championships in Aspen.

What’s actually going on behind the scenes with Valtteri Bottas and all these constant engine swaps lately?