Posts by Raymond Anderson4

wiredseal7 said:Yeah, it could have easily ended up being an "Alexander Albon" moment. Maybe Lewis Hamilton was hoping Max Verstappen would try to squeeze him off the apex, allowing him to clip the front wheel and force a spin.
Max went wide because he overcooked it, which is what happens when you push too hard; he just caught the curb and slid right off the track. If he’d accelerated even a tiny bit sooner, they likely would have been side-by-side in the next sequence of turns—and looking at how Alpine vs. Red Bull Racing played out, the car on the left usually holds the advantage there.

On another note, Helmut Marko mentioned that Max Verstappen had to dial back the engine power due to that differential issue, meaning he didn't have full power during the battle. You could tell Lewis Hamilton looked a little quicker on the straights just before Max Verstappen engaged DRS, which probably explains it.

I don't buy what Helmut Marko is selling. Helmut always seems to have an excuse ready whenever a golden opportunity slips through their fingers.

neonfox65 said:If Max Verstappen hadn't gone wide, they would've collided.

He would've ended up like Alexander Albon did last year in Austria.

We really need to see the replay.
Maybe he shouldn't have gone wide in the first place.

But regardless, these are two different situations and you can't compare them. Yuki Tsunoda kept Esteban Ocon off the track through the entire corner.

neonfox65 said:https://twitter.com/oconesteban/stat...509609474?s=21

And this one was actually fine. 🤣

I'm assuming this was Yuki Tsunoda.

And honestly, I think it's okay, since Tsunoda is the one who forced him off the track.

This situation just isn't comparable to the Verstappen-Hamilton incident.

Lewis Hamilton didn't push Max Verstappen off the track there.

Anthony Baker84 said:Man, there are still about 22 races left, and suddenly everyone thinks Mercedes is going to outpace Red Bull in development. It’s like people have forgotten that Red Bull (Adrian Newey) has always been incredibly fast at developing the car mid-season.
Who knows what the next few races will actually bring. We'll just have to see who manages their data better. When we talk about Ferrari or Mercedes, we have a decent idea of what to expect, but with Red Bull (Adrian Newey), it's much harder to predict...

At this rate, it looks like we're in for a solid season from a technical standpoint—if you ignore Haas, who desperately needs to fix their car before those two rookies get hurt—and from a driving standpoint, if you ignore Sebastian Vettel. He really needs to find his rhythm, otherwise, it won't be good for him or anyone else on the grid.

Looking at how much ground has been lost, it seems like Ferrari found the best way to adapt to the new regulations. Then again, it could just be that they have a better engine than last year (though I doubt it's purely an engine issue since they still seem to lack power on the straights).

Red Bull is good, but Mercedes is better.
In every championship year, they've been superior when it comes to development.
The fact that they stop focusing on the current car late in the season to concentrate on next year is just how they operate.

Roger Wright94 said:In my view, Lewis gained an edge right there. At least 3 seconds if you do the math—30 times 0.1.

I’ve got to agree. Max really lost this one.
All that talk about Lewis being an alien? It just doesn't hold water.

I think Red Bull needs more races with lighter workloads. Yesterday, the engine definitely took a bigger hit than they wanted. He just couldn't keep pace with Lewis under a standard operating mode, or whatever the technical term is.

graniteharbor502 said:The Mercedes-Benz is already the superior car. They just don't have the best driver at the moment.

I have to disagree there. Red Bull Racing is actually the better machine. They didn't lose ground to Mercedes-Benz in a single sector.
Plus, they were making up massive gaps in the third sector. Max Verstappen was consistently dropping tenths of a second just in sector three.
Right now, Red Bull is definitely the faster car.

Red Bull really dropped the ball here.

First off, they completely missed the opportunity on turn 4.
Secondly, if they hadn't stayed silent, there wouldn't have been a mid-race decision, and Max's overtake would have stood.

Thirdly, the strategy was just off. Max spent about 15 or 16 laps glued to the back of that Mercedes-Benz. That constant chasing is ultimately what cost him the win; by the time he actually engaged in the fight with Sir Lewis Hamilton, his tires were shot. He had zero traction left. While Red Bull was killing it in the high-speed corners where their aero really shines, they were getting eaten alive in the slow and medium speed turns because the rubber just wasn't there anymore.
Max isn't just battling Lewis; he's up against the entire Mercedes-Benz machine. They are a brutal operation—they watch everything, analyze every detail, and always seem to have an answer ready.

darkmarlin16 said:Sergio Perez is going to absolutely dominate Valtteri Bottas this year.

I don't see that happening. Mercedes-Benz will have a car on par with Red Bull Racing before we know it.
And honestly? They'll probably be faster by the time the season hits its stride.

Richard Walker38 said:Not really. Lewis was struggling with his tires, and honestly, he just spun out before the duel even happened. That gave Max Verstappen the opening to close the gap much sooner than anyone expected.

It really comes down to Lewis Hamilton's experience, though. He handled himself perfectly and put on a masterclass defending that position.

That mistake at Turn 10 might not have been about the rubber. If I recall correctly, he missed his braking point and locked up. You could actually see it happen during the broadcast.

Richard Walker38 said:Everything Lewis Hamilton pulled off today was pure veteran savvy. He spent the first half of the race dancing right on those track limits, knowing full well the team would just give them a warning later on. It was a calculated move to help eliminate Max Verstappen from the equation early, setting him up to make up ground once his tires started fading. Then, he positioned his car perfectly during the duel, forcing Max out of bounds and completely breaking his focus.

Top-tier driving all around. Max Verstappen was phenomenal too, but you can't buy experience—you have to earn it. I’m really looking forward to seeing more battles like this this season.

It looks to me like Max Verstappen's tires gave out even sooner than Lewis Hamilton's did. Even though Lewis Hamilton was on older rubber, he managed his pace much better. Max Verstappen burned through his fresher tires just trying to catch up.
I honestly wonder if Turn 4 was his one shot. That might have been it. Once you lose that grip, there isn't much left for a second attempt. He had one window, and Lewis Hamilton outmaneuvered him by baiting him toward the edge of the track. I get why Max Verstappen went wide; they were so close that he likely felt he had to widen his line to avoid a collision. Lewis Hamilton's FW and Max Verstappen's front tire were practically touching as they exited the corner. Lewis Hamilton stayed on the racing line, while Max Verstappen probably hesitated to cut back in for fear of clipping Lewis Hamilton.