Posts by crimsonhawk23

fadedpanther51 said:I've said it before—if Ferrari actually wanted to be smart about this, they should have made the move. Otherwise, I don't see them sniffing around any championships in the next decade. 😁

I agree—something I actually mentioned a few days back, too. 😃

crimsonhawk23 said:If Max Verstappen were behind the wheel of this current Ferrari, he’d probably be the champion—I guess.

Given how incompetent Ferrari seems lately, I can't really be certain about anything regarding them—I guess. I don't love them, but I don't hate them either; honestly, I'm indifferent, though it would be nice to see them actually perform. They seem to be working—I guess. If they actually face some real competition from someone other than Mercedes-Benz—which seems unlikely right now—I have a feeling they’d somehow find a way to blow it. Even if both drivers were running a full lap ahead of the field, they'd probably find some way to mess up the strategy—I guess. 🤷 They act like flies without heads—I guess. 🤷

ruggedhawk20 said:Mercedes-Benz doesn't really care about Lewis Hamilton or the UK—not in the way people think. I guess he’ll be leaving the team soon anyway. Besides, Mercedes doesn't want their entire legacy tied to just one driver—that would probably diminish their own standing, in a sense. It seems more important to them to tell the world, "Look how dominant this car is—we won titles with Hamilton, Rosberg, and even Valtteri Bottas." That's the real goal, maybe.

I suppose Mercedes won't quite let themselves get to a point where Lewis Hamilton can tell them, "If it weren't for me, you wouldn't even have a championship to your name"—not that they'd ever admit it, I guess.

It seems Mercedes learned their lesson from the way Ferrari and Michael Schumacher handled things—they probably won't make the mistake of putting all their eggs in one basket again.

Bravo—exactly this. 👍 Well written. 👏👏

It seems almost certain that Max Verstappen will end up at Mercedes by 2021—unless Honda pulls off some kind of miracle before then—since Toto Wolff keeps insisting he wants him. It’s probably just the logical move to keep that dominance going; besides, Max might just rack up enough MVPs to give a few people on this forum a nervous breakdown. 😬).

Brian Campbell36 said:I can't quite wrap my head around what Helmut Marko said—claiming the RBR power unit is superior to the chassis. It makes you wonder if the Japanese engineers actually outpaced a genius like Adrian Newey;

“The strongest part of our car is the Honda power unit. We really need to work on the chassis.”

The chassis was originally built around a Renault engine, which, let's face it, lacked both raw horsepower and straight-line speed. I'm not sure why anyone finds this surprising—car development takes about 16 months, after all. Things should settle down soon enough, I guess.

Richard Ross11 said:Kazo Gasly claims he was pressing the button, but it just wasn't responding...
I suppose I hope that's actually the case...

Alright, I haven't come across that detail anywhere yet—thanks for the heads-up. Though, even if it's true, I don't see much point; he probably could have overtaken him halfway through the race if he had been in a better car with the same engine anyway. 🤷

Richard Ross11 said:By the way, is nobody mentioning (or maybe I just missed it) Hulk vs Ricciardo?

It feels a bit early to say Ricciardo disappointed, though I guess I am leaning that way, if I'm being honest...

Then again, it was only one race...

👇👇

crimsonhawk23 said:I suspect this season will reveal just how overrated Ricciardo really is.

I wonder if Pierre Gasly has moved ahead of Daniil Kvyat yet. Monday is almost over—I assume he's passed him by now... 🙄

ruggedhawk20 said:Everyone—honestly, everyone except me—was convinced Ferrari had finally made some progress.

That’s just you speaking for yourself, I suppose. I could easily say everyone except me thought Stroll was a total disaster of a driver, yet there are still people who know better. A minority, perhaps—but they exist. And he’s going to tear through Stroll Perez this season (I've been saying that for ages).

stormytiger4 said:I'm not quite sure how to weigh in on this... I used to be pretty much against team orders. Even now, I tend to think they aren't necessary when you have a well-balanced lineup—or even for teams that aren't really fighting for the driver's title but are focused on the constructors'. But since Mercedes is chasing the championship and has one driver who's clearly ahead of the other, I don't see why they'd mess up their own season by insisting on total equality.

Throughout the hybrid era, Mercedes has shown through both words and actions that the constructors' title comes first—though, of course, they want both at any cost. If Valtteri Bottas wins the next race, or even the one after that, I don't see why they'd force things onto Lewis Hamilton, especially if the Finn has a comfortable lead 🤷 Given that they haven't made moves like that in previous hybrid seasons... 🤷

Raymond Anderson4 said:I suspect Valtteri Bottas might face a bit of a reality check in Bahrain—perhaps being ordered to drop behind Lewis Hamilton after just one lap, or being brought in at some awkward moment to mess up the race for whoever is trailing him. It seems to be a recurring theme in these races, I suppose.

Mercedes tends to be pretty upfront about their team orders—they basically back whoever’s showing better numbers heading into Barcelona. 🤷 Bottas had quite the run of luck early last season, though he seemed to lose his footing mentally afterward. We'll see how it plays out, but Hamilton could easily find himself facing a situation similar to what happened with Nico Rosberg.🤷

Just caught the race—couldn't make it earlier. Good grief, what a disaster from Pierre Gasly. 🤦
It seems like half the race was spent just trying to get past Torpedo—if he can even manage that. 🤦

Valtteri Bottas was a massive surprise—in a good way. As for Mercedes, seeing them take P1 and P2 felt pretty much expected. I have to say, Charles Leclerc was a bit disappointing. I get it, team orders are what they are and he followed them, but it feels a little pathetic that Ferrari is already playing these kinds of games—especially when Max just outpaced him without breaking a sweat. 👎

Everything else was more or less expected—including the Ricciardo DNF, I guess. 🤷

Specifically this:

hiddensailor7 said:Sebastian Vettel: "Why are we so slow?"
The team's response—"We don't know"—was essentially all we got.

🙏🤣

What a complete joke this "crew" is—honestly. 🤦
I suppose we could say it’s on the late Charlie—though, really, the blame lies elsewhere. Maybe it’s just my perspective—but I wouldn't rule out some shady maneuvering behind the scenes. It’s all just noise here—everyone is basically complicit in this massive conspiracy to rob the championship, especially with Toto and Mercedes involved. Apparently, Ferrari is always the innocent party, even though they're actually falling apart; if their budget were even 20% smaller, they'd probably be struggling just to keep pace with Williams. 🙄 It isn't really about the car—it’s more that everyone involved seems to be a walking embodiment of incompetence, I guess.

Richard Walker38 said:I'm not even talking about Ferrari here—it’s more about Vettel as a driver. He can be a bit of a dirty player, honestly; he tends to squeeze his teammates and rivals on track, making some pretty reckless moves almost every race. And then, once he gets a little taste of what he wants, he starts complaining over the radio.

I honestly expected Sebastian Vettel to dive right into Max Verstappen again—much like that Suzuki situation from last season, I guess. 🙄

darkmarlin16 said:some clueless Brit probably put this table together

I'm looking at that same chart over on r/formula1, and I saw this one comment:



🤣🤣🤣

darkmarlin16 said:

Alpha Romeo 🙏

Alpha 🙏 🙏 🙏

🤣

Mario, care to weigh in on this disaster? 😬

Nicholas Newman2 said:You probably don't even realize how right you are. The real issue—if you can call it that—is that America is run by Americans. If you handed this country over to a German, maybe then we wouldn't be looking like Kolinda Svica.

We have everything we need; we just seem to lack the common sense and the patriotism—well, at least enough of it, regardless of how many groups swear they're patriotic.

I completely agree with that sentiment. I think I misspoke earlier by not mentioning that applying those same rules would bring them closer to Mercedes-Benz, much like how America might approach Japan under the current leadership. Both scenarios feel impossible; in Formula 1, it’s tough because Ferrari is always dealing with internal turbulence—even when things finally stabilize, their lead strategist tends to pass away, leaving everyone back in chaos. 🤷 And RB—or rather, Honda—is simply too far behind to ever catch up. 🤷

Nicholas Newman2 said:Trying not to go too far off-topic, but I suspect they pushed the wrong guy out of Williams.

Sirotkin?

Honestly, given the current regulations, their chances of overtaking Mercedes are about as realistic as America outstripping Japan in industrial development.



https://twitter.com/wbuxtonofficial/...06971959820288

Just caught up on qualifying since I couldn't watch it live. I have a feeling this season might reveal just how much Ricciardo has been overrated. Lando Norris looked surprisingly solid for his first GP—on the other hand, Gasly was predictably underwhelming. If Verstappen were driving this Ferrari, he’d probably be champion by now. Mercedes taking P1 and P2 was expected—they'll likely hold those spots tomorrow too, assuming nothing breaks.

stormytiger4 said:Maybe the mods could add a poll for the biggest disappointment from qualifying. Personally, I'd say it's Sainz; he was brought into McLaren to replace Alonso, but so far, he feels more like a cheap knockoff.

A cheap knockoff, haha. 😁 Sainz got stuck behind Kubica on his fast lap—I think he actually overtook him—so he dropped out immediately. 😕

There is .

ruggedhawk20 said:I guess I'm wondering how Sebastian Vettel, Fernando Alonso, and Red Bull even ended up in this thread—maybe they just drifted in?

Gregory Brown94 said:I guess I'm reading that Gil de Ferran wants to... Maybe some of the bigger names like Fernando Alonso still have that certain something—I guess. i Lewis Hamilton. They'll likely be part of the competition—I guess.

☝

mellowtiger83 said:I suppose his driver's career might start winding down around the time they head to FC Barcelona during that summer of 2019.

There’s no real rush—Sebastian Vettel still possesses that one thing Charles Leclerc lacks despite all his raw talent... experience, I guess. Though, if the kid hits the ground running this season, things might get tricky for Sebastian in the second half. Especially if we see him demonstrating that habit of spinning out after taking out anyone in sight—even someone in a FedEx ad...🕺

I don't even need to check the hidden posts to know he's bashing Alonso—it’s pretty obvious. He's like a broken record; I guess Alonso is just constantly on his mind 🤣

Gregory Brown94 said:It could also work as a bit of a marketing play for Alonso—you know, joining up with the Kim FA Racing team and all that.

You really think they’d see Alonso as a marketing asset? 🤨

Looking at things from that angle, I suppose I have to agree with you 👍 Maintaining good health is the top priority 👍