Just finished watching Hong Kong. Man, Bird is such an intense guy 🙄 I mean, Lotterer isn't exactly a saint either, but that move by Bird was just dirty 👎 A 5s penalty is a joke, really. It should have been at least 10.
Finally, some rain in the race 🙏 Too bad it was falling on such a silly track, though. Hong Kong is totally ill-suited for Gen 2 cars—it's probably for the best this was the last time they raced here 😒
Walldoorne… I’m honestly at a loss for words. The way things keep going wrong for him is almost comical 🤣 At least he picked up the points for pole, I suppose.
Sanya is up next, and I'm expecting a solid race there since the track is actually decent.
Finally found a moment to catch the 2019 Mexico City E-Prix. What a race 🙏 🙏—it looks like di Grassi's pressure eventually broke Wehrlein, who ended up sitting at 0% battery just a few feet from the finish line 🙏. Such a great track 🙏—truly top-tier. It’s a nice change of pace from Hong Kong, which I’m just about to start watching... though I might try to squeeze in some Sany before the day is out 🤔
I’m not sure if this has been mentioned yet—but it looks like Charles might have had some engine issues, given how much they've throttled him back compared to what we saw in Australia. I caught a few comments on Reddit suggesting as much, which seems plausible enough based on what was happening on track. I just hope we don't run into these kinds of setbacks for the rest of the season.
Here’s the Paddock Pass—for anyone who missed it, I’m just heading out now:
Charles went straight against those team orders—💪—and lunged right past Sebastian. It was actually pretty good to see, I guess.
steelmaker83 said:If Ferrari doesn't completely fall apart—which seems likely—Charles might just take the title.
After the first two races, Charles is trailing by 18 points, while Sebastian is 22 back. Last year around this time, Lewis Hamilton was trailing by 17 points after Bahrain. By the end of summer, Ferrari will probably be in shambles—just like they always are.
Richard Walker38 said:The steering wheel also looks like it's being held turned to the right the whole time
True—mostly because he’s trying to avoid Max Verstappen - Carlos Sainz as much as possible. I suppose his only other options were either to dive into Carlos Sainz like Sebastian Vettel would have, or just drive straight off the track.
This comment on Reddit is honestly hilarious. The blatant bias against Max Verstappen seems to hunt for any absurd excuse just to pin the blame on him:
Carlos shut the door on Max. Max had to drift almost entirely off the track—and per the rules, he isn't strictly required to use the full curb for defense, though here he ended up with the whole car on it—leaving him no choice but to go wide (which I suppose would have delighted his critics, lol). Meanwhile, Carlos just turned in like nobody else was there:
"When you aim for the apex with a car inside of you, it's your fault. Therefore it's 100% Sainz's fault. Luckily for Max he didn't get any damage from an incident where he was totally innocent."
He actually mentioned right after the race that they didn't deserve the podium—mostly because what happened to Charles Leclerc was just terrible, given how well he drove everything.
Kenneth Cruz67 said:It’s a shame Norris isn't in a top-tier seat—or at least not dealing with Alonso breathing down his neck and his protege Sainz. I suppose the Spanish influence might just eat him alive.
Timothy Castillo6 said:How does a wing just fly off because of vibrations? There was no contact.
The wing flew off about as fast as Sebastian Vettel’s self-confidence—gone in an instant.
fadedpanther51 said:Instead of staying in line and waiting for a better opening, he just hammers the throttle immediately—even the commentator on SK is pointing that out right now.
I guess I'm just surprised he didn't just dive straight into Lewis Hamilton, much like he did last year at Monza. 🕺
Haha, I guess Sebastian Vettel didn't even actually hit Lewis Hamilton—it was more like he just decided to spin out of pure boredom and helplessness 🤣 He probably wouldn't even make the cut for Williams Racing anymore 👎
Sebastian Vettel... the king of unnecessary spins and running people off the track. And yet, everyone acts like Max is some kind of reckless wildman—meanwhile, Vettel could barely manage to hit someone on his first attempt. If Max were in Lewis Hamilton's seat right now, people would be losing their minds over him hitting Sebastian 🤮
The decision day is looming, and things are getting intense over at Ford— I wonder if they’re already planning how to mess things up for Charles Leclerc. 🙄 Now Lewis Hamilton is breathing down Sebastian Vettel's neck... At this rate, Ford might just blow the whole thing. 🤦
EDIT: Okay, so far so good! Surprisingly, they didn't forget a wheel or something similar.
Lando will probably catch up to Nico Hulkenberg soon enough. McLaren seems genuinely strong this year—plus, it feels like they actually started their prep earlier than they did back in 2018.
fadedpanther51 said:The Mercedes-Benz is actually disappointing so far. :/ And brko is just something else entirely.
brko 😁 Yeah, Mercedes-Benz seems pretty unsettled, which I suppose is quite unlike them. 🤔
fadedpanther51 said:Obviously. Though I doubt Lewis Hamilton is just going to give it up that easily.
The front end has zero grip—it's sliding through every single turn like a drunk driver on an icy road 😳 And apparently, Sebastian Vettel can still pull away from him, too. I guess.
Edit: Was Nico Hulkenberg in the pits? He managed to jump ahead 11 spots!