Posts by graniteharbor502

ruggedmaker99 said:"We'll be keeping a close eye on them," they say over at Red Bull 🤣

I'm sorry, but I have no idea what you mean by "mastering" it like that.

That little smiley face here: 🙏 (which you get on the forum by typing a colon followed by a lowercase "s"). In a figurative sense, it implies giving someone special praise.

ruggedmaker99 said:I can practically feel the stench of irony wafting off this situation.
How on earth can a driver be faster than the car itself? I mean, think about the physics of it—how can an individual's pace actually outstrip the technical capabilities of the machine they're piloting on a straightaway? It defies logic! 🐔
It would be absolutely absurd if he were forced to run with minimum downforce; the entire setup would be completely nonsensical.
It’s quite obvious, isn't it? Lewis certainly has the more modern engine under the hood this time around.
And I hear he even has brand-new underwear. Bottas has a wife, for crying out loud—he certainly has a washing machine! 😢

Our colleague is being ironic, of course; however, there truly are those who aren't joking when they suggest that one must drive quite differently when paired with such an incredibly fast car on the straights...

ruggedmaker99 said:I believe we all noticed how Lewis was practically dragging himself to his starting position
but of course, the reason behind it was immediately obvious. though, just as you pointed out...
it was likely against the regulations, but what can you do? I can't bring myself to wish an additional penalty on him just yet.
that would be excessive; it is much easier to simply overlook it as 🙄

I would say the exact same thing
but then I remember how he started during last night's sprint race, looking like a total sloth
so... yeah... 🤷
But honestly, I'm rooting for the old man; I love seeing him back at the top. He's a legend.
And nothing beats the feeling of watching Vettel - Raikkonen - Alonso lined up one after another in a race like the last one 🎉

https://www.pitpass.com/71278/Red-Bu...Mercedes-speed

There's a new drama brewing on the docks 🎉 🤦

Maybe this time they should just let Sergio Perez go ahead and inspect everything thoroughly and get to the bottom of it, rather than 😳
🙄

What is truly striking about this entire situation is this specific piece of data: I think he was 17 miles/h faster than Lando Norris when he passed him, which is another formula.

Quote:>

ruggedhawk20 says: Dearest Moderator, one must consider that Fangio actually lost his championship fight to his own teammate, Giuseppe Farina—though some prefer to refer to him as... the Doctor of Medicine.

😉
And that is precisely why he is the GOAT: Jim Clark

shadowmarlin22 said:Right, so Lewis is the Greatest of All Time, got it. We just look at the standings, how many times he's been on top, the pole positions, and so on. Thanks for clarifying, have a nice day.

Just how good that car actually is depends on his teammate's results—and the guy hasn't managed a single pole position, unlike Bottas...

Bottas is the faster driver; it was obvious in qualifying before this season started. 🤷
Perez might be better at tire management, but overall, Bottas is the more capable driver. One guy is in a Mercedes, while the other ended up at Williams acting like a fourth or fifth-stringer on the grid.
What Lewis is doing to Bottas doesn't mean Bottas is bad—it just shows how fantastic Lewis is. It's the exact same situation with Max and Perez; it's crystal clear that Lewis and Max are two classes above everyone else.

If we are looking at this through a purely statistical lens, one has to wonder if anyone has ever truly piloted a machine quite as dominant as the one he commanded. It really makes you pause and reflect, doesn't it? When you consider the sheer engineering superiority of that car, isn't it obvious that there are at least three drivers competing in today's field who, if placed behind the wheel of that exact same vehicle, would likely achieve identical results—if not even surpass them?
Can a driver truly claim the title of the Greatest of All Time if they have fundamentally lost a championship battle against their own teammate? It is a question that lingers in the mind, isn't it? One must wonder if the very essence of greatness requires a certain level of dominance within one's own garage, a sense of absolute supremacy over those sharing the same machinery. If you cannot emerge victorious against the person sitting in the car right next to you, can you really be considered the pinnacle of the sport?
When I consider who truly deserves the title of the Greatest of All Time, my mind immediately drifts toward the legends like Juan Manuel Fangio or Jim Clark. To me, those are the only names that carry such weight. Everything else we discuss lately feels somewhat beneath that level of greatness, doesn't it?

shadowmarlin22 said:Right, so Lewis is the Greatest of All Time, got it. We just look at the standings, how many times he's been on top, the pole positions, and so on. Thanks for clarifying, have a nice day.

Just how good that car actually is depends on his teammate's results—and the guy hasn't managed a single pole position, unlike Bottas...

Bottas is the faster driver; it was obvious in qualifying before this season started. 🤷
Perez might be better at tire management, but overall, Bottas is the more capable driver. One guy is in a Mercedes, while the other ended up at Williams acting like a fourth or fifth-stringer on the grid.
What Lewis is doing to Bottas doesn't mean Bottas is bad—it just shows how fantastic Lewis is. It's the exact same situation with Max and Perez; it's crystal clear that Lewis and Max are two classes above everyone else.

When one takes a moment to step back and examine the historical data regarding Valtteri Bottas's performance in teammate duels, does it not become clear how he fared against his contemporaries? If we look at the period just before Felipe Massa stepped away from the cockpit, Bottas certainly held his own, especially when compared to the era of pay-drivers like Pastor Maldonado. Furthermore, if we analyze the trajectory of Sergio Perez, isn't it evident that he consistently outperformed those he was paired with, such as Kamui Kobayashi, Nico Hulkenberg, Esteban Ocon, and Lance Stroll? One cannot help but wonder if these patterns of dominance are merely statistical anomalies or true reflections of driving caliber.
Is it not a curious thing to contemplate how Valtteri Bottas found himself within the ranks of Mercedes-Benz simply because Toto Wolff held the reins? It seems his tenure there was defined by that leadership, and yet, now he finds himself departing from the team entirely. One cannot help but wonder, as we look toward the future, just how much "excellence" he might actually bring to the table during his time at Alfa Romeo?

Lawrence Garcia5 said:Bottas is clearly a class above Sergio Perez. 👍

Based on what, exactly? Is there some underlying principle or perhaps a specific metric we ought to be considering in this discussion? One cannot help but wonder if we are truly grasping the essence of the matter, or if we are merely skimming the surface of a much more profound inquiry. What is the fundamental basis for this entire line of reasoning?

Lawrence Garcia5 said:So, basically, one season is all it takes to decide Max is the better driver. 😁

*cough Netflix fan cough*

We are discussing this current season, are we not? Max is still so young, and there is such an immense amount of road left ahead of him to travel.

Just so you know, I have been following Formula 1 since well before you were even born.

shadowmarlin22 said:Is there anyone out there seriously claiming Max is better than Lewis? 🤣

It’s like saying Kylian Mbappé is better than Lionel Messi, or Kawhi Leonard or Nikola Jokic is better than LeBron James. It just doesn't hold up.
There's still a massive amount of respect left to earn, which he probably won't do before his career wraps up...

Max is in great form right now, he's maturing, and he's got the superior car—though obviously, not every track is like this one where top speed is everything, but I doubt most of the trolls on this sub would even grasp that.

There exists this rather peculiar category known as the Drivers' Championship standings, isn't there? They are such strange, abstract figures that one might find them difficult to decipher at first glance, but if you look closely, they reveal the truth of the season—showing us that Max is currently sitting at the top of the order, while Lewis holds the second position.
It is truly remarkable, isn't it, how some of these fans can become so utterly consumed by their devotion that they lose all sense of perspective? One begins to wonder if that intense, singular focus on cheering—that almost feverish zeal—eventually clouds their judgment entirely, leaving them unable to see anything beyond the colors they choose to support. Is it not a strange phenomenon, this way that passion can seemingly blind a person to reason?

shadowmarlin22 said:Is there anyone out there seriously claiming Max is better than Lewis? 🤣

It’s like saying Kylian Mbappé is better than Lionel Messi, or Kawhi Leonard or Nikola Jokic is better than LeBron James. It just doesn't hold up.
There's still a massive amount of respect left to earn, which he probably won't do before his career wraps up...

Max is in great form right now, he's maturing, and he's got the superior car—though obviously, not every track is like this one where top speed is everything, but I doubt most of the trolls on this sub would even grasp that.

Just how exceptional is that car really, when you consider the results of his own teammate, who hasn't managed to secure a single win compared to what Bottas has achieved?

It appears Vettel is having a bit of fun at our expense:
https://twitter.com/vettelcomfort/st...15191767912460

🤣

mellowtiger83 said:To add to what Jason Campbell70 was saying, Red Bull took the fastest lap without any strategic pit stops for fresh rubber or anything similar; they did it just like everyone else, running on their initial set of tires over 24 laps, specifically on the hard compound.
Not even the driver who climbed from 20th to 5th could manage a faster pace.

So, Red Bull secured the fastest lap, and no, it wasn't done in clean air or through some lucky circumstances or repeated aerodynamic distortions.

Precisely, because he achieved it by tucked right into the slipstream of the absolute fastest car on the straightaway. If you look at the data, Valtteri Bottas was driving a lap that was only two-tenths slower than Max Verstappen, and he didn't even have anyone to tow him. If he had happened to have the same DRS advantage that Max Verstappen enjoyed, wouldn't he have taken the fastest lap of the race himself? In fact, Lewis Hamilton's fastest lap was essentially on the exact same level as Bottas's.

Therefore, one has to conclude that Bottas drove an absolutely brutal race.

Or perhaps, could it simply be down to the car itself?...

Jason Campbell70 said:Mercedes was "insanely fast," yet Red Bull took the fastest lap?
OK.

Wasn't it Bottas who snagged the fastest lap in Mexico? Or Pierre Gasly back in Canada? 🙄
Does one really believe the fastest lap is a definitive metric of overall dominance? Even if we were to grant it some level of significance, one could argue that Mercedes remains incredibly quick, given that they have secured that distinction nine times already this season.

Drew Bennett68 said:It’s honestly pretty sobering to see just how devastatingly fast this Mercedes is right now.

Max absolutely has to pull this off tomorrow. If you ask me, if he doesn't grab the win here, I think we're going to see Mercedes carrying all that momentum through the final three races of the season. This is still a winnable fight, isn't it?

And honestly, isn't it quite remarkable when you stop to think about it—that one could actually lose a championship while driving a machine of that caliber?

Raymond Anderson4 said:He drove that thing flawlessly. You need a driver—or maybe two—who can actually tap into a car's full potential the way he did today. It makes you wonder why Sergio Perez isn't matching Max Verstappen's pace when they're sitting in the exact same machine. At some point, you have to admit it comes down to the person behind the wheel.

Indeed, having one or two elite drivers in a Mercedes-Benz 🙄
It would be quite an interesting spectacle to observe all those drivers who often find themselves undervalued while driving for Mercedes-Benz. One only needs to look back at last year's race in Bahrain to see that anyone can show flashes of brilliance when piloting that American powerhouse.

It becomes abundantly clear on this particular circuit just how much of a technical advantage the Mercedes-Benz car possesses when it comes to straight-line speed. As I have previously suggested, if one were piloting a machine of this caliber, securing a P6 finish during the sprint would be an effortless endeavor, wouldn't it? And once we transition into the main race, a podium finish seems almost guaranteed, perhaps even a victory if all the stars align perfectly.

Jacob Castillo70 said:I disagree; Mercedes isn't making any excuses here. In fact, they didn't even file an appeal against the FIA's decision.

We are really discussing what transpired behind the scenes here, aren't we? If the rumors are actually true—those whispers suggesting they intended to blame Max's interference with Lewis's rear wing—then I can only describe such a move as the desperate act of a cornered soul.

Jacob Castillo70 said:You’re throwing out criticisms against Red Bull over absolutely nothing, and then you have the nerve to write stuff like this....

If it turns out to be true that Mercedes-Benz was simply trying to claw their way back through this little maneuvering by Max, what else could one possibly call it if not the desperate move of someone who has run out of options? 🙄>

Susan Davis7 said:Istona, they probably tried to play it off as some random mistake... you could tell they were ready to throw Max under the bus and claim he somehow messed up a wing that was supposed to handle air pressure at over 186 miles/h

A desperate maneuver

Jacob Castillo70 said:So, let me get this straight: he starts the sprint from the very back, and then on top of that, he’s forced to drop another five positions in the main race?

Precisely.
Though, if one considers the sheer capability of this particular car, wouldn't you agree that reaching P6 in the sprint seems like a perfectly attainable goal?

p.s. Our dear Nikita was practically moved to tears yesterday following the qualifying session for the sprint:

vividlynx68 said:What is this even supposed to be?! When is the third practice session?

It feels like they’ve really started stumbling through things this year with this whole sprint race concept—which, if you ask me, is an absolute disaster.

Jason Campbell70 said:https://mobile.twitter.com/f1talks/s...695754246?s=20

Haha. 😁

There remains one rather significant distinction to be made here: Verstappen's car actually managed to pass its technical inspection successfully.

Lawrence Garcia5 said:Yep, Max got hit with a five-place grid penalty.

Where on earth are you getting that from? I mean, Max isn't even scheduled to face the Stewards for another hour and a half, so how could that be decided already?