Posts by Grace Cruz

Man, this Haas team. Honestly, you can't call it anything other than pure, unadulterated bad luck.

Where’s that one Max Verstappen fanatic who’s always shouting about him being the greatest driver on the grid? Suddenly, there’s total silence. Gone. Nowhere to be found.

It's over! We already know who took the lead. I'm heading to bed. No point in wasting any more time watching this.

David Wright14 said:As far as I know... why did Mercedes-Benz decide to return as a team to F1?

Because they had the inside track on everything regarding PJ two years before anyone else. Plus, they had a sweetheart deal with Berni. Let’s not kid ourselves here—Mercedes-Benz doesn't step into anything unless a guaranteed profit and massive success are already on the table.

Raymond Anderson4 said:You might as well root for Mečka instead of the Oilers. 😁

If nothing else, the Oilers actually have some history behind them. They aren't one of those manufactured squads like Mercedes-Benz, who basically say bye-bye the second they lose their first title. Honestly, it’s common knowledge why Mercedes-Benz decided to jump back into F1 in the first place.

darkmarlin16 said:How on earth do you plan on staying awake? The race starts at 7:10 AM, dammit.

For me, the race is at 11:10 PM. West Coast, North America.

Staying up late just to watch the biggest driver and team fraud pull off yet another victory. Not happening. Formula 1 has gone so far downhill that it’s become completely unwatchable.

Give me a break! Hamilton? Vettel? Please. Everything about today feels artificial. It’s nothing like the old days when drivers actually had guts, even though they were basically putting their heads in a bag every single time they strapped into those cars. They knew how to scrap if things got heated. Nowadays, everyone just whines over the team radio, more worried about protecting their precious image than winning.

But let's take this one step at a time.

Hamilton—what an absolute jerk! That's common knowledge at this point. Every single teammate he's ever had has struggled with him and his personality. From Alonso, to Button, and finally Nico Rosberg (who knew him best and stayed with him the longest). He’s notorious for being incredibly mentally unstable whenever things aren't going his way. We all remember his nonsense during the McLaren days—the clashes with Alonso, lying during FIA investigations, leaking telemetry online, and all those psychological games played against Rosberg.
Mercedes knew Rosberg would walk away if he clinched the title, but they acted clueless afterward.

Rosberg told them right at the start of the season. The guy simply couldn't deal with having three massive egos in the Mercedes garage (Wolff, Lauda, and Hamilton). So, Hamilton certainly has plenty of examples to learn from on how to be an even bigger jerk.

As for the race itself, Hamilton is famous for that habit of braking hard and slowing down abruptly right before a restart. It’s what they call "bunching up the field." As far as I'm concerned, he should have just gone for Vettel. It’s a shame he didn't slam him into the wall. Where is he even going to end up if he keeps up this crap?

Karma is a bitch!

Vettel—another total jerk! It's a well-known fact. Every teammate he's had has dealt with his issues and his temperament. Everyone remembers Multi21 and the drama with Mark Webber. Vettel lacks any semblance of self-control, and it costs him every single time. He didn't have it today, either. He’s also extremely mentally fragile when performance slips. It’s always someone else's fault. Never him. Someone else always messed up, while he supposedly did everything perfectly. It’s the same cycle, season after season. There's no chance of a title this year because he blew it today, and that bad reputation with the FIA has been following him since last year when he was swearing at Charlie Whitting.

Karma is a bitch!

Conclusion!

Both of them are remarkably similar in their flaws. All the great drivers who have won championships have had egos that reach the stratosphere. They’ve all pulled stunts and behaved badly, whether toward teammates or rivals.

If nothing else, at least we finally saw a flicker of actual passion in this otherwise tedious F1.

There is just one thing weighing on my mind. I actually went as far as sending an email to ESPN about it.

How much longer must we endure Martin Brundle? Or, as I prefer to call him, Martin Blunder.
Honestly, listening to his biased, fanboy commentary makes my blood boil. It is painfully obvious he’s enamored with Hamilton; in Blunder's eyes, Hamilton can do no wrong.

Take the Los Angeles race, for instance. Blunder placed the entirety of the blame on Rosberg for the collision. His reasoning? Apparently, Hamilton's front wing and tire were aligned with the rear of Rosberg's car, meaning Rosberg was obligated to leave him space. According to Blunder, Rosberg closed the gap too late, making him the sole culprit.

Then look at the Monaco race. Ricciardo's front wing was level with Hamilton's rear tire. By that exact same logic and set of rules, Hamilton should have yielded sufficient space to Ricciardo. Yet, we saw the same lack of space Rosberg showed previously. The only reason they didn't both crash out is because Ricciardo refused to follow the "Hamilton Method"—which is essentially: either I get my way, or we don't finish the race.
Now, suddenly, Mr. Blunder claims Hamilton had every right to squeeze Ricciardo out and that he handled it perfectly. It is fascinating how quickly the narrative shifts, but for Mr. Blunder, Hamilton is always right, regardless of the outcome.

It would be refreshing if ESPN brought in someone who actually won races in NASCAR, rather than this clown who hasn't stood on a winner's podium once in 158 career starts. At least NBC had Coulthard, a man who actually knew how to win and maintained a far more objective perspective than Mr. Blunder.

As for Hamilton's questionable driving, that has been a known issue for quite some time. To borrow an old saying: You can give a peasant a BMW, but you can't teach him how to drive it.

Poor McLaren is whining now. They weren't the ones who brought this up in the first place, so they shouldn't be acting surprised or feeling wronged.

It isn't a violation of the rules. And honestly, that whole business regarding tire pressure is just a garbage rule anyway.

Everyone knows he had to go all in—it was make or break. Over the last two seasons, Rosberg would just back off, allowing Hamilton to shove him right out of the way, and everyone swallowed it hook, line, and sinker. They kept calling Hamilton this elite "racer" while painting Rosberg as the soft one.

But now that Rosberg has finally decided he’s done playing nice, Hamilton’s strategy is clear from what we saw at the Spanish Grand Prix: if Rosberg won't budge, then both of them are going off track. And that’s exactly what happened.

Naturally, while broadcasting the race on Sky, Martin Brundle did his absolute best to shield his fellow countryman by shifting all the blame onto Rosberg. Pathetic. Truly pathetic to watch and listen to.

Three former World Champions—Lauda, Stewart, and Prost—were blunt: Hamilton completely screwed up. He could have braked and aborted that move, but he didn't. He didn't even attempt to brake, even after realizing he wasn't going to make it. That’s the tactic I mentioned earlier.

Hamilton is on edge this season because things aren't clicking. Throwing the steering wheel after a collision is a textbook example of how rattled he really is.

We'll see what the upcoming races bring, but honestly, I wouldn't be surprised if we see more of these confrontations and collisions between the two of them.

This brings to mind the good old days of Djura Utjesanovica, back when he’d have those five-minute segments on TV and always used to mutter, "Man, if I just had five minutes of power. Just five minutes."

That’s exactly how you are with Alonso.

Mercedes is playing the exact same hand they pulled in Los Angeles. The plan seems to be burning through a single set of mediums early on just to bank a one-stop strategy for the race. Typical.

The Bahrain circuit isn't exactly kind to the Soft tires. Between racing under the lights and all that grit scattered across the track, the surface gets incredibly abrasive. It’s a tough setup for anyone trying to make those compounds last.
Mercedes seems to have found their sweet spot on the medium tires, which explains why they’re being so stubborn about sticking to just one set. It makes sense, really—they need the Softs and Super Softs strictly for practice and qualifying. But let's be honest: the race itself is an entirely different beast.

We’re all just fools, really. We sit here, obsessively watching, getting worked up over every little thing. Meanwhile, they're just raking in the cash, whether they finish first, second, or third.

There goes Mercedes, pulling off another 1-2 finish. And Vettel managed to snag third. It feels like we’re just watching a rerun of the 2015 season at this point. Still, I suppose I can't complain about the boredom factor—at least the race kept things moving. Maybe there’s a glimmer of hope for the rest of the season, though I wouldn't hold my breath.

The irony is palpable. If Lewis Hamilton—of all people—hadn't lunged at Logan Sargeant, I am convinced Sebastian Vettel would have taken the win.

Not only did they screw themselves over, but Lewis Hamilton absolutely handed them their loss on a silver platter. 🙂

There is absolutely no way Sebastian Vettel finishes in second place.
Seven laps left on the clock, and it’s basically over.

The Ferrari engineers need to be told to clear out by 3 p.m. What an absolute disaster of a call during that Red Flag.

Ugh, those Italians! Honestly, they need to be sent packing. They secure a win and then immediately decide to run super softs instead of sticking with mediums like everyone else. 🤦😵

A complete disaster. Though, if we're being honest, Lewis Hamilton struggles when he isn't getting all that pit lane assistance and dealing with this new clutch system at the start.

It’s all well and good, truly, but we are still stuck with the same old problem: nothing actually improves. Unless there are some radical shifts in the regulations, Mercedes-Benz is going to be dominating this sport for a very long time.

Let’s look at this from a different angle for a moment.

Mercedes had a massive head start compared to everyone else. They spent three full years developing and testing while everyone else was left in the dust. Then, once the rules changed, nobody else was allowed to develop anything for two whole seasons. By my math, Mercedes is five years ahead of the field.

McLaren was dominant back in the late 80s and early 90s, sure, but they only held that level of dominance for a single season.

Red Bull took four consecutive titles, but let’s not pretend those wins were handed to them on a silver platter. Red Bull never had a 1.5-second advantage per lap. Why? Because the rules actually allowed the other teams to develop their cars and catch up to Red Bull.

Since 2014, development has been essentially frozen. Honestly, it’s unrealistic to expect anyone to catch or pass Mercedes at this point. And now we have these half-baked ideas regarding qualifying. This current format just plays right into Mercedes-Benz's hands. Five minutes left in Q3, three cars on track—plenty of empty space to set an ultra-fast lap without any interference.

That explains why Mercedes even requested to be placed in the last garage in the pits, just so they could be the first ones out of the pit box.

Make no mistake, I love motorsports. I’ve been following Formula 1 since I can remember. I’ve attended over 50 races in the last decade alone, mostly thanks to my brother, who has been deep in the Formula 1 world for fifteen years now.

I don’t root for any specific team, but I would love to see—as I suspect most fans would—a bit more actual competition. We don't need twenty different winners across twenty races, but what we have right now is a disaster for those of us watching.

Then again, looking at it from a family standpoint, I really should be pulling for Mercedes-Benz. But I’d rather pull for the return of competitive Formula 1, though I highly doubt we’ll see it anytime soon. Perhaps one day, when someone else finally takes over this entire machine and Bernie Ecclestone finally moves on.

But I fear we’ll be waiting a long time.

I’m sitting here watching Sky, just listening. Even Toto Wolff himself just went on record calling those qualifying sessions nothing but "Rubbish!"

It honestly feels like every single team decided to boycott the whole thing, especially Ferrari. If you ask me, this is proof that Formula 1 is circling the drain. The commentators over at Sky keep hammering home the same point: this is a total disaster.

Give me a break. At this rate, the whole spectacle is turning into nothing more than a private party for Mercedes-Benz and Lewis Hamilton.