Posts by Amanda Kelly

What’s this worth in today's market?

i5-8500
Gigabyte Z370P D3-CF
16 GB DDR4 3600 MHz G. Skill Sniper
Crucial MX500 250GB
3TB WD Red
MSI Radeon R7 260 x 2 GB CoolerMaster HAF 912
CoolerMaster HAF 912 midi
Corsair CX500 modular
DVD-RW
Cooling: some Arctic
Keyb+mouse: Logitech

Roger Wright94 said:That was a hell of a drive from Charles Leclerc. Managing a damaged car during those final laps at Silverstone? Honestly, brilliant.

Slip of the tongue at Silverstone.

Brian Garcia24 said:I’m honestly surprised nobody has said anything about that brilliant drive at Silverstone. Driving a damaged car like that and still maintaining that kind of pace—especially when the damage didn't even touch his performance—was something else. 🤣

You can try to compare Max's Silverstone performance to Leclerc's run in Austria, but there are some massive factual gaps you really need to keep in mind.

The damage to Max Verstappen's car at Silverstone was actually the result of a smart call. He had to decide exactly where and how to navigate around that carbon debris. Obviously, he wanted to clear it without any issues, but things just didn't go his way. The scrap was sitting right there on the track, and he wasn't the first driver to deal with it.
By graniteharbor502's standards, that would be considered a driver error.

There’s just no real evidence to support the idea that his driving was anything short of brilliant despite the damaged floor. The truth is, Max was fighting tooth and nail—and probably a few elbows—against a driver who actually scored his first career points in that exact race.
And honestly, it’s anyone's guess whether Max would have even walked away with any points if that VSC hadn't popped up.

Max survived the race—maybe even drove an absolute masterclass—but trying to draw any kind of comparison between Leclerc fighting the World Champion and Max battling some guy who hasn't even scored a single point in his life? That’s just embarrassing.

Brian Garcia24 said:"He actually won with a damaged car." 🤣 The damage actually happened right toward the end of the race, and... It just wasn't enough to matter. ... 🤣

It's pretty obvious you don't have a clue how car dynamics or physics actually work.
Braking from 200...186 milesHonestly, hitting a corner with the throttle already at 25-30% instead of just sitting there at 0-5% completely changes how the car handles. It’s a massive shift in behavior.
You’d need some seriously impressive driving skills and raw talent to pull off something like that.
I'm not saying Charles Leclerc is the only one who could actually pull this off.
Leclerc actually handled that situation perfectly. He managed to pull it off and hold onto the lead, staying right ahead of the great Max Verstappen. As for everyone else, who knows.

Brian Garcia24 said:It wasn't even close to being significant enough that Max Verstappen could actually catch him by the end.

This really sums up your whole vibe.
You seem to think Max is the gold standard for everything. In your eyes, if Max didn't close the gap enough, then whatever issue Leclerc was dealing with just wasn't that big of a deal.
What a massive misconception!

Brian Garcia24 said:I’m honestly surprised nobody has said anything yet about that brilliant drive with a damaged car at Silverstone, especially since the damage didn't even touch his performance. 🤣

Charles Leclerc pulled off a hell of a drive at this year's Silverstone, wrestling that damaged car through the final laps like a total pro.

Brian Garcia24 said:... even though the damage didn't really touch his performance at all. 🤣

Pure gold! 🙏

Brian Garcia24 said:...Leclerc messes up and suddenly Red Bull is lightning fast on the straights, what a coincidence🙏 ...

Red Bull had the edge in the USA and Miami because of their car concept and the track layouts. Those were races where Red Bull wins were basically expected from the jump.
If you want to believe Max won those just because of Leclerc's mistakes, go ahead. Believe whatever helps you sleep.

Brian Garcia24 said:... Leclerc was faster in Monaco, leading the pack, while Verstappen was stuck in a little train.🤣

That's a 10-second gap over 14 laps. You do the math.
A "little train" in Monaco means cars are within a few tenths, maybe a second max.

Brian Garcia24 said:This is getting ridiculous with the fanboying. I hope you aren't trying to claim Leclerc and Verstappen can go toe-to-toe in the rain,

Well, they can't! I don't recall a single race this year where Max was actually better than Leclerc when it started raining. 🤔

Brian Garcia24 said:... so you're justifying it by saying Leclerc was faster in Monaco since he led and Verstappen was just part of the little train.🤣

If I had even a shred of doubt about Leclerc, Monaco this year wiped it out.
All things considered, the Monacan put on a brilliant performance 🙏. Seriously.
Before this year, he hadn't even finished a race in Monaco. And that's his home race. That kind of pressure is brutal.
And while some people were calling it garbage

graniteharbor502 said:Prediction
Rain is coming Sunday.
Max Verstappen will put on a clinic.
Charles Leclerc will be mourning his fate against a wall.

Robert Cox46 said:One Ferrari hitting a wall? If it rains, I’m betting on two of them ending up there.

graniteharbor502 said:Nobody hits a wall faster than him. 🤣

Sam Clark75 said:I'm also calling this scenario. Whatever, history just keeps repeating itself.

Then there were those with much better—or more realistic—predictions:

Roger Wright94 said:I'm expecting a win for the Monacan.
It's his home turf; nobody is faster than him there.

mellowtiger83 said:Charles Leclerc will push Max right under him in Monaco

After qualifying:

Anthony Baker84 said:anyway, Leclerc is a different beast compared to everyone else

hiddensailor7 said:Leclerc is in a league of his own, 🙏

The whole story about rain in Monaco is irrelevant.
In Monaco, Leclerc absolutely outclassed Max Verstappen in every single timed session. We're talking 3, 4, or even 7 tenths ahead, whether it was dry or wet. It didn't matter.

It's funny how you and your buddy graniteharbor502 take all of that and somehow boil it down to three laps, stubbornly insisting those three bad laps from Leclerc were the sole reason for his result.
Did it ever cross your mind that there might be an actual reason for it?
But I get the vibe. To you, this is just business as usual because we're talking about Leclerc (not Max). You find it perfectly normal that a driver who dominates over 200 laps would suddenly mess up three crucial ones.

There is a reason and an explanation for those three laps. A rational, real reason involving external factors.
I don't know what it is (just guessing), but I'm certain it wasn't Leclerc's driving. That would be pure absurdity.

graniteharbor502 said:So, Charles Leclerc didn't lose ground in the USA or Miami right before Max Verstappen overtook him, he wasn't trailing by more than seven tenths on a wet Imola during qualifying, and he didn't slam into the barrier during the race. He didn't get passively dragged around the track during those crucial moments in Monaco, and he wasn't just sitting there with a blown engine in Canada. He didn't pull a stunt during his final lap in qualifying at Silverstone that cost him his starting spot and ultimately the win. And he didn't choke during qualifying or the sprint in Austria.
The blame lies entirely with Ferrari's strategy and the Ferrari pit wall.
My God, what ridiculous claims—suggesting the drivers themselves are partly responsible for the championship deficit...

I forgot.
I told you recently that Max has made plenty of mistakes lately, in Free Practice, in Qualifying...
And you basically told me it doesn't matter because you're only looking at race pace.
You talk about race pace, yet here (when discussing Leclerc) you list half a dozen errors that happened outside of the actual race.
Double standard.

graniteharbor502 said:So, Leclerc didn't miss his braking point in the USA or Miami right before Max made the pass...

Missing the apex right before being overtaken is a mistake, sure—maybe by a tenth of a second.
Even if it had been worse, say three or five tenths, the overtake was going to happen regardless.
That pass was predictable before the lights even went out. But no, you really want to argue that the whole move happened because of a Leclerc error and Max's perfection, don't you!?
Look, yeah, there was a mistake. In my opinion. But it’s irrelevant. That error doesn't prove anything to me. But hey, feel free to keep tallying every little slip-up if it makes you feel better.

graniteharbor502 said:he wasn't trailing by more than seven tenths in the wet at Imola during qualifying, and he didn't hit the wall during the race...

That's an interesting list of facts, provided you ignore the bigger picture.
In wet qualifying sessions where conditions are constantly shifting, every single lap brings a massive advantage or disadvantage.
Once Max set his fastest lap, a red flag came out, so Leclerc never even got the chance to attempt a better run under improved conditions.

And during the race, Leclerc pushed a bit too hard into the chicane trying to catch the Red Bull cars. He damaged his endplate, and if I recall correctly, they had to change his nose too... Even Leclerc admitted later that he was consciously pushing on the ragged edge. It wasn't the smartest move, but catching up was tempting.
As far as I'm concerned, credit to Leclerc for Imola 👍. But go ahead, keep counting mistakes and adding up your little tallies.
It's all relative. Some people will excuse it, others won't. An experienced, smarter driver might have kept their cool, while someone else just keeps charging. It's hardly worth getting worked up over.

I'm just not sure what you're trying to make a point with those seven tenths. Maybe Max's superiority in the wet? 🤔
During the first part of the wet race in Monaco, Leclerc was fighting Max for those seven tenths on every single lap. Every. Single. One.

Brian Garcia24 said:... On the flip side, Charles Leclerc has completely crumbled more than a few times this season whenever Max was breathing down his neck. He made those critical mistakes in the corners before the straights in both the USA and Saudi Arabia...

Em's lost his cool more than once. 😵
Honestly, reading stuff like this just makes me feel sick. How are you even supposed to have a serious conversation with someone like this?

Brian Garcia24 said:... This is somewhat of a myth too. Sure, Red Bull might be strong on the straights, but if you have overall pace, you just tear through the straights and call it a day...

What a pathetic myth. It certainly didn't look that way in Saudi Arabia or Miami, where Max just cruised right past Charles on the long straights. Simple, painless, zero effort required.

Ferrari rolled out a rear wing upgrade specifically designed to boost straight-line speed—basically trying to catch up to Red Bull in that department. They debuted it in Canada on one car, Charles Leclerc's. They only had two units and didn't want to risk the damage, so they stuck it on just one car (which would at least be fixable). If they’d put it on Carlos Sainz, he might have actually stood a fighting chance at catching Max in the closing laps.
Does the upgrade actually work?
Judge for yourselves. I’d say yes. Though, looking at the race in Canada, I wouldn't.

graniteharbor502 said:That’s going to come back to haunt them in the second half of the season.

Actually, it starts coming back to haunt them as early as Canada (race 9).

graniteharbor502 said:... But speed doesn't mean much if you don't have drivers who can actually capitalize on it.

Spain - Charles Leclerc starting from pole, then DNFing halfway through while leading significantly (basically a won race) due to turbo and General Motors issues.
Monaco - Charles Leclerc on pole, driving brilliantly and dominating. Thanks to a mess of circumstances and Ferrari's pit wall, he finishes 4th.
Baku - Charles Leclerc on pole, engine failure ruins it after he was in a great spot to win during the first third of the race.
Silverstone - Charles Leclerc leads until the SC, but the pit wall miscalculates and calls Carlos Sainz in for tires instead, leaving Charles in 4th.

Out of those four races, Charles Leclerc would have definitely taken three if it weren't for bad luck or outside interference—and honestly, he could've swept all four.
If you look at Ferrari, they absolutely have a championship-caliber driver in Charles Leclerc.

graniteharbor502 said:...The idea that there's some massive reliability gap or that Red Bull is some paragon of consistency just isn't true.

For every numbered component, Leclerc has burned through twice as many as Max. And we're looking at a big enough sample size here—half the season.
That’s a pretty glaring difference.

Total parts:
Ferrari 46
Red Bull 28

I totally blanked on a few details from the last race:

- Charles Leclerc actually pulled off a win without starting on the pole for once.
- Ford managed to string two wins together this season—first time all year.
- Lewis Hamilton grabbed another podium, but he also extended his longest winless streak. I think it’s been about 11 or 12 races now?

Here’s the telemetry data from Leclerc's car:



Near the end of the race, Leclerc dealt with a technical glitch involving his throttle pedal. It wouldn't snap back to neutral; instead, it stayed stuck at about 20-30% throttle.
He had to completely adjust his driving style on the fly just to manage the damage. It wasn't some easy fix, but he handled it like a pro—pulling off the win in the end, despite everything. 👍

Article

Lewis is keeping his distance from Max.

I honestly doubt things will ever get better.

Mercedes had those rough qualifying sessions on Friday. In my opinion, Lewis really took the biggest hit, especially with that damaged suspension...
I can almost hear Lak saying, "Well, he certainly made up for it, hats off to him."

Now, I’m not entirely convinced they managed to get both cars back to their original, peak condition. It makes you wonder if they even had enough spare parts on hand. If you look at it that way, Mercedes didn't show their true colors or their actual potential here in Austria. At least, not with both cars running properly.

Just a hunch, and I could be wrong, but I feel like they fell way short of what I was expecting from them. 🤔

Ferrari’s technical package is top-tier, but man, it’s unreliable. It didn't show up during those first couple of races, but now it's undeniably obvious.
We've got a break coming up soon, which gives them a chance to actually fix things. If they can sort out these issues, maybe they'll have a shot at the title. If not, they're out of the running.

Leclerc is incredibly fast, and Sainz is reliable and keeps things steady. The drivers can hold their own as long as the race car actually behaves.

Haas updated their ERS, so the hybrid power unit is more efficient now. That’s likely why they looked so good at the Indianapolis Motor Speedway.

Jacob Castillo70 said:Anyone who thinks George Russell is at fault here, or that he deserves a harsher penalty, should probably just stop watching Formula 1 altogether or go buy some glasses.

George Russell got screwed. On top of that ridiculous five-second penalty, he also took two penalty points.
Maybe they're finally settling the score from Silverstone. 🤔

And Red Bull (along with Sergio Perez) showed once again how arrogant and out of line they are with their take on the incident. Do these people ever actually look in a mirror first!?

By the end, only five drivers were still on the same lap.
Was Mercedes actually competitive at Silverstone, or was it just a total illusion?
I’m asking rhetorically, mostly because back in Austria, their gap to the leaders was sitting at another 0.5-0.6 seconds per lap.
It’s also worth noting how smoothly George Russell recovered from his penalty; he cruised into P4 without breaking much of a sweat after starting P19. They’ve got at least a 0.3 second per lap advantage over the rest of the grid. They had an edge before, too, but I really expected them to be breathing down the leaders' necks. The hype was that they’d catch up in performance by Barcelona at the latest.

Haas has managed to claw their way into points-scoring territory for two races straight now. Alpine and McLaren are still ahead, but in Austria, they looked—at least on paper—like they were racing on level ground.

We have two races coming up with completely different track layouts, so we'll find out if what I wrote above holds water or if it was just some kind of Austrian magic.

I didn't see this one coming.
Eleven winners, accounting for more than half the grid.

Brian Garcia24 said:... not because his main rival dropped out due to some debris on the track, but because the second driver (Perez) crashed after Leclerc went full kamikaze trying to dive on him (and of course, Leclerc got lucky and sailed through while Perez ended up at the back), ...

... you crash into Perez, yet somehow you still get lucky because you walk away unscathed, ...

https://twitter.com/F1/status/154432...User123

Is this Leclerc's "kamikaze move"?
Or was it actually Perez making the play?
Who's actually at fault here? Who squeezed whom?

Heading into the turn before the wreck, Perez has the inside line wide open and a real shot at closing the gap to Sainz—maybe even jumping Max (who stayed stuck on the outside) along the way.
But no, he won't, or maybe he just can't, fight Max, so he eases off the throttle a bit. Then, needing to make up ground for the next left-hander, he lunges hard to the left and slams right into Leclerc. It’s a nose-to-nose collision, which means Leclerc (who was hugging the far left edge of the track) was already deep inside. What was Leclerc supposed to do? Just slam on the brakes mid-corner or drive straight into the grass?

So, who actually ran into whom?

Look, I get it, but I really just wish he’d learn how to adapt to the car a little faster.

graniteharbor502 said:Unfortunately, they don't hand out points for style. Let's not forget that Sainz actually put together a better qualifying lap just now at the United Kingdom. It's obvious he doesn't have Leclerc's raw pace, but then again, Leclerc lacks the race intelligence Sainz brings to the table. If you could somehow merge them, you might actually end up with a decent driver.

One single qualifying session. In a sport where track conditions change and every new lap feels different. So yeah, let's call that "highly conditional."