Posts by Amanda Kelly

Thomas Davis98 said:It turns out that despite all of Hamilton's hard work, Ferrari is still about a tenth ahead even here. That pretty much nails the coffin on Mercedes' long era of dominance. Looking at how things have played out since the start of the season, I don't see how Mercedes can stay competitive on any track. Sebastian Vettel could easily take a +7 or +10 tomorrow, which means he’ll likely be sitting in the lead by Singapore. In my opinion, the only way this championship stays interesting until the last two or three races is if Vettel DNFs at least once.

As for tomorrow's race, everything hinges on whether Ferrari can pull off a clean driver swap right at the start. I'm betting they'll go for the classic move and sacrifice Kimi no matter what. If they pull it off, expect a boring race with Vettel pulling away and Kimi just busy blocking Mercedes.
If they mess that up, things might actually get interesting later on, given that having two Mercedes cars playing strategic games and attacking could spice things up.

+1
Spot on.
I honestly can't remember a time when a tactic involving Kimi being an active part of the plan—whether it was holding someone up or otherwise—actually worked.
First, they just need to survive that first corner. There's a decent amount of distance from the start to get there, but Ferrari has been coming out stronger more often lately. Plus, they've got the whole front row to themselves, which is a nice little advantage.

Gary Palmer8 said:I've already said this, he'd have at least 20 points on Lewis...

So you're saying on top of his current 145 points, he'd need another 105 or 110 or so!? 🤔
That's a massive stretch.
Sure, let's just blame Ferrari because he hasn't finished ahead of Lewis once.

Gary Palmer8 said:It’s just not serious to compare Kimi's standing at Ferrari to how Bottas was treated at Mercedes...

We can agree on that. Absolutely.

Scott Wood7 said:https://www.yr.no/place/Italy/Emilia...r_by_hour.html

The race is at Monza (not Imola), which is
further north than Imola.186 miles

stormytiger4 said:It’s an exciting season, and yet another do-or-die race for Ferrari. I’m hoping they take the win to keep things tense heading into the autumn stretch of the championship.

True enough.
I’m rooting for Sebastian Vettel to pull it off.
Though, if you ask me, a real victory for Ferrari (IMHO) would be seeing Kimi finish ahead of Lewis Hamilton. That kind of result would actually prove the engine—or the whole package—is superior, which would significantly boost their title chances (even if Vettel doesn't take the top spot).
Otherwise, a win for Vettel with Hamilton in second just offers a tiny glimmer of hope; it isn't a real guarantee for the title. Any single mistake from any part of the team could tank their entire season. So far, Mercedes-Benz (Hamilton) hasn't been forgiving of mistakes.

neonfox65 said:I've got something for you, too. It's a real mess.

🤣🤣🤣

Wait, isn't Ferrari actually sitting at the top of both the Drivers' and Constructors' standings right now? 🤔

And what exactly are you getting worked up about!?
Kimi is (relatively) a decent guy. But...
The issue with him is that over the last decade, he’s become way more famous for his outbursts and nonsense than for his actual driving or results.
Just look around. Everyone expects him to say something ridiculous over the team radio before they even think about a P1-P2-P3 finish.
So now what?
Honestly, I think he's doing just fine at Ferrari. I doubt he'd have it any better in any other team. He gets paid a fortune for those kinds of results.
Is anyone actually stopping him from driving faster? I don't think so. Everyone wants him to go faster. The team, the fans... even me.
Trying to paint him as some kind of victim at Ferrari is just total nonsense.

Joshua Rivera56 said:... Without Bottas's mess during qualifying and a race free from any SC/VSC interference, he’d be 1-2 with a 10+ second gap while just nursing the engine.

I wouldn't go that far.
- That "nursing" mode is actually just their standard operating procedure, if you ask me. And even with it, Mercedes doesn't look significantly faster than Ferrari + Red Bull Racing. To actually secure a pit stop window, he would have needed to go into "attack" mode—which shouldn't be an issue—but it looks like he'll need that extra kick just to stay competitive in overtakes. Not to mention, Lewis Hamilton couldn't even make it happen today because this track is a nightmare for passing.

- Hamilton hits the pits right after Kimi Räikkönen. He's covering the undercut. If Mercedes truly felt they were untouchable, this would have been a relaxed situation where Lewis could have pitted whenever he felt like it. But no, they scramble immediately. Last season, they wouldn't have broken a sweat in a spot like this. Even the guys at Red Bull wouldn't have.
Instead, for half the race, Hamilton isn't able to build a big enough gap to protect himself from Kimi's undercut. So, he ends up diving into the pits right behind him.

- My first impression? Mercedes hasn't made as much progress as Ferrari + Red Bull Racing. If Mercedes spent their time on minor upgrades, they've left themselves less room to grow compared to Ferrari, who did a massive overhaul and still hasn't fully mastered their car this year. Meanwhile, Red Bull Racing looks tight and dialed in; they're going to be trouble.

Of course, we'll act like experts once we've seen a few more races. This specific track isn't exactly a reliable benchmark anyway.
Mercedes has the edge, sure, but it's nothing dramatic, nothing discouraging, and nothing soul-crushing like it used to be.

Jason Campbell70 said:So this is how Raikkonen feels about that brilliant little master plan cooked up by the geniuses over at Ferrari:

Well, what now?
Was he supposed to pit again just waiting for Vettel to show up?

dustyskipper77 said:Right now, that Mercedes-Hamilton + party mode combo is basically untouchable. Honestly, Ferrari is the only one with enough brains and resources to even stand a chance at threatening them.

The thing is, that whole setup isn't going to last very long.
Well, the little secret—which nobody was actually surprised by—finally came out in just one race. It’s a handy tool for Mercedes to have in their pocket, sure, but it's good to remember that even they have their limits.
If someone says "it's only Ferrari...", I’m nodding along. No questions asked.

neonfox65 said:... 6th place and he's only 10 points behind Ham, who I honestly think will be his main title contender...

I’m bowing down to you for suggesting Hamilton is actually Max's biggest threat in this title fight.🙏
Look, I don't agree with you at all, but I'll give you two little pieces of advice to chew on.

1. Max's biggest rival is Max himself.
2. His second biggest problem is Ric, your former favorite.

Only after he clears them out (if he even can) does Hamilton—your likely next obsession—actually enter the equation.

Pure agony mixed with pure ecstasy... (edit: Sky)

Honestly, I think this is enough to get someone at Mercedes fired.
I mean, Haas having wheels fall off or other stupid mistakes? That’s nothing compared to this. How do you manage to lose something you literally just picked up on Friday? Seriously? 😵
What happened to Hamilton's usual arrogance?
How is he going to play it now when he's facing the press with those half-baked little jokes of his?
kme: kme:

"Wait, what just went down?
Since when did nobody mention Vettel was in the pits?" 🤔

Once Vettel took the lead, Lewis Hamilton didn't even put up a real fight.
It dragged on for over 20 laps, maybe even 25.

Lewis was closing the gap, sure, but there wasn't a single moment where Vettel looked like he was actually in trouble. Not one.
Either Lewis was messing up (which he was) or Mercedes-AMG just isn't quite the juggernaut we thought they were.

I don't see Mercedes-Benz being untouchable anymore.

Lewis managed to pull himself together and lend a hand after all.

Mercedes-AMG is absolutely crushing it.
I have no clue what happened with the Mercedes' first flying lap in the Third Qualifying Session.

Someone really needs to explain to Blažič that a millisecond is ten times shorter than a centisecond.
Apparently, he doesn't realize that a 34-hundredths gap is massive in Formula 1.

mellowtiger83 said:I'm not sure if anyone else caught this, but Mercedes opted for the hard compound for Australia, despite having barely touched them during the sessions in Barcelona.
Mercedes seems to be gunning for an aggressive strategy, likely aiming for one fewer pit stop than Ferrari. It looks as though Ferrari is managing their tires more effectively, which aligns with those photos from Barcelona showing pieces of Mercedes's Mexican compounds flaking off.

It would certainly be interesting to see if Ferrari has managed to improve their qualifying pace relative to Mercedes, potentially allowing them to jump ahead at the start.

What does better tire management have to do with qualifying?
Managing tires better could be a huge—maybe even crucial—advantage during the race (assuming this theory actually holds water for any of these teams).
In qualifying, you're basically just running one lap on old rubber anyway. 🤔

vividlynx68 said:Lewis Hamilton had the guts to walk away from the fastest car on the grid—leaving it for a Mercedes-Benz team that’d barely managed one win in three seasons—just to prove a point. I still remember how much they tore him apart for it on Top Gear.

The truth is, Lewis Hamilton left McLaren because Ron Dennis refused to cut him the check he was asking for.