Posts by ruggedhawk20

Roger Wright94 said:Did he make that one-season call himself, or was it Toto?
I'm pretty sure the convo went basically like this:
- Alright Toto, you still want me driving for you or what?
- Of course, Lewis. Just tell me what you need.
- First off, the car better stay faster than everyone else by at least a second or two. You’ve always made that happen, and I know you can do it again.
- Second, you can't keep paying me peanuts—I'm basically setting records in everything I do.
- Look, Lewis, I can't go higher than the current deal. We've got the Corona situation, there's a massive crisis going on... I don't know what you're thinking.
- What does that have to do with me? I'm the star here. Plus, I'm a huge influencer, don't embarrass me in front of the world. Give me at least 70.
- Are you insane!? I can do 35, and that's already double what anyone else gets.
- Huh? Only 35? Are you kidding me right now? Where would you guys even be if I wasn't driving for you???
...
Lewis is lucky his boss isn't the first guy he ever worked for. With him, he wouldn't have even signed a contract for the next race.

You miss Ronzo, don't you!? Of course you do! Everyone misses him.

And you'll miss Lewis one day too.

Only then will it be too late.

stormybadger8 said:Why would he be an idiot?
Because saying he's even remotely close to Hamilton's level is what's idiotic—I honestly don't follow your logic at all...

There it is. You finally admitted Hamilton is the GOAT.

Finally.

stormybadger8 said:Seriously—you never realize what you had until it's gone...
The old guy had his moments, but this Mass guy? He's easily five times worse. 🤦

Exactly. And instead of actually enjoying the absolute masterclasses from the Jargle team for one more season, people decided to "bless" us with his God-given talent. What did you guys decide to do instead? Decide to hate. Because hating is way easier than actually enjoying the show. Obviously.

The stuff we’re watching lately is right up there with Prost at Adelaide 1986, Senna in Donington 1993, Schumacher at Spa Francorchamps 1995, Villeneuve at Indianapolis 1995, or Vettel at Interlagos 2012....

I mean, the guy is basically giving us legendary track performances and boosting our quality of life—watching him gives you a massive hit of endorphins, serotonin, and adrenaline. But instead of saying, "Thanks, Lewis, for gracing us with one more season," you all just sit there hating and hating. For whatever ridiculous reasons. Some of you can't handle that he passed Senna, some can't accept he's better than Vettel or Prost, and others just can't stomach him being better than MSC. Oh, and a few of you just don't like his outfit choices.

Shame on you.

stormybadger8 said:If Bottas is ever gonna see a podium again, Mercedes needs to be faster than everyone else by at least a second—maybe even two if things get messy or the weather starts acting up.

Even if he had a car half a second faster than everyone else—he wouldn't stand a chance at a podium. Not even close.
Look, Lewis is Lewis—if he wants to shave another second off his time, he'll do it. Period. He just isn't pushing the Mercedes to its absolute limit because he doesn't want people giving him hell about how much they're wrecking the car.
We’ve seen this movie before—one second Lewis is pulling those insane gaps because Bottas starts closing in on Luja, then suddenly, out of nowhere, Lewis just finds an unexplained extra second and leaves a totally bewildered Bottas in the rearview.

In this mess, even in the absolute wildest scenario, the Bear is maybe half a second ahead of everyone—or honestly, they're probably way ahead with Red Bull. Even looking at McLaren or Ferrari, they're still pretty close, but let's be real: Bottas' ceiling is basically 5th to 8th place.

So you'd honestly rather believe Bottas is just slower than actually admitting the Mercedes is a total rocket ship.

Look what hate does to a person.

stormybadger8 said:How exactly was there no deviation???
I mean, when was the last time we saw a call about someone going off track during an overtake coming down six hours later? Hello—six hours—or basically 55 laps plus three and a half hours 😵 after the actual thing happened on track 🤔

And remember when they didn't even decide on the penalty for those Vettel mechanics until a third of the race was already over...

Back under Charlie Whiting, those calls were made almost instantly—like, top of mind within 5-10 laps...
Instead of having the Sky Sports crew get roasted by the stewards in the post-race interview just to find out someone barely grazed the grass during a pass 🤦

Charlie Whiting is gone. You guys hated him while he was here.

Now you'll just have to learn how to live in a world without Charlie Whiting.

Roger Wright94 said:Bottas getting paid 15M? 🤔 Come on, ruggedhawk20—take a breath and double-check that, you might be overdoing it.

It’s not about the cash.
It's about having an obedient soldier who follows orders via remote control.
And if he's pulling in more than 5M, it's just so Toto can have a little puppy—on a very short leash.

Google says 15,000,000
Since I don't have the actual contract in front of me, I guess I'll just trust Google.

As for that whole "remote-controlled lapdog" nonsense—I'm not even gonna touch that, since this isn't some niche fetish forum.

Hot take here

1) Red Bull is just on another level. A total class act compared to the rest. Max Verstappen already admitted it—when you're in a car that dominant, you’re way more relaxed and making fewer mistakes.

2) McLaren is an absolute rocket. Too bad they don't have anyone actually capable of driving it right now.

3) Mercedes and McLaren are basically in the same ballpark.

4) If Lewis were in that McLaren, he’d have the exact same results—same 41 points, no question. Performance-wise, those two cars are neck and neck.

It sucks, honestly. McLaren is being driven by two Bottas clones—one's Lando Norris and the other's Daniel Ricciardo. That’s why you aren't seeing the car's full potential.

Roger Wright94 said:You're just a hater.

On the Lewis driving thing—just to add my two cents:
There’s a massive difference between being (super) stoked about a result.
And glorifying a drive when you're in a dominant car cruising past absolute nobodies.
IMO, maybe Lewis's drive was fantastic. But given the current conditions and the gear he's working with, I'm pretty sure half the grid could've pulled that off right now.
So yeah, the "Lewis Fan Club" can stay as hyped as they want, but they're basically just celebrating the same old story.

Anyway, let's hear it from the rest of you guys on this forum—what's the verdict on Lewis's driving and how he handled those last 20 laps yesterday? Was that actually peak performance, or was it some alien-level stuff that nobody else could touch!?

Well, looking at Bottas...

A guy getting paid $15,000,000 a season. Clearly, we were witnessing some GOAT-level, extraterrestrial driving there.

Or are you trying to tell me Bottas is just some irrelevant nobody who doesn't set any kind of benchmark?

But hey, someone is signing off on that $15,000,000 paycheck year after year. You really think they're paying that much for nothing!?

$15 million for a total wash? Come on, use your head.

I knew exactly what kind of driver he was back at Melbourne 2007—some people still haven't figured it out even after Imola 2021.

graniteharbor502 said:Lewis Hamilton is driving the best car on the grid. Just because he’s slicing through people doesn't mean much—he wasn't even close to Max. If Russell hadn't taken out Bottas, maybe Valtteri would've actually had a shot at some podium glory on a dry track.
And let's not forget how much luck Lewis had after flying off and getting cozy with the barriers—luck provided by that Russell-Bottas collision. Honestly, I don't see much reason to hype up his driving.

If Mercedes really had the best car, Bottas would be standing on podiums all day. But clearly, that's not happening.

We've seen what Mercedes looks like without Hamilton. The race at Imola 2021 was basically the same story as the one in Shakir, except you've got the GOAT in the cockpit. Despite all the absolute chaos they've dealt with, he still grabs second, snags fastest lap, and stays right in the points lead.

No George Russell, no Valtteri Bottas, and honestly, not even Max Verstappen could pull that off. Nobody. Maybe if you go back to the FIA from the mid-90s, but that's about it.

stormytiger4 said:Looks like I missed total chaos yesterday. 🤣
Lucky there's a replay so I can catch at least some of the madness.

Man, you missed the race of the decade. Absolute masterclass.

Lewis is gonna show everyone how it’s done—real driving style right there.

Oh boy!!!!

F1 photo op

Safety Car is out.

Verstappen is basically just daydreaming about titles if he thinks he can compete with a prime Lewis

JARC is shaving half a second off their lap times.

With a busted car at that, too.

Hamilton and his 19th Cassette

🙂

What a total Cassette

Alex Barnes93 said:Duh, they've had them since day one—just not every single season.

Give it a rest

Anthony Baker84 said:Why wouldn't they just let Mick pit? — actually, let him stay out— because driving a trashed car like that is way more dangerous than just bringing him in.

They let him.