Posts by mellowtiger83

I just caught the team radio over on F1 Pulse and something felt seriously off. First off, the spotter sounds like he’s literally on his deathbed. And second, they keep telling him over and over that Max Verstappen is only about a second behind—it's like the guy is driving blind!
It's unbelievable. They need to swap out that race engineer immediately; at this rate, the guy could put half the grid to sleep.

neonfox65 said:it isn't just that. something else caught me off guard, and frankly, it seems nobody saw it coming.

Which neighbor are you talking about?

stormybadger8 said:You’ve finally seen the light, 😍
.
Though you aren't entirely off base...
It could very well prove to be damn near accurate this season...

If Valtteri Bottas spends this year playing spoiler to Lewis Hamilton in Bahrain just like he did last year, and keeps up that momentum through mid-season, then Sebastian Vettel certainly has a shot...
It seems unlikely that Mercedes will dump Hamilton in favor of Bottas before Hamilton loses his theoretical title chances...
And even if they do decide that early on, there's still the chance that Hamilton might actually try to help Bottas secure the championship over Sebastian Vettel or Max Verstappen—which is basically impossible. ☕

The number one drivers at Ferrari and Red Bull Racing have the best odds this season. It all comes down to Bottas and the inevitable friction with Hamilton that we're bound to see quite a bit of this year. As things stand, those two won't be dealing with such internal team drama...

After Bahrain, we should have a clearer picture of the landscape...
Once we see the actual gap between Red Bull Racing and Ferrari compared to Mercedes, and whether Mercedes allows Bottas to outshine their golden boy or not...

Valtteri Bottas 🤣, they practically handed him this win on a silver platter!
Sebastian Vettel hit the nail on the head when he noted that Hamilton looked bored.

I would genuinely love to see Sebastian Vettel take the title so there would be five of them, but I don't know where you found Valtteri Bottas.🙂

Did I actually read somewhere that Bottas has charisma?

stormybadger8 As stated by:
It’s pretty much a given. 🤣

Lujo is a remarkably composed individual. He would certainly be a calming presence within the Ferrari garage. 🙂🤣
Good grief. The guy starts whining over the team radio just two laps after his pit stop. He’s out there crying about how the tires are absolute garbage, claiming they're disintegrating and that he doesn't stand a prayer of making it to the finish line. Just endless, mindless complaining. Blah, blah, blah.
What on earth is going on with the strategy calls on the pit wall? It’s baffling. They seem to pull him into the pits the very second they realize he isn't sitting in P1 or that he's fallen behind a teammate. It makes absolutely no sense.

One could imagine him remaining perfectly composed, like a man sipping an iced tea, amidst those chaotic Ferrari strategies that even a drunk grandmother couldn't have dreamt up. 🤦
It’s pure idiocy if they plan on sending him to qualifying at Monza just to act as a windbreak for Kimi Räikkönen. They'll probably just mess with his head by tucking him right behind Kimi on those slow tires, keeping him stuck back there for thirteen laps while waiting for Kimi to finally remember to ask if he needs to move out of the way.

Honestly, if Lujo were around, he would have slapped that guy right in the middle of the pit lane during the live broadcast. 😁

Honestly, there’s some truth to that.

stormybadger8 said:Why does anyone consider this psychological manipulation or a lack of character?

For heaven's sake, someone hands you 5, 10, or 20 million dollars to drive 21 races a year in the best car on the grid...
On top of that, they expect you to play second fiddle to a teammate who is faster or better than you about 70% of the time...

And that’s considered messing with your head?
Really?
I fail to see the issue here. 🤷

Messing with your head would be something like what Sauber does—promising you a seat if you just bring in enough sponsors, you do all the work, show up to Australia, and find some other guy sitting in "your" car wearing "your" suit...
That is messing with your head, not this...

What Red Bull has been doing for years with Gasly could arguably also be called messing with his head; being in, then out, then back in, and so on...

And I am fairly certain that both van der Graditi and Gasly would gladly accept being played by Mercedes if it meant getting that deal. 🙂

Messing with your head? Nonsense!

I’d take a raw deal for 20 million, no question.🎉

James Harris34 said:It will be interesting to observe how things unfold in Bahrain and China on standard tracks—tracks that should actually suit the Ferrari car better than this one. I am not expecting any significant concessions from Mercedes-Benz because when Toto Wolff slams his fist on the table, it isn't an act. And Lewis, being Lewis, always seems to have some conspiracy theory swirling around whenever he loses. It mostly looks like Ferrari has already decided who is number one and who is number two based on those indecisive moves right from the first race. A sound long-term approach, perhaps, but if they want to hit that ambitious goal, the car needs to perform better than it did today. Daniel Ricciardo has essentially traded a stallion for a donkey; I suspect if there were mutual interest, he could find his way back to Red Bull. As for the rest, Kubica shows the effects of an eight-year hiatus compounded by injuries. McLaren and Renault were disappointing, while Haas and Alfa Romeo performed quite well.

What kind of "development" are we talking about? Apparently, by the time they reach Bahrain, they'll have found yet another sandbag lost somewhere inside the chassis.

ruggedhawk20 said:Mercedes has such an advantage they can basically just play games during the race.

One only needs to look at how Bottas used his Ford to witness that gap; he builds a lead throughout the entire race, only to somehow pull another 7 tenths out of thin air at the very end. Actually, it isn't thin air—it’s simply the massive reserve they have sitting there.

So, even with a 7-tenth cushion, Mercedes is still convincingly dismantling the competition.

Against that kind of strength, not even a Saint Ferdinand sixty-first

I also heard some chatter that the mechanics are supposedly hunting for more sandbags because they used up all the ones they spread around the car during testing in Barcelona.
I am not entirely sure if there is any truth to that.🍿

http://www.gptoday.com/full_story/vi...was_doingquot/

Even Sebastian Vettel can't make heads or tails of what Lewis Hamilton was pulling there.🙂

Meanwhile, you have Hamilton talking to reporters after the race, acting completely indifferent, claiming he had the pace and faced zero issues. It’s almost as if he knew the outcome was already decided before he even crossed the finish line.

I can't help but wonder if there was some underlying scheme to let Valtteri Bottas take the win without having to fire a single shot.

Honestly, it feels like we're just spinning our wheels here and accomplishing absolutely nothing!

stormybadger8 said:Listen here, 😳
Don't make me walk into a local pub and hand the waitress a wooden ruler...

then you'd see exactly what kind of slap you're in for, and how much of a beating you'll take along your spine once she measures you and realizes those 5 inches of yours aren't even close to reaching 9...
between her cracking you over the head with that ruler and you being too terrified to even deal with a mosquito anymore ☕

🎉

Anyway, where's my Pilatus? Maminjo is going to pay me back for this!

stormybadger8 said:And this part here is just...

Is that smoke coming from the cameraman's backside or what? 🤷

Like I said, you're trolling quite poorly and honestly, it's getting tedious...
Get some better takes and come back for the next race. Until then, 👋

Don't try to troll me with that smoke nonsense; that slight block didn't mess up his entry at all, and there was absolutely no reason for him to go that wide toward the curbs to get to Leclerc.

Richard Walker38 said:Oh, please. Here’s the footage. In this frozen frame, Vettel's clear intention is to cut off his own teammate. There was absolutely no wheel locking or late braking involved, lol. At this exact millisecond, he is driving straight toward the left side just to force himself into Leclerc's line.

It's crystal clear from every possible angle. Vettel plays it aggressive, and he'll end up facing the consequences just like he always does.

Chill. Everything will settle itself in due time.

Peter Carter6 said:https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qWXy...nonsense phrase

I actually found myself laughing out loud. Which is unfortunate, really, because the whole thing is actually true.

stormybadger8 said:It isn’t even about making excuses...

The reality is that Leclerc's entry into that corner was almost as fluid as Ricci's...😁
To be perfectly honest, I have no idea what he was thinking or what kind of wildly optimistic logic led him to believe he could take that corner, let alone attempt an overtake...

Technically, he came out fine since he didn't lose ground, but he could have easily been wrecked. He could have been absolutely hammered from the side or from behind after a move like that—not just by Vettel or Max, but potentially by his own teammate during the recovery, or even that Haas trailing Max, and so on...

Expecting someone to brake or move off the racing line at the start of a race is quite foolish and naive, even if it is a teammate...
And Leclerc could have simply taken the corner normally, provided that Vettel and Max chose to brake, swerve off-track, or just vanish from the area entirely...

The only slight difference is that this time it was Leclerc forcing his way into a gap where none existed, rather than Vettel...

The situation with Max is diametrically opposed to this one...
That is to say, Leclerc was in Vettel's position, and Vettel was in Max's position...
Because as far as I recall, Vettel also forced his way inside Max mid-corner...

Both were overly optimistic attempts to pass.
However, the Vettel vs. Max duel was a direct confrontation without anyone else involved, so Max knew exactly what Vettel was doing and didn't have to worry about much else besides Vettel...

On the other hand, this was the start of the race when there is total chaos everywhere, so it isn't particularly wise to force a move on someone like Leclerc against Vettel...

What Leclerc did was a classic case of realizing you can't win a race in the first few hundred meters, but you can certainly lose it...

It is easy to be a general after the battle is over...
And even if I would absolutely agree that the outcome would have been ideal for Vettel, it is questionable how much Vettel even expected Leclerc to be right there next to him...
I suspect he was far more focused on Max and his movements than he was on expecting Leclerc to try and squeeze him from the outside...

Vettel had already cleared Max and ended up going unnecessarily wide to the left because of Leclerc; consequently, Leclerc lost ground to Max. Had he not been forced to slow down at the curbs, he likely would have emerged ahead of Max and perhaps even secured a podium, as Max would have then been busy fighting Leclerc instead.

Tibi, you’re missing the point again! Leclerc lost all his momentum right after the qualifying session. I seriously doubt he would have had that kind of pace if Nine hadn't made that blunder. We wouldn't even be talking about a gap of 17 or 14 seconds; we'd be looking at a much smaller margin.

Besides, he basically sabotaged himself here.

We can all agree Leclerc was a bit too optimistic heading into that first corner, but honestly, Vettel went a little too far into that turn as well.

bluepuma9 said:I wasn't making any claims about their individual driving talent; I was strictly looking at the overall results and the general form of Ferrari.

That comparison doesn't even hold water. The Ferrari 2017 was a significantly superior car compared to the era when Alonso was behind the wheel. Just look at Kimi Räikkönen's results in that Alonso-era Ferrari versus what we saw during Vettel's tenure. Besides, Alonso beat Kimi Räikkönen far more convincingly than Vettel ever did, and Kimi Räikkönen was never truly a threat to him, whereas Vettel was just inconsistent.

bluepuma9 said:Looking back, Vettel's stint at Ferrari feels quite similar to Alonso's. Huge promises, great potential, impressive testing numbers... yet the actual results were lackluster.
The issue for Vettel is that, much like Alonso, he realistically has zero chance of leaving Ferrari for a competitive seat—unless, perhaps, Lewis Hamilton retires after one more championship.

What do you mean, Alonso? Alonso is light years ahead of him! His drives for Ferrari against Red Bull remain some of the finest displays of driving from the last two decades.

Alonso is easily the best driver of this generation. It’s just a shame he’s such a headache; he causes friction within teams and constantly runs his head into a wall. Basically, his mouth moves faster than his brain, and he’s essentially sabotaged his own career.

But strictly speaking on pure driving talent, he and Vettel aren't even in the same league.

We didn't see team orders this restrictive back when Rubens Barrichello and Eddie Irvine were running the show in the season opener!

And then there's the constant noise about how Lewis Hamilton gets all the perks while Valtteri Bottas just gets pushed aside. Look, Mercedes at least allows some racing until a certain point in the championship, and Red Bull does the same. But pulling a stunt like this during the very first race? That’s a bold move, to say the least.

Well, everything comes full circle eventually. Karma will catch up with Vettel just like it did before.

I expect things to fall apart for him around the Barcelona race. Honestly, I'm not even sure he'll make it to the end of the season with Ferrari.

@Tibi "accidentally" neglected to mention that Leclerc had that little excursion onto the grass. Right after that mishap, Vettel's lead ballooned to 17 seconds, whereas prior to that, he held a very comfortable, secure gap.

That was the actual turning point where Leclerc lost ground, rather than Vettel being significantly faster during that first stint.

Looking at the total race pace, Leclerc actually outpaced Vettel; had they actually let him through, he would have finished easily about 5 or 6 seconds ahead of Vettel.

Tibi also "accidentally" overlooks certain details—like how the team protected Vettel to prevent him from losing his position, or how Vettel, for goodness knows what time, aggressively shut the door on his own teammate at the start. He nearly forced Leclerc into a terrible spot because Leclerc actually had a much better launch and knew exactly where Vettel was by Turn 1.

It will be quite interesting to watch Vettel's performance fall apart as the season progresses.