Posts by mellowtiger83

stormytiger4 said:Lewis Hamilton is a total disappointment along with both Haas drivers. Alonso was brilliant, Ferrari looked very strong, and Max Verstappen was nowhere to be seen.

Max Verstappen was definitely visible enough; he pulled off a masterclass spin in Sector 1. A perfect ten for the pirouette.🙂

Frank Turner72 said:Sebastian Vettel isn't at fault here...

He is absolutely at fault, though. After Kimi's and Hamilton's pit stops, he was doing some miraculous work on those old tires. It was a deserved win, aided by a bit of luck of course, and he managed to hold off Hamilton in the end. Bravo Seb!!

Bottas, what on earth are you talking about...

nimblesurfer17 said:Sebastian Vettel is certainly a lucky man.

On another note, does anyone have the math on that lap? What actually went down?

And I'd love an explanation for why Romain Grosjean parked where he did. Also, why was there a Virtual Safety Car first, followed by a full Safety Car?

Because you could probably cook up some conspiracy theory claiming he intentionally caused a situation just to trigger the VSC.

For Sebastian Vettel—wow, just wow. Bravo. A truly stellar performance today. This puts him in a fantastic position for the championship. Well done.

Come on, Fernando Alonso

Brian Campbell36 said:👍

Alright, alright... let's look at what was asked. Will Lewis Hamilton have five world titles under his belt after the first ten races? 🤔

I am looking for an objective assessment here. Leave the personal biases at the door.

Not even close.

Brian Campbell36 said:Why are you even inserting yourself into this debate? You’re clearly biased, just talking nonsense. You aren't his defense attorney; there's no need to suck up to him like that.

👍,I am the very definition of objectivity, my friend. Pure objectivity.

Brian Campbell36 said:I am personally hoping that Mercedes-Benz pulls out of Formula 1 quite soon once their performance inevitably tanks, and perhaps you will have the honor of retiring from this forum like a man and finally stop commenting altogether. 👍

Stop talking nonsense. Jason Campbell70 isn't some Mercedes-Benz fanboy. He was here long before their period of dominance even began.

Raymond Anderson4 said:Sebastian Vettel is quite possibly the worst possible person to be poking fun at in all of Formula 1.
And this time he’s questioning where Hamilton found his pace, though even then, he does it with that smirk and that cheeky tone. He acts like a provocateur when he really isn't one.

Hamilton gave him a loud and clear response along the lines of "I managed to put together a great lap" 🙂, and honestly, that was it. No need for any more philosophy.

Raymond Anderson4 said:A die-hard Alonso fan will probably claim he was struggling with his engine or just running at a disadvantage. They'll argue he didn't just claw back those two seconds on Stoffel, but that he was actually faster.

Alonso made a mistake on his flying lap that cost him a massive amount of time. If you were watching the live timing, his pace before the error was quite interesting; he would have been comfortably in the top 10. Every driver makes mistakes, including Alonso. That’s just how it is.

stormybadger8 said:Regarding the point that Kimi was uncharacteristically slow last year and trailed Sebastian Vettel by just under 0.6 seconds... which is quite a massive gap 😉
Furthermore, one should look at the gaps between Vettel versus Kimi prior to last season 😉
say, in 2015 he was trailing by a mere 0.03 sec...

An important thing to emphasize is that Vettel trailed Lewis Hamilton by 0.268 last year, so the margin is certainly much wider than it was previously...
Because even if the setup wasn't right for Sebastian, or he had an off day, or some kid made a mistake, the difference remains enormous...
I would say rather that Kimi finally delivered the strong qualifying sessions he is capable of, whereas Sebastian made some sort of error and was simply poor...

Since I didn't really see Sebastian (or Kimi) commit any massive blunder during qualifying; perhaps a few minor ones, but nothing significant enough to lose half a second 😳
It is the exact same story with Ricciardo and Max, who were also close behind. It is obvious that this was simply a case of Mercedes running their engine at maximum capacity—perhaps for the first time at true maximum since this hybrid era began...

Given Kimi's improvement compared to last year, Vettel should have been on pole...
It is lucky that the brave Lujo is skilled enough to have secured a dominant Ferrari and RB as well 🤣

Oh, please. Whatever happened to those supposedly superior Mercedes engines? Like the ones in Force India and Williams?

Today, Sebastian lost three tenths on a fast lap due to his own mistake, so what exactly is the controversy here?

Tibi, I’m afraid there’s been a misunderstanding here. While Mercedes might be the best car in qualifying today, they aren't better by six tenths; if anything, it's more like a two or three tenth advantage.

Do you follow my logic? The reality is quite simple: Hamilton delivered a flawless lap, whereas his main rival, Sebastian Vettel, certainly didn't. That accounts for the gap.

Hamilton simply pulled ahead today in the same way Ayrton Senna used to pull ahead at Monaco, for instance. You see?

Sebastian Vettel is perfectly capable of putting together a perfect lap; he just failed to do so today. He made some critical errors during his fast lap, and that is really all there is to it.

So, you can attribute those three tenths to Hamilton rather than some sort of "magic mode." He simply drove a perfect lap. Which part of that is unclear?

Take Alonso, for example. He made a mistake similar to Vettel's, and now he's out of the top ten. It happens. Moving on.

The cooler conditions following that rain definitely played into Mercedes' hands. It’s a shame it wasn't warmer; things might have tightened up more if the track had held some heat, I suppose.

stormybadger8 said:You’re following inaccurate information. 🙂
Kimi and Max were lagging by that 250 and 200 margin, but specifically compared to Hamilton's S1 lap from that opening stint in Q3, rather than against that messy weather conditions run he put together during the final lap of qualifying. 😉

Hamilton held an advantage in S1, sitting at -400 compared to his own pace, while Kimi was at -200 for that same timeframe. Essentially, in the first sector, Hamilton was running -200 faster on his fastest lap than Kimi.

stormybadger8 said:Of course he wouldn't have if he had slammed into the wall. 🤣
If he weren't such an amateur, he could have been right on Hamilton's tail without breaking a sweat...

Here is a list of drivers who would absolutely be sitting in P2 on the grid if they were piloting Bottas's Mercedes:

Sebastian Vettel
Kimi Räikkönen
Max
Ricciardo
Sainz
Hulk
Alonso
Grosjean Magnussen
Magnussen
Perez
Ocon
☕

Bottas wouldn't have taken pole if he hadn't crashed and if Hamilton wasn't there. Is that clear enough?

This lap was Hamilton's masterpiece, just like Monaco 1988 was Senna's. Period.

By the way, not a single Mercedes car besides Hamilton's is even in the top 10, whereas Ferrari has four of them!

I will say it again: a combination of the competition's errors and one perfect lap created the illusion of a massive gap.
Naturally, Mercedes remains the fastest in qualifying—there is no debate there—but it certainly isn't by a margin of -600; it’s likely half that, if it’s even that much.

Anthony Baker84 said:What else was I supposed to say? Vettel completely blew it—and likely took his garage's reputation down with him. He really should have been roughly 0.2 to 0.4 seconds faster than Kimi. Now, whether that’s because he couldn't get the setup right or just because the driver himself lacks focus... who knows. Either way, in this instance, it's a total disaster for Vettel.

Exactly. Vettel lost at least 0.3 seconds through his own error. That gap to Mercedes is nothing more than an illusion.

Lewis Hamilton just put together one of his most clinical qualifying laps to date. The track layout really plays right into his hands; if I'm not mistaken, he’s sitting on seven poles here now.

Nico Rosberg, get back in there. You can finally start seeing just how damn good Nico actually was.

stormybadger8 said:Pure incompetence at its peak. 🤦
It is quite obvious you haven't the slightest clue what you're talking about; you're just peddling delusions again. 😵

Hamilton's lap was an absolute masterclass during S1—forget about S2 or Q3...
He built a massive gap of over half a second against the field just in S1 alone. In S2 and Q3, he was basically just keeping pace with Red Bull and Ferrari, nothing particularly special there.🙄

After the first sector, Kimi was trailing Hamilton +250, Max +200.

Richard Ross11 said:Tomorrow's prediction: Vettel slams into Hamilton at Turn 1, Kimi cruises to the win... 🙂

That's quite the prophecy.🤣

On a scale of 1 to 10, how badly is Max going to wreck his car at the start tomorrow?😁

stormybadger8 said:Knowing how to stay on the asphalt instead of sliding into the grass makes all the difference.🤣
He’s practically an alien because of that skill alone.😂

Mercedes is still freaking dominant...
With a car like that, even someone mediocre like Valtteri Bottas can snag a pole, maybe even Lance Stroll could manage it... but then you have a driver of Lewis Hamilton's caliber.

It feels like perhaps the first time in this hybrid era we've seen Mercedes truly push the limit to the edge.
It's actually a good thing that Red Bull and Ferrari finally seem to be within a second of them; Mercedes doesn't have that massive cushion anymore.😁

Valtteri Bottas wouldn't be on pole if it weren't for Lewis Hamilton!! That qualifying gap—600ms—is just ridiculous because of Sebastian Vettel's mistake. It all lined up perfectly, and that was that.

hiddensailor7 said:Last year, Lewis Hamilton was about 0.85 seconds faster than Kimi here; this year, he’s at 0.66 seconds.🤷

One really needs to observe the race behavior and see how the tire degradation plays out.🍿

My assessment is that Ferrari is closer to Mercedes than they were last season, and we all recall how lackluster the Ferrari was last year.

Sebastian Vettel made a significant error during Q3, making his gap to Lewis Hamilton quite unrealistic; Max Verstappen also faltered slightly.

The discrepancy exists simply because Lewis Hamilton delivered a flawless lap while the others failed to do so, particularly regarding S2 and S3.