Posts by Nicholas Newman2

Nicholas Newman2 said:On another note, I've been thinking about this for a while now.
Sebastian Vettel often made mistakes in situations like this back when he was racing alongside Rajko, and it looks like he’ll be overdoing it again with Charles Leclerc. He pushes his defense so hard that he ends up screwing over the team and losing more positions, instead of just letting his teammate hold the line—like protecting him from Max Verstappen in this instance.

You can post screenshots all you want, but you aren't going to hide what was said above.

What does it matter if you think you're proving a point? Sebastian Vettel is bound to make that same mistake soon, and let's not forget that not everyone is as chill as Rajko.
I honestly think Max Verstappen's blunder in Belgium only went unpunished because it involved Kimi Räikkönen.

So, when exactly will Charles Leclerc feel settled enough at Ferrari to say "no pasaran" to those kinds of moves from Sebastian Vettel?

Raymond Anderson4 said:Ferrari is making a mistake by protecting Vettel like this. He’s lost his edge; he just can't put those fast laps together anymore. Who knows how many races Leclerc will spend stuck behind him without ever getting a real shot at overtaking?
Leclerc looks desperate. It's only the first race and he's already wondering if he's even allowed to pass Vettel. 😁

Give me a break. He's the first young talent in ages to get a shot at a seat in a Ferrari, and you're saying he should bite the hand that feeds him during his very first race?
You're blaming a kid for Ferrari's own massive blunder. Seriously?

Eric Perez58 said:It seems like every year we see even more unbelievable sports results... just more and more miracles.👍

Anyway, did you actually put any money on those predictions of yours?

Richard Walker38 said:Vettel was just dragging along on track and made a few unsportsmanlike moves toward his teammate. If he had used any common sense, he could have just let him through and actually tried to fight for the podium.

Honestly, this feels more like science fiction or some weird tabloid headline.

On another note, I’ve been thinking about something else for a while now.
Vettel often messed up in these situations back when Rajko was his teammate, and it looks like he’s going to overdo it again with Leclerc. He gets so obsessed with defending his position that he ends up screwing over the team, losing even more ground instead of just letting him go—which, in this case, would have meant covering his back against Max.

Richard Walker38 said:Charles Leclerc might have pulled it off if he hadn't been shoved practically onto the grass. It was a fair assessment of how both drivers could have collided in the opening chaos. Honestly, I’m a bit disappointed in him. First, he backed off like a coward to avoid "endangering" his teammate, then he played along with team orders and let the other guy pass despite being clearly faster. For a debut race, they showed promise, but we all know how many people want to see Sebastian Vettel dominate. Ferrari won't allow that, and the kid just doesn't have the backbone.

Sebastian Vettel is still in a freefall. Aside from potential technical issues with the car, those team orders basically saved him from even more embarrassment.

A bit extreme, but I see your point.

They could have handled the Leclerc-Vettel situation much better in the heat of the moment instead of immediately crushing his spirit. They should have just called him in for fresh tires and had him hunt down the fastest lap. That would have avoided the awkwardness and likely secured an extra point for FL.

mellowtiger83 said:Let’s be real here. Leclerc was being a bit too optimistic, and we all know Vettel struggles when it comes to spotting those tricky blind corners.🙂

That’s exactly what I was thinking too.

stormybadger8 said:It could mean anything.😁

Maybe they just had some nasty tire issues, or perhaps they're playing games with battery settings, fuel, or oil—those "party modes"—and they don't want to go public about what actually broke...

Honestly, I don't put much stock in those post-race statements. Drivers rarely tell you what really happened out there...
If they mess up, they might offer an apology, but if they stay dead silent, it usually means the team screwed up something they aren't supposed to mention.

Sebastian Vettel seemed pretty sincere during his interview. During the broadcast, the commentators also mentioned a drop in power, but who knows if Sebastian realized it himself🤔. It's a shame nobody caught anyone in the paddock to ask them directly.

stormybadger8 said:Red Bull was being overly cautious even with minor issues...

What Pierre Gasly just pulled off was a massive recovery. Let's be honest, he only got this shot because they needed to find a quick replacement for Daniel Ricciardo...

1. Managing to stay competitive in Qualifying 1 with a Red Bull is actually quite an achievement...
2. Outperforming Daniil Kvyat in a B-spec car—which is definitely worse, especially on those old hard, slow tires—is a huge win...
3. To finish outside the points with Red Bull in a race where Max easily makes the podium, and where there are only 15 classified drivers plus two Williams cars lagging three laps behind...🤦

I bet Helmut Marko is already handing out slaps in the pits. Honestly, it wouldn't surprise me one bit if Gasly gets dropped before Barcelona...

Helmut Marko just denied that, saying Gasly didn't even have the overtake button engaged.

stormybadger8 said:It was about 0.7 to 1 second, even though Vettel was on faster soft tires compared to the mediums.😵
But something was definitely off during his first stint, too; he was significantly faster than Charles Leclerc while they were both on the same rubber...
And it stayed that way until he ended up behind Lewis Hamilton, and then his pace just completely fell apart.

It feels like Ferrari is having some serious issues with following other cars...
Is it to the point where their tires literally die just one or two laps after they get stuck behind someone for a second or two?
Or does the car just overheat when it's trailing another driver? Whatever it is, something is clearly wrong.

Here, the fan-favorite Timo Glock mentioned that because Vettel and Lewis had to pit early, they had to manage their tires to make sure they could finish the race. In doing so, they lost the operating temperature of the tires. The result is a very unstable car. But who knows.

Also, when they asked Vettel what was going wrong with the car, he was pretty blunt—he said there wasn't a technical failure, but he honestly didn't know what was happening.

Richard Walker38 said:This race felt like a total fluke. It's obvious Hamilton had issues with his car; otherwise, he would have been right up there with Bottas, if not winning, because their car is incredible. I also think Ferrari struggled today with Vettel's car, since it's hard to believe Red Bull is genuinely that much faster. I expect things to settle down soon, where Max will be fighting Leclerc for fourth or fifth, while Ferrari keeps messing up podium chances with their mistakes, potentially handing more points to Red Bull and Max.

I think both Vettel and Louie were doomed by that wall of errors involving an early pit stop. Louie just had the bad luck of having to deal with it. Someone on RTL mentioned something similar during the broadcast.

Gary Palmer8 said:It’s going to be a great season... unlike various versions of Michael Schumacher or Fernando Alonso, Lewis has to win his titles from within the team itself...

I agree, but now you're probably going to get cut down by all sorts of "opinions" just because I'm not using any harsh language.

Gary Palmer8 said:Man, he absolutely crushed that 20+ second gap during the five-time WDC run. Just wow...

What kind of straws are people even reaching for? They don't seem to realize Lewis Hamilton has a car capable of beating his own teammate by over 20 seconds...

Regardless, the main thing is that Valtteri Bottas shut up those bitter commentators, and naturally, we're looking at a 1-2 finish🎉. Besides, this race shows once again that the battle between both drivers stays wide open until a certain point in the season—something a lot of people love to mock🤦.

I consider myself a team player, so I don't see anything wrong with leaving Charles Leclerc behind Sebastian Vettel. But it definitely feels good to see things being handled more fairly.🙏

Honestly, thank goodness Bottas took first place. If the roles were reversed, we wouldn't be able to deal with all the armchair theorists out there. People were already starting to moan about how Mercedes would swap their positions. Plus, Finac really shut down a lot of the critics.😁

Good morning

darkmarlin16 said:Is there anything more predictable than a massive blowout in racing? It feels like we’re staring down the barrel of another absolute slaughter on the track. When you look at the current grid, the gap between the frontrunners and everyone else isn't just a margin; it's a canyon. We’ve seen this pattern before where one team finds a perfect setup and essentially turns the race into a solo exhibition. Are we even watching a competition anymore, or just waiting to see by how many seconds the leader crosses the finish line? The tension is building, but it doesn't feel like the kind of tension that leads to an upset. Instead, it feels like the inevitable result of pure technical dominance. One side has all the tools, and the other side is just fighting for scraps. Can anyone actually disrupt this hierarchy, or are we stuck in this cycle for the rest of the season?

A journalist with a very distinct style once said: "Max Verstappen is undeniably fast and undeniably reckless."😂

darkmarlin16 said:https://pbs.twimg.com/media/D1xn5ekX...jpg&name=large

Remaining tire sets for the race.

Looking at the data, it seems like Verstappen has the least amount of margin left when it comes to tire degradation.

vividlynx68 said:Looking at these comments, it’s like nobody even watched GP Australia last year. 😬

That's how it looks, unless people are just intentionally playing dumb.

Brian Campbell36 said:Just enjoy Mercedes-Benz dominating this season and next. Stop worrying about damn Ferrari.
They have zero competition this year or next, right?
According to the experts, Mercedes-Benz turned a 0.5 second deficit into a 0.7 second lead.
The team found 1.2 seconds in just two weeks—that is an incredibly impressive job.
Everyone is obsessed with Ferrari, yet Red Bull is going to be the one hunting down Mercedes-Benz.
Allison was the architect behind last year's Ferrari (it fell apart once he left), and thanks to him, Mercedes-Benz swept both titles last year.
He was the one who insisted on a closer look at the Ferrari car, which led to those FIA inspections and the subsequent sensor installations.

We don't have to agree, but I'm glad you put together such a decent post. It's long, but actually gets to the point without wasting time.👍

crimsonhawk23 said:True. With the current regulations, they have about as much chance of overtaking Mercedes as America does of overtaking Japan in industrial development.



https://twitter.com/wbuxtonofficial/...06971959820288

You probably don't even realize how right you are. Here's the kicker: this country is run by Americans. If you handed the reins over to a German, you'd see that even someone like Kolinda Grabar-Kirbijas wouldn't be far behind.

We have everything we need; we just lack the common sense and the true patriotism (regardless of how many groups claim to be patriotic)!

To keep things from going totally off-topic, I honestly think they kicked the wrong guy out of Williams.

stormytiger4 said:I don't think Australia is a fair benchmark for the whole season. Even if the Mercedes-Benz cars dominate tomorrow, it doesn't mean they'll stay that way.
The same goes if they lose.

I agree with you.

stormytiger4 said:Just go to sleep if you're tired, man. Some of us would religiously watch races from all the way back in 2004.

Exactly. Personally, even if there were 30 races a season, I'd do my best not to miss a single one.