2019 Formula 1 Russian Grand Prix (Sochi) | Sept 27-29

Ever heard of a sense of humor? Lighten up. Everyone here is acting like the sky is falling.

copperdrifter26 said:Basically, when they’re winning, suddenly "nobody is bigger than Ferrari," but the second they have to pay up, they’re nowhere to be found. It's funny how, despite getting absolutely hammered nine times in a row during qualifying, they still manage to pull in all this massive fan sympathy.

Man, I am so sick of this garbage. "Nobody is bigger than Ferrari"—EXCEPT ME!
I should probably add that little disclaimer right before the next race starts.

Kudos to Mattia Binotto for handing that position back to Charles Leclerc with an undercut; that's how you protect a legendary name like Ferrari—not by stealing wins from people who actually deserve them just to fix a crappy season.
The exact moment Charles Leclerc was put back into first place might be the very moment he officially became the number one driver at Ferrari, and I bet Sebastian Vettel can feel that tension too (honestly, part of me thought he might have pulled into the pits on purpose because of it).

Jerry Moore61 said:https://www.instagram.com/p/B3CTf36o...=1dgime79yyimv

Honestly, even if it’s mostly just jokes, there’s usually a grain of truth in there, especially after how last season went. haha😁

Jerry Moore61 said:https://www.instagram.com/p/B3CTf36o...=1dgime79yyimv

🤣 damn 🤣

Look, at the end of the day, Sebastian Vettel just decided to go rogue and wouldn't let Charles Leclerc past right after the start, which pretty much completely screwed over Charles' shot at the win.

Multi 21, Seb

Just like after Singapore:

Jason Campbell70 said:As an active hater of this current version of Ferrari, I want them to have at least
one more season with this driver lineup. 🙂

Ferrari's smart approach to personnel is paying off, yielding better results race after race, season after season.

Binotto is top-tier when it comes to engines—likely one of the reasons Ferrari pulls off miracles during the second half of the year.
But he isn't the right fit for Team Principal.
On the other hand, look at how Wolff and Mercedes-Benz aren't afraid to let Bottas go if they think it benefits the team.

Luck was on Ferrari's side on the pit wall; thank goodness a failure on Vettel's car saved them from even greater embarrassment.

And why are we calling Leclerc soft? Didn't one of you guys just describe him a few races ago as a "dominant force who takes what he wants instead of asking for it?
🤷

Lik je novi Alonso, taj pola utrke kmeci na radio kao i Alonso nekoc.

Jason Campbell70 said:Then again, Wolff and Mercedes-Benz aren't exactly sentimental about letting Bottas go if they decide it's what's best for the team.

Where exactly are they letting him run? Off the leash? Are they even letting him drive if he’s not getting in Lewis's way?
What’s even the point of deciding whether to let him run or not when he won't even let himself go? They basically stripped him of everything.

Jason Campbell70 said:Ferrari's pit wall got lucky there. If it hadn't been for the breakdown on Vettel's car, they would have faced an even bigger embarrassment.

Since there hasn't been a single disaster yet, there's really nowhere left to go but up. It can't get any worse than this.

Jason Campbell70 said:...
Ferrari's smart approach to driver management is paying off, with better results coming season after season, race after race.

It’s been at least a decade since Ferrari had two drivers actually capable of winning a championship in the same year. Not just showing up, but actually fighting each other for the top spot.
Now they finally do!

I have no clue where people got the idea that Charles Leclerc was whining on the radio. That wasn't whining at all. He was just giving the team a quick reality check about the deal they made when he felt like Sebastian Vettel wasn't playing ball, and then once Plan C was called, everything played out exactly how it was supposed to. There was zero crying involved—unlike Lewis Hamilton and his twenty-minute meltdown in Monaco, where poor Peter Bonnington basically had to snap at him and point out that if Daniel Ricciardo could pull it off last year, so could he. And don't even get me started on that whole "Retire the car" mess at the Hockenring; now that was some legendary-level whining, especially considering he usually acts like he's too tough to ever quit.

It wasn't exactly a disaster, but he definitely spent way too much time on the radio.
You just don't talk like that, acting like you want the whole world listening in on your business.
“We had an agreement, I stuck to my end of the deal, this isn't fair...”

Look, Sebastian Vettel is a four-time champion, but he really should have just kept his mouth shut or at least asked them briefly what was going on...

copperdrifter26 said:He could’ve defended, especially since he pulled that move to protect Valtteri Bottas back in 2018.

https://streamable.com/lomtv

Would he have defended? Hard to say. But it’s obvious everyone at Ferrari (including Sebastian Vettel) decided it was better to secure that 1-2 finish by staying in the tow and not defending Turn 1, figuring they could just deal with the fallout later.

What if Vettel had botched the start?...

And what if Charles Leclerc had a bad start? 🙂
Suddenly everyone would be singing the same old song about how he wanted to give the tow, how it was part of the deal, and how he basically had to hand the position back.🙂

The issue with these "deals" is that no matter what happens, someone’s going to be pissed...
The second issue is that Mattia Binotto clearly doesn't have the authority he should. If he actually did, then

A.) Charles Leclerc wouldn't be whining on the team radio the very second things go sideways like some hyperactive toddler. 🤦
Which is hilarious in its own right—if there's an agreement and everyone knows the plan, why is this kid blabbing on the radio, essentially tipping off Mercedes and Lewis Hamilton that a swap is coming down the track? 🙄
Either Mattia Binotto and his crew are total fossils who don't understand their own deals, or what kind of kid is this??? You don't scream stuff like that over team radio, knowing damn well it's public.
If they actually intended to let him through, there's no way Lewis Hamilton wouldn't have exploited that. The guys at Mercedes aren't idiots; they aren't going to ignore live, public radio from their direct competition. 🤦

B.) Why is Sebastian Vettel even weighing in on this, and why on earth is the team even talking to him, let alone repeating things?
If everything is pre-planned and Binotto actually had any authority, there'd be no debate. You execute the plan and move on.

C.) And why does Charles Leclerc go around after the race explaining to even the blindest person that his position was basically gifted back to him through the pits?
Then you've got Binotto trying to spin it, claiming they didn't intentionally put Sebastian behind him but rather just executed "perfect strategy" to cover Hamilton while accounting for a potential SC/VSC. 🙄

Basically, it's the classic Ferrari story: a bunch of clowns lost in space and time...

copperdrifter26 said:Sebastian Vettel's engineer was the first one to say it—immediately—to let Charles Leclerc through, because that was the deal.

If Sebastian Vettel knew he was going to have a shitty start, he would've just said "none" and kept his spot. He took the deal because it guaranteed him at least P2, and most likely P1, right after Turn 1.

If he hadn't agreed, and if he'd botched the start while Charles Leclerc dove to the right to give Lewis Hamilton a tow while holding the inside line at T1, he might have ended up third.

That was Sebastian Vettel's problem. He wants to have his cake and eat it too.

Where did you get the idea that Sebastian Vettel actually had a choice regarding this "deal"? Like he could just choose whether to accept it or not? 🤔
The team sets the strategy, and the drivers are supposed to execute it. It’s not like they get to sit around making executive decisions...

Besides, Sebastian Vettel was going to get a tow from that grid position regardless, whereas Charles Leclerc couldn't have gotten one from anyone else.☕

So the only real question is how hard Charles Leclerc would have fought at the start if there hadn't been a deal...
And the only person who actually had a choice regarding the tow was Charles Leclerc, not Sebastian Vettel...
As for giving the position back, there wasn't even a decision to make before the race. He already agreed to follow team orders the moment he signed his contract. It's settled. Period.

Regarding the start, of course he knew it would be a disaster...
Starting P3 in Russia is damn good. In theory, you're basically in the same boat as pole position, if not better, and that holds true every single year...
So there's really nothing to overthink here.☕

It seems nobody is giving Lewis Hamilton any credit for actually staying within striking distance of those Ferraris while running on the Medium tire.

A driver of true greatness.

That sixth world title was well earned.

Richard Ross11 said:He wasn't whining literally, but he was definitely talking too much on the radio.
You don't just blather on like the whole damn world is listening.
"We had an agreement, I stuck to the deal, this isn't fair..."

His own teammate ignores the plan, he brings it up on the team radio using totally normal words and a normal tone, and suddenly that's "whining" because he "talked too much on the radio"? Please. This is just pure hate against Charles Leclerc. If he hates you, everything he does is whining. If he stayed quiet, people would call him a pushover for letting Sebastian Vettel mess with him. Now that he actually speaks up, he's whining. If he doesn't speak, he's too quiet. It’s a lose-lose situation. Basically, if you're part of the crowd that can't stand him, whatever he does is just more proof that he's doing something wrong.

Retire the car.

mellowtiger83 said:Nobody seems to be giving Lewis Hamilton any credit for how he managed to stay right on the heels of those Ferraris during the first stint while running on Medium tires.

What an absolute legend of a driver!

Six World Championships is well-deserved.

Hamilton belongs right up there in the conversation with Ayrton Senna and Michael Schumacher. 🙏

Honestly, the guy was miles ahead of Sebastian Vettel—I’d say it was purely down to raw pace—and even pulling slightly ahead of Fernando Alonso too.

Roger Wright94 said:Where or how are they letting him through? From the pit lane? Are they even letting him race at all—assuming he doesn't get in Lewis Hamilton's way?
I mean, what's there to decide about letting him pass when he won't even let himself go? They've basically neutered his drive.

haha, he would've had over 20 wins otherwise 🤣

wiredfalcon2 said:I honestly don't get where people are getting this idea that Charles Leclerc was whining on the radio—it wasn't whining at all. He was just giving the team a quick nudge about their agreement when he felt Sebastian Vettel wasn't following through, and once he heard they were switching to Plan C, everything played out exactly how it should have. It wasn't crying one bit—unlike, say, Lewis Hamilton and his twenty-minute meltdown in Monaco, where poor Peter Bonnington actually had to snap at him and point out that if Daniel Ricciardo could pull it off last year, so could he. And don't even get me started on that "Retire the car" moment at the Hockenring; now *that* was some legendary sulking, especially considering his usual "never give up" attitude.

Calling Leclerc "too bright" as a nickname is a bit much—it seems like most of you think Hamilton is too dark because of some bias, so you try to downplay his driving with these silly comments... didn't we learn that everyone is equal under the skin?

Gary Palmer8 said:calling Leclerc "the golden boy" is such a joke. It’s obvious most of you think Hamilton is too dark, so you try to deflect from his actual driving with this nonsense... didn't they teach you we're all equal under the skin or whatever?

What kind of garbage is this? I think Hamilton is one of the GOATs. Period. It doesn't matter if he complains on the team radio.