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

wiredfalcon2 said:That’s just impossible. That kind of thinking only happens with people who see conspiracies, corruption, and rigging in absolutely everything. We're talking about a guy earning tens of millions of dollars a year; would he really sabotage his own car on purpose? He'd be fired before he even made it back to the paddock...

I'm not sure, but it was certainly strange how the car broke down immediately after pulling out from behind Charles Leclerc... 🙂
As for getting fired, well, if he actually did that, he'll get the boot, though I doubt it will happen within five minutes...
Even Niki Lauda once pulled a stunt like that at Suzuki and lost a championship because of it... drivers do all sorts of things... 🙂

Richard Ross11 said:I don't know, it was just weird how the car broke down the second he pulled out behind Charles Leclerc... 🙂
As for getting fired—if he actually did that, he'll get the boot, just maybe not within five minutes...
Even Niki Lauda once parked his car during a race at a Suzuki event and lost the championship because of it... drivers do crazy stuff... 🙂

Then I guess his race engineer should be the one getting sacked, since he's the one screaming "stop the car, stop the car" over the team radio instead of Vettel 🙂

Conspiracy theories are fun, but damn, they should at least have some logic...
And what you guys are spinning makes zero sense...☕

The agreement was DEFINITELY broken (which is exactly what Seb confirmed during his interview).

Charles Leclerc provides the tow, he doesn't play it safe. You overtake Lewis Hamilton and you guys slide right into a 1-2 formation at Turn 1. Now, I won't get into why Charles didn't move over toward Lewis or try to defend him in Turn 1. I'm not even going to touch on why Sebastian Vettel refused to give up the position, but suddenly, everything makes sense.

At the end of the day, Ferrari's strategy totally backfired on them. When you have two top-tier drivers on the roster, that's how you should be treating them. Honestly, it’s how Red Bull Racing would handle it too...

I mean, expecting actual team play from a crew acting like they're stuck in the Multi 21 era...🙂

If we hadn't dealt with that SC and Vettel's car didn't totally die on him, Ferrari would've cruised to a 1-2 finish with Charles Leclerc taking the top spot. Everything would've been fine.

stormybadger8 said:Give me a break, Vettel had already cleared Hamilton right at the starting line, before the rest of the pack even got moving...

He dropped Hamilton immediately at the launch...

And let's be real, Charles Leclerc wasn't giving him any kind of tow; nobody gets a meaningful tow in the first ten meters of a race, it's just not how physics works. 🤦

He could have moved wherever he wanted...
Vettel had already overtaken him long before a tow would have even been a factor.

He was running parallel to him right at the start of the straightaway, before any slipstream effect could possibly kick in...

I beg your pardon, but if that's the case, then all that radio chatter about Vettel being told to let Leclerc through is just some mass hallucination shared by millions of us watching on TV!?

Why on earth would Ferrari ask Vettel to let Leclerc past? Just for the fun of it?

stormybadger8 said:In my opinion, if anyone deserves to be let go, it should probably be his race engineer—the one who was screaming "stop the car, stop the car" over the team radio—rather than Vettel... 🙂

Conspiracy theories can be entertaining enough, I suppose, but for heaven's sake, they really ought to possess at least a shred of logic...
I honestly don't see any logic or sense behind what you all are saying here...☕

Haha, I honestly wish that had been a deliberate move on Vettel's part; if he’d done it on purpose, I'd have a whole new level of respect for him...
There will likely be more discussion regarding this topic soon... 🙂

And then there's Charles Leclerc... honestly, if you can't deliver the pace on the track, none of those fancy contracts actually mean anything. He'll just have to grow up eventually and learn how to keep his mouth shut...

Unfortunately, things fell apart for the Italian squad once again today. Everything looked perfectly scripted at the start; Charles Leclerc let Sebastian Vettel slip into his dirty air and move ahead. That move catapulted the German into first place, while Charles managed to keep Lewis Hamilton pinned in third.

Per the team's strategy, Sebastian Vettel was supposed to hand that position back on track. But let’s be honest—we all know Seb isn't exactly a "team player." It brings to mind that messy situation in Malaysia back in 2013. You can still hear Mark Webber grumbling about "Multi 21" after the race when Seb broke protocol and snatched the win for himself.

A quick refresher:

fadedwalker18 said:Sorry, but if that radio call telling Vettel to let Leclerc through was just some hallucination, what was it? Just us million-plus TV viewers making things up!?

Why would Ferrari ask Vettel to let Leclerc pass? For the hell of it?

Because there was an agreement—basically a pre-race strategy...

Another thing is that even if they wanted to, Leclerc couldn't follow the plan because Vettel had a killer start and Lewis Hamilton's start was absolute garbage...

Hamilton actually jumped ahead of McLaren at the start. Maybe they should've just swerved out of the way in the first lap and waited for a blazing fast Leclerc to blast past them, since he was giving them a tow anyway.🙂

And let's not forget Singapore and all the nonsense happening on the Ferrari pit wall trying to fix mistakes on the fly...
Anyway, after a few races where Ferrari actually had decent strategy, here we are again. Back in the zone where idiots make mistakes, and then make even bigger mistakes trying to fix those initial blunders.

It honestly looks like Vettel has caught whatever syndrome Alonso has—he just seems to leave a trail of chaos wherever he goes. XD

Richard Ross11 said:Haha, I’d actually love it if Sebastian Vettel did that on purpose. It would earn him some serious respect in my book...
There's gonna be endless chatter about this... 🙂

And Charles Leclerc is just a crybaby... if you aren't fast on the track, none of these deals matter... maybe he'll grow up eventually and learn when to shut up...

Nah, Ferrari pulled that stunt on purpose way before that.

Just listen to Vettel's onboard right when he's exiting the pits...

He's telling them something is wrong with the car, specifically that the MGU-K isn't working...
His engineer just replies—deadpan, mind you—"we know"...

Then Vettel keeps insisting there's no MGU-K and asks for something on the team radio...
It takes half a lap before they finally tell him to pit first, and then—get this—to stop the car on the track...

First off, they botched his strategy, but even that wasn't enough given how much slower Charles Leclerc was than him...
Then they again screwed up his pit stop, making it half a second slower than Leclerc's...

He comes out right behind Leclerc, but then the MGU-K dies immediately on the exit, and Leclerc just pulls away...

If we're looking for a conspiracy theory that actually makes sense, maybe Ferrari intentionally switched the MGU-K to some "safety mode." That way, they prevent any collisions at the pit exit or shortly after, while also widening the gap between the two drivers...

And maybe the MGU-K died because of that switch in the first place. Just a thought.

TBF1D last week:

Sebastian Vettel was sitting 4 seconds back during that first stint because he was being smart and managing his tires. That undercut was just bad luck, honestly, but Seb knew exactly what he was doing.

TBF1D this week:

Charles Leclerc just couldn't catch Seb during the first stint because Seb was absolutely untouchable. He had the opening, but he just couldn't make it happen.

Vettel pulled a Multi 21 on us again. Once he moved ahead of the smaller car and got into clean air, he suddenly wanted to race. His logic was basically, "I'll give him the spot back later, but he has to catch me first." As if you can just destroy your tires fighting in dirty air while trying to prove you're faster in clean air just so they don't swap you out. Yeah, right. Like that works.

Anyone who actually knows Vettel knows he tends to play the martyr. It's the same thing we saw at Red Bull, or like when he was pushing to get ahead of Charles Leclerc in China—and once he finally got the position, he completely fell off the pace.

The ground was shaking, and out of nowhere, a total disaster was born 🤦

I’d already put twenty-five bucks on the line before the lights even went out—feeling pretty confident about our shining star Charles Leclerc—but then, man, everything just went south 🤦

copperdrifter26 said:TBF1D

Look, you aren't in preschool anymore. You can't troll someone with attempts this pathetic...

Go practice on some toddlers at a local daycare first. Honestly, start with the infants—these older kids will eat you alive...

stormybadger8 said:It all comes down to the fact that there was a pre-race strategy in place—basically a pact for the start...

Another thing is that even if Charles Leclerc wanted to follow the plan, he couldn't really—not after Sebastian Vettel had such a killer start and Lewis Hamilton struggled so much right off the line...

Hamilton actually managed to jump ahead of McLaren at the launch. Honestly, maybe they should have just tucked in behind them during that first lap and waited for a brilliant Charles Leclerc to blast past them for a lap, since he was giving them such a great tow anyway 🙂

Plus, let’s not forget Singapore and all that chaos on the Ferrari pit wall with them trying to fix everything on the fly...
After a few races where Ferrari's strategy actually looked solid, we're right back to square one—watching them make silly mistakes, and then making even bigger ones while trying to fix those initial blunders.

It doesn't matter whether the plan could technically be executed or not... if the agreement was to keep Hamilton behind the two of them and that happened, then mission accomplished, regardless of how it played out. Sebastian Vettel has to let Charles Leclerc through... end of story.

It would be a different story if there wasn't an agreement to begin with... then it's every man for himself.

Yes, I was just reviewing the radio transcripts, and when they told Sebastian Vettel to let Charles Leclerc through, he basically said, "Just let him go, give me two more laps, then we'll deal with it"... or something along those lines...🙂

The idea was that within those two laps, while running in clear air, he could stretch his lead to about 1.9 seconds... which would have allowed them to pivot to "Plan C"... 🙂

If it hadn't been for that mechanical failure and the Virtual Safety Car, this would have easily been a Frenkie 1-2 finish

stormybadger8 said:I mean, if anyone deserves a pink slip, it’s probably his race engineer—the guy screaming "stop the car, stop the car" over the radio—not Vettel.🙂

Look, conspiracy theories are fine for fun, but for God's sake, they should at least have some semblance of logic...
but this stuff you guys are pushing doesn't make any sense whatsoever...☕

And what was he even trying to get at with that bring back the v12 nonsense? What's that supposed to mean?

Honestly, if they actually did that and buried these vacuum cleaners once and for all so we never have to see them again, I'd be all for it—but seriously, what is he even talking about?😁

cosmiccyclist8 said:Wait, what was he even rambling about with that bring back v12 thing?

I mean—if they actually did that, I’d be all for it! We could just bury these vacuum cleaners forever—but seriously, what is he even trying to say there?😁

V12 probably refers to Vettel12—you know, where Charles Leclerc basically has to hand him a 12-second head start every single race...

Gary Palmer8 said:Who cares if they could have done something differently? If there was an agreement to keep Lewis Hamilton behind those two, then that's what happened. Doesn't matter how they pulled it off. Vettel needs to let Leclerc through. Period.

It’d be a different story if there wasn't some kind of deal in place... then it would just be every man for himself.

Why on earth would Vettel be expected to just pull over on the track and let some slower driver pass him? 🙂
Besides just hating his guts, do you actually have a legitimate reason, or is that it?

If Leclerc had actually given Hamilton a decent slipstream during some sort of battle, we’d all be in serious trouble. God help us.

Keep an eye on the track right now. Vettel just swung to the outside and pulled it right past Leclerc.
It wasn't some slipstream thing, either. It was all about the setup. You could see it clearly during qualifying yesterday—Vettel just had way more punch on acceleration and a higher top speed than Leclerc.
What if Leclerc had gone the other way with his setup? Like, sacrifice some straight-line speed just to nail those slow corners instead.

Even if you want to blame the slipstream for the pass, it doesn't hold up. He wasn't fast enough to catch and overtake Sebastian Vettel at a normal pace, let alone have the speed to pull away from Lewis Hamilton. That's the real issue.
And then what? Vettel was supposed to just roll over, let Leclerc pass him, all while Lewis Hamilton is breathing down Leclerc's neck? And naturally, he'd have to lose ground to Hamilton along the way too... unbelievable.

And all that just because Vettel had a killer start. Yeah, right.
That’s exactly why the crew insisted on it. 🙂

Look, I know Ferrari’s tactics can be absolutely brainless sometimes, but let’s not act like everyone involved is a total idiot.

https://wtf1.com/post/leclerc-explai...-with-vettel/?

So this is what "team orders" look like according to Leclerc...

“If there was Lewis and Seb side by side, I obviously had to advantage Seb and not Lewis, which is normal. So, that was what was agreed.”

One tiny little detail the kid missed—or just conveniently forgot—is that Vettel and Hamilton weren't even side by side.
In fact, Vettel literally jumped past Hamilton right at the start. The ones actually racing side by side were Hamilton and Sainz...

And in all this nonsense, he didn't even notice the incredible start from both McLarens. Too bad they lacked top-end speed, otherwise Germany would have left them in the dust later on...

Sebastian Vettel did exactly what any elite driver would—those absolute killers like Lewis Hamilton, Senna, Michael Schumacher, Alain Prost, and the rest.

Leclerc is in a learning phase this season, but he’s already picked up so much—he’s gotten way more aggressive, etc.—and this was probably his final lesson. There’s no honor out there; it's every man for himself, with the only real rule being don't take out your teammate if you're fighting for the constructors' title.

The kid has brutal raw speed—honestly faster than Sebastian Vettel—but he’s still learning the ropes this year. What’s actually impressive is how fast he picks things up; he makes a mistake once and immediately figures out how to fix it. You don't see that with Max—it took him five years to realize you can't just force everything through sheer will.

Leclerc is a future legend, a worthy successor to Lewis Hamilton.🙏