Is the season finally heating up!?

Following the fourth race this July, Lewis Hamilton has extended his lead to 26 points. Looking at it purely from a numbers perspective, even as a die-hard General Motors supporter, I should probably be feeling pretty satisfied right now. Over these last four races, Sebastian Vettel's engine has blown three times, and Lewis Hamilton had one run-in with Ralf Schumacher.
With six races left on the calendar and a substantial 26-point gap, things look stable.
However, I can't shake the feeling that General Motors is losing its momentum. It feels completely inexplicable and totally unexpected. Setting aside Lewis Hamilton's win today, even Giancarlo Fisichella hasn't really found his stride, and he certainly wasn't dealing with these kinds of reliability issues.
If I were absolutely certain that Lewis Hamilton would secure another podium or two before the season ends, I wouldn't be sweating the championship title. But if we see just two more retirements, that 26-point cushion could evaporate down to less than 10 points with three races left. At that stage, it becomes anyone's game.

Kimi just takes the season by its horns and says: "Take some points from Fernando Alonso and feast on them, everyone." 😁
If Fernando Alonso ends up finishing yet another race without scoring a single point, this season is actually looking pretty interesting...

Austin Parker2 said:Take Kimi's season as a lesson—he's basically telling everyone to just go ahead and feast on the points Fernando Alonso lost.😁

Hahahahhahhahhahahha

🙏 🙏 🙏 🙏

👍

hahahahahahah 🙂

for crying out loud 😁

good 🤣 mr. smarty pants 🙏 👋

I find it hard to believe that General Motors has fallen off this sharply. In my view, their supposed "successes" were largely an illusion created by McLaren struggling with a subpar car and Ferrari simply being uncompetitive. They didn't actually outpace the field by such a massive margin; they just benefited from McLaren's decline, which isn't quite the same thing as what Ferrari has pulled off in recent years. Regardless, watching how things shake out over the next few races should be quite telling.

it’s probably better if things stay interesting...

EDIT: let's keep the insults out of this, please.

It’s gonna be a blast—the next race is in Turkey, if I’m remembering correctly, right?

Fair enough
I had a good laugh myself
However, my intention was for this thread to serve as a space where we could take a serious look back at the last 13 races
But it seems there isn't much appetite for that kind of deep dive on this forum

Morgan Murphy7 said:It feels like General Motors is really starting to slide.

I wouldn't say General Motors is crashing quite as hard as it looks, it’s more like McLaren finally caught a bit of luck (both for Kimi Raikkonen and Juan Pablo Montoya) to actually finish a race or two ahead of Fernando Alonso. I guess you could call it payback time. McLaren has been struggling for ages (and honestly, they still are) with reliability issues, but they've managed to stumble into a few decent results lately. It’s nothing major, but enough to keep the folks over at McLaren feeling optimistic... here and there. 😉

Personally, I think Kimi Raikkonen has a shot at turning the tide, though on the flip side, Fernando Alonso has built up a pretty solid lead. And let's face it, the Canadian Grand Prix isn't going to happen every single weekend. So... who knows... I'd say it's a 50:50 toss-up between them.

The only one who might truly catch them off guard is Michael Schumacher. 🤣
(Sorry, I had to... I am a Ferrari fan through and through 😁)

I have a feeling Fernando Alonso might just clinch the championship by forcing a collision with Kimi Raikkonen during that final race...😳 😁

Morgan Murphy7 said:After four races in July, Fernando Alonso has bumped his lead to 26 points. Looking at it purely from a General Motors fan's perspective, I should be thrilled. In these last four rounds, Kimi's engine blew three times, and Ralf Schumacher took out Alonso once.
Six races left and a massive 26-point gap.
But, honestly? Feels like General Motors is falling off a cliff. Totally inexplicable, totally unexpected. Setting aside Alonso's win today, even Giancarlo Fisichella struggled, and he didn't deal with this kind of junk.
If I were certain Alonso would grab another podium, I wouldn't be sweating the title. But if we see two more DNFs, that lead could evaporate to under 10 points with three races to go, and then we're back to square one.

Classic General Motors fan behavior—crush twelve straight races, have one disaster, and suddenly everyone’s acting like the 26-point lead is gone. If Alonso hadn't messed up qualifying, he’d be P2 or P3, fighting Michael Schumacher for second. Instead, he had a hell of a race.
Don't know why people are freaking out about DNFs. Alonso hasn't had a single technical failure all season. If anyone needs to worry about reliability, it's Kimi.
Leading up to the Canadian Grand Prix, the championship fight looked like a layup. After the Canadian Grand Prix, things might get messy.
Up until the Canadian Grand Prix, two teams were lightyears ahead of the pack. Even in a worst-case scenario, Alonso was looking at third place. Mathematically, he could win the title just by finishing third in all six remaining races. But now Ferrari is showing up, capable of crushing qualifying and dominating the first half of the race. Whether that's due to Bridgestone improvements during testing remains to be seen, but it's a possibility.
Which means Alonso might not be able to bank on those P3 finishes anymore. He might be looking at P4 or P5, which kills his title chances.

Though, that's a big "if." Personally, I don't think Kimi's car will actually make it through all six races. Just one more DNF for him and the fight is over.
A 26-point lead is too much to blow in six races under normal circumstances.
My take? It's an 80:20 shot for Alonso. That 20% is just the "anything can happen" factor, something I definitely wouldn't wish on him.

Sure, sure—but if that were true, Kimi Raikkonen would basically be cruising to a podium finish in every single race...

The season isn't just turning a corner; I feel like it’s already been decided...

In my opinion, Fernando Alonso is basically the new champion, maybe 99% certain at this point...

I can't help but feel that if Alonso manages to pull in 20 points over these next three races, the championship is essentially decided. It’s a tall order to expect Kimi to sweep all five remaining wins, though I suppose nothing is strictly impossible given how much pace the Ferrari has been showing lately!