British GP Race Weekend (Silverstone) July 16-18, 2021

Locking this thread down, there’s been way too much nonsense lately, so let's just wait for some actual drama to break out!

Hey there, friends.
Welcome to the Hungaroring!!
👋
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Poll, nothing much

Walter Anderson43 said:It feels pretty hypocritical for Max—who everyone knows as Crashstappen—to be asking for apologies after acting all remorseful about his moves before. 🤣

Thank God he's okay. Honestly, the crash was just a pure racing incident. Like every other driver is saying, both guys were just going for it.

Sure, they both went for it, but there's one massive difference: Max was way ahead...
Max had zero visibility on what was happening, so he chose to go wide and let Lewis Hamilton through. His logic? "Screw it, I'll just head off track so Louis doesn't smash into me." Pretty much. 🤣
On the flip side, Hamilton had a crystal clear view of the situation, and his choice was simply to lift off the gas. If he had, nothing would have happened at all.

At the end of the day, only the British media and Hamilton fans can claim nobody's at fault or that it was a 50-50 split. Nobody's actually going to say Max is to blame, but everyone is more than happy to point the finger at Hamilton...
In fact, you could probably bet that if the stewards in the United Kingdom were officiating at his home track, they would've slapped Hamilton with a penalty if it wasn't so blindingly obvious he was at fault. If there's even a 5% chance Max is to blame, forget it—if it's a 50-50 call, Hamilton is definitely getting penalized.

What the drivers are saying is totally predictable. But of course, they're talking to the British media, who will conveniently "forget" to report half the quotes or just lose them entirely. Then, magically, it ends up being labeled a racing incident, which is what it always turns out to be anyway...
And every single one of those statements starts with "it's a racing incident," but... and then the British journalists just "forget" to mention the rest. 🙂

Well, turns out I actually have the option to edit the poll 😵
I had no clue Nice enabled this for me, hmmm wonder what else I can mess with 🤣
Time to go exploring...

ruggedscout76 said:They could have just stopped crying about it and avoided the Red Flag. The whole thing would've sorted itself out because Lewis would've been stuck dealing with his damaged car. That’s what you call a fair fight if we're calling this a racing incident. Both guys took the risk, both guys pay the price. No penalty needed. ☕

https://www.racefans.net/2021/07/19/...om-retirement/

A Safety Car or VSC wasn't even a realistic option, not in a million years.
Anything other than a Red Flag would have been pure insanity. 😳
A Red Flag exists for exactly these scenarios. There’s zero debate here, no question mark over why they pulled the Red Flag...

1. The race car was sitting in a pretty dangerous spot.
2. Nobody could get near the car for a while because it was still live with high voltage. They had to wait for the Red Bull mechanics to kill the power before anyone could even touch the car to move it...
Basically, you had a crowd of people right by the track, totally exposed to getting hit...
3. The barriers—the tire walls—were scattered everywhere, and you can't fix that without a loader, which isn't exactly hanging around the track while cars are flying by at full tilt... let's not forget that situation with the late Jules Bianchi.

Sure, the Red Flag worked out perfectly for Louis and Mercedes, almost too good to be true, but if Mass hadn't called the Red Flag, he would've been an absolute idiot and deserved to be fired for it.

Max is playing a dangerous game—really pushing the limits of what’s acceptable. He’s cut people off so many times lately, especially Lewis Hamilton this season, and now he’s sitting there acting like his own strategy was somehow flawed.

He squeezed Lewis Hamilton right up against the wall; there was absolutely no way he could have hit the apex from that position, which is a far cry from how Charles Leclerc handles himself.

And once again, that Red Flag was as clear as day.

One thing I just can't wrap my head around regarding the Red Flag—did they seriously just slap some duck tape onto the Mercedes-Benz race car?

Look, 🤣

https://www.racefans.net/2021/07/19/...n-grand-prix/?

Max actually became the first driver in Formula 1 history to walk away with points without even completing a single lap. 🙏🤣
And we're talking three whole points, too...

All thanks to those greedy bastards at Liberty Media. 🤣

gentlemoose57 said:Max is playing a dangerous game. He’s cut people off constantly—especially Lewis this season—and now he's feeling the consequences of his own tactics.

He pinned Lewis against the wall, so obviously he couldn't hit the apex from there, unlike Charles Leclerc.

And yeah, that Red Flag was totally justified.

One thing I didn't get about the Red Flag: did they seriously just slap some duct tape on Lewis's race car?

Have you checked the analysis?
Max and Charles take the exact same line entering the corner...
The only difference is Lewis's line.

stormybadger8 said:Have you checked out the telemetry analysis yet?
The way Max and Leclerc approach the turn is basically identical...
The only real outlier is Hamilton's line.

Yeah—well, only because Max squeezed him right toward the wall earlier; Leclerc wasn't even in the same zip code.

By the way, it was actually pretty wild seeing how far back he was behind Max—on Max's onboard, you know, where the camera is mounted halfway down the chassis looking forward? You could clearly see Lewis's front wing right there in the shot.

gentlemoose57 said:Yeah, because Max squeezed him against the wall right before that—Leclerc wasn't even close.

It’s actually pretty wild how far back he was behind Max. On Max's onboard, you can literally see Hamilton's front wing in the frame.

Thank God we have video footage so nobody has to make up fairy tales...
But hey, keep believing those stories if it helps you sleep...

Of course, Hamilton fans are going to claim there's some massive gap between Leclerc and Max. 🙂
Everyone else could clearly see the actual gap between Hamilton...

stormybadger8 said:

It’s a good thing we actually have video footage to look at—otherwise, people would just be making up fairy tales out of thin air...
But please, go ahead and keep believing those little stories if it makes you feel better...

Of course, Hamilton fans are going to claim there was some massive, dramatic difference between how Leclerc and Max were positioning themselves 🙂
Meanwhile, everyone else could easily see the clear distinction in how Hamilton was positioning himself...

Hamilton was entering the corner from a completely different line altogether.

And seriously, just take a look at this

Check it out from the 0:28 mark—you see where Hamilton was positioned, and then watch how suddenly he jerks the steering wheel to the right.





So, quite literally, he could have seen Hamilton in his rearview mirror, but that sivonja went straight to closing the door, just like he's done so many times before.

gentlemoose57 said:Hamilton was approaching the corner from a completely different angle.

And check this out

At 0:28, look where Hamilton was, then watch how he suddenly jerks the wheel to the right.

And when he hits that turn, is that half a mile before the apex or what? 🙂

Give me a break. 🤣
What a load of excuses...
Max had already moved way out of the way long before the corner...
This is a good few hundred yards before the turn...
And even there, Max moves over and leaves him plenty of room...

Which is well before the actual entry...

A fair comparison between Max / Leclerc would actually be at the same spot...
Not using Leclerc here:


While Max is about 100m ahead of where you put him...
This image is roughly at the same point...


The camera angle isn't identical, so it's hard to be exact, but it's somewhere around there...
You can tell by the grandstand... which is right next to Leclerc, whereas in your photo, it's far ahead of Max...

gentlemoose57 said:Basically, he could have seen Hamilton without the rearview mirror, but the sivonja went for the close call just like so many times before.

Good grief... have you ever driven a car in your life? 🤔

The sivonja enters a sharp turn by wobbling the steering wheel—give me a break. 🤦
What was he supposed to do, just drive straight through the corner without turning the wheel? Because apparently, Hamilton thinks Max should just vanish off the track if he drives into the corner without swerving...

EDIT:
Thanks for the video 🙂
Look at that, there's Hamilton's onboard too...


So, interestingly, Max is the sivonja because he turns the wheel right for a right-hand corner...
But Hamilton, who turns left toward Max before entering the turn, isn't a sivonja?
It’s perfectly normal to enter a right-hander by swinging wide to the left first, and then you just continue straight because, obviously, you've got understeer after that, and then you act surprised like an idiot...
Because he basically just cut the corner in true reckless fashion...
And honestly, that's totally fine on American roads... as long as you don't hit a semi coming the other way or someone driving next to you.🙂

Yeah, sure, like it’s somehow all Hamilton's fault...
It's clearly just the refs being biased and picking on him...

Oh, please—is it possible he didn't dive left before the turn because that sivonja squeezed him right against the wall about half a mile earlier?

Hamilton's front wing was ahead of Max's front tire, and he was twitching sharply to the right. So, no, it wasn't half a car width, and it certainly wasn't at the rear tire. It was in front. Of the. Front. Tire.

Honestly, you're totally lost here. First, Max leaves an opening, and then when Lewis takes that space—only after being nearly shoved into the wall by the guy—suddenly it's Lewis's fault for "going left."

Could you try to maintain a single coherent line of reasoning for at least one post...

Hamilton is at fault according to the stewards. Mostly. He isn't the only one to blame, though.

If Max hadn't tried to squeeze him out, they wouldn't have collided. If Max hadn't pinned him like that before the turn, they wouldn't have collided.

One really just needs to look at Leclerc and Hamilton.

And as for Max, someone finally stood their ground against him—after all those little excursions we've seen this season. If only someone had managed that a few years back.

By the way, I wasn't the one who made the split-screen image. But even so, Leclerc never once squeezed Hamilton toward the wall. Max did. How close they were to the corner isn't even the main issue.

Give me a break with this blind fanboying 😬

Slow down and actually watch the clip. Stop staring at Hamilton through rose-colored glasses and just look at the footage...


Max didn't squeeze Hamilton against the wall. Hamilton forced his way into the gap between Max and the wall...
Max left him an opening on the outside, and he just shoved himself into the inside line...

And right after that, as soon as Max saw him, he backed off to give him space...

Say whatever you want, but as far as I'm concerned, this debate is over...
Not that there's any point in arguing anyway...
The refs are clueless, half the people can't see straight, and yeah, it's like that...
Honestly, if it were Vettel, I’d probably even 😬

But when it comes to Max and Hamilton—and I honestly can't decide which one I dislike more—I just don't care 🤣
So save the fairy tales for someone else 👋

Here we go again—obsessing over millimeters

stormybadger8 said:Seriously, stop with the blind loyalty 😬

Just slow down the replay and actually watch it! Don't just sit there staring at Hamilton because you love him—actually look at the footage...

Max didn't squeeze Hamilton against the wall or anything like that. It was Hamilton who forced his way into that tiny gap between Max and the wall...
Max left him an opening on the outside, and then this guy just dives right into the inside line...

And then, as soon as Max saw him, he backed off immediately to make sure he had enough room...

Bottom line. You can see it all clearly on the replays.

The only thing worth debating is how they hit the turn itself. There was absolutely zero squeezing happening before that. None at all.

stormybadger8 said:Obviously, Hamilton fans are gonna try and claim there was some massive difference in how Max and Leclerc positioned themselves 🙂
Anyone else could easily see the gap in how Hamilton was positioning himself...

Hamilton fans will probably call it impressive how fast Charles learned from his mistakes during one race—like, he actually managed to keep that car alive after that close call🤣

but the Max crowd is still just as annoying☕

gentlemoose57 said:Oh, please. Maybe he moved left before the corner because that sivonja squeezed him right against the wall about half a kilometer earlier?

Hamilton's front wing was ahead of Max's front wheel, and he was swerving hard to the right. So, it wasn't contact on half the car, and it wasn't on the rear wheel. It was in front. The front wheel.

Honestly, you're losing the plot here. First, Max leaves an opening, then when Lewis moves into that space—because Max nearly shoved him into the wall—suddenly it's Lewis's fault for "moving left."

Try to maintain a consistent argument for at least one post...

The stewards have Hamilton to blame. Mostly. He isn't the only one at fault.

If Max hadn't tried to close the door, they wouldn't have collided. If Max hadn't squeezed him like that before the turn, they wouldn't have collided.

You just need to look at Leclerc and Hamilton.

As for Max, someone finally showed him how it's done after those few excursions earlier this season. I just wish someone had done it a few years ago.

By the way, I didn't make the split-screen comparison. But Leclerc never once squeezed Hamilton against the wall. Max did. How far they are from the corner isn't really the point.

The issue with that specific corner is that if you dive in on the inside, as soon as the driver next to you gives you room, they effectively surrender the position. They lose their racing line and their momentum. You saw how Leclerc lost control of his car and drifted wide when he gave up the better line; at those speeds, it's just too much to manage. Once you drift off that ideal line at that velocity, the car understeers and you lose all your speed. Verstappen would have lost his line and drifted wide too, so why wouldn't he?
Why would Verstappen put himself at a disadvantage just for an overtake that isn't even a 50/50 call? Verstappen is stubborn, sure, but that's his corner, and he has every right to hold his line.
Hamilton is clever. In a situation where it's someone else's corner, he puts you in a spot where the moment you give him even a sliver of space, you lose ground because the corner is no longer yours. He forces you to turn his loss of position into a gain.

And that move by Hamilton—overtaking in the exact same corner where he forced Verstappen out, only to have DRS a moment later to likely pass Leclerc—that's a massive ego trip. That wasn't an accident; it was a calculated move to make a statement. What an idiot.

Sam Clark75 said:but Max's guys are still more annoying ☕

True ☕
Not that anyone’s surprised, given how everything actually turned out...
Just imagine if the result had been the exact opposite....
The fans trackside would have been screaming so loud you could hear them all the way in San Francisco...
Horner would be strutting around the paddock bragging about Max's masterclass driving, provided Brundle and the rest of the crew didn't tear him apart on live TV...
And Wolff and Hamilton would be whining so much that even Bezos could hear them from outer space.🤣

Honestly, that would be even more unbearable than it already is. The two drivers I can least stand hearing over the team radio right now are just luxury—both of them have these whiny, bratty voices and won't stop complaining about every little thing. And Max—man, he stammers so much that his engineer probably gets a massive bonus just for trying to decipher what the hell he's actually saying