F1 Montreal GP: June 7-9, 2019

stormybadger8 said:Who says they don't know what they're doing?
They could have easily picked up Palmer too—they probably would've swept every single title in a row...

They didn't pick up Bottas because he's amazing or some kind of genius; they took him because:
A.) He's obedient.
B.) He's solid enough to ensure their dominant beast finishes at least 3rd or 4th every race—and occasionally even 2nd.

And honestly, that's plenty for them—who else would they need? 🤷
Why bother with a driver who might actually irritate Hamilton, leading to another season like 2016 where they might just lose out to an outsider—sort of like how McLaren and Hamilton handled things. 😉

That’s basically your description of Hulk 😃 Except, I guess, he seems to have an aversion to the podium compared to Bottas. Bottas is essentially everything Hulk is, just... better.

crimsonhawk23 said:Tell Mercedes they have no clue what they're doing because they snatched up a much worse driver back in 2016 when Hulkenberg was basically handed to them on a silver platter.

They didn't have him sitting there waiting, though. Hulkenberg actually locked in a multi-year deal with Renault back in August 2016. Rosberg didn't pull the plug on his career until much later. Honestly, besides Bottas, they weren't left with many choices. And they only grabbed Bottas from Williams because of those close ties, which wasn't even public knowledge until January 16, 2017.

That’s how Ben Anderson broke it down over at autosport.com—specifically in that deep dive titled "Why Mercedes picked Bottas";

Hulkenberg would arguably have been The perfect fit for mercedes in Thes circumstances. An experienced driver, German, and considered among the best on the grid yet to earn a shot with a top team. Had Hulkenberg decided to reject Renault and see out the final year of his Force India contract, a move to Mercedes would have been relatively straightforward, since Force India always claimed they wouldn't block him if a top-tier team came knocking.
https://www.autosport.com/f1/feature...-picked-bottas

And then he goes on about Bottas;
The more you narrow down the realistic options for Mercedes, the more Bottas looks like the best fit given the circumstances. He is already part of the Mercedes family, through its customer engine deal with Williams, as well as being managed in part by Wolff. All this must have played a part in Mercedes' thinking. The Finn looks like someone to slot in at short notice who will do a good job without rocking Hamilton's boat, trying too hard to make an impression, or occasionally going missing through inexperience. He also possesses an even temperament, which should help Mercedes avoid the sort of internal conflicts that became a regular feature of the recent Hamilton/Rosberg rivalry.

Also, let's not forget that before all this, Hulkenberg was actually in the mix for a seat at Ferrari for the 2014 season. But Marrone ended up grabbing Kimi instead just to make sure things stayed smooth for Vettel.

crimsonhawk23 said:That’s basically Hulk in a nutshell 😃 Except he seems to have a personal vendetta against podiums, unlike Bottas. Bottas is everything Hulk is, just better.

Hulk isn't even half as compliant as Bottas...
On the flip side, Bottas is the kind of guy who'll bend over backward before you even ask him. He's basically Felipe Massa or Rubens Barrichello squared.

crimsonhawk23 said:That’s basically just a description of Hulk 😃 except he seems to have some kind of allergy to the podium, unlike Bottas. Bottas is pretty much everything Hulk is, just... better.

Everything you say about Hulk somehow ends up being dead wrong 🙂

stormybadger8 said:Of course you don't know. If you did, you would've learned it ages ago...
You've been around here a long time 😁

Just look at how my young Padawan learned...
https://www.f1puls.com/40154/ma-dajte-molim-vas/
Geldaj, enjoy the ride and keep learning. 😁

If I had seen the headline earlier, I might have actually read it. Instead, I just skimmed past it like a shallow stream—or like how I usually scroll through your threads.

To be fair, you both seem to be in the same boat (Vettel gives you both those "butterflies in your stomach"), though there's one massive difference: he makes a living from this, while you're just shortening your own lifespan.

Why are you cutting your life short like this? You're heading toward a Sisyphus task. You don't even realize this is just the start of your "hell," dealing with endless different usernames trying to explain why they're right. As time goes on, you'll face more people calling Vettel a "fraud," a "fluke," an "undeserved champion," or "lucky"... and the list goes on.

Look, I get that because you're deep in the fanboy phase, you can't see the situation objectively. I know you probably won't understand me even after this, but I have to try, because despite your flaws, I think you're a decent guy.🙂

Candok thinks Vettel didn't do anything wrong;
https://www.essentiallysports.com/wa...jDUZdWTlZl24fg

Honestly, does it even matter? Vettel made a mistake, the officials completely botched it, and they'll just have to deal with the fallout on their end. Meanwhile, Hamilton might as well go ahead and grab another win...

Alright, so I just finished combing through the whole race using Ricciardo's onboard footage and all the team radio, and now I've started doing the same deep dive for Hulk. On lap two, they tell him to switch from scenario 1 to scenario 3 "to save performance for later," and then by lap three, they're practically begging him to slow down and cool those brakes—and stop chasing Pierre Gasly—because they're overheating. If I dig up anything else interesting, I'll let you know... but honestly, this stuff is already gold if you actually want a real analysis with some actual substance behind it.

wiredfalcon2 said:It seems like everything you write about Hulk ends up being wrong—I guess. 🙂

Fair point—I took a closer look at his F1 stats just now and realized I completely missed those podium finishes he’s picked up over the years. My mistake.

They told Nico Hulkenberg not to bother defending against Valtteri Bottas or even touch that overtake button, claiming it wasn't even his fight to win. But let’s be real—they’re clearly telling Bottas the exact same thing, since he isn't even remotely close to being a threat to him anyway.

stormybadger8 said:I honestly couldn't care less about penalties or precedents...
Those "experts" basically killed the race and the actual racing with that penalty—if Sebastian Vettel had been in that spot, would he have even gotten flagged? Even if he did, who cares after the race is over???
And for those who actually do care—would Sebastian Vettel be sitting on seven fewer points right now? Who gives a damn in a season where it’s already blindingly obvious that Lewis Hamilton is just going to stroll to the title, especially since his only real competition is Valtteri Bottas, who isn't even really competing at that level....

The bottom line is the officials totally ruined the racing. They killed what should have been a legendary duel—the kind people talk about for generations—when it felt like we were finally getting a real, high-stakes showdown until the very end...
But those geniuses stepped in and killed the vibe, all because of some stupid rule they're clinging to for the sake of political correctness or whatever nonsense they're all preaching together... 🤦

P. S. Give my best to your parents from NASCAR and tell them they didn't exactly nail the job this time...

Wow, you're pathetic. Honestly, how can you even bring up someone's parents? You've got zero shame—you're just being ignorant and obnoxious.

I thought I'd jump in and contribute a little something to this discussion. This is actually a pretty solid video.

https://www.instagram.com/p/BylL5eKB...=1j547qb38flc2

Nicole Taylor said:Just wanted to throw something into the mix here. This is a pretty solid video.

https://www.instagram.com/p/BylL5eKB...=1j547qb38flc2

Regarding Lewis Hamilton in Monaco—I can't recall exactly how they handled penalties back then, but I’d have handed him a 10-second penalty right then and there.

For the Lewis Hamilton/Sirotkin situation, it should have been a back-of-the-grid start. Anything less than that is too light.

Then you have the Mercedes-Benz/Lewis Hamilton penalty in Germany, where they had to pit. It was such a mess—one minute they're in the pits, the next they aren't. Just pure chaos. 🤣

neonfox65 said:Honestly, you should be embarrassed—bringing my parents into this? It’s just low, and frankly, you're acting pretty irrational right now.

I bet you wouldn't dare say that to my face... I know I wouldn't say it to yours—well, if I did, I don't think we'd both be walking away from the argument!

Is this some kind of dangerous thread full of people just itching for a fight? I’m actually shaking over here, so maybe quit acting so damn macho.

wiredfalcon2 said:Is this some kind of dangerous thread filled with people just itching for a fight? I’m shaking in my boots here—try not to be quite so macho.

It's hard to know where to even start. People are bringing up parents, idiots, murder... what is wrong with you people? 😁

It suddenly warmed up—everyone just lost it! 😬

Raymond Anderson4 said:I don't really know how they used to handle penalties back then, but I guess they probably should have just slapped a 10-second time penalty on Lewis Hamilton.
I guess we’re looking at that Lewis Hamilton Sirotkin penalty from the start, though honestly, I feel like people are being way too aggressive about how close they were getting out there. It’s all starting to feel a bit much, if you ask me.
So, I was thinking about that whole mess where Mercedes-Benz got hit with the Hamilton Germany penalty and they had to deal with that pit lane issue... man, it was such a headache. It’s like, one minute you're thinking you've got the strategy sorted, and then suddenly it's all "wait, actually stay in the pits" and then "no, wait, get out." Just constant back-and-forth. A little bit of pit lane, a little bit of not, just total chaos, I guess. 🤣

If the refs decided that was actually legal, then I guess there’s really nothing left to argue about, honestly. Word on the street in the paddock is... well, I guess you could say there's a lot of chatter going around right now. I mean, I guess they actually do know what's going on.

Of course, everyone seems to have forgotten that the rulebook is constantly shifting. Something that wouldn't have earned you a peep from the stewards back then could easily land you a massive penalty today.