Dutch GP (Santa Monica) - September 3-5, 2021

fadedwalker18 said:.........

First off, if anyone had any doubts about George Russell stepping into that Mercedes seat next year, they can toss those doubts out the window after watching how lackluster Valtteri Bottas's fastest lap was just two laps from the finish. It practically forced his crew to call Lewis, who ended up snatching back a potentially valuable point in the final lap. That tragicomic indecision was highlighted when he backed off halfway through the lap the second Mercedes dropped his kryptonite over the radio. He lost a few tenths in the middle sector and then slowed down even more in the final sector just to ensure he wouldn't cause any headaches for his teammate later. As a result, Lewis ended up with a lap that was a full second and a half faster. So, if you thought we were going to see a "determined" Valtteri playing for pride and hunting fast laps to bolster his legacy, think again; he’s leaning into a different kind of exit. He’s leaving, for sure, and he probably already knows his days at Mercedes are numbered, but he’ll depart in his signature style—half-hearted, strictly professional, and without an ounce of spirit or grit.

.......

🤮

yeah, and?

Red Bull showed some serious pace on this track, but both Red Bull and Sergio Perez really dropped the ball during Saturday qualifying, which cost them a shot at those top three spots.
Looking at how Red Bull handles braking, they might not be left too far behind at Indianapolis, though I’m still bracing for them to be down by a few tenths per lap, whether we're looking at race pace or qualifying.

Elizabeth Mendoza said:Fresh tires and an empty tank—he still managed to snag it even with the slowdown. But let's be real, Lewis ended up pulling away by a full second and a half. He definitely choked in that final sector; his time was 1:12:54 while Lewis's 1:11:09 was way ahead.

They told him earlier that a pit stop isn't ideal for a flyer, but he went ahead and played dumb anyway. It’s entirely possible he just cruised through the lap—staying slow enough to manage things, yet fast enough in that last sector to overtake.

Sure, maybe LH was already eyeing those softs for a qualifying-style lap, but honestly, a mediocre Valtteri Bottas shouldn't have been much of a threat regardless...

Jason Campbell70 said:*Spotted.

What does "Flet" actually mean?

Max Verstappen is an absolutely formidable driver; one cannot help but observe that he has truly earned his championship title this year.

Max was smart enough to keep a close eye on what Lewis was doing and adjust accordingly. That’s one reason he managed to hold onto his lead. But let’s be honest: Lewis is still the one setting the tempo of this game, even if he didn't take the win this time. For Max to truly dominate, he needs to step up and outmaneuver him strategically. He has the grit and the heart for it, but Lewis has a more powerful car and possesses a certain level of cunning—making those calculated moves that Max just doesn't attempt, despite his occasional streak of arrogance. Regardless, it was a well-earned victory for Max. He lands on that podium based on his own merit, whereas Lewis relies heavily on massive team support and a significant personal sacrifice from Valtteri.

urbanfox said:Max was smart enough to keep a close eye on what Lewis was doing and adjust accordingly. That’s one reason he managed to hold onto his lead. But let’s be honest: Lewis is still the one setting the tempo of this game, even if he didn't take the win this time. For Max to truly dominate, he needs to step up and outmaneuver him strategically. He has the grit and the heart for it, but Lewis has a more powerful car and possesses a certain level of cunning—making those calculated moves that Max just doesn't attempt, despite his occasional streak of arrogance. Regardless, it was a well-earned victory for Max. He lands on that podium based on his own merit, whereas Lewis relies heavily on massive team support and a significant personal sacrifice from Valtteri.

It wasn't Max watching anyone; it was his pit wall keeping him informed.
Max won today simply because he was faster. end of Story.

mellowtiger83 said:Tell your friend he’s overreaching with that comparison. Perez is sitting in a car that is easily a full second faster than Vettel’s, let alone compared to the backmarkers he’s slicing through.

Vettel simply couldn't manage it; he tried to force the pace until he spun out. Even Stroll couldn't mount an attack against a Williams in that exact same machinery.

Is Perez a good driver? Certainly, given he's in F1. But once they paired him up next to Max Verstappen, his perceived talent level took a hit.

Yeah, I get it...
It's wild how much timing can absolutely wreck a race strategy...

Vettel’s car was noticeably slower than Perez’s. In clean air during that stretch, Perez was consistently about 1 to 1.3 seconds faster per lap than Vettel...
At that moment, Perez was tearing it up, hitting fastest laps back-to-back...

Even Perez struggled for a couple of laps behind Nikita Mazepin before passing him, and then Vettel caught up two laps later.
Vettel was right on his tail, within 0.1 sec 😳—he could have forced a pass if he hadn't been pushing so hard just to stay alive...
But he didn't go for it, and immediately after, Max comes through, then Lewis, then Valtteri, and only then does Vettel finally clear Mazepin.

By letting that trio go, Vettel’s entire strategy went straight down the drain. If he had pushed harder or ignored those blue flags, he might have held onto that 20-second gap to Lando Norris. At best, he would've stayed ahead, and honestly, he probably could have picked off Nazzi, Ricciardo, Stroll, Tsunoda, and Russell right through the pits...
And given his actual pace, he likely would've closed that gap to Norris way more than 20 seconds.

Instead, he dropped about ten seconds to that group. By the time they all pitted, they all came out right in front of him—just enough to leave him in the dust.

urbanfox said:Max was smart enough to keep a close eye on what Lewis was doing and adjust accordingly. That’s one reason he managed to hold onto his lead. But let’s be honest: Lewis is still the one setting the tempo of this game, even if he didn't take the win this time. For Max to truly dominate, he needs to step up and outmaneuver him strategically. He has the grit and the heart for it, but Lewis has a more powerful car and possesses a certain level of cunning—making those calculated moves that Max just doesn't attempt, despite his occasional streak of arrogance. Regardless, it was a well-earned victory for Max. He lands on that podium based on his own merit, whereas Lewis relies heavily on massive team support and a significant personal sacrifice from Valtteri.

Sometimes Lewis sets the tempo, but yesterday he definitely wasn't calling the shots because he simply lacked the pace.
When Max hit that traffic, his gap shrank from 4 seconds down to 1.4, but then between laps 54 and 61, he pushed it right back up to 4 seconds.
If you look at the gap intervals between Max and Lewis, it’s clear his goal was to hover right around 3 to 4 seconds behind Lewis. He kept himself in that pocket the whole time. It was the same pattern at the start of the race—Max broke away by 3 or 4 seconds and focused on clawing his way back to that specific margin whenever Lewis tried to turn up the heat.

If Lewis had actually been leading a lap, he wouldn't have allowed Max to pull away by over 3 seconds at the start. It was obvious from the jump that Max was running maximum settings to chase down the fastest possible times. The folks at Mercedes probably anticipated something like that, but they were left completely speechless by Max's pace during those first ten laps.

Sam Clark75 said:yeah, and?

What do you mean, "and"?

Since Valtteri is... well, he's an ex-Mercedes driver, and that history really seems to weigh him down and hold him back from his full potential.

fadedwalker18 said:What do you mean, "and"?

Since Valtteri is... well, he's an ex-Mercedes driver, and that history really seems to weigh him down and hold him back from his full potential.

He struggled with his pace during this race too. Sure, he was on a longer stint, but there's still no excuse for losing that much time per lap.

The gap between the top three and the rest of the field is just too wide. It’s something I find myself thinking and writing about constantly—the true pace always reveals itself eventually. Most people focus on the delta to hide how fast a car actually is, but watching Max and Lewis battle it out yesterday really drove home the point. That gap is much larger than most people realize.

Bottas really hit rock bottom yesterday. Honestly, he probably couldn't have done much better than 3rd place given the circumstances—but that sluggish pace? It was just way too far below his usual standards.

It’s honestly pathetic seeing only the top three cars finishing on the same lap when Bottas was nearly a full minute behind. Pierre Gasly took fourth, but he was lapped, and the entire back half of the grid was two laps down. From Ricciardo onwards, everyone got lapped twice. 🤦I think even little Michael Schumacher got lapped three times.

urbanfox said:Max was smart enough to keep a close eye on what Lewis was doing and adjust accordingly. That’s one reason he managed to hold onto his lead. But let’s be honest: Lewis is still the one setting the tempo of this game, even if he didn't take the win this time. For Max to truly dominate, he needs to step up and outmaneuver him strategically. He has the grit and the heart for it, but Lewis has a more powerful car and possesses a certain level of cunning—making those calculated moves that Max just doesn't attempt, despite his occasional streak of arrogance. Regardless, it was a well-earned victory for Max. He lands on that podium based on his own merit, whereas Lewis relies heavily on massive team support and a significant personal sacrifice from Valtteri.

Lewis wasn't dictating anything. It was just Mercedes trying to screw over Red Bull through pit strategy by using Bottas as a buffer, which failed miserably. Then on the second round of stops, they messed up even more by driving right into traffic.

Amy Castillo4 said:Bottas really hit rock bottom yesterday. Honestly, he probably couldn't have done much better than 3rd place given the circumstances—but that sluggish pace? It was just way too far below his usual standards.

He started tanking way back last season. Back in 2019, he made a fool of himself acting like he had "reinvented" himself during the break—calling himself Bottas 2.0—and Mercedes immediately shut that down at the start of the season and shoved him into a corner.
I don't know, the guy is a complete mystery to me. He's totally spineless, lacks any self-respect. At one point, I actually wondered if he's just too much of a "nice guy" and his upbringing won't let him be aggressive toward Mercedes.

Honestly, nine out of ten drivers would be in his shoes this season. It's obvious to everyone that he's already halfway out the door, so they'd be driving for themselves instead of screwing over the team by fifty percent.

graniteharbor502 said:Max Verstappen is an absolutely formidable driver; one cannot help but observe that he has truly earned his championship title this year.

Max is basically driving the best car on the grid right now

And his only real competition is some guy slowly fading away from post-COVID syndrome

If he even wins the championship—honestly, it’ll be the most hollow title ever. Especially if Lewis kicks the bucket before the season ends.

ruggedhawk20 said:Max is basically driving the best car on the grid right now

And his only real competition is some guy slowly fading away from post-COVID syndrome

If he even wins the championship—honestly, it’ll be the most hollow title ever. Especially if Lewis kicks the bucket before the season ends.

🤣

Raymond Anderson4 said:The gap between the top three and the rest of the field is just too wide. It’s something I find myself thinking and writing about constantly—the true pace always reveals itself eventually. Most people focus on the delta to hide how fast a car actually is, but watching Max and Lewis battle it out yesterday really drove home the point. That gap is much larger than most people realize.

A second per lap, give or take. That's way too much.
ruggedhawk20 was insisting it all comes down to the drivers.
McLaren and Aston Martin look noticeably weak (unlike Mercedes), and Sainz completely fell off on the hards...

Amanda Kelly said:A second per lap, give or take. That's way too much.
ruggedhawk20 was insisting it all comes down to the drivers.
McLaren and Aston Martin look noticeably weak (unlike Mercedes), and Sainz completely fell off on the hards...

Exactly, which is why we need those new cars to arrive. It’s nearly impossible to catch the leaders unless there’s a major shift in the technical landscape.
Even Red Bull and Max wouldn't be breathing down Mercedes' necks right now if the regulations hadn't changed.

fadedwalker18 said:What do you mean, "and"?

Since Valtteri is... well, he's an ex-Mercedes driver, and that history really seems to weigh him down and hold him back from his full potential.

You’re jumping off my post by quoting some article that trashes Bottas, adding a vomit emoji, and thinking anyone could actually read that as you implying Bottas is "...... an ex Mercedes driver, and that kind of.... crushes him, holds him back, and all that"?

😂

Thanks for the clarification. Now you've cleared up the doubt that you completely missed the point of my post—because my point wasn't that Bottas is depressed because he's an ex Mercedes driver, but that he became an ex Mercedes driver precisely because he's depressed and can't get his head right. The guy used to have some solid drives, but he just doesn't have the mental grit to push through a slump, which is why he's stuck where he is.

Linda Peterson43 said:It wasn't Max watching anyone; it was his pit wall keeping him informed.
Max won today simply because he was faster. end of Story.

And he’s the superior driver. Sometimes talent isn't enough, but this time, it was.