2021 Emilia Romagna GP (Imola) | April 16-18

Look, you can see the whole disaster unfold in the first six seconds.

Seriously, I don't think any other driver on this grid could manage to line up like that—only to immediately launch off and absolutely wreck their own wing.

It takes a special kind of "calm" from Lujin to pull off a move that spectacularly stupid.
😵

Jason Campbell70 said:Even with that stellar W12, the second driver at Mercedes-Benz finished near the back in Q3, dropped two spots right at the start, and then spent nearly 30 laps failing to overtake a single soul on track. And I don't just mean he couldn't pass anyone—he couldn't even pull away from George Russell in that damn Williams. A Williams, mind you, which didn't manage to scrape together a single point all through last season.

Honestly, Valtteri isn't exactly the gold standard for performance, especially not this weekend.
Max has been consistently putting him away over the last few years, and the Ferrari drivers have done it plenty of times too—and those aren't cars that were ever better than the Mercedes-Benz anyway.

copperdrifter26 said:The W12 is an outstanding car. Throughout the entire weekend, they looked just a fraction faster than the Red Bull Racing, until Q3 when the Red Bull caught up and Max missed out on pole. Lewis was great, though not quite at his absolute peak. Charles Leclerc in that car is easily three or four tenths ahead of Sergio Perez—it's easy money.

Max was dominant during the race. Lewis really should have yielded in that first corner; he lost that battle because he insisted on pushing, even if it meant risking a broken wing. All things considered, he had a decent outing. Both drivers showed exceptional pace—Max was slightly quicker, but Hamilton, even with a damaged car, remains the master of tire management, which allowed him to close the gap significantly.

Behind them, Leclerc is leaving Sergio Perez in the dust, sitting 17 seconds back in the Red Bull. After the pit stops, he’s holding a 28-second lead over Lando Norris and a massive 35-second cushion over his teammate, who, despite having raw speed, tends to spin off far too often whenever the track is wet.

As for the rest of the field, Daniel Ricciardo is being absolutely dominated. He needs to step it up, or else Lando Norris is going to build a gap that will be nearly impossible to close.

The same applies to Fernando Alonso; he's starting to look like a man ready to call it quits and head into retirement...

Regarding Vettel, he was actually quite good and fast even during the race. I think once he finds his rhythm, Lance Stroll won't be an issue, but I honestly fear there isn't much potential left in the Aston Martin.

I also have to address the "incredible" Lewis Hamilton, who manages to hit the barriers at the most critical moments of the race, barely rolling back to the pits with a shattered nose cone, only for the Red Bull Racing to arrive five seconds later. It’s unbelievable. To change a nose in the pits without a penalty, start from 9th, and with 30 laps remaining, fight through a crowded grid to finish second? The constant praise for this kind of driving is baffling, especially considering this isn't some sensationalist sports news segment—this is a serious Formula 1 forum.

Look, Ricciardo is getting outclassed. This is only his second race in the McLaren, and he hasn't fully acclimated to a car that is a completely different package compared to the Renault he was driving. The McLaren is superior on the straights and through the medium-speed corners, whereas the Renault was much stronger in the slower turns. You can't even compare him to Lando Norris, who has been behind the wheel for much longer. The main reason he pulled away from Norris without hesitation after receiving the pit command is simply skill. Ricciardo is a phenomenal driver.

Robert Cox46 said:Honestly, Valtteri isn't exactly the gold standard, especially after this weekend.
Max has been consistently beating him over the last few years, and quite a few Ferrari drivers have too—and those cars certainly weren't better than the Mercedes-Benz.

The guy is just completely passive. When have you actually seen him launch an aggressive overtake on someone? Most of his wins came because he either secured pole position or Lewis took a penalty, or some combination of both. On top of that, Valtteri’s starts are abysmal; he almost constantly loses a position right at the lights, whether it's to Lewis, Max, or even George Russell back at Sakhir last year. Last year at Mugello was another glaring example of his inconsistency, but if you want the ultimate proof for anyone claiming the car matters more than the driver, look at Monza 2019. In that instance, Lewis let Valtteri take second place specifically so he could use a fresher set of medium tires to hunt down Charles Leclerc, only for Valtteri to follow up by making two totally unnecessary mistakes that cost him the win. If Lewis had been in that exact situation, I am certain that wouldn't have happened.

ruggedhawk20 said:People used to love saying, "Man, if Red Bull had a Mercedes engine, they'd be unstoppable." Well, look at them now. They actually have an even better engine than Mercedes, and we see the result: a totally dominant car.

Red Bull doesn't have the best engine, period...
If they actually had the best engine, they’d be miles ahead of Mercedes. Instead, it's the cars running Mercedes power that seem to own the top speed in every single sector.

And let's be real, Red Bull definitely doesn't have worse aero than Mercedes. Honestly, I doubt they ever did, let alone this season...

Based on what you're saying, it sounds like Max is a total hack, maybe even on the level of someone like Palmer. 🙄
Because I honestly don't know how else to explain why Red Bull—supposedly with the best engine and the best aero—isn't actually any better than Mercedes. In reality, they're just hovering somewhere in the middle.

shadowstag10 said:

Look, you can see everything clearly in the first 6 seconds.

No other driver on this grid could pull off a start like that and then immediately wreck their own wing.

Only Lujin's ice-cold composure could lead to something like this.
😵

Well, obviously only the GOAT could manage something like that!
What part of that don't you get? 🤷

So, after Hamilton went off track, smashed right into the barrier, and finally managed to get back on, he was sitting about a lap and a half behind P4. Honestly, if we hadn't gotten that red flag, even at his absolute best, he probably would've just scraped a P6 finish. But man, what he did next was straight-up sorcery—he pulled off this incredible, magical drive to erase a two-lap deficit like he was some kind of modern-day wizard. Let’s just pretend that red flag never happened, okay?

The standings after just two races really tell the whole story. Even with a slower package, they’re still sitting at the top... okay, maybe the sample size is small, but if they end up finishing 8th this year, they might as well just retire now—and all those forum haters will be deleting their accounts in a hurry 😁

Honestly, this championship is Red Bull Racing's to lose... and besides that, Sergio Perez hasn't said his final word yet...

ruggedhawk20 said:You're just talking nonsense. P...You're forgetting that Red Bull was the only team besides Mercedes-Benz to actually snatch a win during that first hybrid era season back in 2014. They pulled it off despite having a total disaster of a Renault engine that was constantly overheating, breaking down, and just lacked the raw power needed...

Everyone knew during the hybrid era that Mercedes-Benz had the superior engine—I mean, there was a time when a Williams could sneak into the top three just because of that power unit. Back then, you’d see people on the forums constantly arguing, "So what if Red Bull Racing uses a Mercedes engine? Who cares?" Well, look at them now. They've actually managed to build an engine that outperforms Mercedes-Benz, and the results speak for themselves. We are looking at a completely dominant car. It feels exactly like being back in 2011 or 2013...

Newey is hands down the best designer out there. Mercedes-Benz is being designed by a computer, a robot, some kind of artificial idiot, not a real person...

Newey is the last true designer left. I mean, the guy designed a car that won the Indy 500 and secured a championship title when he was only 26 years old...

At just 26 years old! While other guys his age are still struggling to get their lives together, this guy is out here designing championship-winning cars...

That’s coming from the same guy who claimed back during the 2014 pre-season tests that he could just tell by the sound alone that Renault had the best torque and, therefore, the best engine...

graniteharbor502 said:Anyway, that whole thing with Germany got me thinking about 2019. That’s three wet races in a row now where Lewis is just messing up and sliding off the track (Germany 2019, Turkey 2020, and now this one).

Funny enough, out of those three races, he still scored points in all of them, won one, and took second in another. It's kind of wild how much he's actually slipping up.

wiredfalcon2 said:It is quite fascinating when you consider that out of those three races, he managed to secure points in all of them—even clinching a victory in one and taking second place in another. Is it not truly dramatic how easily his mistakes seem to be overlooked?

That is simply the nature of things when you are driving the superior car, isn't it? When the machinery is that good, even significant errors can slip under the radar unnoticed. However, one must consider that this season, Mercedes-Benz no longer holds such a massive advantage over Red Bull Racing, which means those mistakes will eventually come due. I find myself expecting more of these errors from Lewis now that the pressure is truly mounting.

stormybadger8 said:Red Bull’s issues aren't about having a subpar engine...
If they actually had the superior engine, they'd be miles ahead of Mercedes—but the reality is quite the opposite, as those cars running the Mercedes-Benz power unit are showing top speeds across basically every sector.

And let's be real, Red Bull definitely doesn't have worse aerodynamics than Mercedes; honestly, I doubt they ever did, let alone this season...

Based on what you're saying, it makes it sound like Max is a total fraud compared to someone like Palmer🙄
Because frankly, I have no idea how else to explain why Red Bull—supposedly with the best engine and the best aero—isn't even significantly better than Mercedes right now; they're essentially neck-and-neck.

Honda was already outdragging the Mercedes-Benz engine last year. That’s a true display of raw power, not just top speed which can change based on how the car is set up.

What kind of twisted logic says Honda has the best engine (and they've had it since last year😁), while RB supposedly has superior aerodynamics...
but then you look at the fact that Mercedes has the faster car 🤔

How is that even possible? 🤷

There are basically three ways this fairy tale makes sense:
A.) Honda isn't even in the same league as Mercedes
B.) Adrian Newey has lost his touch and his car's aero isn't anywhere near as good as the Mercedes
C.) Max is way slower than Lewis Hamilton, and honestly, he was slower than Valtteri Bottas last year too...

stormybadger8 said:Red Bull's crap isn't about having a bad engine...
If they actually had the best engine, they'd be miles ahead of Mercedes—but instead, it's the cars with the Mercedes-Benz engine that are absolutely crushing it on top speed in every single sector.

And let's be real, Red Bull definitely doesn't have worse aero than Mercedes. They probably never even had good aero to begin with, let alone this season...

Based on what you're saying, it sounds like Max is just some mid-tier driver on par with a guy like Palmer🙄
Because I honestly don't know how else to explain why Red Bull—with supposedly the best engine and the best aero—is barely even keeping pace with Mercedes right now.

"Barely keeping pace" is an understatement when you're talking about one Mercedes

The second Mercedes is basically dragging its feet in the middle of the pack, getting hunted down by someone like Williams

James Harris34 said:Coming from the guy who claimed back in 2014 pre-season testing that he could just *hear* the Renault had the best torque—and therefore the best engine.

Thanks, little follower.

Man, you guys really do memorize every single word and sentence the President ever graced you with.

Keep it up.

wiredfalcon2 said:Interesting. Out of those three races, he scored points in all of them, won one, and finished second in another.

Meanwhile, his teammate walked away with exactly zero points in those same three races.

Obviously, it all comes down to the car. 🙂

Jason Campbell70 said:And his teammate? Exactly zero points in those three races.

Obviously, because it all comes down to the car. 🙂

Or how graniteharbor502 would put it—"these races are going to separate the boys from the men." Except for Hamilton, obviously...

wiredfalcon2 said:Or, to put it in the words graniteharbor502 might use—this race was destined to "separate the boys from the men." Though, in the case of Hamilton, I suppose that rule doesn't quite apply, does it?

Precisely! And isn't that exactly what this entire race demonstrated to us? If it hadn't been for that red flag, I can't help but wonder if Hamilton's performance wouldn't have been an even greater embarrassment. 👍

If I may offer a brief comparison between the off-track excursions of Sebastian Vettel in 2018 and Lewis Hamilton in 2021.

Vettel was simply unfortunate that there wasn't an asphalt runoff area near the barrier, much like what we see at Indianapolis. Furthermore, he went off at a higher velocity, causing him to dig himself deep into the gravel during braking; his nose eventually wedged itself firmly against the guardrail. He attempted to back out in reverse (around the 4:43 mark), but he was stuck fast.

In contrast, when Hamilton went wide, his wheels locked up several times, yet he avoided getting bogged down because he released the brakes just before coming to a complete halt. He applied a bit of throttle and struck the safety barrier, which resulted in a broken wing. However, he actually saved his race because his rear wheels ended up on the asphalt strip right next to the barrier instead of being swallowed by pure gravel. That asphalt provided enough grip for him to shift into reverse and rejoin the track. When you're stuck in the gravel, getting moving is the ultimate struggle. These NASCAR engines possess such massive torque that they can easily bury themselves.

Hamilton was quite lucky that the area near the barrier was paved, as very few drivers possess the specific skill required to extract a car that has become truly embedded in the gravel.

ruggedhawk20 said:"Li-la" only happens when you have one Mercedes-Benz

The second Mercedes is just dragging along in the middle of the pack, struggling against someone like Williams.

One Mercedes was sitting three seconds behind the leader after the first 25 laps.
The other Mercedes was also three seconds behind the leader after those first 25 laps, but per lap.

It comes down to the car, and luck... nothing else really matters. 🙂