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

stormybadger8 said:Alright, you've managed to find two instances involving Charlie spanning a twenty-year gap...

Fine.

stormybadger8 said:Massi makes calls like this all the time, even in a single race, and this season has already been a complete mess...

Massi has operated this way from day one, especially when technical car details are on the line.
He waits until the end, reviews the telemetry, listens to both sides, and then makes his call.
Think back to how Kubica snagged that lone point for Williams during that rainy chaos of a race.
Are you just being difficult for the sake of it?

ruggedhawk20 said:Exactly. And instead of letting us enjoy JRC's masterclasses for one more season, he decided to grace us with his God-given talent...

Shame on you all.

Did he make the call to stay for one season, or was it Toto?
I can almost hear how that conversation went down (condensed):
- Alright Toto, you want me driving for you or not?
- Of course I do, Lewis. Just tell me what you need.
- First off, the car still needs to be faster than everyone else by at least a second or two. You've always managed that, and I know you can do it again.
- Second, you can't keep paying me this little. I'm basically setting records in everything I do.
- Lewis, I can't go higher than what we're doing now. We've got the Corona situation, there's a massive crisis happening—where are you even looking?
- What does that have to do with me? I'm the real deal. Plus, I'm a huge influencer; don't embarrass me in front of the world. Give me at least 70.
- Are you insane!? I can do 35. That's already double anyone else's pay.
- Huh? Only 35? Are you mocking me? Where would you guys even be if I wasn't driving for you???
...
Lewis is lucky his boss isn't the first guy he ever drove for. With him, he wouldn't have even had a contract for the next race.

Roger Wright94 said:Did he make that one-season call himself, or was it Toto?
I'm pretty sure the convo went basically like this:
- Alright Toto, you still want me driving for you or what?
- Of course, Lewis. Just tell me what you need.
- First off, the car better stay faster than everyone else by at least a second or two. You’ve always made that happen, and I know you can do it again.
- Second, you can't keep paying me peanuts—I'm basically setting records in everything I do.
- Look, Lewis, I can't go higher than the current deal. We've got the Corona situation, there's a massive crisis going on... I don't know what you're thinking.
- What does that have to do with me? I'm the star here. Plus, I'm a huge influencer, don't embarrass me in front of the world. Give me at least 70.
- Are you insane!? I can do 35, and that's already double what anyone else gets.
- Huh? Only 35? Are you kidding me right now? Where would you guys even be if I wasn't driving for you???
...
Lewis is lucky his boss isn't the first guy he ever worked for. With him, he wouldn't have even signed a contract for the next race.

You miss Ronzo, don't you!? Of course you do! Everyone misses him.

And you'll miss Lewis one day too.

Only then will it be too late.

Hamilton — the golden boy... honestly, just one of the biggest myths floating around this forum... if he really was the chosen one, we’d be sitting here talking about a guy who walked away with at least nine titles by now... I'm just saying ☕

stormybadger8 said:Why would he be an idiot?
It's because he isn't even remotely close to the caliber or the sheer level of talent that Hamilton possesses. Honestly, I can't follow your logic at all...

At the end of the day, what matters is that I'm the one who took the hit for that whole dust... I mean, Bottas situation.😁

Duplic.

ruggedhawk20 said:Exactly. Instead of just enjoying the mastery of JARC for one more season, how many of us decided to "bless" ourselves with his God-given talent? What did you guys decide to do instead!? You decided to hate. Because hating is obviously way easier than actually enjoying the show.

The kind of masterclasses we’re seeing lately are right up there with Prost at Adelaide 1986, Senna in Donington 1993, Schumacher at Spa Francorchamps 1995, Villeneuve at Indianapolis 1995, or Vettel at Interlagos 2012....

Basically, this guy is treating us to extraordinary performances on track and genuinely improving our quality of life—watching him gives you an instant boost of endorphins, serotonin, and adrenaline. But instead of saying, "Thanks, Lewis, for deciding to grace us with another season," you all just sit there hating and hating. For whatever mysterious reasons. Some of you can't accept that he passed Senna, some can't handle that he's better than Vettel and Prost, and others just can't stomach that he's better than MSC. And then there are those who just don't like his fashion sense.

Shame on you.

Yeah, sure, because Vettel at Interlagos is definitely something he should be proud of—he basically just had an insane amount of luck in that race and nothing more.

Larry Rivera83 said:Hamilton—the supposed golden boy of fortune... truly the greatest myth ever perpetuated on this forum. If he actually possessed such divine favor, wouldn't we be discussing a man who had secured at least nine championships by now? I am merely offering a thought for consideration. ☕

In this particular race, however, luck was clearly on someone else's side.

Max took the win, but honestly, he just got lucky because everyone else had a run of bad luck... if you really think about it, this whole sport is basically built on pure chance..

Larry Rivera83 said:Max won simply because he was lucky enough that nobody else caught a break... honestly, isn't this entire sport fundamentally built upon nothing but pure luck?

That might be true, but one must consider that Max didn't spin off the track and smash into the barriers, right? As for Lewis securing second place, isn't that just sheer fortune? While Max certainly benefited from having a car that didn't suffer a mechanical failure, I would argue that his driving performance throughout this race was significantly superior to that of Lewis.

graniteharbor502 said:Sure—but Max didn't spin off and smash into the barriers. Lewis taking second was pure luck. Max had any luck at all that he didn't suffer a mechanical failure; honestly, Max drove circles around Lewis in this one.

And that excursion right before the SC? He only escaped being buried deep in the pack because of sheer timing.

Larry Rivera83 said:Max won because he got lucky that nobody else did. Honestly, this whole sport is basically just pure luck.

Max overtook everyone in his way.
He dominated the entire race, even with those tricky semi-wet track conditions.
He earned that win himself; it didn't just fall into his lap.

Douglas Roberts49 said:And what about when he spun out just before the SC came out? He really caught a lucky break there, because otherwise, he would have been trailing far behind the pack.

Now, while it is true that Max didn't exactly have a flawless weekend, should we really be comparing that minor excursion to that massive blunder made by Lewis Hamilton??

graniteharbor502 said:And let's not even touch upon the massive stroke of luck Lewis enjoyed after flying off and making friends with the barrier—luck provided by the collision between Russell and Bottas. I fail to see much reason to celebrate his driving performance.

Luck? 😁 Look, you know I’m not exactly part of his fan club, but when was the last time anyone pulled an exit like that? I’m not even talking about him fighting back to second place—when was the last time someone actually drove forward after a crash like that?

vividlynx68 said:Luck? 😁 Look, you all know I’m not exactly sitting in his corner, but when was the last time someone pulled off an overtake like that after such a massive excursion? I am not even talking about him fighting his way back up to second place afterward. When was the last time anyone actually managed to drive forward at all following a crash of that magnitude?

When was the last time an SC and a red flag flew right after someone had a wreck like that? And I am specifically referring to the top three teams.

graniteharbor502 said:When was the last time someone hit an SC and a red flag after a wreck like that? And I'm talking specifically about the top three teams.

That isn't even my point—I'm talking about the guy slamming into the barrier, snapping a wing, keeping his cool, throwing it into reverse, and just pulling back onto the track to keep racing. Remind me of a similar moment.

vividlynx68 said:That isn't quite what I am getting at. My point is simply that he slammed into the barrier, snapped a wing, kept his composure, threw it into reverse, rejoined the track, and just carried on with the race. Can anyone else recall similar displays of grit?

Vettel Interlagos 2012

During that particular Grand Prix, it felt as though nearly every driver was spinning off into the gravel, yet they all managed to maintain enough presence of mind to scramble back onto the asphalt, while the retirements were largely driven by direct on-track collisions. Does one not recall how Charles Leclerc went wide during the warm-up lap and possessed the sheer decisiveness to rejoin, or how Carlos Sainz found himself dancing through the gravel multiple times? Even drivers like Yuki Tsunoda, Sergio Perez, Kimi Raikkonen, Antonio Giovinazzi, Nicholas Latifi, Nikita Mazepin, Michael Schumacher, and even Max Verstappen all found themselves wandering off the racing line at various points, yet miraculously, no one was forced to call it a day.

wiredseal7 said:Check out this little detail from the race restart where the "great maestro" Lewis Hamilton actually got overtaken by Yuki Tsunoda right at the start:
View on twitter

But then—since luck was clearly on his side—Tsunoda basically knocked himself out of the race by spinning off 🙄
(the video starts with Max Verstappen driving through the grass, which he handled perfectly)

"handled perfectly" hahaha—the Ferrari guy in second didn't just cruise past because he felt like it... Max was off track, end of story...

As for Lewis, honestly, he played it smart—he saw how chaotic things were getting, backed off, and managed to climb from P10 all the way to P2...

ruggedhawk20 said:Exactly. Instead of just enjoying the pure magic of JRC for another season—since he’s basically decided to bless us with his god-given talent again—what did you guys choose to do? You chose to hate. Because hating is way easier than actually appreciating greatness. Obviously.

The kind of brilliance we're seeing lately is right up there with Prost at Adelaide 1986, Senna Donington 1993, Schumacher at Spa Francorchamps 1995, Villeneuve at Indianapolis 1995, or Vettel at Interlagos 2012....

Honestly, the guy is giving us these legendary performances on track and literally improving our quality of life—watching him gets my endorphins, serotonin, and adrenaline pumping all at once! And instead of saying, "Thanks, Lewis, for deciding to grace us with one more season," people just keep hating and hating for their own weird reasons. Some can't handle that he passed Ayrton Senna, some can't accept he's better than Vettel or Prost, and others just can't deal with the fact that he's better than MSC. Oh, and some just don't like his outfit choices.

Shame on you all.

Look, we all know the real reason most people are annoyed... and it isn't any of those things you listed...

Roger Wright94 said:Did he make the decision for one more season, or was it Toto?
It feels to me like the conversation went something like this (long story short):
- Alright Toto, you want me to keep driving for you or what?
- Of course I do, Lewis. Just tell me what you need.
- First off, the car still needs to be faster than everyone else's by at least a second or two. You've always made sure of that, and I know you still can.
- Second, you can't keep paying me the same amount—I mean, I'm basically a world record holder in everything.
- Lewis, I can't go higher than what we have now. We're dealing with Corona, it's a massive crisis, I don't know what you're thinking.
- What does that have to do with me? I'm a legend. And I'm a huge influencer too, don't embarrass me in front of the world. Give me at least 70.
- Are you crazy!? I can do 35, and that's already double what anyone else gets.
- Huh? Only 35? Are you kidding me? Where would you guys even be if I wasn't driving for you???
...
Lewis is lucky his boss isn't the first one he ever drove for. With him, he'd only have a contract for the next race.

Not everything that hurts is an illness.

graniteharbor502 said:Yeah, but Max didn't spin off and smash into the barriers. Lewis taking 2nd was pure luck. Max got lucky his car didn't die, but honestly—he drove way better than Lewis this race.

Max just gets lucky because Horner and Helmut baby him—the whole team basically revolves around him. Plus, he’s got Adrian Newey designing the car and Honda giving him the best engine on the grid.