Bahrain Grand Prix (Outer Loop) | December 4-6, 2020

wiredseal7 said:Well, Russell jumps straight to the front. Maybe they should have just given him the seat back in 2021 instead? 🙂

It seems we are finally seeing the truth, which is that the performance comes down to the car rather than the driver. 👍

Look at that pig, he's still struggling to catch up back there

Nicholas Newman2 said:It happened at Hockenheim during their own anniversary. Another mess up.
The only difference back then was that nobody was claiming Mercedes staged the whole thing, unlike what we're hearing about this race.😵

If this had happened to any other driver, say Sebastian Vettel, the forums would be filled with theories about how he's the glue holding everything together, his kryptonite, or how the team loses its edge without him.

But when it's Lewis Hamilton, it's a different story. Everyone claims it's all scripted and pre-arranged. Honestly, it makes watching pretty difficult.🙂

Besides, the arguments here drag on forever, and these championship titles feel worth less than two FP2 sessions at the end of a season. All this coming from people trying too hard to act like experts.🤦

I respect that, but I also believe you have to create your own luck.

The Netflix crew was filming both those GPs back then, and they're still all over it today 😁

Russell jumps into a completely different car for the first time and still puts over 0.3s on Bottas during that short lap🤦
I honestly feel secondhand embarrassment for Bottas right now 🤦

Besides, after seeing this, you really can't let anyone keep claiming that flashy guy is the GOAT🙂

Perez is a beast.
Definitely the strongest driver in Formula 1 right now
He’s heading to Mercedes next year

Kenneth Cruz67 said:Well, there you have it! I honestly feel like there isn't even any real need to keep this discussion going further at all. 👍

When one considers the entirety of their career as a whole, doesn't it become clear that in 2011, Jenson Button was actually the superior driver?

Casey Hill57 said:Russell jumps into a completely different car for the first time and still puts over 0.3s on Bottas during that short lap🤦
I honestly feel secondhand embarrassment for Bottas right now 🤦

Besides, after seeing this, you really can't let anyone keep claiming that flashy guy is the GOAT🙂

Those who are nothing more than mythomaniacs would surely disagree. 🙂

Bottas running on those old tires😵

There’s that old saying, I guess—when the cat's away, the mice will play.😁

graniteharbor502 said:When one considers the entirety of their career as a whole, doesn't it become clear that in 2011, Jenson Button was actually the superior driver?

I truly respect your perspective on this, but I have to say I don't quite see eye to eye with you there. If we're talking about someone who had an absolutely dominant car that basically made the competition look slow, then that would probably be Button; if he hadn't secured that title, I imagine people might just remember him for being a bit inconsistent or maybe even just chasing the paycheck.

I can't help but wonder, how many more championships does Lewis Hamilton still need to claim, and exactly who would he have to beat while driving that same identical car, before you'd finally be willing to accept him as the GOAT?

I'm genuinely curious 😬

Bottas 🤦

Bottas wouldn't be able to overtake me if he tried

Kenneth Cruz67 said:Well, that isn't actually his total career earnings. If you take the time to add up all those massive sponsorship deals—and honestly, if you just look at his deal with Nike alone—😁

The estimates for him are somewhere around two billion dollars and change, I believe. 😁

Kobe Bryant pulled in about 700 million, while LeBron James is sitting at around 500 million, so they aren't even remotely close to the GOAT.

I mean, nobody actually said it was his entire earnings, but tracking sponsorships is a nightmare. If we're going by that logic, Kimi Räikkönen is easily the greatest driver ever because no sponsor pays more than what he pulls in. Even now, estimates for him were around 100 million bucks a year (well, back in 2018 and 2019, anyway).

You see Kimi everywhere on TV, in commercials, even popping up on major networks—he's out there promoting Alfa Romeo, some perfume, sunglasses, three different brands, you name it. He even shows up in ads during NBA games! I swear, I have never seen Lewis Hamilton on TV once.

The biggest market in the world is America, and if you ask a random American who Kimi is, most people would actually know him. For Lewis? Most Americans wouldn't have a clue unless they're die-hard Formula 1 fans. Though, honestly, most Americans are convinced the Daytona 500 is the oldest and most legendary race on the planet, but that's a whole other conversation...

Kenneth Cruz67 said:I truly respect your perspective on this, but I have to say I don't quite see eye to eye with you there. If we're talking about someone who had an absolutely dominant car that basically made the competition look slow, then that would probably be Button; if he hadn't secured that title, I imagine people might just remember him for being a bit inconsistent or maybe even just chasing the paycheck.

I can't help but wonder, how many more championships does Lewis Hamilton still need to claim, and exactly who would he have to beat while driving that same identical car, before you'd finally be willing to accept him as the GOAT?

I'm genuinely curious 😬

He told you that overall, Lewis is the better driver, but that back in 2011, he wasn't better than Jenson Button. Because he straight up wasn't.

graniteharbor502 said:So, I find myself wondering, just how much of an edge does this Mercedes-Benz actually hold over its rivals...
And then, I have someone attempting to convince me that they aren't 🙄

It’s surprising you actually let people get away with that kind of logic.

ruggedhawk20 said:Perez is a beast.
Definitely the strongest driver in Formula 1 right now
He’s heading to Mercedes next year

Yeah, sure he is.😁

let's go Russell

Alex Barnes93 said:I mean, nobody actually said it was his entire earnings, but tracking sponsorships is a nightmare. If we're going by that logic, Kimi Räikkönen is easily the greatest driver ever because no sponsor pays more than what he pulls in. Even now, estimates for him were around 100 million bucks a year (well, back in 2018 and 2019, anyway).

You see Kimi everywhere on TV, in commercials, even popping up on major networks—he's out there promoting Alfa Romeo, some perfume, sunglasses, three different brands, you name it. He even shows up in ads during NBA games! I swear, I have never seen Lewis Hamilton on TV once.

The biggest market in the world is America, and if you ask a random American who Kimi is, most people would actually know him. For Lewis? Most Americans wouldn't have a clue unless they're die-hard Formula 1 fans. Though, honestly, most Americans are convinced the Daytona 500 is the oldest and most legendary race on the planet, but that's a whole other conversation...

He told you that overall, Lewis is the better driver, but that back in 2011, he wasn't better than Jenson Button. Because he straight up wasn't.

Personally, I felt they were both pretty much neck and neck that year, though I suppose Lewis was certainly more exciting to watch, even if he had a bit less luck and dealt with more than his fair share of setbacks involving Felipe Massa, whereas Button was... well, Button, being himself as always, so I guess there's still a tiny edge to Lewis for me.😁

Bummer. Been really starting to dig Lewis Hamilton lately—but hey, it’s AI, right? Clearly just an issue with the car. And having a mediocre teammate doesn't help either.

Such a waste of seven seasons on a totally mid driver.

Drew Bennett68 said:Look at that pig, he's still struggling to catch up back there

It's honestly tragic—so many actually talented drivers could be behind the wheel of that Mercedes-Benz instead of having to deal with Bottas.

Kenneth Cruz67 said:Personally, I felt they were both pretty much neck and neck that year, though I suppose Lewis was certainly more exciting to watch, even if he had a bit less luck and dealt with more than his fair share of setbacks involving Felipe Massa, whereas Button was... well, Button, being himself as always, so I guess there's still a tiny edge to Lewis for me.😁

"Exciting" isn't exactly how you rank drivers.

Felipe Massa, Kevin Magnussen, that guy from Venezuela, etc.—they're all "exciting" drivers too.

Casey Hill57 said:Russell jumps into a completely different car for the first time and still puts over 0.3s on Bottas during that short lap🤦
I honestly feel secondhand embarrassment for Bottas right now 🤦

Besides, after seeing this, you really can't let anyone keep claiming that flashy guy is the GOAT🙂

This isn't just embarrassing for Bottas; it’s a massive blow to Lewis Hamilton too...
Because looking at today's data, it's hard to tell who's actually suffering more. 🤦

The fact that some rookie who barely even qualifies for Formula 1 jumps into a car he can barely fit in and immediately outpaces Bottas by 0.3 seconds? It’s freaking insane. 🤦
And yet, Bottas still managed to grab 15 pole positions and 9 wins while driving alongside Hamilton...
What can I even say? This is just ridiculous. 🤔

How’s little Russell looking out there today? Honestly, one solid race was all he needed to prove that the Mercedes-Benz is a beast and Bottas is just dragging them down.
And if Red Bull Racing doesn't snap up Perez, they're losing their minds.