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

stormybadger8 said:But wait, what exactly is the "disgrace" here?
It's not like George Russell is just giving Valtteri Bottas a gentle tap...
We started out 0.3 seconds behind, now we're at 0.6...
If things went like this in Free Practice 3, we'd be looking at a full second gap, maybe two during the race...

It’s a disgrace for Lewis Hamilton that he was losing to the same old Bottas, only getting crushed like this once in a blue moon on Fridays.
He usually barely scraped by him—like, if he didn't squeeze out every last atom of strength for some alien laps in qualifying, he wouldn't have beaten him by even two-hundredths. But Russell? He does that the very first time he sits in the car.
And here we have Russell, who hasn't been able to score a single point in a Williams Racing car for two years, even though even someone like Kubica managed it...

Bottom line: jumping into a car like this and absolutely demolishing Bottas is insane. It really shows that Bottas is a total hack...
Look at the comparisons:
When Aton jumped into Williams, he was 0.5 seconds slower than Nicholas Latifi's...
When Emerson Fittipaldi jumped into Haas F1 Team, he was 0.4 seconds slower than Kevin Magnussen...

It's normal for an unprepared driver jumping into a car on short notice to be about half a second slower (even against Nicholas Latifi's pace). But this? Having Bottas be over half a second slower? That's not normal. 😳
Regardless of whether Russell has some experience with Mercedes-Benz, if they were neck-and-neck or if he was just close, that would be bad enough. But the fact that Bottas is this far behind? Unbelievable. 🤦

Give me a break.
Six-time champ—how is that shameful? A six-time champion is a big deal. 🙏

George Russell had arguably the best junior career through Formula 3 and Formula 2—maybe ever, if you're counting Charles Leclerc.

Look at the guy; he’s got massive potential and is clearly an elite driver. I mean, who else can claim a qualifying Head-to-head record like his?

Jason Campbell70 said:A true GOAT lifts the entire team up.
That’s exactly why he’s the GOAT.

If it wasn't obvious by now, I guess it finally is.

mellowtiger83 said:It stands to reason they were using it. Pure logic. Why would you develop something so secretive and specifically engineered if you weren't going to deploy it?

Simply having the capability implies usage. It is logical.

And people can say whatever they want about Ayrton Senna, but he certainly wasn't deaf, nor was he making baseless accusations against Benetton.

We are discussing a man who once pointed out a fundamental issue with the engine while Honda's mechanics insisted everything was perfect—until his sheer obsession forced them to tear it down, only for him to be proven right.

We are talking about a man who could tell if a barrier had shifted by a few centimeters while traveling at over 150 km/h. He was neither deaf nor blind.

There he is. Total flatlandist.

The exact same two people who used to defend Sebastian Vettel by claiming "it’s all about the car" are now just as loud in their attacks on Lewis Hamilton, using those same old arguments.
LOL.

It is truly quite embarrassing how they have to go to such lengths just to justify Russell's performance alongside Lewis Hamilton, haha.

A shame it didn't last another two laps so he could overtake Bottas once more.🙂

ruggedhawk20 said:If there hasn't been a single shred of evidence found in 26 years—then there isn't any. Period.

And hey—now people definitely won't be digging up anything else regarding poor Schumacher. The guy just had terrible luck, honestly.

As for Flavio, we all know how he intentionally sent little Nelson Piquet into that wall. Is that also considered an attempted murder, like you mentioned in your last post?

Jason Campbell70 said:The exact same two people who used to defend Sebastian Vettel by claiming "it’s all about the car" are now just as loud in their attacks on Lewis Hamilton, using those same old arguments.
LOL.

No, I really think the issue stems from the track configuration itself, 🙏

Maybe Perez is finally finding his rhythm, I guess.

ruggedhawk20 said:There he is. Total flatlandist.

That’s what you call logical reasoning. To be fair, logic isn't exactly my strongest suit, but I managed to pull it off regardless.😁

I honestly don't see George Russell taking the win or even grabbing pole position. If he manages to nail the start tomorrow, I could see him landing a P3 finish. I just have a feeling he won't be able to replicate that practice session pace once the actual race starts.

Perez. 🙏 🙏 🙏 🙏 🙏 🙏 🙏 🙏

ruggedhawk20 said:The FIA found the software, sure, but they never found proof it was actually being used.

Owning traction control software isn't against the rules—using it is. And they never found any proof of that.

Do you honestly think a massive, deep-pocketed organization like the FIA couldn't hire the best experts on the planet to find that evidence? Look, if the FIA never found a single shred of proof that the software was used—why are you still buying into this?

Sorry, but this whole Benetton TC story is straight-up flat-earther nonsense.

The way some of Schumacher's starts looked that season makes me think it's perfectly plausible the software was being used. Even if it wasn't, just having it in the car when it wasn't allowed is a huge red flag.
They probably wouldn't have even caught an illegal fuel valve if Verstappen hadn't had that meltdown.

Plus, knowing Schumacher and Briatore's characters, I'd say it's entirely possible they were running it.

Lewis Hamilton is a brilliant driver, no doubt about it, but there’s always an asterisk hanging over his career. Back from 2010 to 2014, he was driving cars that were arguably better than what Fernando Alonso had, yet he somehow looked less impressive on track. He even lost out on points to Jenson Button for three straight years, and he struggled against Nico Rosberg too, even though he stayed incredibly close to him in qualifying throughout that whole Mercedes-Benz era—I’d say he took about 55% of those sessions.

So, yeah, a huge chunk of that success definitely comes down to the car. People started calling him greater than Ayrton Senna or Michael Schumacher once he grabbed that seventh title, but if you look at what George Russell is doing lately—and keep in mind, he's mostly just been testing that dominant W10 from last year—it really feels like a massive part of that legacy was just having the most dominant car in history under his feet. That being said, I still think he's absolutely the better driver compared to Sebastian Vettel.

Good grief!

Gary Palmer8 said:And hey—now people definitely won't be digging up anything else regarding poor Schumacher. The guy just had terrible luck, honestly.

As for Flavio, we all know how he intentionally sent little Nelson Piquet into that wall. Is that also considered an attempted murder, like you mentioned in your last post?

They found the evidence for Singapore. And Flavio is currently serving his ban.

I don't see the problem.

Actually—if they managed to prove the Singapore thing in just a single year, then they could've definitely caught the TC usage over those 26 years, assuming there was any truth to the whole story.

Jason Campbell70 said:The exact same two people who used to defend Sebastian Vettel by claiming "it’s all about the car" are now just as loud in their attacks on Lewis Hamilton, using those same old arguments.
LOL.

Actually, no, it isn't about the car. How many wins, titles, or pole positions has George Russell actually secured so far?

Oops, he hasn't won a single thing—not even one point.

How is that even possible?

Is such a supposedly phenomenal driver really incapable of scoring anything?

If you still want to believe that title was won by an influencer, go ahead. But let's be real: the car won it first, and the influencer just rode along.

Regarding Perez, there's been a slight shift; instead of the current Mercedes, last year's Mercedes takes the win.

It’s quite amusing how they mock the competition using last year's car.

Toto certainly dissected that race perfectly.

ruggedhawk20 said:They found the evidence for Singapore. And Flavio is currently serving his ban.

I don't see the problem.

Actually—if they managed to prove the Singapore thing in just a single year, then they could've definitely caught the TC usage over those 26 years, assuming there was any truth to the whole story.

One question though: why would you even have TC software sitting in the car if it wasn't supposed to have TC? 🙂

Some of these self-proclaimed "experts" here seem to think the car drives itself—as if someone in the pit lane is just operating it like a remote-controlled toy via some joystick. 😁

It’s honestly hilarious reading this stuff; I’m just sitting here waiting for the next genius to chime in. It really takes me back to those ridiculous debates from the golden era of the F1 forum back when we used to watch the races on ESPN.

ruggedhawk20 said:Honestly, anyone stepping in should be looking at a Top 10 finish—it's a fair expectation. But let's be real, the track is gonna be a complete mystery to everyone, so last weekend's data basically means nothing.

Way to go, Mr. President. Seriously. Just brilliant.