Formula 1 Rolex Sakhir Grand Prix 2020Formula 1 

  • Thread starter Jimlaad43
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According to David Croft on Sky, Russell could be disqualified for using 14 sets of tyres in a weekend, because the front tyres fitted in the botched pitstop were from one of Bottas' sets, and no driver is allowed to use more than 13 in a weekend. The penalty for that infringement before the race is a grid penalty, during the race it's disqualification.

It's not the same as when Bottas had one hard and 3 mediums fitted to his Williams way back when because they were all part of the weekend's allocation to that car.
 
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Roo
According to David Croft on Sky, Russell could be disqualified for using 14 sets of tyres in a weekend, because the front tyres fitted in the botched pitstop were from one of Bottas' sets, and no driver is allowed to use more that 13 in a weekend.
That would be absolutely heartbreaking, but would just further show how poorly Mercedes managed this race.
 
I think whatever comes out of Russell's investigation should be pointed at the team not him.

One thing I will say I can't remember F1 having this kind of rocket put up it's backside since Hamiltons debut season. George Russell has announced himself today.
 
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Apart from the fact that they always mention just how unlucky Bottas has been this season. None so blind as those who don't want to see ;)

They mention it sure, but nowhere near as much as how sorry they sounded for GR today. Leading me to believe they are very meh towards it. For what its worth my eyes are quite good still ;)

Also, am i missing something with all the love for George? He's stepped into the best race car possibly ever made and put it on the front row then led the race. I'd expect 99% of the drivers on the grid to be able to do that. It's not like he is a rookie or never driven a Merc before.


Can someone explain it please? :lol:
 
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They mention it sure, but nowhere near as much as how sorry they sounded for GR today. Leading me to believe they are very meh towards it. For what its worth my eyes are quite good still ;)

Also, am i missing something with all the love for George? He's stepped into the best race car possibly ever made and put it on the front row then led the race. I'd expect 99% of the drivers on the grid to be able to do that. It's not like he is a rookie or never driven a Merc before.

Also regarding


Can someone explain it please? :lol:
He's driving a car that he's not got a lot of experience with, against a race-winning team mate that does have experience with that car, and is clearly better.

Having this car would definitely make it easier for any driver, but a lot of them still wouldn't be good enough to win with it.

Also regarding Bottas, it's not just bad luck with him, he's also performing sub-par. Russell was pure bad luck, he didn't do anything wrong, other than overshooting a tiny bit in the pits.
 
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Also, am i missing something with all the love for George? He's stepped into the best race car possibly ever made and put it on the front row then led the race. I'd expect 99% of the drivers on the grid to be able to do that. It's not like he is a rookie or never driven a Merc before.

Can someone explain it please?
The guy doesn't physically fit into the car, yet in a car he's never driven manages to set the fastest lap ever recording in the sport in his first 90 minutes driving it, beating a guy who's been driving it for four years. Then he does it again. Then manages to be only 0.025s slower than him. Then destroys him, and everyone else, in the race, only to get stuffed by a bizarre logistical error... and then destroys everyone again. And is finally done in by freak bad luck.

I mean, you could make the point that the Mercedes is the fastest car out there and should be fighting for wins, but I can't think of many drivers who'd drop into the seat with zero prep and immediately blow Bottas away. Verstappen springs to mind, though how he'd deal with the switch from the high-rake design strategy of the Red Bull to the Mercedes is a question. Leclerc and probably Ricciardo too. Handily, these are also three names often plonked on the "future world champion" pile.

Oh and he won GP3 and F2 at his first attempts.
 
Stroll giving serious "Dude, I almost had you"-vibes in the post race interview.
 
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I'll have to remember to watch the highlights on C4 this evening. 10PM for anyone who's interested. It will be the first F1 race I've seen anything of since the British Grand Prix.
 
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Hamilton fans will very likely disagree but Russell just single-handedly proved that Hamilton isn't the fastest driver ever, not even in today's grid. Driving a car too small for him, with a setup largely made for someone else, and all of ~400 km of experience in it before the qualifying he barely lost out to Bottas (which Hamilton has done too on several occasions) and led the race so commandingly that I wouldn't have known there was a different driver in the seat of #44 err #63 judging by performance alone. Given a Mercedes tailor made for him and even one year of experience with it, let alone seven, he would wipe the floor with Hamilton.

And Bottas... if it wasn't for the car, he wouldn't even be in the points in most races. Porridge and moustache don't automatically equal a good racing driver. I'm willing to bet most of the midfield would do better in the same car.
 
How is that not wishing harm on a driver?
At no point did I wish harm on anyone.
Its a really roundabout way of saying it, but that just comes across as "boy I sure hope Lewis still has covid next week!"
Something I didn't say and very clearly pointed out earlier in the sentence how obvious it was that I wasn't saying it - even though I thought it would be so obvious that I didn't need to point out how obvious it would be, but pointed it out anyway because I figured there's always someone who can't see the obvious...
Really poor taste.
Given that I didn't say what you think I said, and pointed out that I wasn't saying it before I didn't say it, perhaps have another crack at it and come back.
 
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At no point did I wish harm on anyone.

Something I didn't say and very clearly pointed out earlier in the sentence how obvious it was that I wasn't saying it - even though I thought it would be so obvious that I didn't need to point out how obvious it would be, but pointed it out anyway because I figured there's always someone who can't see the obvious...

Given that I didn't say what you think I said, and pointed out that I wasn't saying it before I didn't say it, perhaps have another crack at it and come back.
Just because you say you say "nobody should hope for anyone to continue to be unwell" before saying you wouldnt mind someone continue being unwell in no way means you did not just wish for him to continue being unwell.

The only alternative I can think of is if you are suggesting he pretends to be sick, but that is definitely not how it comes across at all.
 
The guy doesn't physically fit into the car, yet in a car he's never driven manages to set the fastest lap ever recording in the sport in his first 90 minutes driving it, beating a guy who's been driving it for four years. Then he does it again. Then manages to be only 0.025s slower than him. Then destroys him, and everyone else, in the race, only to get stuffed by a bizarre logistical error... and then destroys everyone again. And is finally done in by freak bad luck.

I mean, you could make the point that the Mercedes is the fastest car out there and should be fighting for wins, but I can't think of many drivers who'd drop into the seat with zero prep and immediately blow Bottas away. Verstappen springs to mind, though how he'd deal with the switch from the high-rake design strategy of the Red Bull to the Mercedes is a question. Leclerc and probably Ricciardo too. Handily, these are also three names often plonked on the "future world champion" pile.

Oh and he won GP3 and F2 at his first attempts.


I agree the physically fitting in the car is quite a big hurdle to overcome. I think the fastest lap ever is more down to the circumstance of this track and him stepping in, I think we all expected Lewis to hold the fastest lap ever when this track was announced. Don't agree with the comment about never driven it when he has tested before for Merc, especially as you say beating a guy who has driven it for 4 years. Either George has driven it or Bottas has only driven this car for a x months. But i see the point you are making. The first time it mattered though he was slower, yes not by much at all.

The gap seemed to be around 2/3 seconds until the 1st stop, not really sure that can be classed as destroying everyone else tbh. Its the gap we often see week in week out between cars as they can't really follow closely for long. In that case Lewis has destroyed everyone most of the season, Bottas has too when he has been leading by that amount.

He raced well, I'm not trying to claim otherwise. He took the lead and looked comfortable which is all he could do until the just before the second safety car when the gap started to drop. I guess i'm more of the its the car not the driver camp. I do firmly believe that the Merc is the fastest car period. Again, I'd say zero prep if it was a rookie or someone who hadn't driven the Merc before, but George is neither and lost out in quali. And lets not kid ourselves, I don't think there are many people who think Bottas is at the top of the sport up there with the drivers you mentioned so are we surprised someone who seems to be very highly rated was beating him?

I didn't know about the GP3 / F2 titles as I don't really follow those at all, although the F2 race was good today!
 
Just because you say you say "nobody should hope for anyone to continue to be unwell" before saying you wouldnt mind someone continue being unwell in no way means you did not just wish for him to continue being unwell.
At no point did I say I wouldn't mind if he continued to be unwell. This should be patently obvious from the fact that I literally just pointed out that nobody would say that and pointed out how obvious that is while saying it.
The only alternative I can think of is if you are suggesting he pretends to be sick
Oh gosh, look at that. A way of reading it that doesn't require you to pretend I said a thing I didn't say literally right after saying nobody would say it.

If it helps this reading in any way, people have been saying Hamilton will quit at the end of this season anyway. Perhaps rather than coming back into the office (by flying to Abu Dhabi) he might chuck a sickie (you know, by calling up Toto Wolff and say "boss, I'm still not feeling great", and having a little cough) so that George can paste Valtteri again.

I wouldn't be unhappy. How tasteless.

but that is definitely not how it comes across at all.
Yes, the reading in which you say I said a thing I didn't say in a sentence right after saying I wouldn't say it, is obviously more correct than the one in which I didn't actually say that thing in a sentence right after saying I wouldn't say it...


As I said, I thought the obvious thing was so obvious it didn't need to be said, but said it anyway because there's always someone for whom it isn't obvious.
 
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At no point did I say I wouldn't mind if he continued to be unwell. This should be patently obvious from the fact that I literally just pointed out that nobody would say that and pointed out how obvious that is while saying it.

Oh gosh, look at that. A way of reading it that doesn't require you to pretend I said a thing I didn't say literally right after saying nobody would say it.

If it helps this reading in any way, people have been saying Hamilton will quit at the end of this season anyway. Perhaps rather than coming back into the office (by flying to Abu Dhabi) he might chuck a sickie (you know, by calling up Toto Wolff and say "boss, I'm still not feeling great", and having a little cough) so that George can paste Valtteri again.

I wouldn't be unhappy. How tasteless.


Yes, the reading in which you say I said a thing I didn't say in a sentence right after saying I wouldn't say it, is obviously more correct than the one in which I didn't actually say that thing in a sentence right after saying I wouldn't say it...


As I said, I thought the obvious thing was so obvious it didn't need to be said, but said it anyway because there's always someone for whom it isn't obvious.
Why even play the verbal gymnastics at that point? It was horrible wording in my opinion. As long as we are on the same page now then its all good, but I am surely not the only one who took the initial statement in the other direction. But maybe I'm just an idiot.
 
It is so obvious. And English is not even my first language.




I think he is only saying that he would like for Russell to participate in the next race as well.
 
Why even play the verbal gymnastics at that point? It was horrible wording in my opinion.
Eva
Given who it is, not surprised at all. Par for the course, sadly.
Again, if you think it's "tasteless" you're not only reading something that isn't there, you're deliberately not reading something that actually is there as well.

Why does "who it is" have anything to do with anything, apart from being the guy who is out of contract at the end of this year, might be retiring (I think it's unlikely this year; but maybe next), and who could leave an empty seat for Russell to win next week if he can't be bothered jetting to Abu Dhabi and chucks a sickie?
 
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Eva
There's more tasteful ways of saying it.
It was harmless. A little cough is not tasteful at all. A little cough means just that, a little cough which actually means that Hamilton is okay.

I wish Hamilton all the best.

:)
 
Again, if you think it's "tasteless" you're not only reading something that isn't there, you're deliberately not reading something that actually is there as well.

Why does "who it is" have anything to do with anything, apart from being the guy who is out of contract at the end of this year, might be retiring (I think it's unlikely this year; but maybe next), and who could leave an empty seat for Russell to win next week if he can't be bothered jetting to Abu Dhabi and chucks a sickie?
You keep pulling up that you said "nobody should wish this" as excusing you from saying effectively the same thing given that context.

I'm not here to get into a war with you, I'm just saying its probably not the wisest thing ive seen. It did not come across at all how you explained you meant it.
 
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How is that not wishing harm on a driver? Its a really roundabout way of saying it, but that just comes across as "boy I sure hope Lewis still has covid next week!"

That requires your interpretation, and that requires using words that aren't there. Hoping for something is active and pre-emptive. Being happy that something has happened (or anticipating happiness in advance of potential events) is passive and does not constitute hope. English is my first language and I feel fairly confident in that importance distinction between those verbs.

To the race... what a great race, had to wait for the YT highlights unfortunately, gutted for Russell, and I still rate Bottas but it's hard to defend his relatively lacklustre performance today. Fab win for Perez, RB must be taking him seriously. Must be.
 
Let's also consider that this implies Hamilton wants to be sick next race... right. Because Hamilton wants to let another guy drive his car and prove they can do the same job as he can with far more years left in their career than Hamilton has. This is the assumption that has to be made...okay.
 
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