[JustChris]

Originally Posted by Eddamoo

Investigation has been rejected. i.e. We already know Max intentionally crowded him off track, so showing another camera angle of it doesn't constitute additional evidence for review.

Looks like a complete farce to me. I bet they'd have given a token 5s penalty had Bottas not finished 3s behind.

But a new precedent has been set, which will likely deny us in a thrilling finish and instead give us cars afraid of overtaking or worse - a nasty accident.

Originally Posted by Watsey

I think it opens the door for some hard racing to the end of the season, BUT, the drivers may have very different mindsets.

Verstappen may well feel that he has been given the green light to continue to drive very assertively (personally I think it's assertive rather than aggressive) whereas Hamilton still has a points deficit and cannot risk DNF's.

They are both very skilled and confident wheel-to-wheel racers. I think it's going to be very interesting to see how this unfolds.

I read an interview where LeClerc said he would adapt driving based on this outcome. Its been greenlighted sooooo, strap in.

[SteveChester]

Originally Posted by Chappers 71

So refreshing to read an F1 thread that hasn't been thread jacked by MPower Belgium & M5Rick, cheers guys

I'm waiting for them to join in - some of those threads on the other motorsport channels are crazy!

[JustChris]

Classic clip, worth it for the tackle at the end. First time I saw this I thought the bouncer snapped his neck!

[F20MAW73]

Hopefully Bottas will bin Max in the next race. I can see this turning nasty now.

[Ennoch]

It's definitely getting pretty sour and pushy between them at the moment (more the principles than the drivers though, if you ignore Lewis' always present sanctimony). I'd much rather see Max take the title as I'm pretty bored of seeing Lewis walk with it every year, but the irony is that this year he will at least have earned it through some close competition if it does go his way. It's ironic that with one of Lewis' best drives in years I just got bored of watching him have such a straight line advantage on everyone. Racing is good to watch but drafting past with such a significant car advantage is just tedious. The other scraps were far more interesting.

My biggest gripe though isn't that Max 'got away' with something last weekend, I personally think being pushy is perfectly acceptable but then I used to race 4x which is all elbows, the issue is that the FIA for the last few years have been inconsistent in their application of the rules. That's the frustrating part. Safety cars are no longer used for actual safety it seems but to close up the pack and 'make it interesting' for those with a short attention span (i.e drive to survive watchers) rather than letting things play out naturally. I want to watch racing, not manufactured entertainment.

[Tengocity]

Quite amusing!

[Ennoch]

Originally Posted by Tengocity

?

Quite amusing!

Love it, good find!

[SteveChester]

Game on for quali today - Mercs look fast!

[Tengocity]

Hamilton's qualy lap was awesome. How he could find that much more time in the first sector is incredible. Almost half a second overall, is an eternity in F1

[JNW1]

Originally Posted by Tengocity

Hamilton's qualy lap was awesome. How he could find that much more time in the first sector is incredible. Almost half a second overall, is an eternity in F1

It is but were Verstappen and Bottas obliged to slow down in the final sector because of the yellow flags following Gasly's tyre failure? Little doubt Hamilton would have been on pole regardless but I'm not so sure the gap is genuinely as much as half a second!

[Tengocity]

Originally Posted by JNW1

It is but were Verstappen and Bottas obliged to slow down in the final sector because of the yellow flags following Gasly's tyre failure? Little doubt Hamilton would have been on pole regardless but I'm not so sure the gap is genuinely as much as half a second!

I would say it looks like he found most of it in the first sector compared to his earlier runs, so I doubt that completely explains it.

[JNW1]

Originally Posted by Tengocity

I would say it looks like he found most of it in the first sector compared to his earlier runs, so I doubt that completely explains it.

Yes, as I say I'm sure Hamilton would have been on pole regardless. And actually, listening to the post-qualifying interviews nobody's mentioned anything about having to slow for waved yellows so perhaps the last laps of Verstappen and Bottas weren't affected anyway?

[Tengocity]

Turns out that they didn't react to the yellows at all, so Verstappen, Bottas and Sainz have been summoned to the stewards, with a grid place penalty a potential outcome.

[Watsey]

As per the comments from Red Bull the performance increase from Mercedes is far beyond the incremental, and relatively short-lived, benefit that a new power unit would bring.

Seems to me that Mercedes has been bending the rules, and it's rear wing, quite significantly.

Maybe win at all costs; face an investigation later.

Will be interesting to see whether RB does lodge a formal objection.

[Ennoch]

Verstappen certainly hasn't forgotten how to drive, that's for sure. Hamilton is a stunningly gifted driver but then he is also in a car that is clearly a different machine to the RB given his pace advantage in Brazil and now, it seems, Qatar. What's changed? Because for the rest of the year the Merc has certainly not had the dominance they had in previous years. Of course some of that advantage and dominance has come from Hamilton's talent at driving and developing the car, there's no taking that away from him, but the pace advantage he had over everyone else in Brazil was just ridiculous and not even that interesting to watch when it pretty much solely came down to straight line speed differential. Close racing is interesting, a steamrollering just isn't, unless you've always supported the one doing the steamrollering. I like Max but I like lots of the other drivers too. At this point all I want to see is a close championship and someone other than Lewis to get it, I don't really care who it is that does it!

[Lando72]

Originally Posted by Ennoch

Verstappen certainly hasn't forgotten how to drive, that's for sure. Hamilton is a stunningly gifted driver but then he is also in a car that is clearly a different machine to the RB given his pace advantage in Brazil and now, it seems, Qatar. What's changed? Because for the rest of the year the Merc has certainly not had the dominance they had in previous years. Of course some of that advantage and dominance has come from Hamilton's talent at driving and developing the car, there's no taking that away from him, but the pace advantage he had over everyone else in Brazil was just ridiculous and not even that interesting to watch when it pretty much solely came down to straight line speed differential. Close racing is interesting, a steamrollering just isn't, unless you've always supported the one doing the steamrollering. I like Max but I like lots of the other drivers too. At this point all I want to see is a close championship and someone other than Lewis to get it, I don't really care who it is that does it!

I’m enjoying the close championship, Hamilton still a way back. I’d love to see him take it at the last race from Verstappen. To me Verstappen just acts like a spoilt entitled child.

Straight line speed advantage or not, if you can’t be interested in a driver making up 25 places to win, with a fantastic battle with his nearest rival for the championship for the last third of the race, you perhaps ought to watch a different sport. It was gripping, you knew if he didn’t make it past Verstappen, the championship was almost over. That wouldn’t have added much to the next races and would have made the rest of the season an anticlimax. But it would have given you another champion, so if you dislike the man steamrollering, for just one race, it might have been worth it I guess.

[JustChris]

All to pay for today. Wife is out so a nice F1 afternoon planned. Should reply be packing as we move house on Friday by that can wait!

[Tengocity]

Originally Posted by Watsey

As per the comments from Red Bull the performance increase from Mercedes is far beyond the incremental, and relatively short-lived, benefit that a new power unit would bring.

Seems to me that Mercedes has been bending the rules, and it's rear wing, quite significantly.

Maybe win at all costs; face an investigation later.

Will be interesting to see whether RB does lodge a formal objection.

But they have changed engine back to the previous one this weekend, and his straight line advantage this weekend is as before Brazil, so it does seem like his engine last weekend was the difference.

The wing has been tested multiple times and it passes every time. Not sure what else anyone can ask for? What about Rb having multiple weekends in a row repairing their wing under Parc Ferme conditions?

[Tengocity]

Originally Posted by JustChris

All to pay for today. Wife is out so a nice F1 afternoon planned. Should reply be packing as we move house on Friday by that can wait!

We move next Friday too!

I've spent the last two months decluttering, and have sold about 6 sets of wheels! So am feeling like I've earned the right to sit and enjoy this afternoon.

[JustChris]

Originally Posted by Tengocity

We move next Friday too!

I've spent the last two months decluttering, and have sold about 6 sets of wheels! So am feeling like I've earned the right to sit and enjoy this afternoon.

Haha what are the odds! I think you're moving a tad further than me (1.5 miles).

Just breaking 5 place grid penalty for Max.

Big big championship weekend.

[Tengocity]

Originally Posted by JustChris

Haha what are the odds! I think you're moving a tad further than me (1.5 miles).

Just breaking 5 place grid penalty for Max.

Big big championship weekend.

Yeah 400 miles for us. They start packing on Wednesday. Wife and dog go up Thursday, me and 3 cats on Friday. Most of our stuff arrives on Monday and Tuesday, and I bring the Porsche up next week. It's a proper mission!

[SteveChester]

Championship fight well and truly game on!