Official 2021 Bahrain Grand Prix Thread ***SPOILERS***
Discussion
AJB88 said:
Muzzer79 said:
AJB88 said:
Most people could win the WDC in that Mercedes, apart from Bottas.
That depends on who is in the other Mercedes.....AJB88 said:
Piginapoke said:
Ricciardo is a modern day Button- lacking the last 10th in qualifying but great in the race. Like Button, he could be a WDC in the right car.
Most people could win the WDC in that Mercedes, apart from Bottas. cuprabob said:
HustleRussell said:
If you put a Bottas in both Mercedes, it is quite likely that Bottas could win the WDC?
Bottas V1.0 versus Bottas V2.0 
Other than that, it's wild speculation, but giving Bottas's 50% success rate of beating everyone but his team mate so far, considering Max wasn't far off beating him last year and how much closer the Red Bulls look in the extremely brief comparison we've had this year, I wouldn't put money on Bottas being the 2020 world champion. I'd probably back Max.
Getting back to reality, with Hamilton in the Merc seat, I'm still quite doubtful that he's all set for his 8th title. He's getting on, he's had 7, we don't know if Covid had any lingering effects still - clearly he was hurting in that last race but that is more likely just getting back to fitness... and Max is hungry, fast, a proven winner and while not as consistent as Lewis, he's more consistent than he was. And the Red Bull looks more competitive. So I'm 50/50 and I wouldn't be surprised if this turns out to be Max's year.
When Ricciardo joined Renault it took him 4 or 5 races to get up to speed in the car - Hulk had the measure of him at first but once he got comfortable - or his team had learnt how to adjust the car to his strengths - he got the upper hand. Hence it's possible that pattern will repeat this year, and unless he's miles off of Norris, I wouldn't read too much into his performance in the first quarter or even first half of this season.
When Schumacher came back, at his age and with his time away, I thought there's no way a driver is making a successful comeback under those conditions, but if anyone can, it's Schumacher. Well, he didn't really make it happen, though I think the lack of testing and the joke tyres of the time both undermined two of his biggest strengths - his ability to run consistent laps in the race at qualifying pace (which would now just melt his tyres) and his work ethic and commitment to testing.
I feel similar about Alonso. He's been away for a long time, he's not as old as Schumi was (or maybe I'm wrong) but he's definitely old enough to be a retired successful F1 driver, and he's entering a so-so car with limited opportunities for development. I don't think many drivers could do this and get back on their old pace, but if anyone can, it's Alonso.... and he doesn't have such big changes in the sport to deal with as Schumacher had to.
Edited by kiseca on Friday 26th March 11:02
JonChalk said:
Somewhere along the way, I had missed that all practice sessions shortened to 1 hour this year.
That should make it a little more frenetic as teams try and compress their "standard" runs into a shorter period.
Think it was decided it the last few weeks of 2020.That should make it a little more frenetic as teams try and compress their "standard" runs into a shorter period.
Mainly for TV scheduling, so they can work around the 1hr timeslots
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