George Russell

[heebeegeetee]

C70R said:

Ok, remove the word "Sky".

Either way, anyone basing opinions on Russell's personality on snippets fed through from the broadcaster should probably get a bit of perspective.

Agreed. There will be constant chatter, constant complaining of something or other, we only get tit-bits, you'd be mad to drawer conclusions based on tit-bits imo.

I think George's summary of the very first chicane yesterday was totally wrong, but I also feel I've seen just about every driver say exactly the same thing over the years.

[kambites]

axel1990chp said:

Ive tried liking Georgeyboy, i really have.

I can't say I like any of the drivers - even Ricciardo can be obnoxious on track. One doesn't generally get to the top of a cut-throat sport like F1 by being likeable and generally speaking the better the driver, the less personable they tend to be (see Verstappen and Hamilton).

[paulguitar]

kambites said:

I can't say I like any of the drivers - even Ricciardo can be obnoxious on track. One doesn't generally get to the top of a cut-throat sport like F1 by being likeable and generally speaking the better the driver, the less personable they tend to be (see Verstappen and Hamilton).

I think both of those two are quite likable.

[kambites]

paulguitar said:

kambites said:

I can't say I like any of the drivers - even Ricciardo can be obnoxious on track. One doesn't generally get to the top of a cut-throat sport like F1 by being likeable and generally speaking the better the driver, the less personable they tend to be (see Verstappen and Hamilton).

I think both of those two are quite likable.

I think it depends on which bit of them you sample. They both whine like anything on the radio when things don't go their way.

[paulguitar]

kambites said:

paulguitar said:

kambites said:

I can't say I like any of the drivers - even Ricciardo can be obnoxious on track. One doesn't generally get to the top of a cut-throat sport like F1 by being likeable and generally speaking the better the driver, the less personable they tend to be (see Verstappen and Hamilton).

I think both of those two are quite likable.

I think it depends on which bit of them you sample. They both whine like anything on the radio when things don't go their way.

Yeah, that's true. I try to give all the drivers a lot of leeway when the adrenaline is pumping, they all turn into gits then!

[rdjohn]

paulguitar said:

kambites said:

I can't say I like any of the drivers - even Ricciardo can be obnoxious on track. One doesn't generally get to the top of a cut-throat sport like F1 by being likeable and generally speaking the better the driver, the less personable they tend to be (see Verstappen and Hamilton).

I think both of those two are quite likable.

I think that Max seems far more likeable now that he has 1s per lap on the rest of the field. Perez has the same car.

However I still think that the 3-best drivers capable of extracting 100% of potential lap-after-lap are Max, Lewis and George, in that order. That will probably change as George gains experience at the front end.

There are plenty of drivers who are fast and personable, but unless they are gifted a car with a huge advantage over the others are very unlikely to take a WDC.

Ferrari started the year with a significant advantage, but then threw it away race-after-race. Their guys are nice blokes, but not WDC winners - IMHO!.

[kambites]

I've definitely warmed to Max this season. It feels like he's managed to break away from the general background dishonesty and nastiness which seems to pervade the top levels of the Redbull team's management.

[kambites]

rdjohn said:

Ferrari started the year with a significant advantage, but then threw it away race-after-race. Their guys are nice blokes, but not WDC winners - IMHO!.

They started with a significant qualifying advantage, but even at the start of the season Redbull were at least on a par with them in terms of race pace... when they finished, it's hard to remember now that at the start of the season it was Redbull's reliability we were all questioning rather than Ferrari's.

[C70R]

usn90 said:

I can’t seem to take to George, he’s doing a solid job this year but it’s clear to see he’s not quite on Hamiltons pace, not that this necessarily writes him off as a driver.

When Lewis retires it will be lando I mainly root for, George just comes across the wrong way for me and has done for a couple of seasons now

What is it in how he "comes across" that you don't like?

Please say you're not just basing this on radio messages. Please...

[M3ax]

kambites said:

paulguitar said:

kambites said:

I can't say I like any of the drivers - even Ricciardo can be obnoxious on track. One doesn't generally get to the top of a cut-throat sport like F1 by being likeable and generally speaking the better the driver, the less personable they tend to be (see Verstappen and Hamilton).

I think both of those two are quite likable.

I think it depends on which bit of them you sample. They both whine like anything on the radio when things don't go their way.

All the drivers whine in comms. We just don’t get to hear all drivers

[kambites]

M3ax said:

All the drivers whine in comms. We just don’t get to hear all drivers

Well quite. It's pretty inevitable that we get to hear the whines of the drivers who are near the front of the grid more than those near the back.

[C70R]

kambites said:

M3ax said:

All the drivers whine in comms. We just don’t get to hear all drivers

Well quite. It's pretty inevitable that we get to hear the whines of the drivers who are near the front of the grid more than those near the back.

I'm sure Latifi is pretty vocal too, it's just that nobody cares.

[PhilAsia]

FNG said:

I wonder what the overlap is on a Venn diagram of Hamilton fans and people who don't like Russell much. Significant, is my gut feel.

I am a Lewis fan and I like what George is doing. On pre-2022 form I thought he would have a great showing in season 1 with Lewis. I said that Lewis would be marginally ahead but with George snapping at his heels. Aside from the points I feel that Lewis still has a marginal advantage over a race distance, but next year they will be even more matched, which is exciting!

I think your "significant" will apply to some but not to most...

[heebeegeetee]

C70R said:

I'm sure Latifi is pretty vocal too, it's just that nobody cares.

It's a good job he can't hear what we're saying.

He does surprise me, I can't imagine what it's like for him. At every race meeting, every paddock, every pit lane he walks, every promotion he has to do (if any), at every hotel, every restaurant, every team meeting, pretty much everywhere he goes, everyone is thinking "what a wker". There can't be anyone outside his immediate family who has a good word to say about him? Does being an (really st) F1 driver really compensate for all that? How does he look at himself? There must be something else he can do?

Apart from totally ruining what was possibly the closest season in F1 history last year, he is (as others have said) currently 21st in a field of 20. Another driver can come along that not many are terribly familiar with, is not F1 race fit, indeed is not especially young even, can step into the sister car and blow him into the weeds.

How does Latifi live with it, what the hell happens to his self-esteem?

[StevieBee]

heebeegeetee said:

C70R said:

I'm sure Latifi is pretty vocal too, it's just that nobody cares.

It's a good job he can't hear what we're saying.

He does surprise me, I can't imagine what it's like for him. At every race meeting, every paddock, every pit lane he walks, every promotion he has to do (if any), at every hotel, every restaurant, every team meeting, pretty much everywhere he goes, everyone is thinking "what a wker". There can't be anyone outside his immediate family who has a good word to say about him? Does being an (really st) F1 driver really compensate for all that? How does he look at himself? There must be something else he can do?

Apart from totally ruining what was possibly the closest season in F1 history last year, he is (as others have said) currently 21st in a field of 20. Another driver can come along that not many are terribly familiar with, is not F1 race fit, indeed is not especially young even, can step into the sister car and blow him into the weeds.

How does Latifi live with it, what the hell happens to his self-esteem?

He's a filthy rich F1 driver. I'm sure he'll find a way.

But I take your point.

It's also struck me that I don't even know what he looks like. I'd recognise any driver if they walked down my road this evening apart from him.

[C70R]

heebeegeetee said:

C70R said:

I'm sure Latifi is pretty vocal too, it's just that nobody cares.

It's a good job he can't hear what we're saying.

He does surprise me, I can't imagine what it's like for him. At every race meeting, every paddock, every pit lane he walks, every promotion he has to do (if any), at every hotel, every restaurant, every team meeting, pretty much everywhere he goes, everyone is thinking "what a wker". There can't be anyone outside his immediate family who has a good word to say about him? Does being an (really st) F1 driver really compensate for all that? How does he look at himself? There must be something else he can do?

Apart from totally ruining what was possibly the closest season in F1 history last year, he is (as others have said) currently 21st in a field of 20. Another driver can come along that not many are terribly familiar with, is not F1 race fit, indeed is not especially young even, can step into the sister car and blow him into the weeds.

How does Latifi live with it, what the hell happens to his self-esteem?

Like Maldonado and many others before him, he'll probably just be happy that he bought his way in there. If Williams don't jettison him before the end of the season, some very serious questions need asking of Williams' ambitions.

[heebeegeetee]

C70R said:

Like Maldonado and many others before him, he'll probably just be happy that he bought his way in there.

It's much worse than that though, isn't it? Maldonado could kick ass on his day and of course did win one, his position in the 2015 standings weren't too bad.

I'm aware there's been some duffers before, Riccardo Rosset (sp) springs to mind, but not many who are that bad keep returning for more. It beggars belief that Latifi returned after last year imo.

[C70R]

heebeegeetee said:

C70R said:

Like Maldonado and many others before him, he'll probably just be happy that he bought his way in there.

It's much worse than that though, isn't it? Maldonado could kick ass on his day and of course did win one, his position in the 2015 standings weren't too bad.

I'm aware there's been some duffers before, Riccardo Rosset (sp) springs to mind, but not many who are that bad keep returning for more. It beggars belief that Latifi returned after last year imo.

Maldonado did indeed win one race, but he was also a complete liability who couldn't keep his car straight for a huge portion of his career.

Latifi might be the worst driver we've had in modern F1, but Pastor wasn't too far behind in terms of actual driving talent.

[StevieBee]

C70R said:

Maldonado did indeed win one race, but he was also a complete liability who couldn't keep his car straight for a huge portion of his career.

Latifi might be the worst driver we've had in modern F1, but Pastor wasn't too far behind in terms of actual driving talent.

Maldonado won a couple of Formula Renault Championships and the GP2 (F2) title.

I think Latifi managed 2nd in three attempts at F2

[Smollet]

StevieBee said:

Maldonado won a couple of Formula Renault Championships and the GP2 (F2) title.

I think Latifi managed 2nd in three attempts at F2

Maldonado did have raw speed. Something Latifi can only dream of.