Official 2020 Sakhir Grand Prix 2020 Thread **SPOILERS**

[Petrus1983]

Like I said yesterday- he’s fast. He’s also consistent. This will be fun.

[TheDeuce]

nuttywobbler said:

Play nicely now boys. I’m just offering an alternative viewpoint - that just happens to be correct!

Russell to quality P1 and win, marking the beginning of the end for Hamilton. Over and out.

Your viewpoint being that Russel can next year prevent Lewis from winning the 7th title that he already won this year

[l354uge]

I think George will get pole. But he won't win, but either will Bottas...

[ChocolateFrog]

Boom78 said:

Just what we all ordered, a pint of Misery!! We have our best young driver (based on junior formulas) who has been driving a dog whilst all those he creamed got top seats finally given the platform and so far grabbing it with both hands!!!

Amen to that.

He deserves to drive a decent car for a weekend. It's a travesty his talent has so far been wasted in the Williams.

[ChocolateFrog]

elanfan said:

What odds would you get on Russell taking Bottas’s seat next season. That might worry Gamilton a bit?

Very long I'd expect.

Why upset the apple cart. Bottas is the perfect foil for Hamiltion. Good enough to usually bring it home in the points while never threatening Hamilton for the title.

[Deesee]

Hey Murghee,

Went out this afternoon (casino and pub) so now watching FP2. (As live)..

My wife, (paying attention)..

Is asking where is Hulkenberg he raced well last time I watched, & is (grosjean) the one we spent 2 hours wondering if he was alive.

Where is Lewis & why is it dark, it’s been recorded..

[Petrus1983]

ChocolateFrog said:

elanfan said:

What odds would you get on Russell taking Bottas’s seat next season. That might worry Gamilton a bit?

Very long I'd expect.

Why upset the apple cart. Bottas is the perfect foil for Hamiltion. Good enough to usually bring it home in the points while never threatening Hamilton for the title.

Hamilton hasn’t signed. Maybe a bad mistake.

[Deesee]

WickerBill said:

Let’s get some perspective here.

1) Bottas best theoretical lap is 3/10ths ahead of Russell
2) Russell has 2 years experience in a Williams
3) Russell has 6000km of testing in a Mercedes over the last 2 years and hundreds of hours of sim work with them.
4) Russell is known to be a talented young lad
5) Yes the W11 is the best car out there, but it takes a decent driver to peddle it.

All these things are true, so it’s hardly surprising Russell is up there, but it’s only 2 practice sessions.

I predicted Social media would be a sewer of opinions from all sides come Monday, and it’s only Friday!

I think people need to let the weekend run it’s course before judging performances

Live timing seems to be broken sandbags..

[ChocolateFrog]

nuttywobbler said:

Play nicely now boys. I’m just offering an alternative viewpoint - that just happens to be correct!

Russell to quality P1 and win, marking the beginning of the end for Hamilton. Over and out.

I'm not Hamilton's biggest fan but your viewpoint is one of the most ridiculous viewpoints I've ever read on PH.

Other than that fantastic trolling.

Edited by ChocolateFrog on Friday 4th December 20:05

[MiniMan64]

I’d say we’ll see Russell in a Mercedes in 2021 assuming they’re still in the sport.

Christ imagine if he wins it on Sunday and then has to go back to Williams at the back of the grid year...

I wonder what Aston and Toto are wondering how they can cancel Vettels contract and get him in there..

[ChocolateFrog]

Petrus1983 said:

ChocolateFrog said:

elanfan said:

What odds would you get on Russell taking Bottas’s seat next season. That might worry Gamilton a bit?

Very long I'd expect.

Why upset the apple cart. Bottas is the perfect foil for Hamiltion. Good enough to usually bring it home in the points while never threatening Hamilton for the title.

Hamilton hasn’t signed. Maybe a bad mistake.

On Mercedes part?

Hamilton can name his price and they will pay, he's the only current driver that transcends the sport.

[SmoothCriminal]

Bottas is over 5 wins behind Hamilton in the the WDC and we have only had 15 races.

We saw how special Lewis was in his first season be it for China he would have been a wdc and he had a multi wdc team mate in Alonso.

I can't see why people are so surprised a journeyman is being beaten or will be beat in the race by one of the young guns who arguably has the most talent if I am correct George won gp2/3 in his rookie year.

[Speed Badger]

Bottas has to be at least a little bit rattled that Russell has jumped into his team mate's car and stuck it P1 in practice, having learned all the systems and processes, trying to get comfortable and find the limit, all in the space of a couple of days, when Bottas has had 3 years odd.

[kambites]

ChocolateFrog said:

Hamilton can name his price and they will pay, he's the only current driver that transcends the sport.

Even if (and it's a very big if) Russell would prove to be the faster driver, Hamilton is still worth far more to Mercedes.

Plus if Mercedes did drop Hamilton, he'd probably pop up in the second Redbull next year (now wouldn't that be fabulous to watch!) - that would be a driver pairing Mercedes really wouldn't want to face, whereas Russell is no danger to them while he's stuck in a back-of-the-grid Williams.

I'm increasingly convinced we'll see Russell alongside Hamilton at Mercedes in 2022. It would be an awesome driver pairing going into the new regulations which Mercedes are far from certain to dominate (although you'd be brave to bet against them).

Edited by kambites on Friday 4th December 20:14

[FourWheelDrift]

Unless Red Bull grab Russell

[MDMetal]

Mercedes need to have someone in line to replace Lewis and it sure isn't bottas, Russel is young and good enough to pair up and take over from Lewis. Bottas regularly struggles and often underperforms. As long as Lewis and Russell finish 1-2 in ever race I doubt mercedes care too much about the order.

The real losers here will be bottas and max, any dream of winning a championship is evaporating in front of them.

[kambites]

FourWheelDrift said:

Unless Red Bull grab Russell

Would Russell go to Redbull if he was offered that seat? Given he's highly likely to get a Mercedes seat in 2022 it would certainly be a dubious career choice with Redbull having no confirmed engine supplier.

If Russell continues to put in a strong showing this (and potentially next) weekend I think he'll just settle back into Williams next year, happy that he's reinforced his potential to what was always likely to be his future team anyway.

Edited by kambites on Friday 4th December 20:18

[Petrus1983]

Obviously playing devil’s advocate- Toto pays Lewis almost directly via his ownership of Mercedes. He also manages Russell. Why does Toto need to pay £50m to Lewis for what Russell can do for £5m?

[kambites]

Petrus1983 said:

Obviously playing devil’s advocate- Toto pays Lewis almost directly via his ownership of Mercedes. He also managed Russell. Why does Toto need to pay £50m to Lewis for what Russell can do for £5m?

Because of they keep Hamilton, Mercedes have a very good chance of becoming the company directly associated with the outright most successful driver of all time. That's probably worth far more than £50m to them.

ETA; Plus of course they'd have to buy Russell out of his contract at Williams, which would probably eat into that money quite a lot.

Edited by kambites on Friday 4th December 20:31

[Petrus1983]

kambites said:

Petrus1983 said:

Obviously playing devil’s advocate- Toto pays Lewis almost directly via his ownership of Mercedes. He also managed Russell. Why does Toto need to pay £50m to Lewis for what Russell can do for £5m?

Because of they keep Hamilton, Mercedes have a very good chance of becoming the company directly associated with the outright most successful driver of all time. That's probably worth far more than £50m to them.

With the outgoing of normal engines, fuel and Covid restricting company sales, I’m not so sure. Williams dropped Hill after he won the WCC.