Official 2019 British Grand Prix Thread ***SPOILERS***
Discussion
Underwhelming is how I'd describe BOT. Seems like a nice enough chap but as Derek says just no fight in him, his defensive driving is abysmal at times. I can only recall Silverstone and Baku when it showed any fight at all and that was with HAM, whom he presumably has a good enough relationship and trust with to know he won't risk a crash.
Anyone else, he seems to just jump out of the way of.
Anyone else, he seems to just jump out of the way of.
ELUSIVEJIM said:
And if they ban tyre blankets, will we see more ?!?! Derek Smith said:
He's frustrating. At Baku, his first lap was stunning. Had it been Hamilton, we'd have been saying what a great drive, no wonder he's multiple WDC. There were dramatic passes, clever blocking and great control. Lap two; a bit meh. That was bad enough, but he seemed to give up after that. I thought we might see him battling to get back, but no.
As he came into the finish straight, I was texting a friend in the north of England to the effect that he needed to get out of DRS range of Hamilton. I didn't realise he'd do it by the first corner. What a disappointment. I thought we'd lost the chances of a tremendous race. Wrong again, I know.
Yup, see my earlier comments - he has skill, above average often enough but not consistent enough to be compared to Lewis. Skill level = above average imo. Consistency = only average. You need both to be top rate to be a champion I think.As he came into the finish straight, I was texting a friend in the north of England to the effect that he needed to get out of DRS range of Hamilton. I didn't realise he'd do it by the first corner. What a disappointment. I thought we'd lost the chances of a tremendous race. Wrong again, I know.
Fwiw, I imagine if his team mate wasn't a multiple world champion in the fastest car, his performance would probably be judged more kindly by many. My sense is that he is above average, just not stellar and I don't think his media image helps him get a fair assessment by most viewers either. He's a bit... serious. Kimi is also very serious but he lives at both extremes of the spectrum - never smiles or says much on race weekends, then a few times a year pops out and gets hammered, makes a tit of himself and turns up the following week with a slight smirk when questioned about it. Makes him more personable perhaps, and people more generous in their praise of his ability on track.
TobyTR said:
Seven 1-2 finishes out of 10 races (including 5 in a row) and people are still trying to make an argument that this year's Mercedes is not dominant 
this is getting silly now
This is pistonheads, Ferrari are faster, Alonso is the best this is getting silly nowMan, id rather see Kmag in CLC/Max's car...
Durzel said:
Mr Pointy said:
If that were the case how come Bottas is leading Hamilton 4:3 in pole positions this year?
Next you'll be saying pole position doesn't matter.
Maybe he's better than Hamilton at qualifying?Next you'll be saying pole position doesn't matter.
And Hamilton has twice as much experience in F1.
Bottas is good. He’s never going to be as good as Hamilton, but neither was Rosberg and that didn’t stop him taking a WDC.
HustleRussell said:
You say that as if it isn’t an astounding feat in itself!
And Hamilton has twice as much experience in F1.
Bottas is good. He’s never going to be as good as Hamilton, but neither was Rosberg and that didn’t stop him taking a WDC.
That's true. Although he took an entire out of season mental build-up to do so, and was so exhausted having managed the feat he retired, realising it wasn't a method he could maintain year on year. I'm paraphrasing but that's the gist of what Rosberg has since said about beating Lewis.And Hamilton has twice as much experience in F1.
Bottas is good. He’s never going to be as good as Hamilton, but neither was Rosberg and that didn’t stop him taking a WDC.
Lewis is something of a freak when it comes to mental attitude and subsequent consistency. It makes it very hard for any driver to look good in his shadow - but that doesn't mean the other driver isn't also pretty special.
paulguitar said:
We keep coming back to this, but Senna, Prost, Hill, Mansell, Schumacher, Vettel, Andretti, Clark, etc etc etc etc all won in the best cars. It's simply part of F1.
When was the last time the WDC won in a car that did not win the WCC? I'm guessing 2008?
And who would the driver have been? Ah, yes, Hamilton.
You also know that had McLaren not been disqualified from the WCC they would’ve won that as well When was the last time the WDC won in a car that did not win the WCC? I'm guessing 2008?
And who would the driver have been? Ah, yes, Hamilton.
exelero said:
paulguitar said:
We keep coming back to this, but Senna, Prost, Hill, Mansell, Schumacher, Vettel, Andretti, Clark, etc etc etc etc all won in the best cars. It's simply part of F1.
When was the last time the WDC won in a car that did not win the WCC? I'm guessing 2008?
And who would the driver have been? Ah, yes, Hamilton.
You also know that had McLaren not been disqualified from the WCC they would’ve won that as well When was the last time the WDC won in a car that did not win the WCC? I'm guessing 2008?
And who would the driver have been? Ah, yes, Hamilton.
exelero said:
paulguitar said:
We keep coming back to this, but Senna, Prost, Hill, Mansell, Schumacher, Vettel, Andretti, Clark, etc etc etc etc all won in the best cars. It's simply part of F1.
When was the last time the WDC won in a car that did not win the WCC? I'm guessing 2008?
And who would the driver have been? Ah, yes, Hamilton.
You also know that had McLaren not been disqualified from the WCC they would’ve won that as well When was the last time the WDC won in a car that did not win the WCC? I'm guessing 2008?
And who would the driver have been? Ah, yes, Hamilton.
ELUSIVEJIM said:
Is that a rev limiter issue? He lost it dead on the line.TheDeuce said:
TobyTR said:
Seven 1-2 finishes out of 10 races (including 5 in a row) and people are still trying to make an argument that this year's Mercedes is not dominant this is getting silly now
Who is making that argument? Ridiculous as it would be. this is getting silly nowOut of boredom and imsomnia, I've just totted up Barrichello's points from first 10 races of 2002 and 2004 using the current points system and compared them to Rosberg and Bottas' after the first 10 races:
Barrichello 2002: 100pts
Barrichello 2004: 158pts
Rosberg 2014: 190pts
Rosberg 2015: 181pts
Rosberg 2016: 168pts
Bottas 2019: 184pts
TobyTR said:
exelero said:
paulguitar said:
We keep coming back to this, but Senna, Prost, Hill, Mansell, Schumacher, Vettel, Andretti, Clark, etc etc etc etc all won in the best cars. It's simply part of F1.
When was the last time the WDC won in a car that did not win the WCC? I'm guessing 2008?
And who would the driver have been? Ah, yes, Hamilton.
You also know that had McLaren not been disqualified from the WCC they would’ve won that as well When was the last time the WDC won in a car that did not win the WCC? I'm guessing 2008?
And who would the driver have been? Ah, yes, Hamilton.
t. My bad 
TheDeuce said:
swisstoni said:
Bottas is good enough to beat Hamilton on occasions. That’s a pretty good sign that he’s excellent in my book.
There are a few F1 hotshots who might lose a bit of share value if they had to partner Bottas over a season.
Exactly. Over a race, the likes of Max, maybe DR could if they were 'on it' punch above Bottas perhaps. But through the course of a season... Well, damage and incidents aside, I can't recall Bottas having a 'bad' race of his own making. No silly mistakes really, not 'silly' as in reckless at least. He's at best as good as anyone, and at worst good enough on merit for 2nd/3rd. That's rare - normally that sort of solidity race after race is the preserve of world champions. He's like a world champion that's missing the final couple of % somehow.There are a few F1 hotshots who might lose a bit of share value if they had to partner Bottas over a season.
the only reason I can think of for anyone not appreciating his performance is that they're shallow enough to get swayed by the fact he's typically 'the loser' compared to Lewis. But if you actually take Lewis out of the picture and compare Bottas's consistency and results to other drivers with a faster team mate, then he's about as good as it gets.
I think with Bottas, as with Nico, we won't fully appreciate just how fast he was until we see another team mate against Lewis. Do we really think Ocon, who was often beaten by Perez, will be closer to or ahead of Lewis more often than Bottas is? I highly doubt it. It must be damn hard to look good when driving against him. How do you shine when driving against a consistent record breaker and literally one of the GOATs? Yet Bottas can still pull out some decent performances and wins
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