Official 2020 Austrian & Styrian Grand Prix Thread *Spoilers

[swisstoni]

REALIST123 said:

TheDeuce said:

DanielSan said:

jsf said:

If i was Bottas i would tell them to bugger off. He needs as many points between him and Lewis as possible.

Remember, he is on a 1 year contract, this might be his last chance of winning.

Very much this. Lewis wouldn't be doing it if it was the other way round.

A keystone of Mercedes F1 has been value and respect of one another's efforts within the team. That includes the drivers. I'm not going to foolishly pretend that two F1 drivers want to play nice... But from Toto's point of view it would have been anti team spirit to even slightly risk bottas's efforts. He won the race for them yesterday.. it was his to drive and own without game playing.

Ferrari would have swapped. Do Mercedes want to be Ferrari these days..? Nope. It's not just about one time results, it's about empowering Bottas to know that if he finds the pace, he really will be given an open road. It's basically about extracting the best from both drivers by letting them know it's always fair - at least until the rest of the teams efforts are genuinely at risk.

Mercedes are principled. Sticking to principals can empower everyone in a team. It's bigger than one race result.

Mercedes have swapped them before. They didn’t worry about ‘team spirit’ then.

Plenty of time for Hamilton to be helped yet.

If Hamilton was the contractual No.1 driver at the start of every season they would have swapped yesterday.
Why on earth wouldn’t they?

[WJNB]

Well done for the few who at the start chose independent thinking as opposed to blindly following he hordes by NOT to 'taking the knee' (a stupid saying).

[Fortitude]

FANTASTIC overtaking move, by Alex Albon, on the reigning World Champion.

Draw your own conclusions as to who is at fault here, Alex Albon DESERVES credit for that overtaking maneuver.

Lewis Hamilton and Alex Albon Crash | 2020 Austrian Grand Prix

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=EHBgQw5OecA

An interesting article to read;

Alex Albon crash: Lewis Hamilton handed penalty after denying Red Bull driver his maiden podium – again

https://inews.co.uk/sport/formula-one/lewis-hamilt...

Edited by Fortitude on Monday 6th July 08:48

[kambites]

Has there been any news on whether Albon's failure was caused by the impact with Hamilton or was unrelated? Obviously it makes no difference to the blame in the collision, but it would be interesting to know if it cost Albon the podium (and quite possibly the win) or he would probably hvae failed to complete the race anyway.

[Fortitude]

North West Tom said:

Fortitude said:

Described as;

eppsislike
Weird highlights. Sound is all over the place and not in synch with the video

Undertaker kane
One of the stupidest editing videos ever . This doesn't even deserve to be on the web. Disgusting

njezni2
terrible video. remove editor of this video immediately.

JAMBO C
Absolutely disgraceful video! A complete waste of time! People jumping places, and it doesn’t show it, shows half of something then moves on. Shows racing, then the next second bottas is standing with a mic. Absolute crap video!

YEAH RIGHT
Fire the video editor!!!

Desi Ninja
Worst edit ever. Mid sentence it moves to a different cut and some other random even. Was a professional editor not available?

2020 Austrian Grand Prix Race -Highlights

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2eb_WYsLk9k

Am I missing something? You know that's not the official F1 channel?

As you asked... ...I posted a link to some highlights, which I knew had been 'unusually' edited, hence the quoted warnings beforehand for everybody...

BEFORE posting, I KNEW that it wasn't the official F1 Channel, but it was something to watch for those who do not have access to a television.

ALSO, at the time that I posted it, I could NOT find another compilation of highlights...

Edited by Fortitude on Monday 6th July 08:43

[swisstoni]

WJNB said:

Well done for the few who at the start chose independent thinking as opposed to blindly following he hordes by NOT to 'taking the knee' (a stupid saying).

‘Taking a knee’ means something in American culture. Not so much anywhere else.
We don’t take a knee at the Cenotaph for instance. We lower our heads and doff caps.

This was the gist of LeClerc’s tweet and I agree with him.

[Derek Smith]

BrettMRC said:

With Austria 2 coming up, who and what is going to change?

• Mercedes are going to have to get on top of what ever is causing the vibration sensitivity in the transmission.
• RedBull need to do a post mortum on WTF happened to the electrical control systems of both cars, again I suspect its a vibration sensitivity.
• Haas...how the hell do you fix the brakes in a week? Unless it was purely down to heat and they can knock up a decent duct?
• Williams fuel pressure issue, so either a pump failure or another team with electrical/vibration sensitivity.

I think qualifying will be really impressive coming up, they all know whats on the table now, a 1.02.5 might be on the cards?

Mclaren & Racing Point showed a lot of class, I expect to see them block out Ferrari in positions 4-8.

What do people think?

Ferrari have a new car coming. They'll rush it onto the grid and if it doesn't go well from the off, then heads might roll at the team. I used to think the police service had a blame culture, but it was second to Ferrari. They'll wander around while the new broom settles itself in, so by race 8 they might be competitive again. McL and RP have started well, very well - which was great to see, a real boost for F1 - but I doubt they will have a lot of money available for development. With a shortened season, this might not be the problem it would have been with a 20+ race season.

We'll have to wait and see I think. I'm just enjoying the memory of the McL team bouncing off the sides of their pits and Norris' response to being told he was third. There's no need to hope for a McL revival; I'm doing enough of that for everyone.

Prediction is a mug's game in F1, but it's fun. Here goes:

Merc will overcome their sensor problems, but maybe not until after the next race.

RB will come back, but maybe sporadically. I don't think they'll challenge Merc (except when the latter have problems with reliability),

Ferrari will struggle for a while, maybe four races,

McL and RP will fight among themselves and will be the real thrill of the races, but will only briefly be on TV,

Williams will continue to bring up the rear; just eleven cars at the death, and still they were unable to pick up a point.

[Graveworm]

Derek Smith said:

BrettMRC said:

With Austria 2 coming up, who and what is going to change?

• Mercedes are going to have to get on top of what ever is causing the vibration sensitivity in the transmission.
• RedBull need to do a post mortum on WTF happened to the electrical control systems of both cars, again I suspect its a vibration sensitivity.
• Haas...how the hell do you fix the brakes in a week? Unless it was purely down to heat and they can knock up a decent duct?
• Williams fuel pressure issue, so either a pump failure or another team with electrical/vibration sensitivity.

I think qualifying will be really impressive coming up, they all know whats on the table now, a 1.02.5 might be on the cards?

Mclaren & Racing Point showed a lot of class, I expect to see them block out Ferrari in positions 4-8.

What do people think?

Ferrari have a new car coming. They'll rush it onto the grid and if it doesn't go well from the off, then heads might roll at the team. I used to think the police service had a blame culture, but it was second to Ferrari. They'll wander around while the new broom settles itself in, so by race 8 they might be competitive again. McL and RP have started well, very well - which was great to see, a real boost for F1 - but I doubt they will have a lot of money available for development. With a shortened season, this might not be the problem it would have been with a 20+ race season.

We'll have to wait and see I think. I'm just enjoying the memory of the McL team bouncing off the sides of their pits and Norris' response to being told he was third. There's no need to hope for a McL revival; I'm doing enough of that for everyone.

Prediction is a mug's game in F1, but it's fun. Here goes:

Merc will overcome their sensor problems, but maybe not until after the next race.

RB will come back, but maybe sporadically. I don't think they'll challenge Merc (except when the latter have problems with reliability),

Ferrari will struggle for a while, maybe four races,

McL and RP will fight among themselves and will be the real thrill of the races, but will only briefly be on TV,

Williams will continue to bring up the rear; just eleven cars at the death, and still they were unable to pick up a point.

My concern is that this is not a usually a strong Mercedes track and they were completely dominant even managing the sensor issue. This does seem to indicate that from now on it's which Merc driver will win and the best of the rest. Luckily both of those could be interesting.

[Fortitude]

Derek Smith said:

Williams will continue to bring up the rear; just eleven cars at the death, and still they were unable to pick up a point.

...and they dispensed with the services of their driver, that delivered their 'lonely' one point last season... Just saying!!

[BrettMRC]

Fortitude said:

Derek Smith said:

Williams will continue to bring up the rear; just eleven cars at the death, and still they were unable to pick up a point.

...and they dispensed with the services of their driver, that delivered their 'lonely' one point last season... Just saying!!

Pure luck IMO, with better luck I think Russel would have picked up 2 points yesterday.

Not to undermine Roberts acheivement in getting back in the car, but he was never competitive.

[kambites]

It was a bit unfortunate for Williams that in the race that gave their best chance to score points in ages, it was their faster, more experienced driver who broke down. Of course it was only poor reliability which put them anywhere near the points so they can't complain too much.

[Derek Smith]

Graveworm said:

My concern is that this is not a usually a strong Mercedes track and they were completely dominant even managing the sensor issue. This does seem to indicate that from now on it's which Merc driver will win and the best of the rest. Luckily both of those could be interesting.

I've been following the mid-field battles for the last few seasons, this despite the thrilling race for the title last season. The politics is fascinating, the excitement ever-present, and, as a follower of a team rather than driver, and that team being McL, the last season, and the first race for this, has been a real joy.

I enjoy the racing at the front when it happens, as yesterday, but it's not the be all and end all of F1.

[TheDeuce]

REALIST123 said:

TheDeuce said:

DanielSan said:

jsf said:

If i was Bottas i would tell them to bugger off. He needs as many points between him and Lewis as possible.

Remember, he is on a 1 year contract, this might be his last chance of winning.

Very much this. Lewis wouldn't be doing it if it was the other way round.

A keystone of Mercedes F1 has been value and respect of one another's efforts within the team. That includes the drivers. I'm not going to foolishly pretend that two F1 drivers want to play nice... But from Toto's point of view it would have been anti team spirit to even slightly risk bottas's efforts. He won the race for them yesterday.. it was his to drive and own without game playing.

Ferrari would have swapped. Do Mercedes want to be Ferrari these days..? Nope. It's not just about one time results, it's about empowering Bottas to know that if he finds the pace, he really will be given an open road. It's basically about extracting the best from both drivers by letting them know it's always fair - at least until the rest of the teams efforts are genuinely at risk.

Mercedes are principled. Sticking to principals can empower everyone in a team. It's bigger than one race result.

Mercedes have swapped them before. They didn’t worry about ‘team spirit’ then.

Plenty of time for Hamilton to be helped yet.

You didn't read it in full? "at least until the rest of the teams efforts are genuinely at risk"

Both drivers are part of the team and it's a team sport. If a WCC title is genuinely likely to be tipped they will ask the drivers to do whatever is best - and ultimately the drivers should both expect that and be ok with it. Otherwise they'd look pretty stupid each time they thank their team for delivering them a win if they can't repay the same effort on occasion.

Race one, where regardless of the result Mercedes do know they have the fastest car by some margin, wouldn't qualify as being a reasonable time to ask the drivers to play such team games though.

[sortedcossie]

I thought it wasn't a bad race considering the situation, few twists and turns.

The more Lando Norris is interviewed, the more it shows how approachable and genuine he is - loved the fact that he got a James Hunt quote in after the race:


"That was an impressive sector 2 on last lap, how did you do that"

Lando - "Big balls"

[Leithen]

Derek Smith said:

I've been following the mid-field battles for the last few seasons, this despite the thrilling race for the title last season. The politics is fascinating, the excitement ever-present, and, as a follower of a team rather than driver, and that team being McL, the last season, and the first race for this, has been a real joy.

I enjoy the racing at the front when it happens, as yesterday, but it's not the be all and end all of F1.

Great to see McL back towards the front. It will be tough to maintain it once Red Bull sort their gremlins and Ferrari figure out how to corral a few more donkeys. Can't help thinking we are seeing an Andreas Seidl effect. Hope they can lure a few more big sponsors on the back of it.

[Horace Van Khute]

What can I say, I didn't watch it live because F1TV is run by a bunch of S who are more into social justice than providing service that people pay for. But I did watch the highlights. And I'm even more pissed off that I missed it.

Anyway, 4 highlights from me:
1. Vettel spinning............................................................................. thank you for proving my point, Sabestion.
2. Charles getting the podium. Thanks for showing Vettel the middle finger, Charles.
3. Crofty saying that Verstappen is "urging it [his broken down car] along and moving in his seat" when Verstappen was bouncing back and forth trying to engage the gear, not because he was urging it along. What a fking wasteman this Crofty character is.
4. Hamilton vs Albon. I guess Albon didn't get the memo from Liberty before race?

[Piginapoke]

Well I really enjoyed the race, Albon was robbed, I do think he would have won on that strategy, but all credit to Bottas, a 10/10 drive. Mature drive from Leclerc, Vettel heading for the exit early if he carries on with that level of performance I think. Very impressed with Norris, I'm revising my opinion up on him a bit.

Do we want another thread for next weekend, or are we happy to carry this one on?

[Rat_Fink_67]

Has anyone seen anything from Mercedes regarding why they didn't pit at the end? Strategy isn't always their strong suit but it still seems a very needlessly risky move. Hamilton incident and then reliability aside, there was every chance that Albon could've caught and passed Bottas for the lead, and on a weekend where Mercedes were so obviously dominant, that seems almost inexcusable?! You can bet Max would've been there at the end too, and it could've been a very bad weekend for the Mercs.

[TheDeuce]

Piginapoke said:

Well I really enjoyed the race, Albon was robbed, I do think he would have won on that strategy, but all credit to Bottas, a 10/10 drive. Mature drive from Leclerc, Vettel heading for the exit early if he carries on with that level of performance I think. Very impressed with Norris, I'm revising my opinion up on him a bit.

Do we want another thread for next weekend, or are we happy to carry this one on?

I'd say keep this one, maybe update the title for clarity...

The next race is now interesting because of how it will contrast to yesterday. All those years of asking 'what if' after a race... And now some of those questions might actually get answered as the same cars and driver's have a second go

So I'd say keep the thread as one. The chatter about what could happen next race will largely be referencing what did happen yesterday in any case.

[N0ddie]

I don't think Albon was robbed at all. On lap 1 Hamilton and Albon had a very similar exchange however Hamilton was on the outside. On the exit Hamilton knew the it wasn't gonna work (There'd be contact) so bailed on the manouvre.

However, roles reversed the younger more naive Albon didn't see what was happening and the crash was the result.