Official 2020 Austrian & Styrian Grand Prix Thread *Spoilers
Discussion
Honda had the bonus of being able to continue to work through lockdown when other teams couldn't and their power unit has been quoted by multiple media outlets as being 'Very strong'.
Also, I'll don my tin foil hat and say that I think Max is a quicker driver than Lewis, whether he can maintain that throughout the season is the big question.
Also, I'll don my tin foil hat and say that I think Max is a quicker driver than Lewis, whether he can maintain that throughout the season is the big question.
HustleRussell said:
No team has been able to run Mercedes close enough to put them under pressure strategically race after race.
Red Bull strategy is on point. If Albon is there to back Verstappen up, Mercedes could have a fight on their hands.
That's why I wouldn't rule it out - I'll only go as far as to say I think it's not likely.Red Bull strategy is on point. If Albon is there to back Verstappen up, Mercedes could have a fight on their hands.
Red bull strategy is good. If Albon is a strong driver all season (I think he is), and their car is as close as makes little difference to mercs then it could happen.
It's just that with my boring head on, it's unlikely they will have all 3 aspects to the same extent as Mercedes have all 3. I'd say I'm 75% expecting that Mercedes will win the double again. But only 30% expecting they will do so easily or early. I do think a bit of a battle is likely.
I also believe that if all of red bulls chips are in order and they have the potential, max could deliver it. He is hot headed but seems to take as many positives from that as negatives, Vs Lewis who is always cool. I've never subscribed to the theory that hot heads can't wrap up a season. If they get a strong start and some momentum, they can can become very difficult to beat.
It's almost a shame the first three races are weighted in red bulls favour, we have a little while to wait until we see the true comparison! That alone could give max and Alex a huge confidence boost of course..
TheDeuce said:
That's why I wouldn't rule it out.
Red bull strategy is good.
I also believe that if all of red bulls chips are in order and they have the potential, max could deliver it. He is hot headed but seems to take as many positives from that as negatives, Vs Lewis who is always cool.
It's almost a shame the first three races are weighted in red bulls favour.
Great post, questions:Red bull strategy is good.
I also believe that if all of red bulls chips are in order and they have the potential, max could deliver it. He is hot headed but seems to take as many positives from that as negatives, Vs Lewis who is always cool.
It's almost a shame the first three races are weighted in red bulls favour.
Max, hot headed but Lewis not? They both seem deeply emotional to me, one introspective, the other more overt, why single out Max?
Red Bull strategy agreed plus their pit team are extraordinary, many pitstops under two seconds.
Why are the first three races 'weighted' in their favour? Because Max won two in Austria? Despite fan support it's hardly a 'home race'.
ETA: I'm no Max fan, just being objective.
cheddar said:
Great post, questions:
Max, hot headed but Lewis not? They both seem deeply emotional to me, one introspective, the other more overt, why single out Max?
Red Bull strategy agreed plus their pit team are extraordinary, many pitstops under two seconds.
Why are the first three races 'weighted' in their favour? Because Max won two in Austria? Despite fan support it's hardly a 'home race'.
ETA: I'm no Max fan, just being objective.
its being painted as some kind of max speciality track cos he wined there a couple of times, but if you look deeper he's never had a pole or even front row, and the wins weren't without circumstance - both mercs had issues both years, last year they suffered overheating affecting race pace. One might muse that opening the season with double race weekends there, and given several months to plan for it, you might expect then to have prepared with a little more focus than any normal year...Max, hot headed but Lewis not? They both seem deeply emotional to me, one introspective, the other more overt, why single out Max?
Red Bull strategy agreed plus their pit team are extraordinary, many pitstops under two seconds.
Why are the first three races 'weighted' in their favour? Because Max won two in Austria? Despite fan support it's hardly a 'home race'.
ETA: I'm no Max fan, just being objective.
I'm a big VER fan, I think he's superb-exactly what the sport needs, talented and hot headed enough to cause some special moments.
I still think HAM is the better driver but there's no doubt who I'll be supporting once he retires, plus I think he's got a lot of time to work on his attitude and application before he becomes (which I'm sure he will) an all time great.
I've said it before, if VER is definitely in the hunt for a WDC I think you'll see a vastly different driver and a very different attitude. We'll see i guess...
I still think HAM is the better driver but there's no doubt who I'll be supporting once he retires, plus I think he's got a lot of time to work on his attitude and application before he becomes (which I'm sure he will) an all time great.
I've said it before, if VER is definitely in the hunt for a WDC I think you'll see a vastly different driver and a very different attitude. We'll see i guess...
My prediction is one of the following:
Max absolutely aces it for the first two races, Lewis ends up 2nd or 3rd at best.
Max absolutely aces it, but the Honda engine turns out to be a grenade and he DNFs a lot.
Mercedes simply turn the dial from 7.3 up to 8.5 and maintain a comfortable margin.
Max absolutely aces it for the first two races, Lewis ends up 2nd or 3rd at best.
Max absolutely aces it, but the Honda engine turns out to be a grenade and he DNFs a lot.
Mercedes simply turn the dial from 7.3 up to 8.5 and maintain a comfortable margin.
cheddar said:
Max, hot headed but Lewis not? They both seem deeply emotional to me, one introspective, the other more overt, why single out Max?
I don't think you could ever look at Hamilton as being hot headed. Yes, he likes a whinge on the radio but I have never seen it come out in his driving. I would counter that Lewis probably has the all round best skills package at his disposal. He is outstanding over one lap, brings the car home even on a bad day, relentless race pace, can make up for a performance deficit and is clearly one of the finest of his generation when wheel to wheel. That wins world titles. I do not see any hot headedness in Hamilton's driving. If anything he is more like Prost than his idol Senna.With regard to Max I think the hot headed days are likely behind him. No doubt they could flare up again but for the past 12 months at least I haven't seen it. I sense a lot of that came from his teammate being Ricciardo. Having a solid number 2 seems to have fixed that. He has built the reputation around him that he is not to be messed around with wheel to wheel and that is no bad thing. He is reminiscent of Senna in that regard and I think it works for Max. Nothing wrong with having an aura around you so long as it is channelled in the right way which he is now doing.
They are completely different characters who operate in a very different way. It will be great to see them fight it out more regularly. Over a season I would back Lewis given his vast experience in title fights, but if it came down to a shootout at the end of the season then I think Max would have a great chance.
cheddar said:
TheDeuce said:
That's why I wouldn't rule it out.
Red bull strategy is good.
I also believe that if all of red bulls chips are in order and they have the potential, max could deliver it. He is hot headed but seems to take as many positives from that as negatives, Vs Lewis who is always cool.
It's almost a shame the first three races are weighted in red bulls favour.
Great post, questions:Red bull strategy is good.
I also believe that if all of red bulls chips are in order and they have the potential, max could deliver it. He is hot headed but seems to take as many positives from that as negatives, Vs Lewis who is always cool.
It's almost a shame the first three races are weighted in red bulls favour.
Max, hot headed but Lewis not? They both seem deeply emotional to me, one introspective, the other more overt, why single out Max?
Red Bull strategy agreed plus their pit team are extraordinary, many pitstops under two seconds.
Why are the first three races 'weighted' in their favour? Because Max won two in Austria? Despite fan support it's hardly a 'home race'.
ETA: I'm no Max fan, just being objective.
As with Max, it will be interesting to see how they cope.
Personally, I think Mercedes and Lewis will be too strong again.
cheddar said:
TheDeuce said:
That's why I wouldn't rule it out.
Red bull strategy is good.
I also believe that if all of red bulls chips are in order and they have the potential, max could deliver it. He is hot headed but seems to take as many positives from that as negatives, Vs Lewis who is always cool.
It's almost a shame the first three races are weighted in red bulls favour.
Great post, questions:Red bull strategy is good.
I also believe that if all of red bulls chips are in order and they have the potential, max could deliver it. He is hot headed but seems to take as many positives from that as negatives, Vs Lewis who is always cool.
It's almost a shame the first three races are weighted in red bulls favour.
Max, hot headed but Lewis not? They both seem deeply emotional to me, one introspective, the other more overt, why single out Max?
Red Bull strategy agreed plus their pit team are extraordinary, many pitstops under two seconds.
Why are the first three races 'weighted' in their favour? Because Max won two in Austria? Despite fan support it's hardly a 'home race'.
ETA: I'm no Max fan, just being objective.
The circuits suit red bulls car design philosophy, it always has - but until the end of last year, red bull didn't have the power to best Mercedes or Ferrari. They DID beat Mercedes here last year of course... But that was due to the Merc cooling issues, we can assume Mercedes will have improved that.
Red bull do now have the power needed too. Their higher rake design will see them very nicely through the medium-high speed corners of this circuit. It should suit their car very well.
But the above are not reasons to assume they will win here... It simply means that Vs Mercedes this is a track that will likely favour red bulls design to a small yet notable degree. If the Mercedes is still simply a superior car overall, they could win anyway. Likewise for all we know red bull will have taken a far bigger step forward since last season, we haven't seen either car race yet so this is all speculation on what we do know, which is not yet a complete picture.
The point is red bull 'should' be either closer to, or further ahead of Mercedes than at any other circuit. So they will probably appear stronger here in title contention terms than they really will be across the entire season.
I think since Monaco FP3 in 2018 Max has been pretty much exemplary- he's certainly not a knucklehead as some others have said. He's my choice for the win on Sunday and I think I good value bet for the championship.
I'm interested which way Vettel's season will go. I've read a few theories that he'll relax and have a final swing before leaving, but sport doesn't work that way with weakness. I think Leclerc will take him apart, would not be surprised if it ends like Prost in 1991.
I'm interested which way Vettel's season will go. I've read a few theories that he'll relax and have a final swing before leaving, but sport doesn't work that way with weakness. I think Leclerc will take him apart, would not be surprised if it ends like Prost in 1991.
Piginapoke said:
I think since Monaco FP3 in 2018 Max has been pretty much exemplary- he's certainly not a knucklehead as some others have said. He's my choice for the win on Sunday and I think I good value bet for the championship.
I'm interested which way Vettel's season will go. I've read a few theories that he'll relax and have a final swing before leaving, but sport doesn't work that way with weakness. I think Leclerc will take him apart, would not be surprised if it ends like Prost in 1991.
In many ways if Vettel is somehow 'relaxed' by the fact that his performance doesn't matter one way or the other this season, that could/should allow him to perform quite well. But I can't help but think he'll anticipate that himself and look forward to it, and then in an inverse way apply pressure to himself to make it happen - thus undermining the theory..I'm interested which way Vettel's season will go. I've read a few theories that he'll relax and have a final swing before leaving, but sport doesn't work that way with weakness. I think Leclerc will take him apart, would not be surprised if it ends like Prost in 1991.
From our point of view at least, he's a loose cannon this season which could well mean some fireworks or at least highly questionable chances being taken on his part. My only fear would be that Ferrari artificially hold him back each time to keep him safely out of his team mates way. Depends if Ferrari are going to risk contact or be willing to sacrifice Seb's ability to rake up points I guess.
Piginapoke said:
I think since Monaco FP3 in 2018 Max has been pretty much exemplary- he's certainly not a knucklehead as some others have said. He's my choice for the win on Sunday and I think I good value bet for the championship.
This. Both Max and Christian have stated that this was a moment of clarity for Max, hammered home by Ricciardo's result in the race. Max had an opportunity to win (all he's interested in) and he threw it away needlessly.
Max is no longer a hot headed child. He has not been in the running to win the WDC, and as such he is focused only on winning races where he can. With no WDC to worry about, if he sees an opportunity for a race win, he will take it. This is a considered act, not hot headedness.
If this season does see him in the running, I'm very confident he will be more than up to the task of taking only sensible risks and settling for points where necessary.
Thanks to Hockenheim last year I believe Max actually had a longer string of top 5 finishes than Lewis, which when you consider being rear ended by Vettel at Silverstone, not being in the fastest car off clear in the distance, early season poor race starts and being more than happy to take big risks for a race win if it's on the cards, surely that speaks volumes?
I, like everybody else, would love to see a closely contested season but I fear that Mercedes are going to have the advantage again.
If Mercedes smash it again I will be praying that Bottas can sustain the flashes of brilliance we have seen from him in qualifying and make it interesting, maybe even Rosberg his way to the WDC.
If I had to predict I'd say that Red Bull will run Mercedes close throughout the season but Hamilton will pick out and advantage in the fine margins by being smarter in the races. Without having to look over their shoulder for Ferrari, Red Bull will be freed up to aggressively attack Mercedes and will win a lot of races with Verstappen.
Hence Hamilton - Verstappen - Bottas for the season
If Mercedes smash it again I will be praying that Bottas can sustain the flashes of brilliance we have seen from him in qualifying and make it interesting, maybe even Rosberg his way to the WDC.
If I had to predict I'd say that Red Bull will run Mercedes close throughout the season but Hamilton will pick out and advantage in the fine margins by being smarter in the races. Without having to look over their shoulder for Ferrari, Red Bull will be freed up to aggressively attack Mercedes and will win a lot of races with Verstappen.
Hence Hamilton - Verstappen - Bottas for the season
HustleRussell said:
cheddar said:
jsf said:
The circuit suits red bull.
In what way?Me Alec said:
With Hamilton and Mercedes offering open support to BLM - whilst conveniently forgetting that Mercedes took in and used supplied forced labour from the Concentration Camps in WWII.
The level of hypocrisy is staggering.
You're a few days late and in the wrong threadThe level of hypocrisy is staggering.
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