Official 2020 Portugal Grand Prix Thread **SPOILERS**

[vaud]

Sandpit Steve said:

Oh god, how sad.

Official communication from the FIA, he'll be replaced by Bruno Correia (who he?) as steward for the rest of the meeting.
https://www.fia.com/sites/default/files/decision-d...

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bruno_Correia

I'm guessing he is local and already in the F1 bubble.

[Zoobeef]

Should have got Hulk in, he's adaptable.

[iandc]

Based on Max getting no penalty for his moronic radio comments after the crash with Stroll will Lewis get a 5 grid penalty for saying he had to drive the nuts of his car!

[Sandpit Steve]

vaud said:

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bruno_Correia

I'm guessing he is local and already in the F1 bubble.

Yeah, he'll be the most experienced driver already in the FIA bubble specifically.

He was probably down as sub driver for the safety and medical cars this weekend.

[The Moose]

That was a mega lap by Hamilton!

Anyone else a little uneasy about the blind crest onto the start finish straight? I see a potential pileup after the safety car pulls in before the race restarts...

[rscott]

vaud said:

Vitaly Petrov steps down as F1 steward after father shot dead in Russia

https://www.theguardian.com/sport/2020/oct/24/vita...

Yikes. Poor Vitaly.

Reports are that it was an assassination, due to his "business" connections.

[Derek Smith]

I think people are being a bit harsh on Bottas. He's ambitious and has improved no end the last two seasons, especially on Saturdays. Just as well as he's kept Hamilton honest. Not only that, many other drivers (sorry,. Vettle) would be overwhelmed, especially after being fastest in all FPs and Q1 and Q2, only to be beaten by a whole tenth in Q3. It must be soul-destroying.

He'll turn up at the next race, put in a lot of effort to try and get pole, and then try to win the race. He seems to be a nice chap as well. But he's trapped. He can't go to a slower car. He's no Irivine, in in solely for the kudos and lifestyle.

That said, he gets to drive a car as near perfect as it can get, and be paid vast amounts of money. I don't feel so sorry for him.

[iandc]

Derek Smith said:

I think people are being a bit harsh on Bottas. He's ambitious and has improved no end the last two seasons, especially on Saturdays. Just as well as he's kept Hamilton honest. Not only that, many other drivers (sorry,. Vettle) would be overwhelmed, especially after being fastest in all FPs and Q1 and Q2, only to be beaten by a whole tenth in Q3. It must be soul-destroying.

He'll turn up at the next race, put in a lot of effort to try and get pole, and then try to win the race. He seems to be a nice chap as well. But he's trapped. He can't go to a slower car. He's no Irivine, in in solely for the kudos and lifestyle.

That said, he gets to drive a car as near perfect as it can get, and be paid vast amounts of money. I don't feel so sorry for him.

I agree. He is 2nd in the drivers championship to arguably the best F1 driver ever (I know it is the subject of many arguments!!). As you said above he still turns up at the next race and gives of his best. If he can't beat Lewis in the same car where else in F1 can he go. Certainly not to Ferrari or Red Bull.

[SmoothCriminal]

Problem is when Hamilton is off the boil there is no guarantee he will pick up the pieces unlike when they had Nico

[Schermerhorn]

rscott said:

vaud said:

Vitaly Petrov steps down as F1 steward after father shot dead in Russia

https://www.theguardian.com/sport/2020/oct/24/vita...

Yikes. Poor Vitaly.

Reports are that it was an assassination, due to his "business" connections.

F1 has always been happy to prostitute itself to the highest bidder and loads of mafioso types have always been there in the background either washing dirty money, or funding teams through dirty money or ill gotten gains. The whole "squeaky clean" image that F1 tries to present of itself has always been somewhat of a joke.

Check out the Netflix series called "Indian Bad Boy Billiionaires"....Vijay Mallya features, along with the Sahara CEO.

[Schermerhorn]

Derek Smith said:

I think people are being a bit harsh on Bottas. He's ambitious and has improved no end the last two seasons, especially on Saturdays. Just as well as he's kept Hamilton honest. Not only that, many other drivers (sorry,. Vettle) would be overwhelmed, especially after being fastest in all FPs and Q1 and Q2, only to be beaten by a whole tenth in Q3. It must be soul-destroying.

He'll turn up at the next race, put in a lot of effort to try and get pole, and then try to win the race. He seems to be a nice chap as well. But he's trapped. He can't go to a slower car. He's no Irivine, in in solely for the kudos and lifestyle.

That said, he gets to drive a car as near perfect as it can get, and be paid vast amounts of money. I don't feel so sorry for him.

Either something has happened to Vettel mentally and he has suddenly lost 0.5 seconds to Charles over winter or something is not right with his car.

How can a 4x WDC just suddenly look like a complete bum?

[vulture1]

Schermerhorn said:

Derek Smith said:

I think people are being a bit harsh on Bottas. He's ambitious and has improved no end the last two seasons, especially on Saturdays. Just as well as he's kept Hamilton honest. Not only that, many other drivers (sorry,. Vettle) would be overwhelmed, especially after being fastest in all FPs and Q1 and Q2, only to be beaten by a whole tenth in Q3. It must be soul-destroying.

He'll turn up at the next race, put in a lot of effort to try and get pole, and then try to win the race. He seems to be a nice chap as well. But he's trapped. He can't go to a slower car. He's no Irivine, in in solely for the kudos and lifestyle.

That said, he gets to drive a car as near perfect as it can get, and be paid vast amounts of money. I don't feel so sorry for him.

Either something has happened to Vettel mentally and he has suddenly lost 0.5 seconds to Charles over winter or something is not right with his car.

How can a 4x WDC just suddenly look like a complete bum?

Because it really was the car when he / it won it?

[Schermerhorn]

vulture1 said:

Schermerhorn said:

Derek Smith said:

I think people are being a bit harsh on Bottas. He's ambitious and has improved no end the last two seasons, especially on Saturdays. Just as well as he's kept Hamilton honest. Not only that, many other drivers (sorry,. Vettle) would be overwhelmed, especially after being fastest in all FPs and Q1 and Q2, only to be beaten by a whole tenth in Q3. It must be soul-destroying.

He'll turn up at the next race, put in a lot of effort to try and get pole, and then try to win the race. He seems to be a nice chap as well. But he's trapped. He can't go to a slower car. He's no Irivine, in in solely for the kudos and lifestyle.

That said, he gets to drive a car as near perfect as it can get, and be paid vast amounts of money. I don't feel so sorry for him.

Either something has happened to Vettel mentally and he has suddenly lost 0.5 seconds to Charles over winter or something is not right with his car.

How can a 4x WDC just suddenly look like a complete bum?

Because it really was the car when he / it won it?

How do you explain Monza 2008 then? Or obliterating Mark Webber over 5 years? Or putting Kimi firmly in the shade? 4 x WDCs don't just happen by accident.

Personally I think he has mentally checked out, he's had a falling out with senior personnel and he's being punked by them and it's mentally totally destabilised him.

[leef44]

vaud said:

HTP99 said:

Yep and they've literally nothing to lose, Hulkenberg can't do any worse!

Massive termination fees, if they have the right to terminate.

Surely a driver's contract would include a clause on performance i.e. if performance drops below a reasonable standard then it can be cancelled. As a four time champion, his performance is so far below the student, Le Clerc, he must be below that contractual performance level

[CoolHands]

Zoobeef said:

Should have got Hulk in, he's adaptable.

I can see Hulk becoming a kind of general F1 Mr Fixit

[CoolHands]

I still have faith in VET. He was 1:17.446 in Q1 which is just over 3 tenths off LeClerks best (which was in Q3) and very close to leclerk’s Q1 & Q2 times.

He was slower (than his own Q1) in Q2 and said he couldn’t get the tyres working. He’s still got it! IMO.

[Stratovarious]

rscott said:

vaud said:

Vitaly Petrov steps down as F1 steward after father shot dead in Russia

https://www.theguardian.com/sport/2020/oct/24/vita...

Yikes. Poor Vitaly.

Reports are that it was an assassination, due to his "business" connections.

I wonder if we can find out who did it? I've got a little job for him in Washington.

[TheDeuce]

CoolHands said:

I still have faith in VET. He was 1:17.446 in Q1 which is just over 3 tenths off LeClerks best (which was in Q3) and very close to leclerk’s Q1 & Q2 times.

He was slower (than his own Q1) in Q2 and said he couldn’t get the tyres working. He’s still got it! IMO.

You have faith because he's slower than his team mate in the same car? Whatever the difference, slower is... slower surely?

In any case, talking about tenths isn't much good when every second session he finds a way to spin off. No point worrying about tenths when the car is facing the wrong way...

I really like the guy and will miss it when he leaves the sport. I hope it turns out that he's just got a mental block affecting his performance and that at AM he can have a fresh start and prove his talent. If not, then he should go - there would be no shame in it at all.

[vulture1]

Schermerhorn said:

vulture1 said:

Schermerhorn said:

Derek Smith said:

I think people are being a bit harsh on Bottas. He's ambitious and has improved no end the last two seasons, especially on Saturdays. Just as well as he's kept Hamilton honest. Not only that, many other drivers (sorry,. Vettle) would be overwhelmed, especially after being fastest in all FPs and Q1 and Q2, only to be beaten by a whole tenth in Q3. It must be soul-destroying.

He'll turn up at the next race, put in a lot of effort to try and get pole, and then try to win the race. He seems to be a nice chap as well. But he's trapped. He can't go to a slower car. He's no Irivine, in in solely for the kudos and lifestyle.

That said, he gets to drive a car as near perfect as it can get, and be paid vast amounts of money. I don't feel so sorry for him.

Either something has happened to Vettel mentally and he has suddenly lost 0.5 seconds to Charles over winter or something is not right with his car.

How can a 4x WDC just suddenly look like a complete bum?

Because it really was the car when he / it won it?

How do you explain Monza 2008 then? Or obliterating Mark Webber over 5 years? Or putting Kimi firmly in the shade? 4 x WDCs don't just happen by accident.

Personally I think he has mentally checked out, he's had a falling out with senior personnel and he's being punked by them and it's mentally totally destabilised him.

Monza it is pretty widely known that torro rosso gambled on a wet set up when no one else did.
Mark Webber just wasn't that good tbh
4x wdc yes good but he is not a "great" better than most but not as special.

A bit like Scott Russel when Carl Fogarty beat him it broke him.

[shirt]

Big Nanas said:

MB140 said:

Okay LeClerc reporting he can hear Lewis Hamilton conversation on his radio.

I would have thought all the comms were encrypted. But apparently not. What’s to stop people just listening in to all there competitors.

Communications havent been private for years - that's the reason we're allowed to hear all the driver/pit communications.
Ted just explained that all comms are routed through the FIA.

• edit* - that's weird. Did you delete your post?!

teams even have a tab on the pit screens showing text of all driver-pit comms. its quite interesting as an observer the amount of comms that do go on prior to the race, constant mode changes and advice based on telemetry, often a different mode for each corner.