Official 2021 Bahrain Grand Prix Thread ***SPOILERS***
Discussion
Stan the Bat said:
Derek Smith said:
jsf said:
I'd prefer it if McLaren win.
If only.It's been a long time. Last year they were great but I do wonder if the Merc engine will suit the car. No way of knowing until the race I know, but I'm a bit nervous. I've been a long-term supporter, and drink in their pre-season fluff. I've been disappointed many times, but still hope.
There's a group of us who text one-another before, during and after GPs. We take the mickey of course, but not too visciously. For the 2019 Canadian GP another McL supporter and I both told everyone that McL would do well in the race. This was going to be the turning point. When Norris' rear wheel collapsed and he had to park on the pitlane exit, where he would be in shot every damn lap, I expected a tirade of abuse from the others. But they were, if anything, sympathetic, apart from one intial text which said that Norris had obviously read what I had posted to the others and, thinking he was going to be champion, had driven into the wall.
It was nice of the guys, and it sort of turned from that day, with very little p*** taking during or after races. We're all getting old.
It would be nice to see them putting a few good races together, like last season.
I do wonder if they've invested all that much in this year's car though, or whether they've kept something back for the major, 2022 regs.
Time will tell. On the positive side, if McL choose to husband a bit of funding, perhaps the other teams will as well.
CustardOnChips said:
Max may have been the only driver to consistently split the Mercs. But that is all he has been excpected to do. Redbull have had no real hope of winning either championship so haven't been under that pressure. They have been racing to win the odd race when it suits their car or Mercedes cock up.
This is why I think it will be interesting to see how Max and Redbull handle that pressure if it comes to it. With the added spice of Perez thrown into the mix. Will he be allowed to race Max?
Can they cope with needing maximise points over a season rather than just racing to pick up a few wins?
Do Red Bull actually need to win either title..?This is why I think it will be interesting to see how Max and Redbull handle that pressure if it comes to it. With the added spice of Perez thrown into the mix. Will he be allowed to race Max?
Can they cope with needing maximise points over a season rather than just racing to pick up a few wins?
Of course, I have zero doubt as a race team they ONLY want to win the titles. But as a commercial entity, the board that signs off on the team each season are surely happy 'enough' to have a superstar driver that attracts fandom like no other on the grid seems capable of. Just upsetting on occasion or generally being next in line after Mercedes is enough to keep Max and RB rolling in the headlines. Headlines are currency in RB world.
My point being that Max is a superstar and super earner for the RB brand, pretty much regardless of wins. It'll be exciting if Checo does well and fights with Max. it'll be exciting if Checo does poorly and Max rolls over him and looks like even more of a one off genius. But come what may of their title fight(s), so long as Max and/or Checo are putting on a show then as a brand they're going to be very happy.
CustardOnChips said:
Max may have been the only driver to consistently split the Mercs. But that is all he has been excpected to do. Redbull have had no real hope of winning either championship so haven't been under that pressure. They have been racing to win the odd race when it suits their car or Mercedes cock up.
This is why I think it will be interesting to see how Max and Redbull handle that pressure if it comes to it. With the added spice of Perez thrown into the mix. Will he be allowed to race Max?
Can they cope with needing maximise points over a season rather than just racing to pick up a few wins?
They can cope as a team, the only other team in the last 10 years to win a title is Red Bull, they haven't forgotten how to do that. The only real question is Verstappen but I don't think there's even a question about him. He's smart enough to know that for the last few seasons a title fight hasn't been on the cards so he's been able to take risks where someone in a title challenge wouldn't. He's also smart enough to know when to bag points if the win isn't on if he's in a fight for a championship. This is why I think it will be interesting to see how Max and Redbull handle that pressure if it comes to it. With the added spice of Perez thrown into the mix. Will he be allowed to race Max?
Can they cope with needing maximise points over a season rather than just racing to pick up a few wins?
Piginapoke said:
Tyre options:
Teams have two hard, three mediums and eight soft sets available per driver for each weekend.
Have I missed a regulation change, How come all the teams have the same tyre allocation ? I thought they chose the number of hard, medium and softs themselves. Or is this just for the first race Teams have two hard, three mediums and eight soft sets available per driver for each weekend.
- Ah, just found it. Teams all get the same allocation per race for 2021#
Edited by Wh00sher on Wednesday 24th March 06:53
Wh00sher said:
Have I missed a regulation change, How come all the teams have the same tyre allocation ? I thought they chose the number of hard, medium and softs themselves. Or is this just for the first race
I thought this was introduced as a pandemic measure. I haven’t read anything that says it’s a permanent change. - Ah, just found it. Teams all get the same allocation per race for 2021#
Edited by Wh00sher on Wednesday 24th March 06:53
jsf said:
DanielSan said:
He's also smart enough to know when to bag points if the win isn't on if he's in a fight for a championship.
There is no evidence of that to date.Last season, MV had six retirements, 11 podium finishes and one sixth place.
Mercedes, with both cars, only had one retirement all season. (Bottas, Germany, mechanical).
CustardOnChips said:
Can they cope with needing maximise points over a season rather than just racing to pick up a few wins?
Max finished only 9 points behind Bottas in the standings last year despite suffering 5 retirements. I think it is safe to say he generally maximises his points when they are on offer.Looking at where he was running when he suffered each of his retirements, you could reasonably argue it cost him approx 100 points. He could very easily have been just 33 points behind Lewis. It highlights that a large percentage of what Red Bull need is improved reliability.
Combine that with a bit slightly quicker car at a wider variety of tracks and Max should be right in play with Mercedes and make Red Bull genuine title contenders. Max is doing what he needs to do already. He just needs the same reliability that Mercedes enjoy.
Edited by TwentyFive on Wednesday 24th March 09:16
Leithen said:
Stunning writing. What to say....CallThatMusic said:
Leithen said:
Stunning writing. What to say....Maybe I'm just too cynical.
honda_exige said:
It's interesting how many athletes when writing in The Players Tribune seem to suddenly be able to write at a level that Shakespeare would be proud of, and not even in their native language. This includes professional footballers who by their own admission have had a poor education.
Maybe I'm just too cynical.
Even if it was ghost-written, the sentiment felt honest. In which case the professional ghost-writer was doing their job well...Maybe I'm just too cynical.
honda_exige said:
It's interesting how many athletes when writing in The Players Tribune seem to suddenly be able to write at a level that Shakespeare would be proud of, and not even in their native language. This includes professional footballers who by their own admission have had a poor education.
Maybe I'm just too cynical.
If only there was some sort of correlation between their native language and English! Maybe I'm just too cynical.
Bear with me on this, but if there were some such relationship, then it might be reasonable to assume there could be highly intellectual people out there who, knowing both French (in this case) and English, could then hypothetically take what Gasly said in his native tongue, but represent it in English?
I imagine it would be called retongueification or something
Or yeah, he told someone the story in his best punt at English, they wrote it out well on his behalf, and he said yep, I'm happy with that, merci.
SturdyHSV said:
If only there was some sort of correlation between their native language and English!
Bear with me on this, but if there were some such relationship, then it might be reasonable to assume there could be highly intellectual people out there who, knowing both French (in this case) and English, could then hypothetically take what Gasly said in his native tongue, but represent it in English?
I imagine it would be called retongueification or something
Or yeah, he told someone the story in his best punt at English, they wrote it out well on his behalf, and he said yep, I'm happy with that, merci.
Go read the exquisitely well 'written' Players Tribune articles by Troy Deeney and Jesse Lingard then listen to them struggle to articulate their thoughts in an interview and tell me what you think.Bear with me on this, but if there were some such relationship, then it might be reasonable to assume there could be highly intellectual people out there who, knowing both French (in this case) and English, could then hypothetically take what Gasly said in his native tongue, but represent it in English?
I imagine it would be called retongueification or something
Or yeah, he told someone the story in his best punt at English, they wrote it out well on his behalf, and he said yep, I'm happy with that, merci.
Their ghost writer is very good.
Edit : I was curious so I had a look, yes most of their athlete articles are ghost written, normally based on a telephone interview with the subject. So their ghost writer is very good.
Edited by honda_exige on Wednesday 24th March 15:08
honda_exige said:
Go read the exquisitely well 'written' Players Tribune articles by Troy Deeney and Jesse Lingard then listen to them struggle to articulate their thoughts in an interview and tell me what you think.
Their ghost writer is very good.
Edit : I was curious so I had a look, yes most of their athlete articles are ghost written, normally based on a telephone interview with the subject. So their ghost writer is very good.
It does make sense to use a decent ghost writer, to be honest I don't think it's cynical of you to have assumed that either, I was just being difficult Their ghost writer is very good.
Edit : I was curious so I had a look, yes most of their athlete articles are ghost written, normally based on a telephone interview with the subject. So their ghost writer is very good.
Edited by honda_exige on Wednesday 24th March 15:08
I don't know who those people are so I'd rather just take your word for it that they're morons who couldn't spell their own name
carinaman said:
I see the pre-Season hype is going well with Alonso quoted as saying he's better than several drivers including Hamilton.
If we remove small concerns such as beating team mates, winning races and retaining sponsors and not ruining his team from the inside out etc... then he's the finest driver on the grid 
TheDeuce said:
carinaman said:
I see the pre-Season hype is going well with Alonso quoted as saying he's better than several drivers including Hamilton.
If we remove small concerns such as beating team mates, winning races and retaining sponsors and not ruining his team from the inside out etc... then he's the finest driver on the grid Gassing Station | Formula 1 | Top of Page | What's New | My Stuff