Official 2021 French Grand Prix Thread ***SPOILERS***
Discussion
Very enjoyable race.
Like most, very surprised when the undercut with Max happened.
I thought the max/Ham fight at the end would run out of time and fizzle out, but again nice to see it happen.
Great having merc and Red Bull fighting. Some good battles elsewhere down the grid also. Would like it if Ferrari in the mix also, but that isn’t going to happen.
Very happy if this continues all year and max can win it (just for the variety).
Like most, very surprised when the undercut with Max happened.
I thought the max/Ham fight at the end would run out of time and fizzle out, but again nice to see it happen.
Great having merc and Red Bull fighting. Some good battles elsewhere down the grid also. Would like it if Ferrari in the mix also, but that isn’t going to happen.
Very happy if this continues all year and max can win it (just for the variety).
The Surveyor said:
ch37 said:
Another impressive points haul from Norris, comfortably 5th in the drivers championship and is looking like the driver typically most likely to grab podiums if anything happens to the usual top 4 during a race.
....
Norris is 4th in the Championship 25 points ahead of Bottas, not 5th. He's showing superb consistency and is the only driver to have scored points in every race of the season. He's raised his game again this season and is not only staking a claim for No. 1 driver in McLaren, but also for one of the Mercedes seats in the future IMHO. ....
Thinking logically, Norris would make a better teammate to Hamilton than Russell when competing against the current Red Bull pairing. One fast No. 1 driver with a consistent scoring teammate. Norris to Merc and Russell to McLaren until Hamilton steps away leaving a Norris / Russell pairing at Mercedes
Russell would learn a lot from Hamilton, not by tooling around in his wheeltracks, but by trying to beat him to a championship. Assuming we aren't already 8 races in to a 5 year stretch of Max Bull dominance.
Heres Lando's 6 overtakes in 6 laps, he then passed Dani, then Stroll..
https://streamable.com/ih33wr
https://streamable.com/ih33wr
kiseca said:
If Norris is the consistent guy and Russell is the fast champion elect, then IMO they'd be better pairing Russell with Hamilton, so he can compete with the best, learn from that, and prepare to lead the team into the future when Hamilton retires, and then bring Norris in to be the consistent other driver.
Russell would learn a lot from Hamilton, not by tooling around in his wheeltracks, but by trying to beat him to a championship. Assuming we aren't already 8 races in to a 5 year stretch of Max Bull dominance.
Fingers crossed that Hamilton keeps going for a few more years.Russell would learn a lot from Hamilton, not by tooling around in his wheeltracks, but by trying to beat him to a championship. Assuming we aren't already 8 races in to a 5 year stretch of Max Bull dominance.
Will be fascinating to see if he can bag a Monaco pole at 43.
Monaco quali remains the ultimate F1 driver challenge IMHO
kiseca said:
If Norris is the consistent guy and Russell is the fast champion elect, then IMO they'd be better pairing Russell with Hamilton, so he can compete with the best, learn from that, and prepare to lead the team into the future when Hamilton retires, and then bring Norris in to be the consistent other driver.
Russell would learn a lot from Hamilton, not by tooling around in his wheeltracks, but by trying to beat him to a championship. Assuming we aren't already 8 races in to a 5 year stretch of Max Bull dominance.
Lando is quicker...Russell would learn a lot from Hamilton, not by tooling around in his wheeltracks, but by trying to beat him to a championship. Assuming we aren't already 8 races in to a 5 year stretch of Max Bull dominance.
sparta6 said:
Fingers crossed that Hamilton keeps going for a few more years.
Will be fascinating to see if he can bag a Monaco pole at 43.
Monaco quali remains the ultimate F1 driver challenge IMHO
I doubt he'll still be racing then, but I think whether or not Hamilton gets a Monaco pole at 43 will make not a jot of difference to his career. It's rather more relevant that he's never pulled off a stunt like parking at Rascasse. Will be fascinating to see if he can bag a Monaco pole at 43.
Monaco quali remains the ultimate F1 driver challenge IMHO
Deesee said:
kiseca said:
If Norris is the consistent guy and Russell is the fast champion elect, then IMO they'd be better pairing Russell with Hamilton, so he can compete with the best, learn from that, and prepare to lead the team into the future when Hamilton retires, and then bring Norris in to be the consistent other driver.
Russell would learn a lot from Hamilton, not by tooling around in his wheeltracks, but by trying to beat him to a championship. Assuming we aren't already 8 races in to a 5 year stretch of Max Bull dominance.
Lando is quicker...Russell would learn a lot from Hamilton, not by tooling around in his wheeltracks, but by trying to beat him to a championship. Assuming we aren't already 8 races in to a 5 year stretch of Max Bull dominance.
paulguitar said:
sparta6 said:
Fingers crossed that Hamilton keeps going for a few more years.
Will be fascinating to see if he can bag a Monaco pole at 43.
Monaco quali remains the ultimate F1 driver challenge IMHO
I doubt he'll still be racing then, but I think whether or not Hamilton gets a Monaco pole at 43 will make not a jot of difference to his career. It's rather more relevant that he's never pulled off a stunt like parking at Rascasse. Will be fascinating to see if he can bag a Monaco pole at 43.
Monaco quali remains the ultimate F1 driver challenge IMHO
IIRC Clark and Senna are the guvnors of Monaco quali
kiseca said:
I don't agree, though I think he's getting much better experience in Formula 1 than Russell is and may well turn the tables. However, it doesn't matter either way. I was going on The Surveyor's premise that if they paired up Lewis would be the fast driver and Lando would be the consistent one. If that's true, I'd go with Russell and Lewis. However, if it were true that Lando was the faster of the two, my argument would be the same reasoning but I'd go with Lando and Lewis.
Lando had a bit of a rare deal in f2 and should have won the championship..He’s just as quick as Charl, and Max over one lap.. and they are the quickest.
Not quite Lewis consistency over the GP, yet.. but would would have been.
I have my concerns with Russell over a GP distance, he’s struggling to match Latifis long race lap pace TBF..
Personally I think Lewis will retire this year.
The scramble will be interesting..
honda_exige said:
Deesee said:
Lando is quicker...
You mean *you think* that Lando is quicker. You have absolutely no way of knowing.
In fact, history would suggest that Russell is quicker given he beat Lando in the Junior series
& junior series Russell’s team mates out scored Landos team mates by some way indicating a better car/team.. Landos team it was there first season in F2.
Anyway, it’s not as if Lando had had years of Mercedes experience and Pirelli tyre tests, or anything like that eh? Or 3 yrs in the Merc Sim?
I suppose wiki shows Russell winning..
honda_exige said:
You mean *you think* that Lando is quicker.
You have absolutely no way of knowing.
In fact, history would suggest that Russell is quicker given he beat Lando in the Junior series
Quicker in junior series doesn't always equal quickest in F1, Hulk being a prime example of that. You have absolutely no way of knowing.
In fact, history would suggest that Russell is quicker given he beat Lando in the Junior series
Deesee said:
honda_exige said:
Deesee said:
Lando is quicker...
You mean *you think* that Lando is quicker. You have absolutely no way of knowing.
In fact, history would suggest that Russell is quicker given he beat Lando in the Junior series
& junior series Russell’s team mates out scored Landos team mates by some way indicating a better car/team.. Landos team it was there first season in F2.
Anyway, it’s not as if Lando had had years of Mercedes experience and Pirelli tyre tests, or anything like that eh? Or 3 yrs in the Merc Sim?
I suppose wiki shows Russell winning..
And what are you saying about the tyre tests and work in the sim? Are they reasons why Lando is faster than Russell? Or are you actually agreeing that Russell is faster than Lando but saying it's because of experience so doesn't count?
In terms of opportunity I'd say Lando has had three seasons in a reasonably competitive car fighting for points while George has had three seasons at the back of the pack with noone to race but the safety car.
Deesee said:
Personally I think Lewis will retire this year.
The scramble will be interesting..
This is obviously jumping the gun a bit based on 7 races, but if Hamilton retires (say with a WDC but no WCC for Merc) and Georgey boy gets the seat at just the moment Mercedes fall from their position at the top, it would be quite the kick in the balls The scramble will be interesting..
Wouldn't do Lewis' reputation any harm though.
SturdyHSV said:
Deesee said:
Personally I think Lewis will retire this year.
The scramble will be interesting..
This is obviously jumping the gun a bit based on 7 races, but if Hamilton retires (say with a WDC but no WCC for Merc) and Georgey boy gets the seat at just the moment Mercedes fall from their position at the top, it would be quite the kick in the balls The scramble will be interesting..
Wouldn't do Lewis' reputation any harm though.
Deesee said:
...
Personally I think Lewis will retire this year.
The scramble will be interesting..
Same here, he seemed so serene after the French GP. I remember years ago he said he was annoyed that Rosberg retired as he couldn't "win back the championship" and that he didn't want to do that. So I wonder if he has now accepted Max will win this year and therefore he can retire having passed on the torch.Personally I think Lewis will retire this year.
The scramble will be interesting..
Flooble said:
Ironic if that was it, considering you are supposed to be "rewarded" for being the champions by having the "best" box. Maybe Lewis is just getting old and had to stop and ask for directions. No wait, that was Kimi the other year ...
Never mind Kimi, Lewis has previous for this doesnt he? Wasnt it his first year with Merc he puled up into McLarens pit box?Deesee said:
I have my concerns with Russell over a GP distance, he’s struggling to match Latifis long race lap pace TBF..
Excluding retirements (two a piece) he has finished a total of 12 places higher than Latifi so far this season. He finished 16 seconds (and 6 places) up the road from his teammate yesterday in the first race I can remember for a long time where it was a completely level playing field (no yellow flags, no retirements, and that was despite dropping behind him from the start.RB Will said:
Flooble said:
Ironic if that was it, considering you are supposed to be "rewarded" for being the champions by having the "best" box. Maybe Lewis is just getting old and had to stop and ask for directions. No wait, that was Kimi the other year ...
Never mind Kimi, Lewis has previous for this doesnt he? Wasnt it his first year with Merc he puled up into McLarens pit box?Gassing Station | Formula 1 | Top of Page | What's New | My Stuff