Official 2024 Qatar Grand Prix Thread ***SPOILERS***

[Forester1965]

Hamilton was pretty anonymous at McLaren in the years he had no title fight. His head drops. Possibly his biggest flaw, that over a season he dials it in when the car isn't a front runner.

If Ferrari's in the hunt next year and '26 you'll see a totally different Hamilton.

[White-Noise]

PhilAsia said:

Lewis was qualifying well in Q1 and Q2 last week...

Qualy has never been his forte.

confused

[Sandpit Steve]

Cars 11 and 22 (Perez, Tsunoda) under investigation for driving too slowly during the sprint qualifying session.

https://www.fia.com/documents/championships/fia-fo...

Summoned to appear at 14:00 and 14:10 local time (GMT+3).

A number of other slow laps have been NFAd by the stewards.

Sprint qualifying results are still not final.

[Leithen]

Top four in a league of their own, but considering the number of starts Hamilton has, his record remains very impressive.

[TheInternet]

Sandpit Steve said:

Cars 11 and 22 (Perez, Tsunoda) under investigation for driving too slowly during the sprint qualifying session.

That seems unnecessarily harsh on Perez, he's doing his best.

[Leithen]

And average grid position is also impressive (min 50 GPs).

[paulw123]

T_S_M said:

Just seen this interview with Lewis and he seems pretty downbeat with regards to his pace? “I’m not fast anymore” is a pretty damning statment, especially with his move next year. Seems strange considering his performance last weekend? (Lewis is at 5:18)

https://youtu.be/sWQeWPsVQNc?si=v3h8YL0LrDImWKgw

Thanks for the link. I was trying to find this interview after mate messaged me about it yesterday. My personal take on it is that Mercedes have moved more towards supporting George this season and also Lewis is being kept more in the dark about development of the car and those things combined have knocked him by the few tenths. He stated earlier in the season he didn't expect to beat George in qualifying again this year. With nothing to play for in the constructors championship it benefits Mercedes for George to finish on a high and also be seen to be beating Hamilton.
Will hold on judgement until he is racing for Ferrari next year. I think he's more than still got it in him.

[HardtopManual]

Russell has always been an excellent qualifier. Remember the "Mr Saturday" moniker at Williams? Sadly for him, WDCs are won by Mr Sunday.

[RB Will]

Gad-Westy said:

He’s 15-7 down vs GR this season. From the guy who has more pole positions than anyone else in the history of the sport, that definitely looks like a dip in form. Despite that though, he is still more or less equal with GR on points so his race performances are still up there.

Have to remember George’s DQ in the overall picture too as without that George would be 35-40ish points ahead rather than 9.
And George having a mechanical DNF at Silverstone which would probably have been another 12-18

[Jasandjules]

Lewis is not fast? I think about 20 laps in Vegas last weekend would say different..........

[suffolk009]

TheInternet said:

Sandpit Steve said:

Cars 11 and 22 (Perez, Tsunoda) under investigation for driving too slowly during the sprint qualifying session.

That seems unnecessarily harsh on Perez, he's doing his best.

Funny.

As I've written before, I'm actually convinced that Perez is deliberately sandbagging - i.e. told to make sure he doesn't score any points for the team. I'm not suggesting he's as fast as Max, but he could certainly be doing better than he is. Or maybe, just maybe, the team are knobbling his car to keep him out of the points. I dunno which. As far as I know, He's still in that seat for next year.

But as I suggested, Max qualified just behind McLaren and Ferrari. Red Bull want to be certain of their third place in WCC.

[vaud]

Perez was very clear in an interview on Thursday that the car doesn’t suit his style of driving, that the team know this and when they give him a more suitable car he will be back towards the front.

True or not, who knows…

[suffolk009]

vaud said:

Perez was very clear in an interview on Thursday that the car doesn’t suit his style of driving, that the team know this and when they give him a more suitable car he will be back towards the front.

True or not, who knows…

That's a great story, isn't it.

[thegreenhell]

Gad-Westy said:

He’s 15-7 down vs GR this season. From the guy who has more pole positions than anyone else in the history of the sport, that definitely looks like a dip in form. Despite that though, he is still more or less equal with GR on points so his race performances are still up there.

Don't forget he's also working out his notice period before he goes to the team's big rival. As professional and competitive as these guys are, that can affect his motivation and of those around him in the team.

And as you'll know if you've ever resigned from a long-term job, the closer it gets to leaving time the more you find you don't get invited to important team meetings or get those new upgraded tools that everyone else is getting. Subconsciously you start to mentally separate from the team as you look to the future apart. The longer the notice period the more this will get to you eventually.

I'm sure he's still giving it everything on the track, but at this level even a single percentage here or there can make a difference.

[Forester1965]

RB Will said:

Have to remember George’s DQ in the overall picture too as without that George would be 35-40ish points ahead rather than 9.
And George having a mechanical DNF at Silverstone which would probably have been another 12-18

F1 will always have "but for..." arguments.

If Hamilton hadn't been left out for 1 lap too long in China, an engine failure in Malaysia or been on the wrong end of an irrational race director decision he'd be a 10x WDC and nobody would bat an eyelid.

You take whatever happens in a season and that's where you are.

Hamilton has never really delivered 100% unless he has a truly competitive car.

[TheDeuce]

Forester1965 said:

RB Will said:

Have to remember George’s DQ in the overall picture too as without that George would be 35-40ish points ahead rather than 9.
And George having a mechanical DNF at Silverstone which would probably have been another 12-18

F1 will always have "but for..." arguments.

If Hamilton hadn't been left out for 1 lap too long in China, an engine failure in Malaysia or been on the wrong end of an irrational race director decision he'd be a 10x WDC and nobody would bat an eyelid.

You take whatever happens in a season and that's where you are.

Hamilton has never really delivered 100% unless he has a truly competitive car.

Quite. To actually soundly beat someone, safely, you need a points margin strong enough to counter bad luck or technical problems/infringements beyond the driver's control. Because it's a fact that these things do happen, so need to be factored in.

Obviously drivers can and do win by a handful of points all the time, but they will all know that lady luck could have flipped the result anytime.

If Lewis were significantly on the decline, and is also going to be at a slight disadvantage in a few ways because he's the departing driver, shouldn't younger GR be absolutely thrashing him this season? He isn't, which to me suggests that Lewis is still highly competitive and quick.

It really won't be long until we all see for certain at least. I wouldn't be 'amazed' if it turns out he can't keep up with CLC - but I doubt that will be the case, I think it most likely he's still got more than enough talent to be a fierce team mate in the right car and right team circumstances.

[RacingStripes]

I think CLC is going to beat Hamilton in Quali in the Ferarri. Well and truly, he is very good at it. Race results on the other hand, just look at CLCs record for poles to race win conversion, Hamilton "should" stroll right past him.

[wevster]

RacingStripes said:

I think CLC is going to beat Hamilton in Quali in the Ferarri. Well and truly, he is very good at it. Race results on the other hand, just look at CLCs record for poles to race win conversion, Hamilton "should" stroll right past him.

I think this will be the case as well, it will be close though.

[vaud]

RacingStripes said:

I think CLC is going to beat Hamilton in Quali in the Ferarri. Well and truly, he is very good at it. Race results on the other hand, just look at CLCs record for poles to race win conversion, Hamilton "should" stroll right past him.

I think Ferrari will have a Hamilton-Rosberg situation and that they will take points off each other (and/or crash). i suspect CLC is faster over one lap, but I think Lewis probably has better race craft from sheer experience. I get the feeling that CLC, Norris, Sainz, et al are good at a single race weekend, but I'm not convinced that they know how to mount a title attack, but that is a simplistic view.

[wevster]

vaud said:

I think Ferrari will have a Hamilton-Rosberg situation and that they will take points off each other (and/or crash). i suspect CLC is faster over one lap, but I think Lewis probably has better race craft from sheer experience. I get the feeling that CLC, Norris, Sainz, et al are good at a single race weekend, but I'm not convinced that they know how to mount a title attack, but that is a simplistic view.

I don't think Sainz of CLC are consistent enough over a season to challenge Max, Lando either for that matter. Max is always there at every track, it's very rare for him to have an off weekend, that's why he's so hard to beat. He will build up a lead and then plays dirty when one of the others have a good weekend.