Another good day for Bottas.
Discussion
He must be smiling in a way only a Finn knows how to do. Beaten both Mercs again. I’m pleased for him because if he’d started the season with typical Alfa grid positions many would have written him off as the monkey in a Merc who couldn’t fail to score points. He’s proving he’s capable of being in Q3 on ability so well done.
Bottas has always been supreme in qualifying. He’s consistently quick and has outqualified his teammates on several occasions. It’s his ‘racecraft’ - I hate that phrase - that has let him down in the past IMO. When surrounded by cars trying to occupy the same part of the track he has let himself down, especially when he has had to defend. See France and Mexico last year for recent examples.
I’m pleased to see him doing well though.
I’m pleased to see him doing well though.
Chebble said:
Bottas has always been supreme in qualifying. He’s consistently quick and has outqualified his teammates on several occasions. It’s his ‘racecraft’ - I hate that phrase - that has let him down in the past IMO. When surrounded by cars trying to occupy the same part of the track he has let himself down, especially when he has had to defend. See France and Mexico last year for recent examples.
I’m pleased to see him doing well though.
Well put, you get points on Sunday afternoon, not Saturday. Betts’s is a good driver, fast and consistent but as you say, he’s treated like an easy pass and can’t compete for position.I’m pleased to see him doing well though.
Chebble said:
Bottas has always been supreme in qualifying. He’s consistently quick and has outqualified his teammates on several occasions. It’s his ‘racecraft’ - I hate that phrase - that has let him down in the past IMO. When surrounded by cars trying to occupy the same part of the track he has let himself down, especially when he has had to defend. See France and Mexico last year for recent examples.
I’m pleased to see him doing well though.
Beaten 16-5 in quali last year.I’m pleased to see him doing well though.
It's hard to read anything into this year's performances. Zhou is a complete unknown, so there's no way to know how good the car really is. It struck me in Bahrain that it's a fairly benign car with no real vices. At the time it looked easier to drive than many others.
LeoSayer said:
I have found that Bottas is the driver I am most cheering on this season.
Indeed. He’s showing his true personality this year, in a way that we didn’t really see when he was at Mercedes. Life must be very different, when you don’t have the GOAT as your team mate and aren’t expected to be winning races. Last year especially, he had to be the team player on a few occasions.
I think we will see him on the podium, at one of the more chaotic races this season.
pablo said:
Chebble said:
Bottas has always been supreme in qualifying. He’s consistently quick and has outqualified his teammates on several occasions. It’s his ‘racecraft’ - I hate that phrase - that has let him down in the past IMO. When surrounded by cars trying to occupy the same part of the track he has let himself down, especially when he has had to defend. See France and Mexico last year for recent examples.
I’m pleased to see him doing well though.
Well put, you get points on Sunday afternoon, not Saturday. Betts’s is a good driver, fast and consistent but as you say, he’s treated like an easy pass and can’t compete for position.I’m pleased to see him doing well though.
Sandpit Steve said:
Indeed. He’s showing his true personality this year, in a way that we didn’t really see when he was at Mercedes.
Life must be very different, when you don’t have the GOAT as your team mate and aren’t expected to be winning races. Last year especially, he had to be the team player on a few occasions.
I think we will see him on the podium, at one of the more chaotic races this season.
I don't think much has changed with Bottas from Williams to Alfa. He's always been one of the easier going Finns of recent times.Life must be very different, when you don’t have the GOAT as your team mate and aren’t expected to be winning races. Last year especially, he had to be the team player on a few occasions.
I think we will see him on the podium, at one of the more chaotic races this season.
With every passing year at Merc he became and more and more demoralised by having to cope with and then being destroyed by a team mate so much better than he is.
andyA700 said:
Yeah, 10 F1 race wins and 67 podiums - what a slacker!
Whilst his team-mate racked up 50 wins...And then he does the most Bottas thing possible and lost positions to both Mercs in the race yesterday with an error.
Tazar said:
Some would see VB being beaten by the two Mercs in Miami as a negative but he’s still getting the points for Alfa which many saw as an impossible task before the start of the season. Alfa management must be so pleased with him and that will be good for him personally.
Again, you can't read anything into that. He's putting the car in the points, but what would - for argument's sake - Hamilton be doing in the Alfa?I started a popular thread on his career at Mercedes and why it shouldn't continue. Writing from here in Finland, it wasn't aimed at knocking Valtteri, more at suggesting the peak time for a second driver of his style was over at Mercedes.
I think Russell is doing a better job for Mercedes and I think Valtteri is doing a better job at Alfa so it's a happy win-win for everybody.
Much of the cars pace is the Ferrari components, it's not a secret that the Ferrari-engined teams have all made a jump forward this year.
Bottas' abilities lie in getting his head down and being steady. He doesn't have the killer 5% that makes a champion, but he's great at bringing the car home and getting the most out of a chassis.
I think Russell is doing a better job for Mercedes and I think Valtteri is doing a better job at Alfa so it's a happy win-win for everybody.
Much of the cars pace is the Ferrari components, it's not a secret that the Ferrari-engined teams have all made a jump forward this year.
Bottas' abilities lie in getting his head down and being steady. He doesn't have the killer 5% that makes a champion, but he's great at bringing the car home and getting the most out of a chassis.
spikyone said:
andyA700 said:
Yeah, 10 F1 race wins and 67 podiums - what a slacker!
Whilst his team-mate racked up 50 wins...And then he does the most Bottas thing possible and lost positions to both Mercs in the race yesterday with an error.
Tazar said:
Some would see VB being beaten by the two Mercs in Miami as a negative but he’s still getting the points for Alfa which many saw as an impossible task before the start of the season. Alfa management must be so pleased with him and that will be good for him personally.
Again, you can't read anything into that. He's putting the car in the points, but what would - for argument's sake - Hamilton be doing in the Alfa?StevieBee said:
Another good day for Bottas??
He binned two places yesterday by overdriving and brushing the wall.
I like the bloke and good to see him doing well but I don't buy into him having some sort of re-birth with Alfa.
If you look at when the thread was started, OP was referencing Bottas' excellent qualifying result not the race. He binned two places yesterday by overdriving and brushing the wall.
I like the bloke and good to see him doing well but I don't buy into him having some sort of re-birth with Alfa.
JoelH said:
andyA700 said:
The simple fact is, that Seb and Lewis were in a different class to all the other drivers.
Or, to play devils advocate, they were both in teams that treated them as the number one driver.Gassing Station | Formula 1 | Top of Page | What's New | My Stuff