2021 F1 News and Prediction Tournament

[pharvey]

Is Parahandy sleeping in the spare room tonight VS?...... Christ ( )

[Vital Spark]

^ Hell, no! He's on the roof terrace where he can get wet and then bake in the midday sun. I'll take him up a glass of water later (if I remember...).

[Parahandy]

Phew – what a relief! With apologies to the Righteous Brothers, I thought that…
“I’d lost that winning feeling,
It had gone, gone, gone, wohaoaho…”
(Sorry, that was terrible...)

Luckily, VS didn't see the results until today so got a decent night's sleep last night. It's gone all a bit quiet about here recently, though. Quite nice, really. Oh dear, I'm being looked at again. Must run...

P.

[pharvey]

What is really going on behind the scenes at Mercedes I wonder......

"Lewis Hamilton has said he will not be drawn into mind games against his Red Bull rivals during his attempt to secure his eighth Formula One world championship. The British driver, speaking before the Spanish Grand Prix this weekend, was reacting to the announcement on Thursday that Red Bull had poached a further five members of Hamilton’s Mercedes team to work for their new engine division.

Red Bull recruited Ben Hodgkinson as technical director of their new Powertrains department two weeks ago. He had been head of mechanical engineering at Mercedes High Performance Powertrains, has worked at the team’s engine department in Brixworth for 20 years and is seen as a crucial part of the team’s seven consecutive drivers’ and constructors’ championships.

Red Bull announced on Thursday that they had also appointed five other senior Mercedes staff to join their engine department. The Red Bull team principal, Christian Horner, said: “We know that success will only be achieved by bringing in the best and brightest talent, by providing them with the right tools and by creating the right environment in which they can thrive.”"

Taken From: - https://www.theguardian.com/sport/2021/ ... h-red-bull

[sateeb]

Can't envisage the super egos of Hamilton and Verstappen as team mates at Red Bull. I thought that George Russell would be replacing Bottas. Interesting few months ahead.

[pharvey]

Can't envisage the super egos of Hamilton and Verstappen as team mates at Red Bull. I thought that George Russell would be replacing Bottas. Interesting few months ahead.

Not a chance of LH and Verstappen as team mates @ RB, Mercedes or any other team IMHO - as you say sateeb, a slight problem with egos!

I don't think there's any doubt Russell will be racing in a Mercedes before too long, but despite reports I don't believe he will replace Bottas during this season. Could well be next season, but then again will LH still be there then? He's only extended his contract for this season remember.....

Still, an interesting few months ahead as you say!!

[EDIT] If LH hits the absolute benchmark of 100 Poles, 100 Wins and 8 Titles this season, who knows.... What's truly left for him at this stage? A trip to Ferarri perhaps.......

[sateeb]

Yep..Bow out at the top, don't do a Nigel Mansell and embarrass yourself.

[dtaai-maai]

Can't envisage the super egos of Hamilton and Verstappen as team mates at Red Bull. I thought that George Russell would be replacing Bottas. Interesting few months ahead.

Not a chance of LH and Verstappen as team mates @ RB, Mercedes or any other team IMHO - as you say sateeb, a slight problem with egos!

Agreed, it was bad enough with Hamilton and Rosberg together, but wouldn't it be fascinating!!

[PeteC]

Spain Qualifying

https://www.bbc.com/sport/formula1/57039915

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[PeteC]

https://www.bbc.com/sport/formula1/57048711

Lewis Hamilton and Mercedes produced a brilliant, attacking, strategic race to beat Red Bull's Max Verstappen in the Spanish Grand Prix.

Hamilton's third win in four races this season came despite losing the lead to Verstappen at the first corner.

Mercedes put Hamilton on a two-stop strategy and the seven-time champion closed a 23-second deficit in 18 laps to pass the Red Bull with six laps to go.

Verstappen bailed on his one-stop strategy after losing the lead and took second and the point for fastest lap as consolation.

Hamilton's victory was the 98th of his career, after he set his 100th pole position on Saturday, and it extends his championship lead to 14 points........

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[PeteC]

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[dtaai-maai]

I don't think there's any doubt Russell will be racing in a Mercedes before too long,

Agreed, and I know he's in the Merc stable, but give me Lando Norris any time!

[PeteC]

The Superbru "game engine" is busy calculating results for many things apparently. F1 results later on......

[pharvey]

Frighteningly, despite Red Bull looking far closer this season, this is thus far Hamilton's best start to an F1 season!!

Fair shout to Red Bull (well, Verstappen) - after the practice sessions, I thought they were well off the pace only for Verstappen to come firing back in qualifying.

This is a strong track for Mercedes, but that said great team tactics and a superb drive from Hamilton. I'm must admit to being sick and tired of the "Best car lah de dah" comments - he is a class driver and his record speaks for itself.

Ferrari and Leclerc also had a great race - big, big improvement on last season.

Bottas... Well, will not have won any "popularity points" with slowing LH for half a lap or so where the latter was chasing down Verstappen at a far faster rate..... a "Finicky Finn" shall we say for wont of a more polite "F" word.....

All in all, an enjoyable race I think, aside from "that couple" living in slightly sunny climbs taking over the Prediction League in the last couple of races....

[PeteC]

Congratulations to Vital Spark who takes the checkered flag this week!

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