Against Mercedes' internal rules, same reason they didn't allow either Bottas or Hamilton to use party mode against each other when they asked this year. Wherever possible they give the two the exact same strategy and tyres to avoid arguments.
F1 2020 Season
- Thread starter pauldyson1uk
- Start date
Bottas playing the sympathy vote on that softs call, he already knows that it’s against what they do. He lunches his mediums quicker than Hamilton so why risk it as would he would have left himself vulnerable to Max on them.
Yeah. He would’ve never caught Lewis anyway. His only hope was and is a safety car or Lewis having a failure
Stroll DNF again, 4th on the bounce.
First one that's his fault though.
Cramp in an F1 car, OUCH !
I thought he sounded unusually cheerful earlier, saying the tyres are fine.Hamilton always comes across as slightly neurotic on the comms
Nice overtake by Gasley
An absolute spanking handed out today by Lewis. 92, he stands alone.
Lewis with a history making win, overtakes Sch with 92 race wins.
After a dodgy start, turned out a easy win for him in the end with a massive 25.5 second advantage.
After a dodgy start, turned out a easy win for him in the end with a massive 25.5 second advantage.
Gasly fifth again. What happened to Ricciardo and Albon?
And with cramp in his right leg.
Absolutely outstanding performance and outstanding achievement.
Lews Hamilton is history in the making and Mercedes are quite right. It is an honour to have him driving for them. Plenty more records to be set.
Congratulations Lewis.
Congratulations Lewis. Never thought I would see Schumi's record broken, at least not so soon. It is fitting that Lewis eventually filled the seat that Schumi vacated.
But this was a great race behind the front 4. I'm absolutely loving the midfield fight this season. Like I eluded to earlier, might just be cause Ferrari is in it now so I'm paying more attention to what's happening. But has been great fun. Also helps that I've had a soft spot for Gasly since he was booted out of RB, he has had some great drives.
Finally, LeClerc. I'm mightily impressed. That was a great drive + perfect strategy (for once) from Ferrari. I was fuming when they kept Vettel on the Mediums yesterday instead of him giving him a chance for top 10 on the Softs. But I'm pretty sure if Vettel started on the Soft today, he would have ended up outside the Top 10. Medium to Hards was way faster than anything with Softs involved.
But this was a great race behind the front 4. I'm absolutely loving the midfield fight this season. Like I eluded to earlier, might just be cause Ferrari is in it now so I'm paying more attention to what's happening. But has been great fun. Also helps that I've had a soft spot for Gasly since he was booted out of RB, he has had some great drives.
Finally, LeClerc. I'm mightily impressed. That was a great drive + perfect strategy (for once) from Ferrari. I was fuming when they kept Vettel on the Mediums yesterday instead of him giving him a chance for top 10 on the Softs. But I'm pretty sure if Vettel started on the Soft today, he would have ended up outside the Top 10. Medium to Hards was way faster than anything with Softs involved.
Getting sprayed in those masks must feel like you’re drowning.
Gasly 5th and Albon 12th. Unless he is amazing next race he’s losing that seat, I think they moved him in too soon. Losing RIC really hurt RB.
Portuguese GP Result
| 1 | Lewis Hamilton | Mercedes | fastest overall lap 1:18.750 | 1:29:56.828 | ||||
| 2 | Valtteri Bottas | Mercedes | 1:19.345 | 25.592 behind | ||||
| 3 | Max Verstappen | Red Bull | 1:19.854 | 34.508 behind | ||||
| 4 | Charles Leclerc | Ferrari | 1:20.408 | 1:05.312 behind | ||||
| 5 | Pierre Gasly | AlphaTauri | 1:20.551 | 1 lap behind | ||||
| 6 | Carlos Sainz Jnr | McLaren | 1:20.268 | 1 lap behind | ||||
| 7 | Sergio Perez | Racing Point | 1:20.802 | 1 lap behind | ||||
| 8 | Esteban Ocon | Renault | 1:20.859 | 1 lap behind | ||||
| 9 | Daniel Ricciardo | Renault | 1:20.906 | 1 lap behind | ||||
| 10 | Sebastian Vettel | Ferrari | 1:20.731 | 1 lap behind | ||||
| 11 | Kimi Raikkonen | Alfa Romeo | 1:21.058 | 1 lap behind | ||||
| 12 | Alexander Albon | Red Bull | 1:19.890 | 1 lap behind | ||||
| 13 | Lando Norris | McLaren | 1:19.360 | 1 lap behind | ||||
| 14 | George Russell | Williams | 1:20.882 | 1 lap behind | ||||
| 15 | Antonio Giovinazzi | Alfa Romeo | 1:21.893 | 1 lap behind | ||||
| 16 | Kevin Magnussen | Haas | 1:21.460 | 1 lap behind | ||||
| 17 | Romain Grosjean | Haas | 1:21.664 | 1 lap behind | ||||
| 18 | Nicholas Latifi | Williams | 1:21.859 | 2 laps behind | ||||
| 19 | Daniil Kvyat | AlphaTauri | 1:20.449 | 2 laps behind | ||||
| not classified | Lance Stroll | Racing Point | 1:21.694 | did not finish completed 54 laps |
Not before he overtook Bottas and then after that he was seemingly paranoid about the weather. Seems like he d be intense to be around. Congrats to Lewis though . Amazing accomplishment.
In Schumacher times there were usually 16 races per season, now it’s over 20. The only stat that is objective is a number of titles, as there is only one per season.
Very late with this but congrats to Lewis. What an achievement... bloody proud of him.
The Class of 92...……………………………………….. Lewis Hamilton 92. 
So pleased for Hamilton, what a legend.
I can’t see how he keeps the seat. Today feels like an all time low
But I think also evidence that the #2 red bull car is an absolute dog if you cannot mimic Max's driving technique. Albon is not THAT bad. Put Gasly back in and he's going to struggle just as much as last time. Red Bull need to look in house.
Hamilton does have a higher wins per race average than Schumacher though. Even still I never thought Schumacher's record would ever get beat but fair play to Hamilton he is absolutely head and shoulders above anyone at the moment.
Whilst this is true, what’s the point in carrying on? They have sod all to lose by trying someone else. Unless they’re going to change the characteristics of the car fundamentally next year (which is probably impossible with development limitations), it will just be more of the same.
of course, cars are much more reliable now.
In terms of dominating the sport, he reached Schumacher level, definitely, but stats are skewed by number of races and difference in reliability.
Oh no for sure Albon has to be replaced. Perez looks like a safe bet but finding a driver for that #2 car seems like a bigger process than just picking a driver in form. You're going to have to look at driving styles and find one that matches the car.
Skewed by Schumacher's comeback with Mercedes. Schumacher got to 91 in fewer races than Hamilton.
Hamilton deserves some credit for that, Verstappen for instance has only 2 fewer DNF's in his entire career already for comparison (yes, yes I know Renault/Honda have a lot to do with that).
Hamilton always comes across as slightly neurotic on the comms
Neurotic -- spend 2hours of our life on any matchday threads and you find out the meaning of 'neurotic'. Lewis will be considered some sort of Zen master after that.
Perez. He's cnutish enough to compete.
Only saw the first few laps yesterday before work. Saw the race ended with yet another dull 1-2 Merc podium
What were the thoughts on the track?
What were the thoughts on the track?
Really enjoyed it but the conditions played a part. Resurfaced last month I believe so the oils were seeping and making it slippery, plus it was cooler than it had been and getting the tyres up to temp was an issue for some. Throw in a little bit of drizzle and it was perfect conditions for mayhem at the start. That said, hold this race in the middle of summer and those high speed corners on these pirellis, we're going to see the opposite and heavy graining. The track is wide enough at certain parts for cars to fight side by side for multiple corners which we saw towards the end. Adjust the DRS zone and it's a humdinger. Really hope it stays on the calendar but don't think it's big enough money wise
That’s the case at virtually every race now. I have no idea how F1 management tolerates this situation - there is absolutely no intrigue from sporting perspective, and ratings shall decrease drastically, I am afraid. What makes it even worse, there is no real fight between two Mercedes cars either
Id agree Perez seems to have the skills to compete in that car but he ll probably want to compete to be the no. 1 driver as well. Will RB and Max allow for that? Max at least seems to have matured a lot because a year or two I would ve said him and Perez together would be a recipe for disaster - personality wise.
I don't completely agree on that when it comes to this season. Yes the Merc 1-2 and arguably Max always in the top 3 mix is boring in a way (though I cant continue to be amazed about Max being so consistent as well despite the inferior car) - but the midfield battle is absolutely amazing this season. I never quite had enough appreciation for the middle of the pack drama until I watched the Netflix series. If you haven't seen that yet I highly recommend you still do and you ll probably feel the same.
Well, the passion for F1 here is allways high, but we are a small market and dont have the pull of midlle eastern or caucasus oil or Central Europe leverage, it's a shame because the track is very well regarded by most drivers.
Hamilton is just that much better. Being in a Merc helps but he'd beat everyone by half a lap if they were driving stock hot hatches too. The other great hope of formula one right now dove into another car in practice and blamed him for it. It's not Lewis's or F1's fault that there is no Hakkinen and no Villeneuve to challenge him.
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Imagine a football season, where top 3 teams are miles ahead of the rest, and top one is an indisputable leader. Would you call it an interesting season because “the battle for 6-10 places is fantastic”?
Mercedes dominates - but they could at least get a pair of equal drivers. When Rosberg was there, he at least tried to challenge Hamilton (and once even won the title) - but what we see now is very depressing.
Out of respect to the fans they could at least put Verstappen alongside Hamilton in the Mercedes (or vice versa - Hamilton to Red Bull instead of Albon)
Imola this weekend, sad memories there.
Why is there no FP on Friday ?
Why is there no FP on Friday ?