F1 2021 Season

Pirelli said Hamilton rear left had a deep cut on it. So we dont know if he would have had a blow out as well.
 
dinostar77 said:
We'll find out for definite by the summer break as Mercedes said they will finalise their line up for next season by the summer.

I think Lewis will extend for 2 years and Bottas will be extended for 1 more season possibly his last after this with Mercedes.

Two reasons for this, 1) Keeping Lewis happy. Bottas is a known quantity for Lewis, Russell isnt.

2) More importantly, the biggest changes in F1 for 30 years. Ground Effect areo returns after being banned in 1982. 18 inch tyres, no tyre blankets, torsion bars, heave springs and inerters banned. Gearboxs frozen from development till 2025. Engines frozen from development till 2026. One set of pads and discs per race. Cars in park femme from start of FP3. Sliding scale for aero wind tunnel time and CAD time depending on how well you do in the Constructors championship the season just ending. Theres loads more stuff, without doubt the biggest changes for 30 years to F1.

The cars will be heavier and slower by up to 4-6 seconds compared to this season. All of the above mean its essential that you have known reference points for your new cars. Hence i think Bottas will stay as he is a known reference for the team, experienced and Russell isnt. Otherwise if it wasn't for the huge rule changes id expect to see Russell in the other seat.

Regardless, someons is going to nail / come up with a unique idea ala brawn double diffuser and no-one knows who that will be. You can't really rule any team out. Therefore stability in your driver lineup will be key, hence i expect to see pretty much the same lineup for all the teams next season. Its why Alonso came back and went to Alpine and Seb to Aston Martin because you might just get luckily for one season and end up a WC like Button did with Brawn.

Long winded explanation of why i think Bottas will stay next season. Btw personally i don't rate him as a driver.
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To be honest I don't think any of that really makes a difference. There will be zero reference points for the car apart from the powertrain (which Russell already uses)

The cars are completely changing, what better way than to give Russell his chance to step up on an even playing field?

I think it's clear Russell has given them an ultimatum, give him a chance or let him leave. With the way Bottas is performing right now there is no way they keep him. He's closer to 10th than he is to 1st in nearly all the races this year!

I think Hamilton stays another year, if not 2. Russell will be their lead driver when he goes.
 
Adam-Utd said:
To be honest I don't think any of that really makes a difference. There will be zero reference points for the car apart from the powertrain (which Russell already uses)

The cars are completely changing, what better way than to give Russell his chance to step up on an even playing field?

I think it's clear Russell has given them an ultimatum, give him a chance or let him leave. With the way Bottas is performing right now there is no way they keep him. He's closer to 10th than he is to 1st in nearly all the races this year!

I think Hamilton stays another year, if not 2. Russell will be their lead driver when he goes.
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What will a russell ultimatum achieve if there are no seats available other than bottas's seat at Merc next season. Theres a reason why we will have a static grid for next season. All the money is going towards the 2022 cars. Its the biggest chance in god knows how long, to upset the established order.
 
dinostar77 said:
What will a russell ultimatum achieve if there are no seats available other than bottas's seat at Merc next season. Theres a reason why we will have a static grid for next season. All the money is going towards the 2022 cars. Its the biggest chance in god knows how long, to upset the established order.
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Russell is hot commodity, teams will be fighting to take him if Mercedes released him.

Obviously in his situation he'd probably have to be 'content' with another year at Wiliams, but he's making noises already that he's not happy sitting at the back. I don't blame him either.

When he looks across at Norris who was his rival in F2 he's seen him walk into Mclaren and become a star. Russell was just as highly rated if not more at that point, he's done his learning at Williams and needs to take the next step.

I think Mercedes know Bottas is a busted flush now, they'll move him on this summer i'm sure of that.
 
Adam-Utd said:
Russell is hot commodity, teams will be fighting to take him if Mercedes released him.

Obviously in his situation he'd probably have to be 'content' with another year at Wiliams, but he's making noises already that he's not happy sitting at the back. I don't blame him either.

When he looks across at Norris who was his rival in F2 he's seen him walk into Mclaren and become a star. Russell was just as highly rated if not more at that point, he's done his learning at Williams and needs to take the next step.

I think Mercedes know Bottas is a busted flush now, they'll move him on this summer i'm sure of that.
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What teams? He's not going to go to Haas who has a worse car than the Williams.

All the Ferrari powered teams are out and so are the red bulls. That leaves him with Renault, Aston Martin and McLaren. McLaren aren't going to can Lando for Russell and given how much they're paying for Ric, he's not going to be sacked either. Stroll isn't going to sack his son or a former 4 time world champion who just got them their first ever podium. That leaves him with Alpine, who'll be aiming for Gasly if they're moving on from Ocon, because Alonso brings in way more sponsorship money than Russell.
 
elmo said:
What teams? He's not going to go to Haas who has a worse car than the Williams.

All the Ferrari powered teams are out and so are the red bulls. That leaves him with Renault, Aston Martin and McLaren. McLaren aren't going to can Lando for Russell and given how much they're paying for Ric, he's not going to be sacked either. Stroll isn't going to sack his son or a former 4 time world champion who just got them their first ever podium. That leaves him with Alpine, who'll be aiming for Gasly if they're moving on from Ocon, because Alonso brings in way more sponsorship money than Russell.
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With 2022 we don't know who will rise to the top yet, Williams might end up being an upper mid table team yet so maybe he'll be happy.

Ricciardo only has a 2 year contract so 2023 they could get rid and Russell would slot in nicely, Norris and Russell could be a great young team to drive Mclaren on. The new Button/Hamilton maybe?

Gasly is definitely an option for Alpine but he seems pretty happy at Torro Rosso, they might prefer to go the free agent option of Russell who IMO is even more talented.

Anyway this is all hypothetical, I'm 99% confident Mercedes will be getting rid of Bottas at the end of year and giving Russell his spot. From some accounts it was pretty close to happening this season already, but they wanted to let Bottas see out his contract.
 
Are there any F1 sites/YouTube channels/podcasts anyone can recommend? I’ve been watching Drive to Survive on Netflix and realising there’s a lot more behind the scenes that is really interesting
 
Snowjoe said:
Are there any F1 sites/YouTube channels/podcasts anyone can recommend? I’ve been watching Drive to Survive on Netflix and realising there’s a lot more behind the scenes that is really interesting
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Honestly the F1 Youtube Channel is pretty good now - they went and got Craig Scarborough, and do some really good technical analysis as well as behind the scenes interviews etc.
 
Ocon has signed a 3 year deal win Alpine. Thats pretty much every seat on the grid nailed up other than Mercedes.
 
No suprise then that Mercedes swap chassis and lewis complains that there is something fundamentally wrong with the car. Maybe bottas was right and there is a issue with the chassis.
 
French GP Free Practise
French GP Practice One Timesheet
DriverTeamTime
1) Valtteri BottasMercedes1:33.448
2) Lewis HamiltonMercedes+0.335
3) Max VerstappenRed Bull+0.432
4) Sergio PerezRed Bull+0.745
5) Esteban OconAlpine+0.881
6) Daniel RicciardoMcLaren+1.196
7) Fernando AlonsoAlpine+1.245
8) Pierre GaslyAlphaTauri+1.251
9) Lando NorrisMcLaren+1.259
10) Yuki TsunodaAlphaTauri+1.399
11) Charles LeclercFerrari+1.502
12) Antonio GiovinazziAlfa Romeo+1.668
13) Kimi RaikkonenAlfa Romeo+1.687
14) Lance StrollAston Martin+1.827
15) Sebastian VettelAston Martin+1.841
16) Carlos SainzFerrari+1.894
17) Nicholas LatifiWilliams+2.164
18) Nikita MazepinHaas+3.203
19) Mick SchumacherHaas+3.881
20) Roy NissanyWilliams+4.433


French GP Practice Two Timesheet
DriverTeamTime
1) Max VerstapenRed Bull1:32.872
2) Valtteri BottasMercedes+0.008
3) Lewis HamiltonMercedes+0.253
4) Fernando AlonsoAlpine+0.468
5) Charles LeclercFerrari+0.678
6) Esteban OconAlpine+0.813
7) Pierre GaslyAlphaTauri+0.824
8) Carlos SainzFerrari+0.826
9) Kimi RaikkonenAlfa Romeo+0.914
10) Lando NorrisMcLaren+0.950
11) Antonio GiovinazziAlfa Romeo+0.959
12) Sergio PerezRed Bull+1.049
13) Yuki TsunodaAlphaTauri+1.083
14) Daniel RicciardoMcLaren+1.207
15) Sebastian VettelAston Martin+1.575
16) Lance StrollAston Martin+1.760
17) George RussellWilliams+2.394
18) Nicholas LatifiWilliams+2.459
19) Mick SchumacherHaas+2.640
20) Nikita MazepinHaas+2.679

French GP Practice Three Timesheet
DriverTeamTime
1) Max VerstapenRed Bull1:31.300
2) Valtteri BottasMercedes+0.747
3) Carlos SainzFerrari+0.895
4) Sergio PerezRed Bull+0.938
5) Lewis HamiltonMercedes+0.966
6) Lando NorrisMcLaren+1.036
7) Fernando AlonsoAlpine+1.324
8) Esteban OconAlpine+1.381
9) Pierre GaslyAlphaTauri+1.407
10) Daniel RicciardoMcLaren+1.459
11) Charles LeclercFerrari+1.520
12) Antonio GiovinazziAlfa Romeo+1.717
13) Lance StrollAston Martin+1.751
14) Sebastian VettelAston Martin+1.900
15) Kimi RaikkonenAlfa Romeo+2.028
16) George RussellWilliams+2.064
17) Yuki TsunodaAlphaTauri+2.124
18) Nicholas LatifiWilliams+2.284
19) Mick SchumacherHaas+2.843
20) Nikita MazepinHaas+3.342
 
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pauldyson1uk said:
If Max wins here, it's a massive swing to Red Bull, this is a Mercedes track, unless Lewis is holding something back, there is a lot to make up.
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Apparently RB have reduced the size of their rear wing because they have better mechanical grip.
As you say, this is going to be pretty significant.
About time that Mercedes were seriously challenged. Could easily be damage limitation for Lewis. But I would never bet against him
 
Did they really need another red flag there? Funny about Stroll, but it's making for a dull quali.
 
Fair to say, these cars are close now, Mercedes used to walk it here but the Red Bull is mega.
 
Disappointing performance from Mclaren in qualfying. They seem to have a better race car but Ferrari seem to have leapfrogged them in both areas now.
 
Im quite surprised to see Red Bull in front at this dog shit track. Assumed it would suit the Mercs

Then again, Max is magic
 
RB were faster in the straights and had new engines for this gp. Running less downforce as the car has better mechanical grip than the mercs.

Inevitably since the rule changes for this season were done to stop merc dominance. Anyway its a long season. Lets hope it rains tomorrow that will be interesting, see how max holds off lewis in the rain.
 
French GP Qualifying Result
French GP Qualifying Timesheet
DriverTeamTime
1) Max VerstappenRed Bull1:29.990
2) Lewis HamiltonMercedes+0.258
3) Valtteri BottasMercedes+0.386
4) Sergio PerezRed Bull+0.455
5) Carlos SainzFerrari+0.850
6) Pierre GaslyAlphaTauri+0.878
7) Charles LeclercFerrari+0.997
8) Lando NorrisMcLaren+1.262
9) Fernando AlonsoAlpine+1.350
10) Daniel RicciardoMcLaren+1.392
Knocked out in Q2
11) Esteban OconAlpine1:31.736
12) Sebastian VettelAston Martin1:31.767
13) Antonio GiovinazziAlfa Romeo1:31.813
14) George RussellWilliams1:32.065
15) Mick SchumacherHaasNo Q2 time set
Knocked out in Q1
16) Nicholas LatifiWilliams1:33.062
17) Kimi RaikkonenAlfa Romeo1:33.354
18) Nikita MazepinHaas1:33.554
19) Lance StrollAston Martin2:12.584
20) Yuki TsunodaAlphaTauriNo time set
 
Aston Martin must be disappointed here. What happened with Stroll, anyway? Only did a slow lap before Q1 was red-flagged?

I continue to be impressed with Gasly. High performances with great consistency again this season.
 
Hard to judge given tsunida is a rookie. But I've also been impressed with Pierre. Great racecraft.
 
Cheimoon said:
Aston Martin must be disappointed here. What happened with Stroll, anyway? Only did a slow lap before Q1 was red-flagged?

I continue to be impressed with Gasly. High performances with great consistency again this season.
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First lap was ruined by red flag, he aborted his second lap due to traffic and then third lap was ruined by the 2nd red flag again.
 
conditions for the race look, pretty cool, track temp is just 30 degrees, 20 less that qualifying, there maybe also so rain.
This should be a Mercedes track all day long , but Max looks to have it, Max wins here and he is clear favourite for this years WC.
 
Did anyone see the interview with Toto on the channel 4 qualifying highlights?

It's the first interview I've seen where he suggests an alternative to Bottas (Russell) usually he staunchly supports Bottas

Think Botts has had a rocket up his backside this weekend....

I'd like to see Russell in the 2nd Mercedes, however if we do, I think it'll be a VERY clear contract he will be number 2 to Lewis they won't want them taking each other out. It'll do him good to work along Lewis and learn from him, ready to become number 1 (if good enough) when Lewis eventually steps away. I wish we could have seen Russell in the Mercedes for another race when Lewis had Covid, without any bad luck just to see if he was good enough.
 
pauldyson1uk said:
conditions for the race look, pretty cool, track temp is just 30 degrees, 20 less that qualifying, there maybe also so rain.
This should be a Mercedes track all day long , but Max looks to have it, Max wins here and he is clear favourite for this years WC.
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Still 16 races to go after todays gp. It could come to who takes the biggest hit on next seasons car by continuing to develop this years car. Both Merc and RB ideally dont want to keep throwing time and resources at this years car come September but they may have to.
 
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