2019 F1: Discussions

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The tragic passing of Hubert casts a dark shadow on everything. But I was happy to see Leclerc get his first win. Impressive debut for Albon in the RedBull.

It's a shame that Max and Kimi came together (I blame Max, but that's racing). I think Max could have mixed it up with Ferrari & Mercedes and may likely have added another podium finish. I was also really looking forward to seeing Kimi's potential, suspect he might have been 5th or 6th had he not sustained such damage.
 
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Not to rag on Max too much, but if (say) Grosjean had gone up the inside like that, the commentators would have called it a stupid move with an inevitable conclusion...
 
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Monza: another interesting race, with a nice battle between Leclerc and Hamilton during most of the laps. Today we had another evidence that Vettel should retire at the end of the season: completely overcame by Leclerc, he did two new mistakes, being the way he rejoined the track (hitting Stroll) the worst mistake... it’s his second penalty this year for the same fault, and this is not acceptable from an experienced driver.

After Monza, the Silver Arrows have 9 additional points of advantage in the Constructors standings, so the damage limitation strategy worked very well for them in this track where Ferrari was favourite. Leclerc is already in front of Vettel in the standings, and very close to Max, so the battle for the 3rd (and maybe 2nd) position in the championship is going to be very interesting.
Bottas took today some advantage in this battle for the 2nd position, but he is 63 points behind Hamilton, who is in a very good way to win his 6th Title 👍

 
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It was an exciting race to say the least and such a pleasure everytime Hamilton is not winning!

Interesting to see the pace of the Renaults. So I guess they have the engine power but with a car built more similar to Ferraris which made them strong on this track?
 
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I don't understand how Leclerc was allowed to miss the chicane and stay ahead of Hamilton. His black and white flag (with no penalty) was also fairly lenient punishment for his squeezing of Hamilton which was borderline dangerous.
Edited:
 
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Maybe if Hamilton had been further alongside they might have acted differently but he had the chance to back off before they reached the turn in ?
 
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I don't understand how Leclerc was allowed to miss the chicane and stay ahead of Hamilton. His black and white flag (with no penalty) was also fairly lenient punishment for his squeezing of Hamilton which was borderline dangerous.

They never enforce that chicane properly, people always go over there and get away with it, as for the other incident it was a bit strange that they gave him the black/white flag and there were other times where LeClerc was shamelessly weaving. I'm sort of surprised Hamilton wasn't moaning about it more to be honest.
 
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Verstappen would have been hit by a 5 sec penalty no doubt
 
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As for Vettel being given the 'benefit of the doubt' in qualfying.... in a Ferrari... at Monza.
Well.....
 
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I can't recall seeing a black and white flag being used in F1 before, so it was a bit strange.
Maybe if Hamilton had been further alongside they might have acted differently but he had the chance to back off before they reached the turn in ?
Hamilton did back off... via his only route (the grass)!
 
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Very happy for the 1-2 of the Silver Arrows at the #RussianGP!! 😀


The strategy to start the race on Medium tyres to pit later (waiting for a Safety Car or VSC) did work for Mercedes, also taking advantage of another reliability problem of the italian cars... so this was a brilliant and unexpected 1-2 for the Silver Arrows in this race track where Ferrari was favourite.

About Vettel, I think he was not fair with Leclerc, disobeying the team orders he received after the start of the race... the same he did with Weber (Multi 21) during his Red Bull years. Another of the reasons because I don’t like Vettel

Hamilton is increasing the advantage (73 points) in the Driver’s standings race after race, and specially after Sochi where he took the full 26 points, including the fastest lap... and Mercedes is also increasing the advantage (162 points) in the Constructor’s standings! 🙄

 
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So if Bottas doesn't finish the next race and LW wins and gets fastest lap he's 1 point away from WDC...?
 
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Congratulations to Bottas, Mclaren and IWC on today’s victory and the constructor’s championship! Can’t believe I’m saying this 😁

 
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Congratulations to Bottas, Mclaren and IWC on today’s victory and the constructor’s championship! Can’t believe I’m saying this 😁

You mean Mercedes 😉

Congratulations for this 6th consecutive Constructor’s Title!!! 😀 👍 And the driver’s Title is not decided yet, but it only can be for a Mercedes driver! 👍

 
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Haha indeed. Oh man, Duvel on a Sunday afternoon...
 
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#MexicoGP Another great victory for the Silver Arrows 😀 when Ferrari was favourite.


A very good start for the red cars, with a contact between Lewis and Max and both cars on the grass... but the strategy worked for Mercedes, and Hamilton recovered from fifth position driving a fantastic race to win!

Lewis is now very close to secure his 6th Title, probably next week in Austin, and Bottas is also defending his 2nd position in the Championship from Leclerc, who had the worst strategy and pit stop today