2021 F1 Discussions

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Lewis Hamilton
“I tried to give him the space but I was quite a long way up the inside into 9 and none of us backed out and that was the end result.
"I dummied him, moved to the right for that gap and I was pretty far up alongside him but I then could see he wasn’t going to back out, and we went into the corner, and we collided.
"When someone’s too aggressive, these things are bound to happen. There’s not really much more for me to say – hope he’s OK, because of course I would love to have a wheel-to-wheel battle for the whole race, I enjoy racing with him and I’m looking forward – but I will never back down from anyone and I will not be bullied into being less aggressive."

Jolyon Palmer, former Renault F1 driver
“To be honest, [Lewis] is actually pretty much completely alongside Max – and then you’ve got two championship challengers gunning for the inside line at Copse, and one of them had to back out.
“[Lewis] was completely alongside – obviously he misses the apex slightly and moves into Max, but Max also keeps turning in, and he’s taking a huge risk doing that at Copse corner.
“It’s a tough one, a really tough one. I could have seen it as a racing incident, both racing each other so hard.”

Charles Leclerc
“It is very difficult to judge it from the car. We are very low, so it’s difficult to see. Everything went very quick, there were quite a few things going on around me. I think it’s a racing incident, it’s very difficult to put the blame on one or the other.
“Obviously there was a space on the inside, maybe Lewis was not completely at the apex, but it’s also true that Max was quite aggressive on the outside. So things happen, but I think what is the most important today is that Max is unharmed and is fine.”

Karun Chandhok (analysing the crash for Sky Sports F1)
“Max gives him the space, Hamilton is up the inside, but at no point... has he moved in front of Max Verstappen. Max is coming in and Lewis… does appear to be wide of the apex. When they’re making contact, his trajectory is heading wide of the apex.
“[Max] has given Lewis racing room, but he’s also, I think, expected Lewis to back out of it, that’s the critical thing. I think Lewis expected Max to back out of it, and Max expected Lewis to back out of it.
“Max could have given Lewis more room, but Lewis equally could have gone more to the kerb on the right-hand side… If you ask me, they could have both done more to avoid the incident, but I would put it down as a racing incident.”
 
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In all honesty though it pains me to say it, Max would have done exactly the same thing. Lewis was lucky that he had minor damage it could easily have been him who ended up with a broken wing. It does annoy me when people criticise drivers for racing hard, when those same people would be lauding them if the move came off. In the pre race show they showed several 'outstanding' overtakes which would have been considered 'dangerous' if they had gone wrong.
 
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This is a championship where the greatest driver of all time, a seven-time world champion is fighting with a tool that is maybe not as good as the other car, driven by an up and coming star who is trying to make his mark.
Of course must be the Merc is not as good as the RB. How else can the GOAT trail a lesser driver.
 
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I'm not really buying the 'Red Bull' has the best car rhetoric. I'd say there's very little in it. The argument will always be that Bottas is showing the 'true' pace of the Merc and that Hamilton is transcending it while conveniently ignoring the fact that the same argument can be made about the Red Bull.
 
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It’s pretty hard to say who’s right or wrong on these extremely fast situations. We can probably argue all day, who is to blame or not. But in the end it is still sports, it can be dangerous and be part of the risk and it’s good that everyone’s safe and doing well. The mental challenge is at its peak. If there’s one thing I can say to both Hamilton and Verstappen.

“Don’t Crack under Pressure” 😁😜
Edited:
 
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From the mouth of the horse (FIA) 😲

The FIA has explained why Lewis Hamilton was to blame for the collision with Verstappen in the British GP, saying the Mercedes "was on a line that did not reach the apex of the corner, with room available to the inside". (Click me!) 👍
 
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Fact is these moments are what makes F1 and what makes the drivers 'legends'. As soon as it happened Coulthard was comparing it to Prost and Senna at Suzuka... (which is a stupid comparison because this wasn't deliberate or premeditated).

I do think all this is playing into Bottas' hands for a new contract. Now that Red Bull are back up to speed and Max has matured, the last thing Lewis needs is George Russell in the team racing him - which begs the question, if Russell is offered Bottas' seat on the understanding that he has to 'support' Hamilton, will he take it and will he toe the line? History shows that joining a team as a no2 never works well for anyone. But then again, Alonso thought that Hamilton was supposed to be his number 2...
 
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George R and Helmut Marko are open for a Red Bull seat next year should Mercedes opt for Bottas 😲
 
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this happens to you for wishing accidents to others!
Just to clarify, I don't wish actual harm on any driver or team. Realize now my joke sounded very unsensitive, my appologies. A crash is always scary, no matter which driver and I hate it, no matter who it happens to.
 
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The crash was bad but the response afterwards was much worse. Had Hamilton toned down his rethoric it wouldn’t have been this bad. But brushing it off, saying Max was aggressive and celebrating harder than he ever has while Max was in the hospital has been very damaging. I don’t understand how he misread that. Toto claiming to Sky Sports that Verstappen is a lesser driver didn’t help 😵‍💫
 
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I'm not really buying the 'Red Bull' has the best car rhetoric. I'd say there's very little in it.
Pretty amazing Merc of all teams would use such an argument against another team.
 
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It’s pretty hard to say who’s right or wrong on these extremely fast situations. We can probably argue all day, who is to blame or not. But in the end it is still sports, it can be dangerous and be part of the risk and it’s good that everyone’s safe and doing well. The mental challenge is at its peak. If there’s one thing I can say to both Hamilton and Verstappen.

“Don’t Crack under Pressure” 😁😜
Agree with this. I thought it was marginally Lewis’ fault…and he got a penalty, so that evens the ledger in my book. I’m not a Lewis fan, but I do think that Max and Red Bull have over-reacted to this one.

Whichever team you follow, I just don’t get the racial abuse- thankfully both teams and F1 have come out strongly today.
 
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Hamiltons celebration was really over the top, especially for a 7 x world champ. Was he really so happy that the only reason he won is becuase Max wasn't there? If he had actually beaten Max fair and square at Silverstone that would be cause for a celebration.

Nice to see Dani Ric's Interview. First order of business was checking if Max was OK!
 
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CLC got oot the way of LH pronto, he had a ringside seat the first time round. Seemed a rash and hasty attempt at a pass on Max, sure the pace of the Merc would have put him past especially once DRS was enabled, it could have wrong for both going off and a twin no finish.
 
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We’ve had to wait a looong time for such rivalry at the top. We have that to look forward to in the coming races. Very exciting season so far.
 
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After the dust has settled, I'm firmly of the opinion the coming together was a racing incident. I think Max would have tried to do the same if the situation was reversed and his criticism of Hamilton's celebrations caused my estimation of him to go down considerably. Likewise Horner's attempts to influence the race director, and both these actions probably prompted at least some of the abuse that Hamilton later had to endure.