2021 F1 Discussions

Aquagraph
Posts
22,151
Likes
31,374
I'm confused. Bottas took fastest lap and then Hamilton took it back. Coulthard even said Bottas is off the hook because Lewis took it back.

After the race Bottas and Wolf are like 'Haha, he was just messing around and he backed off in the third sector'...

This is some misinformation bullshit from Mercedes here!
 
El Matarife
Posts
585
Likes
471
Bottas could have gone faster, but he backed off in the final sector (under orders). He got fastest lap, but left enough margin for Lewis to get it back.

Bottas has been treated pretty shabbily by Merc, as team Merc is really team Lewis. It's true he would get more support if he was challenging for the title, but drivers should be free to race IMO. I dislike team orders.
 
imagwai
Posts
6,053
Likes
7,295
El Matarife El Matarife
Bottas has been treated pretty shabbily by Merc, as team Merc is really team Lewis.
I always thought Mercedes were pretty fair to the drivers at the start of the season. Certainly when Bottas and Lewis were first team mates, they let them race on equal terms. That was easier to do when they were so dominant, though. This season, with Red Bull finally being competitive, they've had to put their eggs in one basket to try and beat Max. It's hardly surprising they chose the Lewis basket given his track record.
 
El Matarife
Posts
585
Likes
471
imagwai imagwai
I always thought Mercedes were pretty fair to the drivers at the start of the season. Certainly when Bottas and Lewis were first team mates, they let them race on equal terms. That was easier to do when they were so dominant, though. This season, with Red Bull finally being competitive, they've had to put their eggs in one basket to try and beat Max. It's hardly surprising they chose the Lewis basket given his track record.
I think it's way too early in the season to be giving team orders for the sake of a single point. Just my opinion, but clearly Merc doesn't care about Bottas any more.
Edited:
 
Calibre11
Posts
7,123
Likes
15,098
I can see why Mercedes are being less flexible on letting Bottas off the leash- firstly, no-one expects him to be in the team next year and secondly, there's a real fight for the Drivers title this year. One of the advantages Mercedes has is that Bottas is so far a better/ more reliable second driver than Perez.
 
imagwai
Posts
6,053
Likes
7,295
El Matarife El Matarife
I think it's way too early in the season to be giving team orders for the sake of a single point. Just my opinion, but clearly Merc doesn't care about Bottas any more.
Not in a season where the fight is so close. Plus my point was that Bottas is at least partly responsible for the current situation by not winning any championships in the Merc when he did have the chance.
 
Aquagraph
Posts
22,151
Likes
31,374
imagwai imagwai
I always thought Mercedes were pretty fair to the drivers at the start of the season. Certainly when Bottas and Lewis were first team mates, they let them race on equal terms. That was easier to do when they were so dominant, though. This season, with Red Bull finally being competitive, they've had to put their eggs in one basket to try and beat Max. It's hardly surprising they chose the Lewis basket given his track record.

Absolutely, why on earth would you back Bottas over Hamilton. They were fair when they had the best car by miles but I think it's understandable that this year they try and grab every point they can. This championship could easily be decided by half a point, remember Prost lost to Lauda by the same margin in 1984?
https://www.theguardian.com/sport/2...am-mate-alain-prost-f1-title-hamilton-rosberg
 
kappa_md
Posts
4,061
Likes
5,934
After the botched incident where Bottas was asked to pit to snatch the fastest lap, only to abort in the last sector for Hamilton to get that single point, there’s is no more mockery in this Merc drama! And high time to announce Bottas leaving Merc. If I were Bottas, clearly there was no love left for him, even after helping Mercedes secure constructors championships for 4 consecutive years, I’d be glad to leave. They could have given Bottas some decency and let him do his race.

Unfortunately, Bottas won’t be WC anymore, he had his chance and time with the best race car available. Only Hamilton is superior in talent and the team clearly favors Hamilton. In a way I feel sorry for Bottas but he didn’t MAXimize his chances. Bottas should have followed what Rosberg did and had a chance to be WC even just once! Bottas followed team orders too much and for too long..
 
kappa_md
Posts
4,061
Likes
5,934
Aquagraph Aquagraph
OMG really - such a shock!
Bottas replacing Kimi. Gio not sure but he’s the Italian trump card why Alfa Romeo continues to be major sponsors for Sauber?
 
Aquagraph
Posts
22,151
Likes
31,374
kappa_md kappa_md
After the botched incident where Bottas was asked to pit to snatch the fastest lap, only to abort in the last sector for Hamilton to get that single point, there’s is no more mockery in this Merc drama! And high time to announce Bottas leaving Merc. If I were Bottas, clearly there was no love left for him, even after helping Mercedes secure constructors championships for 4 consecutive years, I’d be glad to leave. They could have given Bottas some decency and let him do his race.

Unfortunately, Bottas won’t be WC anymore, he had his chance and time with the best race car available. Only Hamilton is superior in talent and the team clearly favors Hamilton. In a way I feel sorry for Bottas but he didn’t MAXimize his chances. Bottas should have followed what Rosberg did and had a chance to be WC even just once! Bottas followed team orders too much and for too long..

Bottas always seemed to get unlucky at the start of the season somehow, like he'd get a puncture in the second race and finish 10th and that was that, 15 points behind Hamilton so might as well just settle down and do as you're told. He just isn't consistent enough to mix it. And the same must be said for Perez unfortunately, I really expected him to do better than he has. Some races he seems there but some he's looking a bit silly. Maybe they Red Bull really is a difficult car to drive, no one but Max seems to like it.
 
kappa_md
Posts
4,061
Likes
5,934
Sweet talk from Toto :whipped: Benchmark for a teammate? 🤮I’m sorry but no thanks! Everyone races to win, and not just to be 2nd place 🤬
1443529A-FC1A-41D6-A5F8-F48E03329DA7.jpeg
 
kappa_md
Posts
4,061
Likes
5,934
Aquagraph Aquagraph
Bottas always seemed to get unlucky at the start of the season somehow, like he'd get a puncture in the second race and finish 10th and that was that, 15 points behind Hamilton so might as well just settle down and do as you're told. He just isn't consistent enough to mix it.

I agree. There’s luck in there playing in the cards also. But as I’ve mentioned, Hamilton’s talent is superior. Same with Hamilton being a more talented driver than Rosberg. But Nico played the “mind-games” better than Hamilton and it made him WC. It’s a bitter end for Bottas. So from now on, race to win is the goal for him.
 
Jim Dollares
Posts
10,199
Likes
13,183
It feels a bit sad that Alfa Romeo will be yet another mercedes powered team, diversity and competition is a good thing for the sport, lets hope we dont end up with an engine spec series where every team uses a Merc engine
 
kappa_md
Posts
4,061
Likes
5,934
Jim Dollares Jim Dollares
It feels a bit sad that Alfa Romeo will be yet another mercedes powered team, diversity and competition is a good thing for the sport, lets hope we dont end up with an engine spec series where every team uses a Merc engine

I believe Alfa Romeo will stick with Ferrari engines to next year’s new F1 regulations. Mercedes already supplying engine to four teams (Aston Martin, McLaren, Williams and their own) and according to Toto, has already reached their limits. The new regulations will give a new BOP among teams and we will see which teams emerge on top 😉
 
1020 More Posts...
Sign up or log in to reply...

Similar threads

Hubert

2025 F1 Discussions

Hubert The Garage
kappa_md
kappa_md
Posts
3
Views
96
Hubert

2024 F1 Discussions

Hubert The Garage
Albert-AMG
Albert-AMG
Posts
436
Views
19K
Hubert

2023 F1 Discussions

Hubert The Garage
Albert-AMG
Albert-AMG
Posts
397
Views
24K
kappa_md

2022 F1 Discussions

kappa_md The Garage
THFan346
THFan346
Posts
1K
Views
35K
Hubert

2020: F1 Discussions

Hubert The Garage
Hubert
Hubert
Posts
915
Views
42K
Hubert

2021 F1 changes

Hubert The Garage
WernerBoeinck
WernerBoeinck
Posts
6
Views
1K