F1 2021 Season

SirAnderson said:
Wakey wakey F1 thread.

Let's have some handbags in here before the race please, need some pre-match thread build up in here.

Coming off a high on the MMA thread :lol:
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:lol:There's plenty of time for that. The race is at 9pm here, so I guess finishes around 11pm. I'd imagine by the time I log back in tomorrow there'll have been about 15 new pages added to this thread.
 
Going to be a bloodbath in here no matter what happens. :drool:

Half expecting a first corner smash and a race-long inquest.
 
I still think Max will do a 1 stop. Softs onto Hard. Lewis will also 1 stop, but his mediums will last longer than the softs so he’ll have fresher tyres at the end. It’s going to be exciting.

I think Lewis might lose a few places at the start aswell, lots of people on softs around him. Both him and max just need to keep out of trouble on lap 1, although I expect max to disappear off on the softs
 
Macern said:
I’m actually nervous for tomorrow. Only started watching F1 this season after binging DTS in april. This is more exciting for me than even important United games.

I just don’t hope Max wins. He’s so narcissistic, incredibly deluded and always pushes the rules and tries to cheat. Doesn’t help that Horner is almost as bad. Been a thrilling season but seeing Max win would be seriously off-putting for my F1 interest, don’t really fancy sports where the best or most deserving sportsman/team doesn’t win.
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You are watching the wrong sport then. In F1 it is very rare that the best driver wins. Best team, sure.
 
Lewis needs a good start, or he could be behind a few cars. From Lando’s interview he said he doesn’t want to do anything that could affect the championship, so I wouldn’t expect him to be pulling off moves into turn 1 except if they were clean. Perez in 4th will be a problem as he will won’t hold back.

I think RB have to to try to make a one stop work, but for that to happen Max will have to nurse the sorts in the first stint, which will play into Mercedes hands as the tyre advantage would be wiped out. Lewis will go longer in the first and then shorter in the second. I expect to see Lewis coming out around 10-15 seconds behind Max for his second stint. Max’s tyres will wear towards the end and Lewis is the master of hunting down. This will be close.

Track position is normally key for this circuit, the last 6 poles have gone on to win. I hope Lewis can break that record.
 
altodevil said:
You are watching the wrong sport then. In F1 it is very rare that the best driver wins. Best team, sure.
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Surely this year the best or at least 2nd best driver will win though surely? I'm no expert but both Max and Lewis seems very far ahead of the rest not only car wise, but also talent wise.

I'd be interested to see if what would happen if you put Max and Lewis in a Haas and the Haas boys in a Mercedes. Where would they both end in the WC.
 
KirkDuyt said:
Surely this year the best or at least 2nd best driver will win though surely? I'm no expert but both Max and Lewis seems very far ahead of the rest not only car wise, but also talent wise.

I'd be interested to see if what would happen if you put Max and Lewis in a Haas and the Haas boys in a Mercedes. Where would they both end in the WC.
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Yes I'd agree they are the two best for now. That's an anomaly though.

In your scenario, given they are rookies, I'd expect the Haas drivers to finish 3rd and 4th. Possibility of Mazepin getting beat by leclerc. Red bull would have locked up the championship already. Haas might have had a couple of low point finishes but not much more.
 
KirkDuyt said:
Surely this year the best or at least 2nd best driver will win though surely? I'm no expert but both Max and Lewis seems very far ahead of the rest not only car wise, but also talent wise.

I'd be interested to see if what would happen if you put Max and Lewis in a Haas and the Haas boys in a Mercedes. Where would they both end in the WC.
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altodevil said:
Yes I'd agree they are the two best for now. That's an anomaly though.

In your scenario, given they are rookies, I'd expect the Haas drivers to finish 3rd and 4th. Possibility of Mazepin getting beat by leclerc. Red bull would have locked up the championship already. Haas might have had a couple of low point finishes but not much more.
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The trouble with these comparisons also is that cars are designed with the driver in mind. If you swap Max and Lewis, neither would replicate the performance of the other right now, they wouldn’t even be close.

It’s true though that a great driver will very very rarely if ever win without a great car. But a great car could carry a good driver to a win.
 
theyneverlearn said:
Lewis needs a good start, or he could be behind a few cars. From Lando’s interview he said he doesn’t want to do anything that could affect the championship, so I wouldn’t expect him to be pulling off moves into turn 1 except if they were clean. Perez in 4th will be a problem as he will won’t hold back.

I think RB have to to try to make a one stop work, but for that to happen Max will have to nurse the sorts in the first stint, which will play into Mercedes hands as the tyre advantage would be wiped out. Lewis will go longer in the first and then shorter in the second. I expect to see Lewis coming out around 10-15 seconds behind Max for his second stint. Max’s tyres will wear towards the end and Lewis is the master of hunting down. This will be close.

Track position is normally key for this circuit, the last 6 poles have gone on to win. I hope Lewis can break that record.
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lando just wants to stay ahead of leclerc to get 5th in the championship.

Even if he does somehow get ahead of lewis I can’t see him holding him up for long personally.

The start at abu dhabi isn’t really long enough to make lots of moves anyway. unless lewis gets a bad start on the mediums he should be fairly safe.

I think it’s fair to say this race will unfold towards the end rather than the beginning IMO
 
Bloody working. Thought it would be evening race uk time. Normally I'd avoid spoilers and catch C4 highlights but I know someone will blab about it during my shift. So I'll watch the opening lap on the sly and then commentary fir the rest :(
 
Gringo said:
Bloody working. Thought it would be evening race uk time. Normally I'd avoid spoilers and catch C4 highlights but I know someone will blab about it during my shift. So I'll watch the opening lap on the sly and then commentary fir the rest :(
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What’s your job? I’m confident you can do it while watching the race.
 
Max to crash into Raikkonen while lapping him, just to compete his evil supervillain season.

He'll find a way to blame Lewis for it as well.
 
Does Max have a set of hards left? Could he try and get 20 laps out of the softs and then switch to hards on a one stopper?
 
diarm said:
Does Max have a set of hards left? Could he try and get 20 laps out of the softs and then switch to hards on a one stopper?
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Yes and that’s likely the strategy if he’s leading, they wont want to give up track position around here. Assuming they are 1-2, Lewis will go longer on stint 1 and the race will come down to the final 10 laps and tyre endurance. It’s not very powerful around here the tyre offset but if their relative pace is similar then it just comes down to that.

I feel good about this today, think we will see a good race.
 
Macern said:
I just don’t hope Max wins. He’s so narcissistic, incredibly deluded and always pushes the rules and tries to cheat. Doesn’t help that Horner is almost as bad. Been a thrilling season but seeing Max win would be seriously off-putting for my F1 interest, don’t really fancy sports where the best or most deserving sportsman/team doesn’t win.
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I know exactly what you mean.

Max would be a great racer if he just knew where the line was and didn't cross over the boundaries into cheating.

Also, the "race" in Spa with half points awarded was a joke and shouldn't contribute to any championship win for any driver.
 
Fluctuation0161 said:
I know exactly what you mean.

Max would be a great racer if he just knew where the line was and didn't cross over the boundaries into cheating.

Also, the "race" in Spa with half points awarded was a joke and shouldn't contribute to any championship win for any driver.
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The points for that farce are one thing, but this 'win' also counting towards the tie breaker is ridiculous
 
Fluctuation0161 said:
I know exactly what you mean.

Max would be a great racer if he just knew where the line was and didn't cross over the boundaries into cheating.

Also, the "race" in Spa with half points awarded was a joke and shouldn't contribute to any championship win for any driver.
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I'd even get over the cheating somewhat (it's obviously still dangerous and I'd still want the authorities to do their job and penalise him) if he wasn't such a bloody hypocrite about it.

If he was just a ballsy lunatic, with thin skin and an inability to be overtaken without throwing his elbows out, I'd have some measure of respect for him.

But it's the petulant tantrums when someone has the gall to do to him, what he's spent the last 3 races doing to other drivers that turns me off him the most.
 
stretford_oslo said:
Come on Max! :devil:

Next season of drive to survive should be good fun with this level of excitement right til the end.
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I don’t think Max has given them much access so they probably won’t concentrate on it as much as most would want.
 
Alright, calling it now. I'm very confident that Verstappen becomes champion.
 
VorZakone said:
Alright, calling it now. I'm very confident that Verstappen becomes champion.
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Probably starts slight favourite I think but how does he potentially win?

By actually winning fairly? (50%?)
Forcing Lewis off the circuit? (25%?)
Brake test 2.0 (5%?)
Favour / instructions from perez (10%)
Or a protest about mercs wing if Lewis wins? (10%?)
 
NM said:
It's all relative. I don't like Max, but after so many seasons of Mercedes and Hamilton, I'd take anybody over them. The sport will change completely next year regardless due to the new rules, so I wouldn't walk away regardless of the result.
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For someone who has only returned to watching F1 this year after a few years away, what are the new rules? Or is there a link that summarises them?
 
VorZakone said:
Alright, calling it now. I'm very confident that Verstappen becomes champion.
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I agree. I think It’ll be an Austin with Lewis catching on fresher tyres but not able to pass. Merc have turned the engine down from FP3 presumably for reliability after they found yet another issue with bottas’ so the pace red bull were terrified of isn’t there. The only unknowns are Red Bull’s race pace. Yes it looked good in FP1 but the car wasn’t set up with that rear wing which is likely to add more wear onto the tyres - and how difficult it is to follow in dirty air at this new revamped track. Whatever happens if Lewis gets out of turn one still in P2 it’ll be a cracking race.
 
Mickeza said:
I agree. I think It’ll be an Austin with Lewis catching on fresher tyres but not able to pass. Merc have turned the engine down from FP3 presumably for reliability after they found yet another issue with bottas’ so the pace red bull were terrified of isn’t there. The only unknowns are Red Bull’s race pace. Yes it looked good in FP1 but the car wasn’t set up with that rear wing which is likely to add more wear onto the tyres - and how difficult it is to follow in dirty air at this new revamped track. Whatever happens if Lewis gets out of turn one still in P2 it’ll be a cracking race.
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I do wonder how much of an if that prove to be. If he gets sucked back behind Perez it could easily wind up a procession for Max, given how quick the Red Bulls look.
 
Jippy said:
I do wonder how much of an if that prove to be. If he gets sucked back behind Perez it could easily wind up a procession for Max, given how quick the Red Bulls look.
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Yeah if Perez jumps Hamilton it’s over. Max will sail into the distance whilst managing his tyres - Lewis has to stay P2 to pressure Max, force him to wear those tyres out and make him pit early.
 
RonaldoVII said:
For someone who has only returned to watching F1 this year after a few years away, what are the new rules? Or is there a link that summarises them?
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I assume this is in reference to the new specifications for the 2022 cars.
Easiest way is to Google 2022 F1.
 
sun_tzu said:
Probably starts slight favourite I think but how does he potentially win?

By actually winning fairly? (50%?)
Forcing Lewis off the circuit? (25%?)
Brake test 2.0 (5%?)
Favour / instructions from perez (10%)
Or a protest about mercs wing if Lewis wins? (10%?)
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My instinct is that it is going to be a clean race. And after all the massive hype, something a bit less exciting.
But. That could all change if Hamilton is in the lead and Max is getting frustrated just behind. Especially toward the end of the race.
 
The mediums from Verstappen are fine according to Van der Garde. Just said it on Dutch tv. Don’t know if it’s true just thought I’d share.
 
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