Mazepin , has brushed the wall , damaged his car. 
F1 2021 Season
- Thread starter pauldyson1uk
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In the latest episode of the United Hour Podcast, Nik and Imran hold a long overdue conversation about United's awful league form with 1 win in 7. They discuss a disappointing draw at Bournemouth, a not so disappointing draw against Liverpool and a crushing defeat at Chelsea - Is time nearly over for Erik Ten Hag?
Then in a special second half of the pod, Nik welcomes Natalie ( https://twitter.com/natalie_17) to discuss the fortunes of Manchester United Women as they booked a place in the FA Cup Final after a historic first ever win vs. Chelsea.
Bottas out on softs.
Turn 15 is causing a few problems in FP3
Russell leaking fluid, VSC
Russell has no power and with a new engine for this race.
Lewis find some speed, ends FP3 in 3rd
Commentators suggesting Mercs will have to tow each other to quali well
Yeah but they are talking bollocks, they have problems, Lewis did get a tow at the end of FP3.Commentators suggesting Mercs will have to tow each other to quali well
Cant see anything but a Red Bull/ Ferrari win and at a track Merc should be flying round.
Never known Mercedes to be genuinely struggling so badly before, maybe the DAS system removal has really effected them worse than we all expected?
It seems they've set the car up to be really 'tyre friendly' which is great for looking after the tyres in the race, but they just can't get them fired up in short runs. I suspect they'll make up plenty of ground in the race but qualfying could end up being a bit of an embarrasment for them. I wonder if Bottas will decide to be a team player today?
It seems they've set the car up to be really 'tyre friendly' which is great for looking after the tyres in the race, but they just can't get them fired up in short runs. I suspect they'll make up plenty of ground in the race but qualfying could end up being a bit of an embarrasment for them. I wonder if Bottas will decide to be a team player today?
Azerbaijan GP Practice Three Timesheet
| Driver | Team | Time |
|---|---|---|
| 1) Pierre Gasly | AlphaTauri | 1:42.251 |
| 2) Sergio Perez | Red Bull | +0.344 |
| 3) Lewis Hamilton | Mercedes | +0.446 |
| 4) Charles Leclerc | Ferrari | +0.527 |
| 5) Carlos Sainz | Ferrari | +0.755 |
| 6) Lando Norris | McLaren | +0.760 |
| 7) Fernando Alonso | Alpine | +0.829 |
| 8) Yuki Tsunoda | AlphaTauri | +0.993 |
| 9) Esteban Ocon | Alpine | +1.043 |
| 10) Daniel Ricciardo | McLaren | +1.306 |
| 11) Sebastian Vettel | Aston Martin | +1.334 |
| 12) Lance Stroll | Aston Martin | +1.431 |
| 13) Valtteri Bottas | Mercedes | +1.494 |
| 14) Kimi Raikkonen | Alfa Romeo | +1.575 |
| 15) Max Verstappen | Red Bull | +1.733 |
| 16) Nicholas Latifi | Williams | +1.803 |
| 17) Antonio Giovinazzi | Alfa Romeo | +1.862 |
| 18) George Russell | Williams | +2.183 |
| 19) Mick Schumacher | Haas | +3.031 |
| 20) Nikita Mazepin | Haas | +3.460 |
after watching FP , there is a very real chance that one or both of the Mercs might not make Q3 !!!
The time Lewis got in FP3 was aided by a huge tow from Perez.
Its not a case of sandbags, thats just daft.
The time Lewis got in FP3 was aided by a huge tow from Perez.
Its not a case of sandbags, thats just daft.
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This isn't sandbagging at all.
While Merc are probably not using full engine power, they are NEVER this low in FP times. I expect they'll be scrapping for a top 6/7 position today.
Its the rule change for this season which was done to curtail Mercedes dominance. The rear downforce loss Mercedes haven't clawed back entirely. Therefore less downforce, the harder it is to push the tyres to generate heat and grip. No-one foresaw that a higher rake would be an advantage this season. Though there will be no high rake cars next season, as the return of ground effect means thats any sort of rake will be a huge disadvantage for the aero.
Not sure that's completely the issue as they aren't getting the fronts switched on either. They don't lack grip once heated up, in race conditions they'll still be flying so downforce isn't the issue IMO.
They had a similar issue on the car last year but the DAS system helped them over come it. Look at Races like Portimao where they struggled massively for the first few laps.
It seems because of the nature of this circuit with lots of long straights and not many load bearing corners, they just aren't putting the heat through the tyres like they would in other proper tracks. Monaco is the same as it's slow corners or quick twitch corners, so unless your tyres are already heated they won't build it up through corners naturally.
I think Mercedes have simply made the cars too tyre friendly for street circuits, but could prove dividends in other tracks like Spain where we saw Verstappen kill his tyres much earlier.
Monaco has always been a problem track for them , but Baku is a good track, high speed straights, winners the last 2 races run, they should not be struggling here.
Sure I heard on Sky that he was running a new engine.
Pirelli has increased minimum rear tyre pressures for the remainder of the Azerbaijan GP weekend as stress levels in Baku have exceeded the manufacturer's expectations.
The boost from 19psi to 20psi is another variable that teams were forced to take into account at the start of Saturday's running.
For this year's return to Baku, Pirelli opted to supply a softer tyre selection relative to F1's last visit to Azerbaijan in 2019.
The C3, C4 and C5 choice was initially made to introduce an extra strategic element, bringing into play a hard tyre that wasn't used at in 2019.
The boost from 19psi to 20psi is another variable that teams were forced to take into account at the start of Saturday's running.
For this year's return to Baku, Pirelli opted to supply a softer tyre selection relative to F1's last visit to Azerbaijan in 2019.
The C3, C4 and C5 choice was initially made to introduce an extra strategic element, bringing into play a hard tyre that wasn't used at in 2019.
WOW each lap round Baku takes 70 gear changes
Azerbaijan GP Qualifying
Q1 starts
stroll straight into the wall, red flagged
FFS Stroll hits the wall at turn 15.
Russell struggling to even get out for Q1 but this will help.
Russell struggling to even get out for Q1 but this will help.
Russell is ready to go, monumental effort to get his car ready.
pit lane is open
Gio crash.........red flag
Jeez that corner is claiming some victims.
Another Red Flag.
another red flag
Giovinazzi and turn 15 AGAIN !
9mins of Q1 left and half the field with no lap time set.
I dont remember turn 15 being this bad in past years.
Norris to be investigated after the session for red flag procedure issue
Norris to be investigated for a red flag procedure.
He is getting a grid drop.
He is getting a grid drop.
Norris will probably get a few place grid penalty
HAM gets another tow FFS.
what do you want him to do , back off.
obviously not, just wish he didn't get a tow.....
obviously not, just wish he didn't get a tow.....
he is not the first driver to benefit from the toware you that shocked a non-merc fan would hope Merc don't get lucky/have a bad session?