Motorsports Thread

[Salad Dodger]

Running 2 laps behind a safety car and declaring it a race, so as to avoid having to refund the poor schmucks who paid good money to see a proper race, is utterly, abhorrently cynical.

In the conditions that prevailed on Sunday, the only right and proper thing to have done would be to cancel and refund tickets. If the circuit owners could not afford to do that then F1 should have stepped in to make up the shortfall. There must be money sloshing around somewhere to meet such a contingency.

 

[Beebo]

In the conditions that prevailed on Sunday, the only right and proper thing to have done would be to cancel and refund tickets. If the circuit owners could not afford to do that then F1 should have stepped in to make up the shortfall. There must be money sloshing around somewhere to meet such a contingency.

I would expect them to have event cancellation insurance for this.
But once you declare a “race” the insurance won’t pay out.

 

[matticus]

I would expect them to have event cancellation insurance for this.
But once you declare a “race” the insurance won’t pay out.

We may "expect" it, but is it so? Many businesses take uninsured risks, because the rewards are then greater. (e.g. self-insured fleet vehicles)

I really don't know - it's frustrating not to hear a definitive statement about Spa. Maybe the insurers exerted pressure - who knows??

 

[Tom B]

So Kimi is calling it quits.. apparently he decided last winter. So that tallies with his lack luster form this year.

According to Crash.net Bottas is expected to be announced to replace him at Alfa.

So that answers the why now timing of Kimis announcement given that Merc have said they want all the pieces in place before they announce what is happening.

Personally I think Bottas at Merc is a bit promise unfulfilled.

 

[classic33]

So Kimi is calling it quits... apparently he decided last winter. So that tallies with his lack luster form this year.

According to Crash.net Bottas is expected to be announced to replace him at Alfa.

So that answers the why now timing of Kimis announcement given that Merc have said they want all the pieces in place before they announce what is happening.

Personally I think Bottas at Merc is a bit promise unfulfilled.

Finishing with the same team he started with.

 

[Deleted member 1258]

So Kimi is calling it quits.. apparently he decided last winter. So that tallies with his lack luster form this year.

According to Crash.net Bottas is expected to be announced to replace him at Alfa.

So that answers the why now timing of Kimis announcement given that Merc have said they want all the pieces in place before they announce what is happening.

Personally I think Bottas at Merc is a bit promise unfulfilled.

Theres also a rumor going around that Alfa Romeo will have Mercedes engines next season so Bottas there makes sense. Bottas has been disappointing, he's been to willing to be the team player, to happy to be Hamilton wing man, I'd rather he'd pushed Hamilton more, he's given him a far to easy ride, lets hope that Russel ruffles his feathers a bit more.

 

[Bonefish Blues]

Theres also a rumor going around that Alfa Romeo will have Mercedes engines next season so Bottas there makes sense. Bottas has been disappointing, he's been to willing to be the team player, to happy to be Hamilton wing man, I'd rather he'd pushed Hamilton more, he's given him a far to easy ride, lets hope that Russel ruffles his feathers a bit more.

He tried, he wasn't quick enough, he settled for second. Look at Rosberg - he had to spend a season punting Lewis off in order to beat him. That said, I think, for the first time, there's signs of Lewis's powers beginning to wane, so he'd better win his billionty-seventh this year because it's his best chance.

 

[icowden]

That said, I think, for the first time, there's signs of Lewis's powers beginning to wane, so he'd better win his billionty-seventh this year because it's his best chance.

Whilst I think you may be right, the problem is that the Merc isn't quite as good as the Red Bull due to being hamstrung by the regs changes. I wouldn't write off Hamilton for next year though given that it's effectively a full reset. Hamilton has been shown to be quick at learning / adaptable to car changes where some other drivers (e.g. Vettel) are not.

Personally I'm really excited for next year - hopefully there will be some excellent racing.

 

[Bonefish Blues]

Whilst I think you may be right, the problem is that the Merc isn't quite as good as the Red Bull due to being hamstrung by the regs changes. I wouldn't write off Hamilton for next year though given that it's effectively a full reset. Hamilton has been shown to be quick at learning / adaptable to car changes where some other drivers (e.g. Vettel) are not.

Personally I'm really excited for next year - hopefully there will be some excellent racing.

I'm just thinking Hamilton - Russell next year has overtones of Hamilton - Alonso and we know how that turned out.

 

[icowden]

I'm just thinking Hamilton - Russell next year has overtones of Hamilton - Alonso and we know how that turned out.

Overtones, but I think reversed, and Hamilton's ego isn't as big as Alonso's. Alonso really couldn't cope with having a junior driver who was as good as him. I think Hamilton is better equipped in that regard. I'd expect some hard racing though, as I don't think George will be as happy as Bottas to sit back.

 

[Bonefish Blues]

Overtones, but I think reversed, and Hamilton's ego isn't as big as Alonso's. Alonso really couldn't cope with having a junior driver who was as good as him. I think Hamilton is better equipped in that regard. I'd expect some hard racing though, as I don't think George will be as happy as Bottas to sit back.

It'll be fascinating - as Hamilton maybe begins to wane, and a precociously fast young teammate as company. Toto will have his work cut out, no doubt

 

[figbat]

Same happened at Ferrari - Vettel was quickly usurped by whipper-snapper Leclerc, although in Hamilton’s case he has had a lifetime of support from Mercedes (initially via McLaren). Funnily enough Vettel was also usurped at Red Bull by Verstappen.

Next year will hinge on who gets the new package right. I suspect there will be some bigger differences across the field until they all copy the best design. Sometimes though the best design is baked into the car and other cars can’t be updated easily.

 

[Reynard]

If you took Lewis out of the equation, Bottas would probably have picked up at least one world championship. He's good in his own right, but when you're up against one of the best that's ever been...

There were a couple of articles that mentioned Hamilton was suffering from Long Covid, so he's probably not at his peak, both physically and mentally this year.

As for the whole Hamilton v Rosberg needle match, it smacked very much of Mansell v Piquet at Williams in 86 & 87. Piquet was a master of the nasty put-down, and Mansell was so easy to rub up the wrong way.

 

[icowden]

Same happened at Ferrari - Vettel was quickly usurped by whipper-snapper Leclerc, although in Hamilton’s case he has had a lifetime of support from Mercedes (initially via McLaren). Funnily enough Vettel was also usurped at Red Bull by Verstappen.

But Vettel also seemed much slower to adapt to the loss of the V8s and the start of the hybrid era. Obviously some of that was the car and reliability but I always had the impression that without the dominant V8 Red Bull, he faded quite quickly.

 

[icowden]

If you took Lewis out of the equation, Bottas would probably have picked up at least one world championship. He's good in his own right, but when you're up against one of the best that's ever been...

At least he can say "I was second for two years running, and at least I was only beaten by Lewis.".

And then if you look at Lewis's record you see how amazing it is. Never lower than 5th place, 7 world championships, 2 second places out of 13 world championships. I think only Schumacher (not including comeback career), Prost and Senna have that sort of form in the modern era.