[M3WC]

Originally Posted by GuidoK

Lets hear what Rosberg is gonna ask Hammy

He got Lewis to basically admit he was going with Merc next year. He said he looked forward to Mercs progress with current car and into next year.

Originally Posted by NickyC

Hopefully, would hate to see Aston start slipping back after the great start to the year. :/

Ferrari seemed off pace ass well, I know Sainz had a decent weekend(race pace was meh). Maybe it was weather related, overcast all weekend. Aston does have an upgrade coming next race.

[M5Rick]

Race highlights.

[///M Power-Belgium]

Originally Posted by M5Rick

It doesn't look any other way and as I said before Checo can't live with Max and also the Mercs took tired Checo because of his poor quali and the subsequent positioning he was in. Surely it's clear now he has to back Max up after seven Gp's.

Did you see what the Russell boy did at the start ?

No time penalty for Mercedes ! Awesome ...

[M5Rick]

Originally Posted by ///M Power-Belgium

Did you see what the Russell boy did at the start ?

No time penalty for Mercedes ! Awesome ...

Merc got away with it again...unlike AT's Yuki later who was penalised losing a point.

[///M Power-Belgium]

Originally Posted by M5Rick

Merc got away with it again...unlike AT's Yuki later who was penalised losing a point.

Yeah . Yuki couldn't do anything else , but still got a penalty...

Mercedes is blessed today by the FIA !

[M5Rick]

Originally Posted by ///M Power-Belgium

Yeah . Yuki couldn't do anything else , but still got a penalty...

Mercedes is blessed today by the FIA !

It looks like the stewards have those dark Merc shades on again and yeah Derek Warwick is one of them, so we have it heheh

[HeelToeShift]

Originally Posted by M5Rick

^ Agree that Merc can try but they can't make up the 24 seconds that Max had at the finish, every time they get a bit nearer then RB can stay the same until it's time to increase.
At a certain speed the 14 was hopping a bit again also and HAM has said it's not enough whatever they do as much as Brackley tries.
link
https://www.mirror.co.uk/sport/formu...ilton-30134194

Let's also remember Max was calmly doing 1:20.x laps and managing quite a bit. Then all of a sudden he pumps in a few quick laps and went from 8 seconds ahead of Ham to 15 seconds ahead. He could have won that race by 35-40 seconds if he wanted. I also doubt they're running full power and the upgrades have been minor to say the least.
Checo needs to pick it up though...

[M5Rick]

Originally Posted by HeelToeShift

Let's also remember Max was calmly doing 1:20.x laps and managing quite a bit. Then all of a sudden he pumps in a few quick laps and went from 8 seconds ahead of Ham to 15 seconds ahead. He could have won that race by 35-40 seconds if he wanted. I also doubt they're running full power and the upgrades have been minor to say the least.
Checo needs to pick it up though...

I think Max had it under control and didn't want to stretch the tyres too much saving them for the last lap where he took the FL.

[HeelToeShift]

Originally Posted by M5Rick

I think Max had it under control and didn't want to stretch the tyres too much saving them for the last lap where he took the FL.

Yes he at will pumped in laps to create the gap he needed and just managed.

[///M Power-Belgium]

Originally Posted by M5Rick

It looks like the stewards have those dark Merc shades on again and yeah Derek Warwick is one of them, so we have it heheh

Just listen to this my friend !

[Artemis]

Originally Posted by ///M Power-Belgium

Just listen to this my friend !

Also the atmosphere in the cool down room was good. Normally Max and Lewis are very formal in their encounters - seems like their relationship is getting less frosty, more cordial.

We al know that Senna and Prost didn't get along for years. But all changed when Prost quit F1: Senna opened up in 1993, emphasized how much he appreciated and missed Prost in F1, how Prost had been his goal and motivation.

Prost explained to Rosberg how he went from war to peace and even friendship with Senna:

[toxik]

great picture

[GuidoK]

Originally Posted by Artemis

Prost explained to Rosberg how he went from war to peace and even friendship with Senna

Prost was one of Ayrton's chest bearers at the funeral, so that says a lot how their relationship developed, with both Ayrton and his family.

[GuidoK]

Originally Posted by M3WC

He got Lewis to basically admit he was going with Merc next year. He said he looked forward to Mercs progress with current car and into next year.

yeah that's true.
I wonder if he made up his mind right there after having the confirmation that MERC made significant progress with removing their nopod design or that his contract is already signed. I think Toto also hinted on that signing the new contract was a matter of a cup of coffee, so maybe they both agreed upon that the contract will be extended once the MERC's upgrades had been proven a step up (so basically this race).

This race showed some interesting things, 1: mainly that the merc now is potentially as good as, or even better than the AMR, 2: Ferrari's progress is moving backwards, that they'll loose being the runner up team from last year to 4th team is a real scenario, and if they don't take action, they'll even risk getting beat by Alpine...
Ferrari is in a shitty position right now.

Also it's pretty much clear now that STR won't race ALO, and that he's basically there to maximize either ALO's performance (which makes sense, they pay a lot of money for ALO) or the team's performance. A wise decision. My guess is that he'll quit racing in 1 or 2 years and take over his fathers (chairman) position (I can't imagine him taking over Mike Krack's (team principal) position unless he leaves)

[M5Rick]

Originally Posted by ///M Power-Belgium

Just listen to this my friend !

Good one my friend !

[g21]

Originally Posted by M5Rick

It looks like the stewards have those dark Merc shades on again and yeah Derek Warwick is one of them, so we have it heheh

could just be one of those weird first lap anomalies. he gained one place, maybe they thought he would gain that one place anyway when they went three abreast into the corner, or maybe they judged him as being ahead as he left the track. as i tell people, first lap decisions are weird. Alonso did the exact same thing a year or two ago (not this track - i think it was Italy) and didn't get penalised too.

[g21]

here you go, explained in some detail

[M5Rick]

Originally Posted by g21

could just be one of those weird first lap anomalies. he gained one place, maybe they thought he would gain that one place anyway when they went three abreast into the corner, or maybe they judged him as being ahead as he left the track. as i tell people, first lap decisions are weird. Alonso did the exact same thing a year or two ago (not this track - i think it was Italy) and didn't get penalised too.

ALO knows the way stewards think like the back of his hand now and he needs to seing the way he has been watched closely by stewards, especially how things turned out in his favour at Saudi.
https://www.espn.co.uk/f1/story/_/id...nalty-reversal

[M5Rick]

Originally Posted by ///M Power-Belgium

Just listen to this my friend !

..maybe Angie was still hanging about in the background and quickly handed him those heavy shades

[M5Rick]

Originally Posted by Killed by Death

How bout some old blood

I have now made Ferrari my firm number two choice of the teams I support, it affects me that the oldest F1 team (since 1950) is struggling like this.
They need to fabricate and fit an anti-dive front suspension asap.

[3798j]

Laps led 2023:

RedBull drivers...401

All other drivers....16

https://www.statsf1.com/en/2023/stats-tour-en-tete.aspx

[Artemis]

Most interesting part of the post-race interview of the podium drivers was the reality-check at the end:

19:26 - 21:13: Lewis: "I wanna be where he [pointing at Max] is or racing him at least; so that's super-super focused on getting to that point, and, yeah, long way to go, perhaps this time."

21:47 - 22:23: Max (on the possibility of another Lewis-Max championship battle): "Yeah, I mean, I think it's great for the sport in general, right, if you have more teams fighting up [at the] front; that's, I think, what they want to achieve, so honestly that would be, that will be amazing to have more drivers really, you know, up there; and hopefully, throughout the year it will already get closer and maybe next year more teams up there."