Will Bottas seize his chance to cut Hamilton’s points lead again?

19 comments on “Will Bottas seize his chance to cut Hamilton’s points lead again?”

1. 

   David BR (@david-br)
   10th October 2020, 23:22

   “Lewis doesn’t like to be in P2 or worse. That’s why an alternative strategy always makes a lot of sense because just accepting to follow a car is not how he operates. But the soft was the right choice for the race.”

   But that makes no sense. Hamilton clearly had a preference for starting on mediums before he knew he’d finished in P2, since the issue obviously had to have arisen earlier, in Q2, when he set a good enough time to get through to Q3 on mediums, and the team then persuaded (or told) him to go out and set a faster time on softs. Hamilton wouldn’t have been questioning the decision otherwise.
   1. 

      Kribana (@krichelle)
      11th October 2020, 5:25

      I think Mercedes wanted to avoid that medium tyre. Cooler conditions later, it is expected to be the coldest day during the weekend later, could amplify the effect of the difference between the soft tyre and medium tyre at the start. Hamilton could easily lose at least 2 positions before turn 1. I do wonder if Bottas got his lap in Q2 without any mistakes, if they would have done the same thing.
      1. 

         David BR (@david-br)
         11th October 2020, 5:39

         @krichelle Both good points. The medium tyre might well be a liability from the start. But that begs the question of why they ran the medium tyre at all, and like you said, what they would have done if Bottas has put in a better Q2 time on the mediums. It suggested they were thinking about starting on the medium tyres at least. Then when Bottas had to use softs to ensure he got into Q3, Mercedes insisted on both doing the same so they would be on the same strategy – which seems to be what matters to the team most. Which is why I’m a bit sceptical about Wolff’s comment.
2. 

   juan fanger (@juan-fanger)
   11th October 2020, 0:37

   The speed traps have a telling engine order. Merc>Renault>Honda>Ferrari.
   Only the not unexpectedly underperforming Williams being in the wrong spot and Giovinazzi – who must have been peddling mighty fast.
   1. 

      Esploratore (@esploratore)
      11th October 2020, 2:45

      I’m a big critic of the way honda performed since they’re back, and indeed, in the article where they were leaving it seemed like a lot of people were sad cause honda was performing well, yet I don’t think so, this clearly shows renault would be an upgrade for red bull, which means the honda switch failed: red bull was getting a few wins a year even before leaving renault, and when ferrari had a good engine they obviously didn’t want to supply red bull, and same for mercedes.
      1. 

         Gertrude Misty
         11th October 2020, 8:37

         The top speed is also affected by drag and downforce, on many weekends it’s not a Merc that tops the speed trap times, often their greater engine power allows them to run more downforce which slows their top speed on the fastest bit of the course but gives them a much greater average speed because they can negotiate all the corners more quickly.

         The speed trap tells you almost nothing in this respect.
3. 

   kenji
   11th October 2020, 1:24

   Mercedes appear to be under some pressure here and it bodes well for a closer race!! I certainly hope so as the season has becoming a very boring exercise when it comes to the championships. The biggest disrupter will be the tyre choices and who will get the best performances out of the mediums? We definitely need something to spice things up at the top end. Then again given the unknowns of long distance performances maybe the mid field can spring a few surprises. Now that I’d like to see.
4. 

   Michael A.
   11th October 2020, 1:32

   VB will make yet another ‘fluffed’ start and let LH past into a race winning position before the first corner. Only problem for VB is that MV may get past him as well. Maybe I am wrong, but that has been my initial feeling.

   Good luck to NH for a steady climb up from the back of the grid.
5. 

   PaulK (@paulk)
   11th October 2020, 2:42

   6 out of 10 drivers did worst times in Q3 in comparison with Q2. What is the explanation for that?
   1. 

      nickthegreek (@nickthegreek)
      11th October 2020, 9:11

      I wondered about that too. maybe it got a little colder as the sun went down?
6. 

   NeverElectric
   11th October 2020, 3:21

   Lewis will drift him and then take him into the first corner.
   He’ll then pick up a penalty for wearing an unauthorised t-shirt at the anti-racism parade. Ten seconds stop and go.
7. 

   BOSS
   11th October 2020, 3:49

   Go Lewis go!
8. 

   Jere (@jerejj)
   11th October 2020, 6:32

   Will Bottas or Verstappen keep Hamilton from a record-equalling 91st win? – The former, yes, if everything goes well for him.
   What can Charles Leclerc do in his surprisingly rapid Ferrari? – Not much, I expect home to lose at least some positions.
   And where will Nico Hulkenberg finish from last on the grid, having only driven his car for 20 minutes? – Hopefully, at least in the points, but going to be difficult under the circumstances.
   1. 

      Red Andy (@red-andy)
      11th October 2020, 7:51

      @jerejj I suspect the only person who can keep Hamilton from a record-equalling 91st win is Hamilton himself, as at the last round.
9. 

   David Bondo
   11th October 2020, 6:52

   It would just take a Hamilton DNF and Bottas win for this championship to suddenly become interesting.
   1. 

      nickthegreek (@nickthegreek)
      11th October 2020, 9:12

      I’d rather not. to win the championship regardless of what Hamilton does, Bottas will have to win almost every race. if he does this, then he’ll definitely deserve the championship. personally; I highly doubt it
10. 

    Stephen Crowsen (@drycrust)
    11th October 2020, 8:38

    Are those sector times a driver’s fastest sector time for all sessions or are they the sector times for the fastest lap? The reason I ask is when I looked at the sector times for Lewis I see 27.829+35.490+21.902 = 85.221 = 1′ 25.221. The lap time given for his fastest lap was 1’25.525, which is 0.304 seconds slower than what the cumulative sector times say.
    Now compare that with Valtteri’s effort, the sector times were 27.811+35.453+22.005 = 85.269 = 1’25.269. The lap time given for his fastest lap was 1’25.269, so we can see in this case the cumulative sector times add up to the same as the fastest lap time.
    1. 

       Ben Rowe (@thegianthogweed)
       11th October 2020, 9:32

       @drycrust

       I’m really confused by this. I did the same calculations as you. On Bottas’s final run, he got 3 purple sectors. Are they not the 3 fastest times of the session? Seeing Hmailton’s 3 best sectors really doesn’t add up. He was 0.013 quicker on the first lap.

       There is also something odd about this:

       https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=f4Uc10ZbLoM

       What is wrong with this?
11. 

    Euro Brun (@eurobrun)
    11th October 2020, 10:40

    @thegianthogweed
    I think those are best sector times over all qualifying runs (Q1, Q2 and Q3).
    Ham went faster in Q2, so these 3 split times won’t add up to his Q3 time.
    Bottas did get three purple sectors in Q3, but those TV graphics are reset for each section of qualifying, so only applied to Q3 in that instance.
    It can definitely get confusing!

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