Championship rivals Red Bull and Mercedes agree on very little these days: Rear wings, power units, track limits, even whether obeying yellow flags is mandatory or optional.
But the two shared one view in the build-up to F1’s first race at Losail International Circuit. Red Bull team principal Christian Horner remarked that of the three remaining venues, all of which are either largely or completely unfamiliar, the winding Qatar venue was the one which should suit Red Bull’s chassis best.In a similar vein, Mercedes’ head of trackside operations Andrew Shovlin indicated the team expected better things from the following two rounds at the new, high-speed Jeddah Corniche Circuit and drastically remodelled Yas Marina. Team principal Toto Wolff went further, predicting Losail would prove their “Achilles Heel”. But it didn’t turn out that way.
Verstappen hit by qualifying penalty
As the teams familiarised themselves with a layout designed for Moto GP bikes and tweaked for F1, it rapidly dawn on Red Bull that their rivals had their W12 dialled in superbly for the track. By final practice Red Bull were still fretting over their bizarrely oscillating rear wings, which were eventually dropped in favour of their tried-and-trusted high downforce configuration. Was this the plan all along, and the slimmer wings were being worked on in practice for deployment at the upcoming tracks where they fear Mercedes will be harder to catch?
For all that, there was little evidence of a diminution of Mercedes’ performance on-track. Hamilton lapped 0.455 seconds faster than Verstappen as he beat his rival to pole position. In Brazil, Red Bull had been 0.438s away.
The record books will show Verstappen was 0.597s slower than Hamilton. But that was because his fastest time in Q3 was deleted, in the latest in a series of controversies to rock the title fight. Verstappen, along with Valtteri Bottas and Carlos Sainz Jnr, were investigated for failing to slow sufficiently for yellow flags at the end of Q3.
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Horner was furious and made his feelings about the standard of stewarding clear in one of his television appearances for Sky, which have become so frequent he is in danger of being mistaken for the fourth member of their presenting team. Here he crossed a line, and was formally warned by the stewards after FIA F1 race director Michael Masi took exception to him criticising a marshal.
Hamilton leaves rivals behind
While Verstappen’s penalty was inarguable, it robbed the race of another showdown between the title rivals. Just a week after Verstappen’s controversial off-track defence of his lead in Brazil, the prospect of a banzai lunge down the inside of Hamilton at Losail’s wide first corner was widely predicted until his penalty was announced just an hour and a half before the race began.
Within four laps Verstappen was past the pair of them. AlphaTauri told Gasly to let the driver from their sister team by. Gasly ran wide at the final corner, which may not have been intentional, then left his DRS closed until Verstappen passed him on the pit straight. Alonso put up no more of a fight, Verstappen breezing past in the same DRS zone.
But his team’s hopes he would swiftly reduce the 3.7 second lead Hamilton had built over the opening laps were soon dashed. Verstappen had picked up slight front wing damage soon after the start, and Hamilton progressively edged clear.
“I think it happened lap one and lap three or something in turns 14 and 15,” Verstappen explained. “By trying to follow I just understeered a bit wide and this extra row of kerbs, they’re quite aggressive and I saw a few sparks flying, so I think it did damage the front wing a little bit. It just gives you a tiny bit more understeer but it was not enough damage to really impact the pace difference between the two of us.”
Nonetheless by lap 15 Hamilton’s lead had doubled. With Alonso losing around a second and a half per lap, Red Bull grabbed an early opportunity to pit Verstappen, which Mercedes responded to immediately.
Verstappen was told to look after his tyres, Red Bull potentially entertaining the possibility of a long second stint and single stop. But Verstappen urged them to press on, and by lap 3.2 he had painstakingly eroded two seconds from Hamilton’s lead, but it still stood at 6.3 seconds. Then drama struck.
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Bottas suffers blow-out
Having been passed by Verstappen immediately after the start and fallen five places to 11th, Bottas almost immediately dropped out of strategic consideration for Mercedes. Their only hope was to run him as long as possible to gain position. By lap 23 he was up to third, and plainly tilting at a single pit stop. With most of the cars behind him still dropping back, Mercedes kept him out, but they paid a high price when his front-left tyre let go without warning.
Some combination of high cornering speeds, punishing kerbs and worn tyres appeared to be responsible: Pirelli, as ever, is investigating the cause. But the possibility the title contenders might risk a one-stop was now over: Verstappen returned to the pits on lap 41, and Hamilton again shadowed him.
All that remained to be settled in the fight at the front was who would take the bonus point or fastest lap. This was settled when Mercedes parked Bottas’ damaged and overheating car. Leaving nothing to chance, Verstappen came in a third time for the usual set of softs and posted a time 1.8 seconds faster than Hamilton’s best to ensure his rival only took six points off him.
Meanwhile more tyres were going pop. Both Williams drivers experienced punctures: George Russell believed it was a consequence of how hard they were driving in order to be competitive. The same might have been true of Lando Norris, who was 50 seconds ahead of team mate Daniel Ricciardo when his front-left went, to his obvious disgust, as it ended their chances of out-scoring Ferrari and probably killed off their dying hopes of beating their rivals to third in the championship.
Perez falls short of podium
The disappearance of Norris from fourth place was good news for Sergio Perez. He slipped up badly on Saturday, failing to accompany his team mate into Q3, but made amends in the race as he patiently worked his way to the front. Norris’ retirement cleared the way for him to close on Alonso, who was still gamely clinging to third in his Alpine. The A521 chassis seemed to like Losail, a rough desert approximation of the Hungaroring where Esteban Ocon took a shock win for the team in August.
Ocon took fifth ahead of Lance Stroll, who having narrowly failed to make the cut for Q3 had a strong run to sixth. The two Ferrari drivers were the last unlapped runners, Carlos Sainz Jnr ahead of Charles Leclerc. A thoroughly unhappy Norris follow in a lapped ninth, and Sebastian Vettel nicked the final point, ruing a first lap which was even worse than Bottas managed, coming around 17th having lost seven places.
A day which began with great promise for AlphaTauri ended in huge disappointment as neither driver scored. Gasly simply lacked pace from the off and his final pit stop dropped him behind the recovering Vettel. Yuki Tsunoda lost two places in a three-wide move with Bottas and Stroll, and pitted early to have a visor tear-off removed from his rear wing, which his team estimated cost him 50 points of downforce.
The two AT02s were separated by Daniel Ricciardo who Monza triumph seems an increasingly distant memory as he notched up his fourth non-score from the six races which followed it.
Abu Dhabi showdown beckons
The exception was in the constructors championship, where a no-score for Bottas meant they took a six-point bite out of Mercedes’ lead, leaving them just five behind their rivals.
Amid the PR posturing, dithering over decisions and needless controversy which has characterised too much of the last two race weekends, the positive news for F1 which emerged from the final triple-header of 2021 was this: Unless Verstappen wins big in Saudi Arabia, the F1 title fight will go down to the last race in Abu Dhabi for the first time in five years.
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2021 Qatar Grand Prix
- Pirelli expect Qatar tyre failures won’t recur in Jeddah
- Pirelli’s investigation into Qatar tyre failures indicates kerbs caused punctures
- Horner rejects talk of title fight pressure after criticism over marshal comment
- “I don’t know how much slower I can go”: Inside Ricciardo’s unnecessary economy run
- ‘No regulator in the world will be popular’ with a title fight this intense – Masi
2021 F1 race reviews
- Verstappen victorious as Hamilton loses title in finale soured by restart row
- Hamilton wins ugly fight in Jeddah to set up showdown finale with Verstappen
- How Mercedes and Red Bull’s strategic fight produced a thrilling Sao Paulo showdown
- Verstappen braced for a fight to the end despite emphatic Mexico victory
- Verstappen resists Hamilton’s charge to win with “courageous” strategy
hahostolze (@hahostolze)
22nd November 2021, 7:15
Red Bull and Verstappen were hampered by the circuit surprisingly being front limited and by having to run the bigger rear wing due to failures. Interestingly they were fastest through the fastest part of the track, which should bode well for Jeddah. As for Abu Dhabi, who knows?
trib4udi (@trib4udi)
22nd November 2021, 7:19
Lewis not even driving with the new Brasil engine. Apparently they are saving that one for last 2 races
MacLeod (@macleod)
22nd November 2021, 8:44
You don’t believe that i think. Max his engine is now 8 races old or even 9 races old and lewis his is 2 races old. You can compared it with Bottas his car there a big difference between those two.
Mashiat (@mashiat)
22nd November 2021, 15:22
@macleod Max took a completely new PU in Russia, so he has done 6 races on this PU, but I believe he has an older engine in his pool as well.
MacLeod (@macleod)
22nd November 2021, 16:29
i mis count or had number 4 in mind. As i believe Lewis didn’t use his newest engine so only 1 race old against 6 i wonder if Honda has a partymode they can use 100% for the last 2 races which Lewis will do. Or take 5 places for a new one and put the engine as high possible for the rest of 2 races…
Jere (@jerejj)
22nd November 2021, 10:17
@trib4udi Yes, he used engine #5, i.e., the one he took in Turkey AFAIA.
A good move, as this way, the Brazil engine got spared from an entire race weekend’s (or FP3-QLF-race combination’s) running, so one event less for that particular engine unit.
minnis (@minnis)
22nd November 2021, 21:55
I think that this circuit will be a bit of an anomaly with regards to top speed. That back straight has quite a high entry speed, and Verstappen would be able to take even more speed in. Coupled with a fairly short back straight could mean that higher downforce doesn’t really detract from the top speed as much as in Abu Dhabi or Saudi.
PeugeotT16
22nd November 2021, 7:16
Many people say Hamilton should have won the 2016 season. He was the better driver. But he bad luck (Sepang, engine blow) This season RB should’ve allready won the WDC with Verstappen but he also had some serious points lost (Baku, Silverstone, Hungaroring) Now Mercedes has the momentum and stronger car for the last two races. With the Brazil engine with 16bhp more there’s nothing you’ll van do against it. It’s 70-30 for Mercedes last two races.
ruliemaulana (@ruliemaulana)
22nd November 2021, 7:18
Getting penalty on one race but having more powerful engine for the last five races looks like the greatest strategy ever this year. I don’t think Max can’t win one of the last two races.
Mayrton
22nd November 2021, 7:37
I have to agree. The new stiffer Pirelli and now the engine strategy sealed the deal for 2021 for Mercedes. Well played, I just feel sorry for Max who was the better driver this year. Lewis keeps on profiting from the Mercedes team. What a golden spoon.
MelesMeles
22nd November 2021, 10:04
+1
iCarbs (@icarby)
22nd November 2021, 17:07
So disingenuous… although I think Max has performed better overall this season Mercs had to play catch-up but are looking ominous.
stjs16 (@stjs16)
22nd November 2021, 20:17
I would have agreed that Max has been better , up until the last 2 races. Evens now after Brazil weekend ,regardless of engine, could be the championship defining drive
Ajaxn
22nd November 2021, 7:38
Redbull might decide to take an engine penalty and upgrade their engine again for the last two races to get that win.
if they do then i wouldn’t rule out Mercedes doing the exact same again.
MacLeod (@macleod)
22nd November 2021, 8:45
But then they both have the same life on there engine…
ruliemaulana (@ruliemaulana)
22nd November 2021, 9:01
I don’t think it’s possible. Mercedes had the time to design and build a special 2700 km engine far less than normal 7000 km engine with marginally but crucially more power. It’s a decision that needs months in preparation.
F1oSaurus (@f1osaurus)
22nd November 2021, 9:21
@ruliemaulana They cannot do that. It needs to be an approved design
ruliemaulana (@ruliemaulana)
22nd November 2021, 9:51
It was reported by Motorsport Italy by a claim from Hywel Thomas, chief engineer of Brixworth, @f1osaurus. But yes, maybe it’s still the same spec only with more aggressive setup.
DaveW (@dmw)
22nd November 2021, 12:49
Same way Honda upgraded their engine with “reliability” improvements earlier in the year and about which RBR studiously prevaricated. E.g. new engine oil. It seems two can play at this game.
hyoko
23rd November 2021, 1:34
Merc can get away with everything. Next time they will be mounting gatling guns 007 style to machine gun anyone who dares to pass them, and they will of course be allowed to. Brackley esse delendam
Steve (@scbriml)
22nd November 2021, 9:48
@ruliemaulana Please explain how they do that with homologated engines?
What they are able to do though, is run the engine in a more powerful mode because it will have to do less mileage.
anon
22nd November 2021, 21:09
@ruliemaulana the original article from the Italian division of the Motorsport network does not claim that the engines have been modified in any way, and what they suggest Hywel Thomas has suggested Mercedes could do is rather different.
The engine specification is unchanged from earlier in the year – what Hywel Thomas is suggested to have done is to have analysed the data from both the works team and from their customer teams to work out the potential trade offs between performance and increased wear rates, with different performance maps being used.
In particular, it seems that they’ve been looking at how aggressively McLaren has been running their engines, especially in Monza, and are basically taking the risk of running the engine with more aggressive mappings based on that.
Jere (@jerejj)
22nd November 2021, 10:18
@ruliemaulana, I agree, a good tactical move.
Jon
22nd November 2021, 13:56
Not sure about that.
Max will most likely be on pole, HAM 6th at best.
This is a new track – Merc is assuming the long straight will favor them but it’s not the same as Brazil. Will the other sectors favor RBR.
If VER gets the lead from the start and HAM has issues getting by the other 4, the time deficit could be substantial.
Obviously the safe bet is on HAM but stranger things have happened.
BasCB (@bascb)
22nd November 2021, 12:26
And then to think that Mercedes did not even fit that tuned for only a few races engine here @ruliemaulana, since they thought they would be trailing Red Bull anyway and having the older ICE would be enough to limit the damage and come home in 2nd or 3rd …
sumedh
22nd November 2021, 7:20
What a season. Unbelievable! So many mid-fielders reaching the podium, just the right amount of unpredictable races. Alonso, Vettel, Russell on podium! Ocon’s debut win, Norris’ almost debut win, Ricciardo’s comeback win, Ferrari’s multiple near-misses with the win. Title contenders crashing into each other, falling foul of regulations.
Even the side battles – Ferrari vs Mclaren, Alpine vs Gasly (Alphatauri) – are nicely falling on the wayside so that the battle can be the central – and only – focus in the last 2 races. Less than 10 points in both WDC and WCC with 2 races still left. Most likely, we don’t need to worry about combinations such as “If X finishes 1st, Y to finish 4th or above, if X finishes 2nd, Y to finish 8th or above”. It will simply be a winner takes all at Abu Dhabi. Wow! It is 1 season like this that makes up for 7 seasons of Merc domination!
Too bad, the fight is in Abu Dhabi, a horrible circuit!
Red Andy (@red-andy)
22nd November 2021, 8:25
I think Alonso is the 13th driver to reach the podium this year, the same as last season when we only had 17 races.
But the races on the whole have been much more competitive, with several only being decided in the closing laps, and of course there has been a genuine battle for the championship between two great drivers. Definitely the best season of the turbo-hybrid era, although that of course isn’t saying much.
ian dearing
22nd November 2021, 11:11
Yes all this; but barring a disaster for one of them there is every chance the closest battle for years will be decided by Flap and Sprint points. Throw in the nonsense that was Spa, and it almost certainly will be.
And with more sprints next year we have a F1 future where any year long WDC will be almost certainly decided by the points earned outside the main race.
Gubstar
22nd November 2021, 14:35
Hopefully the changes to the Yas Marina circuit will change the characteristics drastically. In theory both the last tracks are new ones, as most of the data from previous races at Abu Dhabi will be useless now.
mystic one (@mysticus)
23rd November 2021, 1:27
@Gubstar
track is more flowing fast corners and long straights, kind of brazil to be honest, they removed all the slow speed corners, and some even slow/mid speed and turned them into fast ones…
if the reds were keeping their free drs rear wing (yeah it was flattening to levels of drs! boost) this would be a great track for them… not sure it is so anymore, their skinny rear wings keep failing (but funnily enough, their repairs are good enough to last a full race, instead of handful of practice laps, until the next practice sessions and noone saying anything about it) i m pretty sure they were/are trying to find different kind of way (to emulate mercedes) but not perfected it yet… hence the big mouths about the mercedes wings… before that it was suspension… now trick engine or trick wing, i m sure that next excuse will be to check up ham’s sleeves to understand his tricks!
trib4udi (@trib4udi)
22nd November 2021, 7:22
Bottas started 1 place ahead of Max. While in the faster car. That guy proves everyone time what an average driver he is.
Same in Russia where he started 5 places ahead of Max. Such an average driver in traffic.
It’s a disgrace that this guy filled the 2nd seat of the dominant car for 5 seasons.
Bring George in for final 2 races!
falken (@falken)
22nd November 2021, 7:46
Williams appears to have given up anyway, so why not…
Markos
22nd November 2021, 7:58
Ha, I know someone who will vote against that for sure!
anon
22nd November 2021, 8:51
Without his puncture he would have been third.
Compare the starts of anyone starting off the line. Most of them got a bad start, see Vettel. Bottas, however, made a mistake in the first corner, costing him a few places.
Cosan
22nd November 2021, 8:57
He stayed ahead when it mattered the most , at Turkey. Thess 7 points will be very crucial. Not to mention Humgay…
Steve (@scbriml)
22nd November 2021, 9:51
And he cost Verstappen a point in the Brazilian sprint.
Mayrton
22nd November 2021, 8:58
They wanted no competition for Lewis ever since he couldn’t handle Rosberg. Imagine having this team mate and that car. It’s a buy to win situation compared to video games.
Tiago Esteves
22nd November 2021, 10:14
what are you talking about?
nico had 22 wins, lewis 32. Nico had 1 championship, lewis 2.
he couldn’t handle rosberg?
Learon
22nd November 2021, 10:52
I think Bottas is in the Merc because Rosberg gave almost no time for Mercedes to replace him AND Wolff was Bottas’ manager. That’s what happened for 2017. Then, because they got on well together and didn’t cause the team pairs, he stayed. It suited Mercedes and of course Hamilton and Bottas were fine with that.
Had Verstappen joined Mercedes we would have had many exciting seasons, but is wasn’t to be.
lexusreliability?
22nd November 2021, 19:21
@Mayrton
You mean the same way Red Bull wanted Gasly, Albon and now Perez since Max couldn’t handl;e Ricciardo? Mind you, going on history, if Ricciardo was at Red Bull, he would be walking this championship.
ALternatively, Imagine having a Red Bull that has dominated 60% of the races and still only 8 points ahead. The hype doesn’t match the talent.
Mayrton
23rd November 2021, 9:12
Yeah or Lando since he is so much better than Ricciardo. I guess all are better than Max. But none can be as good as Lewis
F1oSaurus (@f1osaurus)
22nd November 2021, 9:21
@trib4udi Geez, he had some wheelspin on the dirty side of the track and then got caught in the melee that is the midfield.
ian dearing
22nd November 2021, 11:15
I thought he was a brilliant driver being held back by Mercedes? I wish you guys would make up your minds.
mystic one (@mysticus)
23rd November 2021, 2:04
@ian dearing
i think max’s year going the way of 2007 ham… was going well until the last 3 races… he was kind of ahead and looking set.. than one DNF second from the last race, and 7th on the final one… 1 points and all done… ham was doing well initially but all undone in the final couple races!
max has done extremely well done but lets see what will come out of this…
mystic one (@mysticus)
23rd November 2021, 2:06
and ham’s almost like 2008, everything was against him including FIA… unfairly punished, crashed and all.. noone thought he was gonna get it but single point he jumped ahead in the very last corner.
Wayne
22nd November 2021, 8:02
While verstappen has driven well this year. Its when it matters most that the greats shine. And the lesser drivers fault. Lewis is now driving impeccably. His qualifying was surblime. His race was perfect. And it was not with the spicy engine,yet… Its as though they dangled a carrot infront of verstappens and horners face at the beginning of the year. Made them chase it and now have laid down the gauntlet. Leaving verst and redbull in their dust.
f12007v (@f1fan-2000)
22nd November 2021, 8:06
All max has to do is finish ahead of lewis once in the last 2 races to seal the championship.
Steve (@scbriml)
22nd November 2021, 9:53
@f1fan-2000 There are lots of permutations where Verstappen can finish ahead of Hamilton in one race and still lose the WDC.
However, the odds are still very much in Verstappen’s favour.
Patrick (@paeschli)
22nd November 2021, 18:49
With how competitive the Mercedes has been lately, I’d say Hamilton is the favorite right now.
mystic one (@mysticus)
23rd November 2021, 2:27
@scbriml
Below are the 2007> cumulative points… if you see the numbers, it was literally between Ham and Alo, there was very little chance that Rai could finish ahead of the either two!
ham 17 ahead of RAI and 2 races to go, and 20 max points ups for grabs!
Ham/Alo 12 Points deficit… We know what happened in the next two races…
Rai:
10,16,22,22,23,27,32,42,52,52,60,68,74,84,90,100,110
Ham:
6,14,22,30,38,48,58,64,70,70,80,84,92,97,107,107,109
Alo:
8,18,22,28,38,40,48,50,58,68,73,79,89,95,95,103,109
Mayrton
23rd November 2021, 9:15
How? Thats the question. How? I dont see any one overtaking Lewis for the rest of the season. The guy has his rocket ship again. Its over #LOAT.
Matthijs (@matthijs)
22nd November 2021, 8:27
Wayne, Hamilton is indeed driving impeccable in both Brazil and Qatar. But you make it believe he was driving below his best in the races before Brazil, but that makes no sense to me. Lewis’ championship hopes were in great danger in USA and Mexico, so there was no reason to be driving subpar. I don’t believe it, Lewis is just as good as he was in Mexico, but now he has the car to get the results again.
Wayne
22nd November 2021, 11:11
I agree was not my intention to imply lewis was driving below par. Thanks for fair comment.
DonSmee (@david-beau)
22nd November 2021, 21:52
I can’t agree. Lewis since Brazil jist feels like the Lewis of his McLaren days! Horner and Marko have certainly woke the lion!
erikje
22nd November 2021, 8:30
You seem to have missed the amount of errors Lewis made and the dnfs by verstappen caused by Mercedes.
So a nicely colored view but when Max wins this year, at least there are no excuses about Lewis.
Learon
22nd November 2021, 11:12
You have forgotten to mention that the Mercedes had an unfair advantage: when you hit it, sometimes you end up in the wall yourself. Unfair.
iCarbs (@icarby)
22nd November 2021, 17:16
You mean IF Verstappen wins. Although whether he wins or not, he will have deserved it, aggressive/defensive driving aside.
albo94
22nd November 2021, 8:59
Would you say the same when Hamilton bottled an easy win in Monza with an awful start (in the sprint race)? Or when he qualified behind his teammate in Mexico?
Or when he went off in Imola (then spared by the red flag)?
I could continue…
Mayrton
22nd November 2021, 9:01
Its more like mistakes and stress on Mercedes side became a carrot and it blurred the fact they were just as dominant as the last 8 years.
Broderick Harper (@banbrorace)
22nd November 2021, 9:09
Nothing was as big as Max’s error at Silverstone.
In maintaining his macho ‘no-one will ever overtake me’ stance, he had a crash that could have been avoided and in reality cost him anything from 18 to 33 points.
Before you say Hamilton was at fault, that’s irrelevant to the point. Just last week at Brazil, we saw what happens when a driver used the ‘discretion is the better part of valour’ way of driving – Hamilton, simply yielded and actually stayed in the race.
Mayrton
22nd November 2021, 10:27
Silverstone was 100% Lewis fault. He owes Max 25 points and a DNF from his side to even start talking about a fair season. Then I will leave out what Hungary did for Lewis title bid.
Learon
22nd November 2021, 11:23
I think you are missing the point. If Verstappen had not tried to make an ambitious move, the accident would not have happened and had he stayed behind Hamilton he would now be 26 points ahead; if he had overtaken Hamilton later he would now be 40 points ahead… That’s massive.
In this sport, sometimes you make your luck, like Alonso did yesterday. And sometimes the opposite is true.
I regard the DNF Verstappen by Bottas hitting him, something that was totally not his (Verstappen) fault. Does that makes sense to you?
anonymouscoward (@anonymouscoward)
22nd November 2021, 12:24
We’ve been through this, it’s literally been ruled officially he wasn’t 100% at fault.
Michael (@freelittlebirds)
22nd November 2021, 12:54
@mayrton
As much fault as Perez was yesterday for taking out Bottas…
Clearly Verstappen took himself out and nearly took Lewis out too at Silverstone. But you can’t give a penalty to the person who crashed their own car at full speed into the barriers, can you? When F1 does that, we’ll know that the stewards are good!
Mayrton
22nd November 2021, 13:08
Seriously guys. Silverstone was 100% Lewis fault. Especially since he repeated the exact same move on Leclerc, with Leclerc even giving less space than Max did. Your response then is: well simply dont try to fight Lewis? The only thing Max failed at in this corner is he overestimated Lewis’ skill level. Lewis lost and drew first blood, that’s what happened. Until then the season was fine.
Davey
22nd November 2021, 13:21
Silverstone was a racing incident 100%. Now stop demanding blood on his hands.
Broderick Harper (@banbrorace)
22nd November 2021, 13:47
I worry about you Maytron. You seem incapable of debating the point in hand.
Let’s agree Lewis was guilty. That’s after Max has decided to hang his car in an area where a collision, if you’re Alonso or Riccardo (two drivers who can overtake, you simply pull out of.
Andy (@andyfromsandy)
22nd November 2021, 14:55
The stewards ruled predominately which means less than 100%. Do you something better than the stewards?
Mayrton
22nd November 2021, 15:22
I hear what you see, don’t worry. I just do not agree with it. Basically just give more space to Lewis to fight another day/moment. I am arguing Max did take this half width of car extra (vs what Leclerc gave Hamilton in exact the same situation/corner) to exactly do what you accuse him of not doing. Until that moment in the championship there was no reason to assume the other would go a tiny bit too far in despair. That became the norm afterwards.
iCarbs (@icarby)
22nd November 2021, 17:29
And you’re also forgetting the times Hamilton avoided contact prior to the Silverstone incident. I honestly wished it didn’t happen.
But one thing is clear for me until I start seeing better decision making from Verstappen in those situations, I won’t regard him on the same level as Hamilton.
Broderick Harper (@banbrorace)
26th November 2021, 11:06
@icarby
Totally agree
Sam A
22nd November 2021, 8:52
Title still firmly in Max’s hands in my opinion. He just needs to qualify 2nd and then lunge into turn 1 in both races. If they make contact then he maintains his points lead. Hamilton’s only hope to pass in the last 2 races will be with an undercut during pit stops, I don’t think it will happen on track without some major drama.
Mayrton
22nd November 2021, 9:12
Two poles, two wins for Lewis is most likely. Mercedes fought itself this year, which gave the impression there was a fight with RedBull. Mercedes and Lewis cracked under having pressure for the first time in nearly a decade. Just one competitor car was fast, but enough to throw them off balance. They then became error prone and frustrated. Subsequently they threw everything at it but the kitchen sink. Including having a tyre change in-season (!) to fit their car better and getting their competitor to not fully use their pitstop advantage nor wings, spreading negative and false narratives about their rival, they went all in. Meanwhile Lewis and and Bottas also bumped this competitor off the track during races. In the end they had to bring back their beast mode engine to seal the deal. What a year.
Steve (@scbriml)
22nd November 2021, 9:56
You seem to be lacking in confidence in your preferred driver and getting your excuses in early.
Broderick Harper (@banbrorace)
22nd November 2021, 9:57
Ferrari had a car as fast as the Merc during 2017 (see Spa) and certainly at the start of 2018. Plus arguably 2019.
It’s amazing how memories slip.
Tifoso1989 (@tifoso1989)
22nd November 2021, 10:18
@banbrorace
The example you cited (Spa) just counters your argument. Watch the onboard from Seb’s car in his two overtaking attempts on Hamilton, once he was alongside and out of his slipstream that Mercedes began to rocket away from him.
I would say also in 2020 :)
Broderick Harper (@banbrorace)
22nd November 2021, 10:39
Sorry I meant Spa 2018.
Everyone in F1 was telling us that the Ferrari was as good as the Merc and after Hungary Seb led.
In 2018, if Max doesn’t dump his car at Hockenheim – highly likely he’d had gone on to win, simply because he’s never been the same ever since.
My point is, it’s not true to say that this is the first time Hamilton / Merc have been challenged – remember, back then, they dropped the ball occasionally, also.
Mayrton
22nd November 2021, 10:31
Yeah, they were a real threat.. come on. You must be joking
ian dearing
22nd November 2021, 11:22
They are not joking, but you must have been when you were coming out with the same tired Mercedes/Ham put downs when you thought Ferrari were dominating the Mercs during that period.
Broderick Harper (@banbrorace)
22nd November 2021, 13:49
Now you’re just looking silly.
2s into the 2017 Singapore race and most are thinking that this is a title that Vettel could win.
That was around the 15th race of the season – so basically it had been nip and tuck with those two teams up to them.
Clearly you only started watch F1, this season
Mayrton
22nd November 2021, 15:32
Why so personal? If you must know, I’ve watched F1 for decades. Let’s stay on topic. Vettel was never a contestant as soon as he left the RedBull supercar no-one could beat. And we all know it, if we’re honest.
Patrick (@paeschli)
22nd November 2021, 19:33
@banbrorace Ferrari never had the fastest car over the course of a whole season.
Here I’d say Red Bull and Mercedes have been more or less on par but with the Hamilton and Bottas incidents this year
Broderick Harper (@banbrorace)
22nd November 2021, 20:20
Plenty of punters were convinced that Hamilton would have won the 2017 and 18 WDC in a Ferrari if he was driving.
That was a real discussion point – go back to the boards of then if you disagree.
They matched pace wise in the first half of 2017 and then yes the Mercs slightly got the upperhand – which is no different to now and RB
In 2018 there was no-one for the first two-thirds saying the Merc was faster. Ferrari had a clear pace advantage. However, their team was simply not up to the job in the same as RB. Even though 2018 remains Hamilton’s best performance, because he had be on his ‘A’ game every race.
Even in 2019 Ferrari had a pace advantage – which turned out to be controversial.
Remember, my answer was to wind up merchant nonsense from Maytron who said ……
“Mercedes and Lewis cracked under having pressure for the first time in nearly a decade. Just one competitor car was fast, but enough to throw them off balance”
Which is clearly utter nonsense to any fair mind F1 fan who has been watching for the last few years.
However, yes, Verstappen has proven to be his sternest test
Mathias
22nd November 2021, 9:18
Bottas will be in charge of making constact
hyoko
23rd November 2021, 1:45
It’s time for Bottas to retaliate from the excruciating mistreatmen from the team and deprive Merc of both championships. Smashing into car #44 at T1 is an obvious way but not very elegant, and hard to cover as an unintentional mistake. And although he has nothing to lose at Merc, it all would turn very sour for him at the end. But there are subtler ways. A well-timed “mistake” prompting a safety car can do wonders. Check Singapore ’08.
mystic one (@mysticus)
23rd November 2021, 2:51
@hyoko or miss brake point, and take out two redbuls in one go?or max just collides with someone other than ham? or he gets a puncture or a blown engine? or rear wing disintegrate? noone thought in 2007 ham could loose? points much closer now anything can happen… max can win with ham 2nd, but last race max dnf and ham win… everything are possible not just one scenario! there are 100s of combinations..
Jeff Powell
22nd November 2021, 9:18
Are you seriously suggesting that Max should carry on with the Schumacher senior school of driving?. At least the authorities were brave enough to exclude him from a race to teach him a lesson. There is no doubt that Max is the fastest driver to compete with Lewis and I am a fan of his ability to produce great drives, but the obvious attempt to push Lewis off track , and the complete lack of any sort of penalty or even a written warning for serious consequences of a repeat performance which may have been more telling ,is just ridiculous and cowardly.
erikje
22nd November 2021, 17:53
It will take some time for max to develop a signature move, like the Hamilton move.
A very effective way of blocking your opponent with max 10 sec penalty.
MarkWebber (@markwebber)
22nd November 2021, 19:37
Senna did it successfully some years before Schumacher. Talented and ambitious drivers don’t sit back and watch the championship slip away.
MacLeod (@macleod)
22nd November 2021, 13:05
I am quit sure it’s not in Max hands only if Lewis or Mercedes make a mistake Max has a chance. That engine advantage is too great.
Dex
22nd November 2021, 9:05
When Hamilton wins it’s down to the car. When Verstapen wins it’s his driving ability….BS. Hamilton has won at every level and formula he has ever raced in. In F 1 he’s won races and poles in every year he’s competed. Max has yet to win a WDC. I have no doubt that one year he will win a championship, but he’ll never be in the same league as Hamilton.
Mayrton
22nd November 2021, 9:16
I feel he is a more allround better driver than Lewis already. The tally of Lewis’ WDC has to do with his age and having a dominant car. He is certainly one of the greats of all time, but 3 WDCs would be more realistic under normal circumstances. You cant ignore no one else has won a championship in the hybrid era and the fact that Rosberg took one as well and Valtteri came in 2nd so, so many times. Huge, huge credit of Lewis records goes to the car.
JC
22nd November 2021, 10:16
If Max was the better all round driver, he’d have learned to not try and win races in a single corner by now… and be anything up to 33 points more ahead in the championship. He has a lot of growing up to do yet, both as a person and a racing driver.
Mayrton
22nd November 2021, 10:58
Short lived memories. Lewis did all that at the same age and older. In fact he still would, if it would be necessary (and in fact he did show his rustiness this year). But starting from pole the last 7 seasons with your team mate covering the back doesn’t exactly put you in situations where you have to overtake, now does it? It does make you the world champion tyre management, that’s true
F1oSaurus (@f1osaurus)
22nd November 2021, 17:31
See the difference with how Verstappen turns in on Hamilton in Silverstone and how Hamilton chooses to evade Verstappen in Brazil. That’s what Verstappen still needs to learn. He could have won Silverstone too or at least come second and he’d have had the championship in the bag already.
And Verstappen could learn to set a proper lap in Q3 for a change. It’s always some excuse why he couldn’t or just didn’t get a good lap in. But then at least he’s lucky to be next to the worst qualifier of the entire field so he doesn’t look that poor. Although a better qualifier could perhaps teach Max a thing or two on finally getting on top of the quali game himself.
DonSmee (@david-beau)
22nd November 2021, 21:56
When Lewis at 7 years of Experience it was 2013. Racing quite well in the Mercedes that year.
Broderick Harper (@banbrorace)
26th November 2021, 11:11
Hamilton stopped his daft lunge antics, after that terrible 2011 season of his.
If you remember, he was slated by everyone and certainly fell behind Button as McLaren’s favourite.
Some of it was unfair. For me Button was just as much at fault for their memorable Canada crash
However, this was inevitable. In 2008 he sailed far too close to the wind – in fact it reminds me of Verstappen now. The difference was, nobody felt the need to get out of the way of Hamilton!!
But a tough lesson was learnt – don’t take yourself out of a race if you can avoid it. He’s since reaped the benefit and had very few incidents (with most, been the unfortunate Albon!!)
ChrisVB
22nd November 2021, 9:20
Like Lewis was in contention for the WDC every year before he joined Mercedes.
But please tell me, when did Verstappen have the car to win the WDC before this year and which mistakes did he make to screw that up?
The league Hamilton is in, is the league of having a WDC worthy car for 7 years in a row and having near to none competition from the other driver and at max 1 other team being able to compete a little bit.
Mayrton
22nd November 2021, 10:36
Exactly, hence I don’t understand all the panic at Mercedes this year. They clearly never worked under pressure (if you can call one car out of 18 being able to keep up, pressure..) before.
OOliver
23rd November 2021, 0:55
Hamilton could have won 2 more championships with Mclaren had the team not got lost searching for unicorns.That being said, I see Max as a relentless competitor and should have won the championship by now and may yet do so.
GechiChan (@gechichan)
22nd November 2021, 9:14
I think Max will crash into Lewis at some point during Abu Dhabi, to take both of them out. It’s his only chance to win it. And if Perez finishes in front of Bottas, they might win both championships.
Sam A