2021 Formula One Sao Paulo Grand Prix

So, the legendary drive by Hamilton only happened because of the absurd speed he had on straights lol. Did the actually overtake anyone in a turn? From what I saw, everything happened during the straights, he was always well ahead at the turn.

Legendary drive indeed...

Average Hamilton fan:

Hamilton wins: he is a legend
Hamilton loses: he has long covid

After_Midnight said:

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Please stop this politics rubbish, Hamilton did great, Max was ok with 2e, so what? Up to the next race, may the best win, that’s IT.

Appie Kuipers said:

Please stop this politics rubbish, Hamilton did great, Max was ok with 2e, so what? Up to the next race, may the best win, that’s IT.

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It is a big deal, this kind of driving should not be tolerated.

cerebralvortex said:

It is a big deal, this kind of driving should not be tolerated.

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You mean this kind of driving?


I agree!

cerebralvortex said:

It is a big deal, this kind of driving should not be tolerated.

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And it is up to you to make this a big deal, get a life, or something else to do

Kingkoenig said:

And just like that, I reported you to the site administrator. We don’t need people like you on this site.

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And yet your quote keeps his statement alive after the Mod deleted it. Care to edit your post to remove it as well?

PickABetterUsername01 said:

So, the legendary drive by Hamilton only happened because of the absurd speed he had on straights lol. Did the actually overtake anyone in a turn? From what I saw, everything happened during the straights, he was always well ahead at the turn.

Legendary drive indeed...

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british press they want to create their own Senna

My god, the arguing and outrage between LH/MB and MV/RB fanboys on here is over the top. Everyone sees conspiracies and cheating and claims that the stewards are letting the other team off easy. Ridiculous.

This is a championship fight for the ages. The more that can be decided without the stewards' involvement, the better. Sometimes the calls go your way, sometimes they don't. And these are professional drivers who know what they are doing, and neither one is any cleaner or dirtier than the other. They will both do whatever it takes to win and to keep the other car behind them.

So sit back and enjoy the racing - you won't likely see anything this exciting again for a while.

muzikant said:

british press they want to create their own Senna

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They are blind, and don’t see it’s all about the Merc, give that car to Russell and see.

Mr. Malarkey said:

My god, the arguing and outrage between LH/MB and MV/RB fanboys on here is over the top. Everyone sees conspiracies and cheating and claims that the stewards are letting the other team off easy. Ridiculous.

This is a championship fight for the ages. The more that can be decided without the stewards' involvement, the better. Sometimes the calls go your way, sometimes they don't. And these are professional drivers who know what they are doing, and neither one is any cleaner or dirtier than the other. They will both do whatever it takes to win and to keep the other car behind them.

So sit back and enjoy the racing - you won't likely see anything this exciting again for a while.

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Well, two days ago we had a certain guy driving a pole position lap with a "damaged" car that was not conforming the regulations. I don't see any conspiracy in discussing where the sudden power advantage of the Mercedes is coming from. And that's not some conspiracy that I made up in my mind but a pretty commonly asked question that came up allready three days ago when Lewis was in a class of it's own compared to Bottas with the same aerodynamic configurations. According to Horner they were driving the Monaco wing spec wich speaks for itself.

tr1v1um said:

According to Horner

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That phrase is carrying a lot of weight. Everyone would be wise to take EVERYTHING said by Wolff or Horner with at least a few grains of salt.

Mr. Malarkey said:

That phrase is carrying a lot of weight. Everyone would be wise to take EVERYTHING said by Wolff or Horner with at least a few grains of salt.

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Sure, but I am pretty confident that RB will have a more clear sight on the wing specs that are used. More difficult to judge from my comfy office chair. They have tons of options to meassure the wings that are actually used so it's pretty safe to say that they don't tell rubbish when observing other cars in terms of external specs and the sector times speak for themself. Same as when Mercedes noticed the flex wings on the RB. Hamilton was also fastest in the twisty sections btw, so it's pretty remarkable that he is able to use that much downforce while still maintaining that huge top speed advantage. And that's the reason why RB is so concerned. If this race is anything to go by Mercedes will be faster at any track, no matter if it is slow and twisty or fast with longer straights and faster corners.

Here is what Merc should to win both Constructors and Drivers championships. Change engines for the remaining races. It's only a 5 grid penalty. If the car is that fast, they will finish 1 in quali and start 6th on the grid. No way Red Bull can stop that.

Merc are having a laugh with F1 rules really. No-one can topple them in this hybrid era. They are in a different formula most of the time it seems.

Badwheels said:

Here is what Merc should to win both Constructors and Drivers championships. Change engines for the remaining races. It's only a 5 grid penalty. If the car is that fast, they will finish 1 in quali and start 6th on the grid. No way Red Bull can stop that.

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Better yet: have Red Bull do the same. Max and Lewis would both start from the middle of the pack. Imagine the races!

You ever played a game with a younger sibling, and you're obviously better than them in that game, so you play at a reduced level...until one day they improve and beat you at this reduced level. Then they start to brag to others and tease you about how much better they are? So then you don't hold back and soundly kick their a** (in the game lol) next time?

A humble theory that could be way off, but what if: Instead of thinking Mercedes has gotten "extra power" or is running at "125%", what if Mercedes were running their engines at reduced power all season (or maybe even during 2020 as well) and now, with the new one and the championship at stake, they've finally turned it up to full power? After all, the rules state they can't change power modes during a session, but they can adjust how hard they want to run a new engine before it's deployed for service, can't they?

Maybe the sandbagging kings of all time (as everyone calls them), has done it yet again? They had quite a headstart on everyone from the start of the hybrid era as it has been confirmed by Paddy Lowe that Mercedes never ran their engines at 100% for qualifying in 2014 and rarely ever during races in 2014 - 15. It's quite possible that they've made even more developments for power during those 7 years and have kept that extra emergency power under wraps until now. Now that Honda and RB have caught up and it's the "final inning" with both championships neck and neck, it's time to unleash the full power.

That, or the current engines can't last for long at 100%, so they could only do it on a brand new engine this late in the season? Again, just a few humble opinions

tr1v1um said:

Sure, but I am pretty confident that RB will have a more clear sight on the wing specs that are used. More difficult to judge from my comfy office chair. They have tons of options to meassure the wings that are actually used so it's pretty safe to say that they don't tell rubbish when observing other cars in terms of external specs and the sector times speak for themself. Same as when Mercedes noticed the flex wings on the RB. Hamilton was also fastest in the twisty sections btw, so it's pretty remarkable that he is able to use that much downforce while still maintaining that huge top speed advantage. And that's the reason why RB is so concerned. If this race is anything to go by Mercedes will be faster at any track, no matter if it is slow and twisty or fast with longer straights and faster corners.

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So you're basically saying that because RB have the tools to measure if Merc is using a high DF aero package, that Horner is incapable of putting lies out there just to get everyone talking, even if he has no actual evidence? You know this is a he said/she said soap opera and Wolff and Horner relish in fans running with every soundbite they give, whether it's factual or not?

That's almost like saying a President of a country can't lie to his/her people because they indeed have the resources to ascertain the truth.

BP said:

You ever played a game with a younger sibling, and you're obviously better than them in that game, so you play at a reduced level...until one day they improve and beat you at this reduced level. Then they start to brag to others and tease you about how much better they are? So then you don't hold back and soundly kick their a** (in the game lol) next time?

A humble theory that could be way off, but what if: Instead of thinking Mercedes has gotten "extra power" or is running at "125%", what if Mercedes were running their engines at reduced power all season (or maybe even during 2020 as well) and now, with the new one and the championship at stake, they've finally turned it up to full power? After all, the rules state they can't change power modes during a session, but they can adjust how hard they want to run a new engine before it's deployed for service, can't they?

Maybe the sandbagging kings of all time (as everyone calls them), has done it yet again? They had quite a headstart on everyone from the start of the hybrid era as it has been confirmed by Paddy Lowe that Mercedes never ran their engines at 100% for qualifying in 2014 and rarely ever during races in 2014 - 15. It's quite possible that they've made even more developments for power during those 7 years and have kept that extra emergency power under wraps until now. Now that Honda and RB have caught up and it's the "final inning" with both championships neck and neck, it's time to unleash the full power.

That, or the current engines can't last for long at 100%, so they could only do it on a brand new engine this late in the season? Again, just a few humble opinions



So you're basically saying that because RB have the tools to measure if Merc is using a high DF aero package, that Horner is incapable of putting lies out there just to get everyone talking, even if he has no actual evidence? You know this is a he said/she said soap opera and Wolff and Horner relish in fans running with every soundbite they give, whether it's factual or not?

That's almost like saying a President of a country can't lie to his/her people because they indeed have the resources to ascertain the truth.

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In other words, Hamilton can't beat Verstappen on equal grounds, only after the got a massive engine advantage it went back to what we were seeing in previous years.

Now suddenly, all that bullshit about "Hamilton isn't the same anymore after corona" or "It's his age, he is past his prime" vanished lmao.

Richard Wilks said:

Even if that is not cheating with the engine, it is basically making a mockery of the engine rules, isnt it? They are actively exploiting their pace advantage and their position in the pecking order to gain an advantage, because the grid penalty is worth taking, such is the advantage they get.

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The Q2 tyre compound lock-in was added to add a layer of extra strategy and mix up the grid. Turns out it just screws the mid-pack teams when RB and Merc have such an advantage at tracks they can breeze through on harder, more race orientated, compounds. There's always are deviation in the sport between the intent of the written rules, the interpretation and the application.

I don't recall ever seeing RB sabotage their own strategy in sympathy for Lance Stroll having to start on Softs and last I checked Latifi getting free choice of compound every race hasn't really shook up the grid. So, to quote Kimi, 'Bwoah....what is it good for?'.

Just like the engines, the rule is brought in to shake things up but ultimately just reinforces the status quo. It's not great but it hardly brings the sport into disrepute that the top 2 or three use their inherent pace advantage to get dibs on the best tyre strats.

Horner has stated that there is very little deg with their Honda engines. If they suffered as much as the Merc you bet they'd be a race to the bottom (or the back of the grid via penalties). RB are not sticking to their allocations for some kind of moral or sporting reasons. You bet Max would be taking a new engine every race if it'd net him half a second a lap on Lewis.


Merc's strength has always been in their engines, foremost. Faced with a noticeable deg in performance per km, this season in particular, they've looked at the rules and found it beneficial to take the mandated penalty with a chance of a net gain, this late in the season. This strat is open to anyone, including Red Bull, and isn't against the written rules.

Sure you can argue it's against the spirit but so is using a flexible rear wing, for example. Can't compete on engine power; reduce your drag by having your wing flex at top speed. Exploit?! Mockery of the rules?! Call it what you will but it was all technically legal because it passed the scrutineering at the time. Everyone was at it to gain anything they could.

To quote Horner from this weekend, 'It's down to the FIA to police'. They clearly feel something is up but they won't say what exactly and you can tell it's not the engines, or the rear suspension etc as Whinger Spice would be far more vocal if it where.

Teams are pushing the limits as much as possible of the track just like Max is testing them on track

Richard Wilks said:

You mean this kind of driving?

Albon & Hamilton's 2019 and 2020 collisions compared

Red Bull's Alex Albon and Mercedes' Lewis Hamilton came together for a second time at the 2020 Austrian Grand Prix, take a look at the two incidents next to one another.

www.formula1.com

I agree!

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Glad you agree as HAM recieved a 5 sec penalty for both incidents, no? So you agree Max should have been given the same punishment?



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I originally came to post what a great weekend this was and how this season keeps delivering on the drama. I'm hoping this one goes down to the wire so pleased Lewis has managed to turn this weekend around. What a rollercoaster of a season this has been, one to remember.


Please, racing gods, keep Interlagos as a permanent fixture on the F1 calender. A brilliant circuit.