2020 Formula One Turkish Grand Prix | Discussion Thread

[Fat-Alfie]

How do you know that Hamilton doesn't also have a fast, unforgiving set-up, and that the Merc is only fast in his hands?

What about the possibility that the RB is a faster car than the Merc, but that Hamilton is just a much better driver than Verstappen?

You don't know these thing - you just guess at them, and fabricate scenarios to explain things that you don't really want to know the answers to.

 

[Appie Kuipers]

Not rubbisch still (mostly) better than the other 8 teams, but not good enough to beat Mercedes.
In a world without Mercedes they would be the top dog, being half a second faster than the rest.
So you have the space to setup the car more fogiving, making it easier to drive ahead.

About setup, they made a mistake with the front wing, instead giving more downforce, they made it less on one side.

 

[BrainsBush]

Front wing of Max' car was 7 degrees (in stead of 0,7) adjusted. Engineers confirmed that the car with such an off-set front wing is hard -almost impossible- to handle.

 

[markg88]

How do you know that Hamilton doesn't also have a fast, unforgiving set-up, and that the Merc is only fast in his hands?

What about the possibility that the RB is a faster car than the Merc, but that Hamilton is just a much better driver than Verstappen?

You don't know these thing - you just guess at them, and fabricate scenarios to explain things that you don't really want to know the answers to.

To be frank, your suggestion is REALLY stretching logic! The dominance of the Mercedes cars is very obvious, apart from to Hamilton fans.
Lewis achieved 1 WDC and 20+ something wins from 2007 to 2013 incl. .. ie in 7 years
Lewis achieved 6 WDC and 73+ wins from 2014 to 2020, ie. 7 years

Bottas suddenly became a race-winner once he joined Mercedes. Hamilton is by far the better driver in that team and with Bottas as team-mate next year, it will WDC number 8.
I don't know of a sport where the champion a year ahead is already known.

 

[Sasha Jednak]

How do you know that Hamilton doesn't also have a fast, unforgiving set-up, and that the Merc is only fast in his hands?

What about the possibility that the RB is a faster car than the Merc, but that Hamilton is just a much better driver than Verstappen?

You don't know these thing - you just guess at them, and fabricate scenarios to explain things that you don't really want to know the answers to.

Of course I don't know them, nobody really knows except people in teams, so I can only guess based on what I saw in last 20 years. And based on that I can be pretty sure that Hamilton is faster and better driver than Bottas. Also I can be pretty sure that Merc car is better car than RB. So Hamilton doesn't have to risk it all, and can play with his setup a bit. That's just what his car and his abilities allow him. Again, only using what I "know" based on what I see on track (I don't count what I read from reporters, only what I see on track).

About RB being better than Merc, I know you don't mean that. Because just going from Hamilton to Max, to Ricciardo, to Vettel and comparing Merc to RB and all the way back in history. We would probably be able to say "Under assumption that Merc 2020 is worse than RB 2020. We can conclude that Fangio was slowest driver in 50s."

 

[davehenrie]

Can anyone think of 'some kind of low grip surface covering that could be sprayed onto a track' ??
anyone
anyone
Bueller
Bueller
Nope.Cant think of anything. I'll go fill the kettle with water and have a cuppa.
I'm sure I can come up with something that can be 'developed'....

Nascar has long used 'spray on' traction enhancement pavement coverings. It would be simple matter of chemistry to reverse the process and then spray on a slickeryness coating.

 

[davehenrie]

To be frank, your suggestion is REALLY stretching logic! The dominance of the Mercedes cars is very obvious, apart from to Hamilton fans.
Lewis achieved 1 WDC and 20+ something wins from 2007 to 2013 incl. .. ie in 7 years
Lewis achieved 6 WDC and 73+ wins from 2014 to 2020, ie. 7 years

Bottas suddenly became a race-winner once he joined Mercedes. Hamilton is by far the better driver in that team and with Bottas as team-mate next year, it will WDC number 8.
I don't know of a sport where the champion a year ahead is already known.

Have you not paid attention to the past 20 years of the NFL? or this year's NBA? Guessing the winner is rather easy when conditions put certain components together combined with the collapse of competitors. Golden State was crippled, Los Angeles Lakers had possibly the easiest path to the finals via the Western conference in years. Brady & Belichick just happened to reside in the weakest division in the NFL for most of the past 20 years. Thus the path to the SuperBowl was consistently easier than teams faced in other divisions. Lewis Hamilton's past 7 years have been remarkedly free from competition. This is not his fault, not a dig against the man, but the failings of Ferrari and Mclaren to stand up to Mercedes have left us with rather predictable results. The one driver who did challenge him, Nico, finally got a championship and promptly retired. Imagine if the past few seasons were as dramatic as the year Nico won and also the year prior to that when he challenged for the championship. I believe Schumacher elevated Ferrari(combined with Brawn) and that was part of his greatness. I believe Hamilton also has elevated Mercedes and will no doubt be looked upon as truly one of the greats. I also believe that unfortunately for Hamilton, much of his recent success has been lacking a Mika Hakinnen or Alain Prost. Seb Vettel and Alonso both presided over the collapse of their respective teams. Hamilton benefited, but he had to be 'great' to reach out and grab what Ferrari, Mclaren, Renault etc , all found to be beyond their reach.

 

[davehenrie]

True. I read all kind of b.s. about Hamilton but he wins without bullying or cheating, unlike a certain German driver whose records are forever tainted in my opinion.

you mean Lewis never slowed down to back Nico closer to Seb in the off chance the Red Car could get between the two Mercs? Naw, he's always been a 'gentleman.' I think you will find, winners are ruthless, in some form or the other. Nice guys? Leave that to the marketing team.

 

[michelforest]

you mean Lewis never slowed down to back Nico closer to Seb in the off chance the Red Car could get between the two Mercs? Naw, he's always been a 'gentleman.' I think you will find, winners are ruthless, in some form or the other. Nice guys? Leave that to the marketing team.

Sorry, but you can't compare LH's behaviour with Schumacher's. LH never tried to push another car off the track as MS did (multiple times). Adelaide 1994? Jerez 1997? Montreal 1998? Hungary 2010? (etc.)

He was supremely gifted but he still was a bully in my book and that's why I never respected him.