Formula 1 Azerbaijan Grand Prix 2021Formula 1
- Thread starter Jimlaad43
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But the last race had Leclerc failing to get a start at Monaco after a promising start of getting pole (he never finished in Monaco)....
BTW no one says Mercs are weak at Baku, it's just a really off weekend for them, and even having a track being a weakness won't push back the best car from front to backmarker position normally obviously.
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- VulcanSpirit
MagpieRacer
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Agreed. Jacques F2 commentary has always been stellar and those lucky enough to get him on the main feed in the past will miss him.
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Unpopular opinion, I know, but I absolutely cannot stand him. Every vowel is wrong somehow, and the more excited he gets the more wrong the vowel gets. YOUKEH SOONODAH!
Actually reminds me of the main guy that does TRS, only less Kiwi.
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Nice drama-laden race, thankfully (excluding the middle 40+/- laps).
I'll even be 'that' guy. I'm happy to cut Pirelli slack. The fact they put up with F1 nonsense to even make the tire is stunning. No other tire manufacturer has to make tires "worse" for their sport. They're asked to change the tires every year. "They're too good!", "They're too fast!", "They're too stiff!", "They wear too long!", "They're too grippy!", etc.
I'm stunned they're still bothering to be in the sport. I'm not a Pirelli fanboy, hell I've never owned a set, nor do I work in the tire business...but for all the loopholes and bullcrap they have to go through - I'm fine if they get it wrong every now and then. In addition, we often find out after the fact that the teams were operating outside of suggested pressures/specs, etc.
Like anyone else, I'd rather see a tire war...and I'd rather see tires removed from the 'manipulative' way F1 uses them to balance cars/performance. I'd rather see a manufacturer (or two) paid to produce the very best/safest tire they can manage. But I just struggle to blame Pirelli considering what an obnoxious position they're in.
I'll even be 'that' guy. I'm happy to cut Pirelli slack. The fact they put up with F1 nonsense to even make the tire is stunning. No other tire manufacturer has to make tires "worse" for their sport. They're asked to change the tires every year. "They're too good!", "They're too fast!", "They're too stiff!", "They wear too long!", "They're too grippy!", etc.
I'm stunned they're still bothering to be in the sport. I'm not a Pirelli fanboy, hell I've never owned a set, nor do I work in the tire business...but for all the loopholes and bullcrap they have to go through - I'm fine if they get it wrong every now and then. In addition, we often find out after the fact that the teams were operating outside of suggested pressures/specs, etc.
Like anyone else, I'd rather see a tire war...and I'd rather see tires removed from the 'manipulative' way F1 uses them to balance cars/performance. I'd rather see a manufacturer (or two) paid to produce the very best/safest tire they can manage. But I just struggle to blame Pirelli considering what an obnoxious position they're in.
MagpieRacer
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With his win in Baku, Sergio Perez is the first driver to win for multiple constructors in the turbo hybrid era.
Astounding.
Astounding.
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you could wait for that.
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He's also now the most successful driver at Baku
Still no repeat winners in five races, but now nine drivers on the podium and only two have done it thrice...
3 - Perez (1 win)
3 - Vettel
2 - Bottas (1 win)
2 - Hamilton (1 win)
1 - Gasly
1 - Raikkonen
1 - Ricciardo (1 win)
1 - Rosberg (1 win)
1 - Stroll
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Ah I didn't mean here, just generally it's been said after Monaco and Baku. A friend of mine thinks the RBs are obviously faster than the Mercs, I'm not so sure. I think it's probably a combination of factors but RB having a stronger second driver coupled with Bottas' lack of pace didn't help. Can't wait to see how things play out in France; whilst I'm expecting a Mercedes return to form, I'm hopeful that Perez can deliver again.
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LeGeNd-1
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I find it a bit hard to believe the brake magic was knocked on accidentally during upshift. It's on a recessed rotary switch on the left side of the wheel (nearer the downshift paddle). You can see on this video from last year (the rotary placement could've changed, but I doubt it), it's the orange rotary marked BMIG.
In any case, it's hilarious when Lewis makes a mistake everyone's like "no sweat Lewis" and Toto is defending him. But when Bottas is only 2-3cm off in his pitbox in Monaco it's his fault. If I'm Bottas I'd walk out of there. He's much better off heading a midfield team than being Lewis' welcome mat. Now that Perez finally clicked, we really need Russel in that second seat.
BTW I wonder how much of Merc's tyre warmup struggles are related to losing DAS this year. They are bloody lucky Singapore and Turkey are cancelled
In any case, it's hilarious when Lewis makes a mistake everyone's like "no sweat Lewis" and Toto is defending him. But when Bottas is only 2-3cm off in his pitbox in Monaco it's his fault. If I'm Bottas I'd walk out of there. He's much better off heading a midfield team than being Lewis' welcome mat. Now that Perez finally clicked, we really need Russel in that second seat.
BTW I wonder how much of Merc's tyre warmup struggles are related to losing DAS this year. They are bloody lucky Singapore and Turkey are cancelled
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MagpieRacer
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I find it a bit hard to believe the brake magic was knocked on accidentally during upshift. It's on a recessed rotary switch on the left side of the wheel (nearer the downshift paddle). You can see on this video from last year (the rotary placement could've changed, but I doubt it), it's the orange rotary marked BMIG.
In any case, it's hilarious when Lewis makes a mistake everyone's like "no sweat Lewis" and Toto is defending him. But when Bottas is only 2-3cm off in his pitbox in Monaco it's his fault. If I'm Bottas I'd walk out of there. He's much better off heading a midfield team than being Lewis' welcome mat. Now that Perez finally clicked, we really need Russel in that second seat.
BTW I wonder how much of Merc's tyre warmup struggles are related to losing DAS this year. They are bloody lucky Singapore and Turkey are cancelled
Difficult to tell how easy or hard it is to hit without being in thay situation. I understood the way it was described was the button was on the back of the wheel? Either way, the onbard showed his balance shifted from 51% to 86% or numbers in that vicinity, so something definitley occurred.
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Both Red Bull and Mercedes has different strengths, but both are equally the best cars right now. I'd inclined to believe in Lewis and Max' performances as comparison rather than comparing Bottas and Perez's (as the latter is switching to a new team too, every driver with new team seems to struggle), as both so far maintained consistent top skill level and had stayed in the team for long time.
F1 is much more car dependent, dominant cars would have the secondary driver unstoppable too, like Barrichello on 2002/2004 and Bottas on 2019/2020. It's hugely wrong to only look at the statistics and treat the secondary drivers on those cars as the 2nd best driver, ignoring or underestimating car difference. Drivers like him can be one of best in midfield, but lacks that edge to win the title, perfect second driver most of the time. Max is fighting Bottas on 2020 only because of the car difference (2nd best, but distant). Max fighting Lewis in 2020 is just a repeat from previous historic events, it shows when the years are competitive, the other elite-level drivers would be the one fighting for title with their respective top teams:
In Schumi era, when the year is competitive, it's Schumi vs Hakkinen in 1998/2000 (competitive McLaren, Ferrari step up for the first time in '98), Schumi vs Raikkonen vs Montoya in 2003 (competitive Williams and although outdated McLaren's the closest between the other teams), Schumi vs Alonso in 2006 (competitive Renault). The secondary drivers finished right behind those competing drivers (but still above other teams as their cars are the best), including Barrichello.
2001 is notable exception as Hakkinen is past his prime and the leading McLaren is Coulthard, who is another wingman in that era and thus is nowhere close to Schumi making the season Schumi domination even if Coulthard is 2nd, but neither did Barrichello (below Coulthard a bit).
And for Hamilton era, it's Hamilton vs Vettel in 2017 (competitive Ferrari) and to a lesser extent 2018 (competitive Ferrari, but Vettel is error-prone), and now in 2021, Hamilton vs Verstappen (competitive Red Bull).
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I think it's fair to include the context of Bottas ignoring team orders in Catalunya then saying he's racing for himself when discussing Toto's remarks about Monaco.
I'd bet you anything Toto said that as a reminder to Bottas about who is still signing his paycheck.
I think 99% of their struggles this year is from losing DAS, honestly.BTW I wonder how much of Merc's tyre warmup struggles are related to losing DAS this year. They are bloody lucky Singapore and Turkey are cancelled
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I've seen it reported as being a button on the back of the wheel above the various paddles. As I understand it the other settings control Brake balance, not only in terms of front and rear, but also whats mechanical, and whats electrical with the rear braking.
edit: Just found report I saw...
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Wrong wrong wrongity wrong, he's from South Africa.That's mad. I've just looked him up and I can't quite get a handle on where he's from originally, but he spent pretty much his entire life flitting between Texas, the UK, Hong Kong, and Australia.
No surprise that his accent is all over the place
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Putting this here because we don't have (or need, imo) a full-on WDC thread.
Some reddit dude has made a Driver Academy points table. Red Bull programme is doing well while Messrs. Hamilton and Norris are keeping the Mercedes programme in contention.
Link, possible NSFW language cos Reddit.
Some reddit dude has made a Driver Academy points table. Red Bull programme is doing well while Messrs. Hamilton and Norris are keeping the Mercedes programme in contention.
Link, possible NSFW language cos Reddit.
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It's impressive just how many great drivers the RB Driver Academy has produced; Juri Vips is also one to watch in F2. Even drivers who have lost out like Albon and Kvyat are certainly no slouches in my opinion; I'd really like to see Albon back in F1 someday but fear that ship has sailed. I think in more recent years their issue has been trying to replicate their success with Verstappen by giving young drivers the top drive who weren't quite ready (i.e. Gasly and Albon). Max is a rare talent and drives beyond his years; it's telling that Checo, with all his talent and experience has taken some time to adjust.
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So Pirelli thinks/assumes that a too low (not allowed) tire pressure could be the cause of the exploded tires of Lance's and Max' car.
Debris and tire structures has been examined and is excluded.
Interesting developing story?!
Debris and tire structures has been examined and is excluded.
Interesting developing story?!
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I expect AM and RB teams to issue a statement that all of their cars ran the same PSI and so then Checo and Seb should have suffered blowouts too.
I don't know if I buy that explanation from Pirelli myself either. Only two cars on the whole grid ran a lower than allowed PSI and both of them blew up? Or did everyone run low and we were lucky to only see two blowouts?
Also if it had been from low PSI you'd expect there to be some warning, and Horner said they saw nothing on Max's telemetry before it happened.
I don't know if I buy that explanation from Pirelli myself either. Only two cars on the whole grid ran a lower than allowed PSI and both of them blew up? Or did everyone run low and we were lucky to only see two blowouts?
Also if it had been from low PSI you'd expect there to be some warning, and Horner said they saw nothing on Max's telemetry before it happened.
