Unpopular Motorsport Opinions

[SlowGrayAudi]

Few doubt the claim that he isn't a top driver. That is a fairly well-supported claim to make. The issue is when people treat him as the anti-Christ and spew unwarranted insults at the guy. But that is the internet I suppose, where everyone is allowed to feel superior behind the safety of their online identity.

Saying you hate someone isnt an insult. You sitting there on being an overly sensitive diva is more of an issue than me hating Bottas because he sucks.

You trying to seem high and mighty "behind the safety of your online identity" and attempting to take cheap shots at others for having an opinion is pathetic.

I hate Bottas because he has literally no excuse for not finishing 1st or 2nd in every race bar an incident or failure/puncture.

Also he has literally no charisma or racecraft/balls.

So you go ahead and try to shame me "behind the safety of your online identity". You just sound ignorant and stuck up.

 

[Liquid]

Also he has literally no charisma

Neither does Hamilton and people love Räikkönen.

 

[SlowGrayAudi]

Neither does Hamilton and people love Räikkönen.

Fact, i dont particularly have an opinion about either of those drivers.

I like drivers who ****ing go for it. Who leave everything on the table.
And who aren't afraid of racing like the championship is on the line. Even if its for 8th place or whatever.

Max
Leclerc
Ricciardo
Russell
Etc

 

[1241Penguin]

Saying you hate someone isnt an insult. You sitting there on being an overly sensitive diva is more of an issue than me hating Bottas because he sucks.

You trying to seem high and mighty "behind the safety of your online identity" and attempting to take cheap shots at others for having an opinion is pathetic.

I hate Bottas because he has literally no excuse for not finishing 1st or 2nd in every race bar an incident or failure/puncture.

Also he has literally no charisma or racecraft/balls.

So you go ahead and try to shame me "behind the safety of your online identity". You just sound ignorant and stuck up.

Me, stuck up and ignorant, because I like to make comments that aren't based on emotion. I criticize when it's deserved, and I praise when it's deserved. You on the other hand... Oh my . That's a lot of steam you needed to blow off there. You sure you're not looking into a mirror here?

an overly sensitive diva

As for charisma, I'm not sure what exactly you want here. Like half the grid he seems pretty easy going.

 

[SlowGrayAudi]

Me, stuck up and ignorant, because I like to make comments that aren't based on emotion. I criticize when it's deserved, and I praise when it's deserved. You on the other hand... Oh my . That's a lot of steam you needed to blow off there. You sure you're not looking into a mirror here?


As for charisma, I'm not sure what exactly you want here. Like half the grid he seems pretty easy going.

Im simply voicing my opinion, im by no means sitting here like an ignored tea kettle from the 1800s

Apparently you think everyone who writes on a forum is sitting in a pool of emotion.

And apparently if my opinion differs from yours then its not valid.

Charisma =/= easy going.

He is the least interesting person on the grid, bar maybe latifi, but thats because he's never on camera.

I'd love for you to explain to all of us why you think Bottas is charismatic? Since you obviously know what it means, and how since arriving in F1 has he portrayed his charisma?

 

[1241Penguin]

Im simply voicing my opinion, im by no means sitting here like an ignored tea kettle from the 1800s

Apparently you think everyone who writes on a forum is sitting in a pool of emotion.

And apparently if my opinion differs from yours then its not valid.

What opinion have I been criticizing? A good amount of the posts highlighted in the link I sent are straight up emotional outbursts. That is what I am so baffled by. Why is there such an emotional response to his drive?

Since you don't seem to have taken a look, let me give you a hand:

Bottas should get his ass canned.

Bottas can take a hike

Bottas ****ed in the pits. Love it!!!

He is garbage

Bottas still sucks

And also since you seem to have trouble differentiating opinion vs trash talk, let me illustrate that to you too.

These are opinions:

It's been four years and he's conclusively proved he can't do it. Even if he could the team won't let him. Next year will be no different from this year. He'll win the first race then start making mistakes left right and centre while Hamilton runs away with the title.

He shouldn't be in that seat. At the moment no other team has a car that can give their drivers a legitimate run at the title. Hamilton's basically being handed it on a plate as he's only having to fight one person for it, and most of that fighting happens in qualifying. Hamilton and Rosberg had a few collisions in their time but that no effect on Mercedes' ability to storm away with both titles completely unchallenged. Without their rivalry 2014-2016 would be completely forgettable. There was a good title fight but the racing sucked, and now is there is no title fight but the racing behind them is amazing.

Both posts are perfectly well written statements of his opinion, which, ignoring the context of the conversation, are valid examples of criticism that I don't fully disagree with.

This isn't:

Bottas ****ed in the pits. Love it!!!

You seem perfectly capable of writing a post that doesn't contain any insults when expressing your opinion too.

Charisma =/= easy going.

He is the least interesting person on the grid, bar maybe latifi, but thats because he's never on camera.

I'd love for you to explain to all of us why you think Bottas is charismatic? Since you obviously know what it means, and how since arriving in F1 has he portrayed his charisma?

There's a certain charisma to perseverance in spite of getting beat every year by Hamilton. I find that deserving of some respect, maybe you don't, and that's fine.

 

[Sabertooth]

Mercedes don’t want a driver who can fight Lewis. If the two Mercedes drivers fight each other, that slows them down enough for Red Bull and Verstappen to start posing a significant challenge. Right now, Max is stuck fighting Bottas which allows Lewis to break free and win by a huge margin. If Bottas steps down before Lewis, they won’t replace him with George Russel because of this. Russel is Lewis’ replacement.

 

[mustafur]

Mercedes don’t want a driver who can fight Lewis. If the two Mercedes drivers fight each other, that slows them down enough for Red Bull and Verstappen to start posing a significant challenge. Right now, Max is stuck fighting Bottas which allows Lewis to break free and win by a huge margin. If Bottas steps down before Lewis, they won’t replace him with George Russel because of this. Russel is Lewis’ replacement.

It's a double edged sword though, if they have a season where they are barely better then Redbull it puts a big risk at losing the constructors, I get a strong sense that if Mercedes Saw what Russell did in their car before they extended Bottas contract he would be driving for them next year.

Most Top teams don't do risky things such as replace a 1st driver with an unproven talent without atleast a season with transition that generally has both(Ferrari where the last to do this which made a spicy 2019 situation and then led to Vettel leaving, and before that you had Verstappen and Ricciardo).

 

[LMSCorvetteGT2]

It's been four years and he's conclusively proved he can't do it. Even if he could the team won't let him. Next year will be no different from this year. He'll win the first race then start making mistakes left right and centre while Hamilton runs away with the title.

Why wont they? There is no evidence I've seen where Mercedes hasn't given them an equal chance. But you can't expect 2/3rds of a race season gone and at Monza when he shows better pure race pace to let him fight. Especially when the championships is more than likely already lost.

 

[Liquid]

There is no evidence I've seen where Mercedes hasn't given them an equal chance.

Intuitively, do you really think Mercedes puts as much effort into Valtteri Bottas as it does put effort into Lewis Hamilton? Really?

But you can't expect 2/3rds of a race season gone and at Monza when he shows better pure race pace to let him fight. Especially when the championships is more than likely already lost.

But that's exactly the point. Once Hamilton is out of sight, they'll throw Bottas a bone and let him race or try harder with/for him. Hell, Ferrari even used to let Barrichello win every now and then once Schumacher had wrapped up his titles.

 

[MatskiMonk]

I like drivers who ****ing go for it. Who leave everything on the table.

erm...

"Leave nothing on the table", or "Leave everything on the field".

Leave everything on the table is the opposite of what you mean.



... but yes ... I agree, Juan-Pablo Montoya is the best F1 driver ever.

 

[Tornado]

Why wont they? There is no evidence I've seen where Mercedes hasn't given them an equal chance.

Yeah, I'm sure that's what Barichello and Webber were told too.

 

[LMSCorvetteGT2]

Intuitively, do you really think Mercedes puts as much effort into Valtterri Bottas as it does put effort into Lewis Hamilton? Really?

Yes because this isn't ten years ago or twenty years ago. Where the points could be won by a single driver and he'd carry both Championships so long as his team mate wasn't massively off pace.

Or where engine regs allowed teams to swap engines and other components with no issue. And thus give newer parts to one driver or enhanced performance.

Same reason a guy like Gasly or Albon were levied out. Is because they didn't provide enough backing to RBR to help Max take more points from Ferrari or Mercedes. So much so they hired a driver outside their system to hopefully better help them close the gap. People may think F1 is some sinister system where one driver gets all the glory, and the other is purely supportive. That isn't the case. Simply because of the dozens of millions on the table to be made for being that much higher up on the WCC score board at season's end.

But that's exactly the point. Once Hamilton is out of sight, they'll throw Bottas a bone and let him race or try harder with/for him. Hell, Ferrari even used to let Barrichello win every now and then once Schumacher had wrapped up his titles.

Really what bone? Season starts and probably the first quarter to third of the season is open. After that if the drivers are clearly divided and one is a defined leader over the other, it is less likely Mercedes let's them race as hard. If they are close then the championship is up for whoever can get the edge. 2016 this was shown. Every year Nico or Valterri got on pole they received strategy preference. Same with quail strat.

So it's interesting that with all this hindsight people rather seem to say he [Bottas] never had much of a chance if any. When reality shows he did, and more so he was against a better driver who just happens to be the best driver of two generations worth.

I mean this is like many other sports where people try to explain away other contemporaries reasons for less success. When really the more clear and obvious answer is probably the best answer; the guy that beat them simply was just that much better.

 

[SlowGrayAudi]

Mercedes have said plainly that the drivers take turn in qually being the first one out of the pits. Seems fair enough.

Im sure they start the season equally but when Hamilton has one hand on the title half way through the season and bottas cant even cruise to a guarantee 2nd place its hard to not show Lewis preference.

 

[NotThePrez]

I could be wrong, but I'm pretty confident that at at least a couple races this year (I wanna say either Tuscany and/or Hungary, and probably one other) Bottas was practically begging his pit wall to let him onto a softer set of tires over the radio, because he knew it would let him catch up to and fight Hamilton for the lead. However, the team wouldn't let him because Merecedes' strategy called for having both drivers on the same tire compound whenever possible.

I'd argue that while Valterri has definitely has some less-than-stellar drives over his career, he is 100% capable of having the speed necessary to be a genuine threat to Lewis, and has shown as much on occasion (Austria '20, 'Straya '19 and Baku '19 spring to mind). IIRC, in Felipe Massa's BTG episode, Felipe said that Bottas has pretty much everything to be a world champion, he just needs to get the mental side of things in check. I can only imagine that being teammates with Lewis, as well as being part of a team that is demonstrably hesitant to let their drivers race each other (despite there being plenty of evidence that Lewis and Bottas greatly respect each other on the track) probably doesn't help.

I do think that if he can keep his early-pace momentum consistent throughout a season, he could very well challenge and maybe even beat Lewis to a title (though it would more than likely be a down-to-the-wire fight).

 

[RacingGrandpa]

An unpopular motorsport oponion: this thread isn't about unpopular motorsport opinions anymore. It's a F1 thread

 

[Sabertooth]

An unpopular motorsport oponion: this thread isn't about unpopular motorsport opinions anymore. It's a F1 thread

F1 is arguably the world’s biggest motorsport. I expected a lot of F1 content here, especially when most other motorsports have a very small fan base in comparison.

 

[Cap'n Jack]

GTPlanet is a global community, so it’s expected that most discussion is going to revolve around the biggest global motor racing series. It’s just more relatable for everyone.

I could spout off my unpopular opinions on the Australian Supercars but the majority of people reading this thread would have no idea what I’m talking about, while my fellow Supercars fans might have already read my opinion (and are generally likeminded but that’s besides the point) in our dedicated threads.

 

[Liquid]

An unpopular motorsport oponion: this thread isn't about unpopular motorsport opinions anymore. It's a F1 thread

Feel free to post opinions about other motorsports.

 

[HaydenFan69]

Given the current climate of sports car racing, it might no longer be an unpopular opinion, but I’ve always felt that the GT classes where more intended as an amateur or at most a Pro-Am category, and should return to that.

 

[Boedefeld]

Neither does Hamilton and people love Räikkönen.

This is racist garbage. Nothing new from this sub

 

[Roo]

This is racist garbage. Nothing new from this sub

Pointing out both a black guy and a white guy have "literally no charisma" is racist... how?

 

[Akmuq]

Pointing out both a black guy and a white guy have "literally no charisma" is racist... how?

This is racist garbage. Nothing new from this sub

 

[PeterJB]

Does Kimi count as a person of colour because he has funny letters in his name?

 

[LMSCorvetteGT2]

Does Kimi count as a person of colour because he has funny letters in his name?

Oh how cute a couple of strange accent marks and the guy is made fun of. This is xenophobic garbage. Nothing new from this sub!

 

[Boedefeld]

Pointing out both a black guy and a white guy have "literally no charisma" is racist... how?

Are you for real? One guy has the biggest following in Motorsports and is loved by many, seen as an inspiration etc. Claiming that he has no charisma while he clearly displays it every week on the internet is either being time deaf about his culture and personality or just plain racism and hate.

Same goes for Kimi, you’re literally boiling it down to cultural differences when you claim that he has no charisma.

 

[TonyJZX]

I would argue Hamilton has tried to hard in the past to be 'cute' and tried to HAM it up for the camera.

Kimi actually is a very funny guy and he knows what people think, doesnt care and tries to subvert his 'iceman' image.

I'm of the opinion these two are people who draws crowds to F1.

I dont have much thoughts or wants to hear from a lot of the new generation.

In the same way people in the past were drawn away from Mika Hakkinen but in reality, he really is a funny guy, for a Finn.

 

[Furinkazen]

Claiming that he has no charisma while he clearly displays it every week on the internet is either being time deaf about his culture and personality or just plain racism and hate.

Charisma isn't relevant to race or ethnicity.

 

[Roo]

Are you for real? One guy has the biggest following in Motorsports and is loved by many, seen as an inspiration etc. Claiming that he has no charisma while he clearly displays it every week on the internet is either being time deaf about his culture and personality or just plain racism and hate.

Same goes for Kimi, you’re literally boiling it down to cultural differences when you claim that he has no charisma.

I'm going to go ahead and assume the "you" is a plural, and you don't mean me specifically, mainly because I haven't expressed an opinion about the charisma of either driver.

I was just curious how you came to the conclusion that racism was the issue behind someone thinking both a black driver and a white driver had no charisma.

 

[NotThePrez]

Honestly, Kimi isn't really charismatic, imo. He's just.....extremely blunt. Sometimes his bluntness can be funny (and depending on the situation, not totally undeserved), but a lot of the time he comes off as a 🤬 imo. I think he gets away with it as much as he does is because he was a breath of fresh air compared to the other personalities that populated the grid during the late '00s - Early 2010's. I'd bet that if any of the other drivers acted exactly the same as Kimi (particularly Stroll, Hamilton or Bottas) that you'd see a very clear double-standard.

Also, it's honestly not that hard to see how people think Hamilton lacks Charisma. For a very healthy portion of Lewis' career, there were several times where Lewis did come off as a fake, over-dramatic knob (various social media posts, crying on SM about breaking up with Nicole, stewards penalizing him "because I'm black," etc.). He often came across as a "new kid who thinks he's hot 🤬" type, and it was hard to blame people for not liking him for that reason.

For me, it's honestly only been relatively recently that I've fully warmed up to him. Between losing the 2016 season to Rosberg, his rivalry with Vettel, and his activism in 2020, that I think we've gotten to see a much more genuine Lewis Hamilton than before. He still has his flaws (such as his very badly worded COVID vaccine post), but he definitely has a lot more humility than when he first entered F1, and he clearly appreciates the position he's in.

As for an unpopular opinion, I enjoy Lewis' fashion style (and the reactions to it), and wish I had half the confidence he has to pull it off.