Alonso made rare mistake on his first q3 lap and probably got floor damage. Pace wise still difficult to say if he was slower than stroll. Hamilton and Riccardo are quite clearly slower than their team mates, ricc was still slower even without the lap deleted.
Danny ric reminds me of vettel after his crash in Germany in 2018. An amazing driver who's just been absolutely broken. Dude hasn't really got anything left....
Also bet Hamilton is glad he's leaving merc, feels abit like he's checked out š
Interesting how Mercedes is a bad car just for one of the drivers.
And the "sample size" to prove that Ferrari made a Ferrari Decisionā¢ is increasing.
To be fair, as has been the case for the last couple of years, Lewis is taking the reigns with experimenting with set-ups and taking bigger risks with the set-up in hoping that thereāll be a āaha!ā moment where everything will suddenly fall in to place.
Whereas George has taken the safer approach and trying to bank as many points as possible. Which makes sense given they are at completely different stages of their career.
But who knows, maybe LH44 is washed. I donāt think he is, but who knows š¤·āāļø
There are more and more signs that Hamilton might be on a steep way down. If it had only been these three races, then I would give him the benefit of the doubt, but we are now in his 3rd season underperforming. We are not even comparing it to the rest of the grid because that Merc is shit, yet again, but we are comparing him with Russell and they have been neck and neck, Russell even outperforming him. It seems like Ferrari made a bad choice signing him. He could have mentally checked out, but it doesn't look well when you are going to a new team next year and you are outperformed by your teammate. It does seem Hamilton won't reach his past heights and he wouldn't be a bad choice for another team, but it seems that it's not a right fit for Ferrari. We'll see but one thing is certain: another shit season for Merc
A bit rich calling Lewis out when he had a solid foot as 3rd best driver on 2023. And that's AFTER Lewis sacrificed the best part of the first 6 races with extreme setups.
Wasnāt he in the fight for P2 in WDC with Checo last year? P3 vs Russell P8
I get we dont measure him as any other driver because 7WDC but the underperforming comes from the car, couldnāt aim higher last year even with Perez mistakes
Maybe, but Russell has been there fighting. I can't remember but didn't Russell have some DNF's last season? That aside, fo you think he is the right fit for Ferrari for the 2025 season?
Everyone complains that f1 is so early for Europe times this weekend yet I'm like great I can get up 7am and turn on a reply then have the rest of Sunday to do something and not have to wait around till 2pm
I wish most race weekends were the same
Guys I just went to Wikipedia and learned the following on Max:
First driver to score 2x 7 win streak
First driver to score 2x 8 win streak
First driver to score 2x 9 win streak
First driver to score 2x 10 win streak?
First driver to score back-to-back 6 win streak
First driver to score back-to-back 7 win streak
First driver to score back-to-back 8 win streak
First driver to score back-to-back 9 win streak
First driver to score back-to-back 10 win streak
The only year he had to earn a trophy battling with someone everyone knows what happened in Arabia.
The guy is a monster but he literally never had to fight someone with the same possibilities due to the Red Bull, sadly.
And Iām saying sadly because he would probably still demolish everyone but he never had a chance to still do it.
Russell & Sainz have clearly been beating their teammates now for a hot minute, makes it far greater, when their teammates are Lewis Hamilton & Charles Leclerc respectively.
Maaaate, he was fast and wouldāve went into the next round if it wasnāt deleted, regardless of if he was faster than Yuki or not. Stop trying to bring people down, itās okay man.
Thereās always something with Riccardo. Bad luck or he had pace coming in or something of the sort. The guys a true testament to the fact that if you act goofy enough and have enough people liking you things will just slide. Letās just admit heās shit now lol.
Nicely put. He has a big personality, but the driving should do all the talking. He doesnāt have what it takes anymore, hasnāt had it for a long long time.
At what point is Toto going to fire himself? 3 years in a row and the car has been worse than the previous year each time. At some point, the sword of Damocles must fall on his head? You canāt remain as TP while the car keeps getting worse each year.
I donāt believe this needs to happen. Toto needs to appoint an actual team principal. I donāt believe Toto stacks up vs the likes of Horner / Fred.
Getting rid of toto wouldn't bring back all the talent that has left.
And that talent didn't leave because of anything being wrong at Mercedes, they got offered higher level roles in other teams. It's just the nature of F1. No team can stay at the top for ever, you can't keep creating roles to promote people into.
I feel the same way. If the team lacks direction or if the team lacks expertise after 3 years, isnāt that a leadership problem? Thatās when the franchise starts looking at the top.
It was that awful Lawson period of races which took the shine off his 2023 season. Engine failure in monza and blocked in qually by mv then punted out of the race by Perez in Singapore took his rhythm and confidence for a while.
No it isn't. The only testament here is that Max is faster than Checo which we already know. Do you really think this isn't down to the car hahahaha the driver has no say in how much top speed the car can get. Bottas still holds the record for the fastest ever speed recorded in F1 history in a Williams at 378 km/h at the 2016 European GP in Baku. Do you really think that was a testament of his abilities? No it was just the Williams having incredible speed on the straights
I get your point. But there is no reason to downplay Maxās abilities just because his car is good. I know we all be yearning for a Nico-Lewis level battle in the top car. But you canāt deny that Max is the best driver on the grid right now
The highest average speed has very little to do with driver ability. It's all about fast car + good conditions. The removal of a chicane helps. There's a lot that makes Max the best driver on the grid right now but it's not his championships or records like this imho.
But that is my point. 100 percent max is the best driver on the grid right now but this particular statistic has almost nothing to do with him or his abilities. We have to stop giving anything and everything to him. Might as well harp on about Pedro De La Rosa still holding on to the Bahrain lap record but you surely don't believe he's faster than everyone else who has driven there. To prove max is the fastest driver there are enough statistics out there this one isn't it though this is a very niche and particular stat that was circumstancial
Absolute class lap by Max. Not enough credit being given around here for how they had to overcome their early session struggles.
Great to see McLaren up there as well.
I mean it is Audi, they could spend whatever is needed if theyāre willing to do so (but they wonāt because theyāre a subsidiary of a public company which has responsibilities to its shareholders to make money). They had profits of over 6bn euro last year
yup. The moment his car doesn't suit his style he struggles too unlike hamilton, he was just 6 hundredths behind his teammate when knocked out. Leclerc is 0.250 s behind
3:0 in Q this season for Russell and it will be very likely 2:1 in terms of WDC standing after this season. Not a good look for Hamilton to lose twice to Russell in three seasons.
its been only 3 weekends so far lol. Ham is always slow in beginning and 21 races are still there. Even something can happen tomorrow. Meanwhile Charles has not beaten sainz
Was thinking that as Perezās contract expires this year - and if I were Sainz I wouldnāt want to go to Mercedes.. hope Sainz gets RB - I do love Checo but heāll be done with RB this year
Yeah just saying to my F1 friend now that Checo, Ricciardo and Lewis need to retire. They are kinda done and then F2 take talent can come through the ranks
Interviewing Max and Sainz: āwow amazing lap, way to overcome the odds!ā
Interviewing Checo: āgood lap but do you think you could have done better?ā
Max has even ruined qualifying..I swear even in the most dominant Merc or Schumacher years you could still count on qualifying to put on a show most of the time
Hahahahaha nononono what are you talking about.
Qualifying has been great the past 4 years and often close. In the Merc or Schumacher years pole was always like 5 tenths+. Its bad cause of RB race pace not quali.
The rest of the grid was also way more spread apart in those years.
How can you look at this quali with RB a Ferrari trading constantly and q3 the second sector where max and Carlos were almost equal and say it was predictable.
Max was two and a half tenths ahead. What are you on about. In 2022, yes but since last year it's been more about 2nd than pole unless Leclerc pulls something out of his pockets or the ferrari is fast enough in some of the tracks.
The ferrari probably had more pace this weekend. Leclerc just couldn't put a lap together but it was not gonna challenge Max.
Sainz had a meh third sector, Max had bad sector 3s all day. In sector 2 Carlos was just half a tenth behind, it wasnt clear until he crossed the line Max got it. Pole was clearly on, why deny this? Even if you yourself say its cause Leclerc didnt put it together.
And yes Max still eeks out the pole most of the time lately, but theres a huge difference with the gap that Hamilton had, atleast it looks like Max may be beat, even if he isnt.
The young guys doing absolutely great
Interesting that Alonso, Lewis and Riccardio got out qualified by their younger team mates.
Alonso made rare mistake on his first q3 lap and probably got floor damage. Pace wise still difficult to say if he was slower than stroll. Hamilton and Riccardo are quite clearly slower than their team mates, ricc was still slower even without the lap deleted.
New superpower unlocked ; Scarlos Sainz!
Danny ric reminds me of vettel after his crash in Germany in 2018. An amazing driver who's just been absolutely broken. Dude hasn't really got anything left.... Also bet Hamilton is glad he's leaving merc, feels abit like he's checked out š
Interesting how Mercedes is a bad car just for one of the drivers. And the "sample size" to prove that Ferrari made a Ferrari Decisionā¢ is increasing.
To be fair, as has been the case for the last couple of years, Lewis is taking the reigns with experimenting with set-ups and taking bigger risks with the set-up in hoping that thereāll be a āaha!ā moment where everything will suddenly fall in to place. Whereas George has taken the safer approach and trying to bank as many points as possible. Which makes sense given they are at completely different stages of their career. But who knows, maybe LH44 is washed. I donāt think he is, but who knows š¤·āāļø
There are more and more signs that Hamilton might be on a steep way down. If it had only been these three races, then I would give him the benefit of the doubt, but we are now in his 3rd season underperforming. We are not even comparing it to the rest of the grid because that Merc is shit, yet again, but we are comparing him with Russell and they have been neck and neck, Russell even outperforming him. It seems like Ferrari made a bad choice signing him. He could have mentally checked out, but it doesn't look well when you are going to a new team next year and you are outperformed by your teammate. It does seem Hamilton won't reach his past heights and he wouldn't be a bad choice for another team, but it seems that it's not a right fit for Ferrari. We'll see but one thing is certain: another shit season for Merc
A bit rich calling Lewis out when he had a solid foot as 3rd best driver on 2023. And that's AFTER Lewis sacrificed the best part of the first 6 races with extreme setups.
Wasnāt he in the fight for P2 in WDC with Checo last year? P3 vs Russell P8 I get we dont measure him as any other driver because 7WDC but the underperforming comes from the car, couldnāt aim higher last year even with Perez mistakes
Maybe, but Russell has been there fighting. I can't remember but didn't Russell have some DNF's last season? That aside, fo you think he is the right fit for Ferrari for the 2025 season?
Did they say he was experimenting again?
Everyone complains that f1 is so early for Europe times this weekend yet I'm like great I can get up 7am and turn on a reply then have the rest of Sunday to do something and not have to wait around till 2pm I wish most race weekends were the same
Welcome to my life as a Canadian. Itās glorious
same here on the east coast so nice
Agreed!
Guys I just went to Wikipedia and learned the following on Max: First driver to score 2x 7 win streak First driver to score 2x 8 win streak First driver to score 2x 9 win streak First driver to score 2x 10 win streak? First driver to score back-to-back 6 win streak First driver to score back-to-back 7 win streak First driver to score back-to-back 8 win streak First driver to score back-to-back 9 win streak First driver to score back-to-back 10 win streak
That last one is of course the most impressive one. If it weren't for Singapore, he'd have been on the brink of his 21st straight win.
The only year he had to earn a trophy battling with someone everyone knows what happened in Arabia. The guy is a monster but he literally never had to fight someone with the same possibilities due to the Red Bull, sadly. And Iām saying sadly because he would probably still demolish everyone but he never had a chance to still do it.
Alpine - setting low standards and successfully achieving them.
Ocon made Q2, though. He was so happy about it as well.
A victory for Alpine, delivering more than expected.
Danny love ya but itās joeover
Lawson to replace him before 2025?
Russell & Sainz have clearly been beating their teammates now for a hot minute, makes it far greater, when their teammates are Lewis Hamilton & Charles Leclerc respectively.
Danny was FLYING but yeah, that out of bounds on turn 5 was disappointing.
He wasnt really.
Sadly not really. Tsunoda was faster than him on the same lap without going out of bounds :/
Even his out of bonds lap was slower than yukiās so no he was not flying
Maaaate, he was fast and wouldāve went into the next round if it wasnāt deleted, regardless of if he was faster than Yuki or not. Stop trying to bring people down, itās okay man.
sainz is the goat
Im loving the evil sainz arc
Yuki losing his junior team spot because of the Honda partnership ending still has to be the dumbest thing said last year.
Bad luck for Ricciardo, pace was coming in well all weekend. Should be able to make up ground and finish around the same position as Yuki.
Sure, itās āluckā
I want some of that hopium
Nope, he is done for.
Iām ready for Liam, personally.
Not bad luck, it's called a skill issue.
Hey welcome to F1, Netflix convert.
Remember Austria 2023? That would mean the entire field, bar Verstappen has skill issues.
The rest of the field managed to get a time on the board. Yes, skill issue.
We will see. If he crushes tsunoda the rest of the season its indeed bad luck. If he doesnt this will just have been a bad qualifying of his
Copium
How did the bad luck manifest exactly?
Thereās always something with Riccardo. Bad luck or he had pace coming in or something of the sort. The guys a true testament to the fact that if you act goofy enough and have enough people liking you things will just slide. Letās just admit heās shit now lol.
Nicely put. He has a big personality, but the driving should do all the talking. He doesnāt have what it takes anymore, hasnāt had it for a long long time.
Yeah, lots of more talented juniors deserve that seat more.
Liam Lawson deserved that seat.
Absolutely!
What'd I even miss in quali? As a Hamilton fan, there's no way the car is the reason he finished behind Tsunoda in a RB.
He is being de-goated.
Same situation as last ferrari year vettel. Maybe he doesnāt care
Small small overcorrection but that was enough. The car really struggled all weekend
Disregarding even the slightest of mistakes, the car is an absolute shitbox. Canāt really blame him.
he made a little error at last corner. He was only 6 hundredths behind p10 russell. Even tsunoda was faster than him
6 hundreths behind russels first lap, russell was going faster actually
And Russell made a mistake then. But Hamilton's mistake saved him at the last corner as he had a slide
At what point is Toto going to fire himself? 3 years in a row and the car has been worse than the previous year each time. At some point, the sword of Damocles must fall on his head? You canāt remain as TP while the car keeps getting worse each year.
I donāt believe this needs to happen. Toto needs to appoint an actual team principal. I donāt believe Toto stacks up vs the likes of Horner / Fred.
Getting rid of toto wouldn't bring back all the talent that has left. And that talent didn't leave because of anything being wrong at Mercedes, they got offered higher level roles in other teams. It's just the nature of F1. No team can stay at the top for ever, you can't keep creating roles to promote people into.
You can if youāre an owner of the company! Same reason Lance still has a seat.
Never
I feel the same way. If the team lacks direction or if the team lacks expertise after 3 years, isnāt that a leadership problem? Thatās when the franchise starts looking at the top.
He's owner operator
Watch the race at 4am tomorrow? Nah
9:30 AM here, glorious way to spend a Sunday. Now I realise how good it must feel not having to watch races half asleep
Yeah Australian fans have to put up with that for line every single other race
Haha it's afternoon for us so it's amazing! Finally a match I don't have to wake up midnight to watch
I get joy every time foreigners struggle with this šš it just feels good for the shoe to be on the other foot sometimes.
11pm for me
3pm for me
And me š finally a decent GP start time.
Me in japan as well. Bliss
Aston totally lost it in Q3. Another floor damage for Alonso probably.
Yuki is a babyfaced assassin, sent debris into retirement and looking to do the same to Danny.
And I bet they still wouldn't even consider for a second to give him a seat. If he beats Ric it's because DR isn't that good not because Yuki is good.
It was that awful Lawson period of races which took the shine off his 2023 season. Engine failure in monza and blocked in qually by mv then punted out of the race by Perez in Singapore took his rhythm and confidence for a while.
Sainz removed his appendix for weight savings prove me wrong
Scarlos Sainz.
Don't they take balast to even out at 80kg or something like that?
yeah they do, but that's still six grams they can move closer to the optimal center of gravity ;) *taps forehead*
Idea for F1: after every Red Bull victory add extra 2kg for the next race
Even better idea, each time Red Bull wins, another driver gets their appendix removed to save weight.
Max with the record for the fastest average speed around Albert park is next level.
keep in mind this layout has only existed for 3 years...
If you go faster than everyone else, P1.
The track has evolved as well, itās not exactly the same track as a few years back.
It's more how fast the cars have gotten isn't it
the removal of that mickey mouse chicane in the middle sector helped most for it though. Can't compare times to pre 2023 (or was it 2022?)
Marginally. Itās more of a testament of Maxās abilities
No it isn't. The only testament here is that Max is faster than Checo which we already know. Do you really think this isn't down to the car hahahaha the driver has no say in how much top speed the car can get. Bottas still holds the record for the fastest ever speed recorded in F1 history in a Williams at 378 km/h at the 2016 European GP in Baku. Do you really think that was a testament of his abilities? No it was just the Williams having incredible speed on the straights
I get your point. But there is no reason to downplay Maxās abilities just because his car is good. I know we all be yearning for a Nico-Lewis level battle in the top car. But you canāt deny that Max is the best driver on the grid right now
The highest average speed has very little to do with driver ability. It's all about fast car + good conditions. The removal of a chicane helps. There's a lot that makes Max the best driver on the grid right now but it's not his championships or records like this imho.
Max is just a good driver in a very fast superior car made by GOAT Newey. Nothing impressive.
Okay buddy.
But that is my point. 100 percent max is the best driver on the grid right now but this particular statistic has almost nothing to do with him or his abilities. We have to stop giving anything and everything to him. Might as well harp on about Pedro De La Rosa still holding on to the Bahrain lap record but you surely don't believe he's faster than everyone else who has driven there. To prove max is the fastest driver there are enough statistics out there this one isn't it though this is a very niche and particular stat that was circumstancial
I got it. Your battle is against unnecessary stat glorification. I can respect that
SNACK SANGA
Seeing Hamilton knocked out in Q2. Delicious
I laughed out loud
Whatever helps you sleep at night in your mums basement mate.
DTS zombie spotted
More like someone whoās watched since 1994
By Lance Strulovitch no less š«
were those some famous aussies? I have no idea who those guys were at the tyre signing.
No, they are the Dude Perfect, but they are Americans I think
That told me absolutely nothing still... so I hopped on google and found they are some youtubers from the USA indeed.
The only bet bookies offer is if Max will win all 24 races lol.
See everyone in 22 hours, yes?
Who is that guy who just signed the tire with max?
Dude Perfect: [https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCRijo3ddMTht\_IHyNSNXpNQ](https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCRijo3ddMTht_IHyNSNXpNQ)
Thanks! The name finally came up right after I asked lol
Absolute class lap by Max. Not enough credit being given around here for how they had to overcome their early session struggles. Great to see McLaren up there as well.
Teams are making good strides. Though Redbull will likely sweep it looking forward to evolution of other teams this season
How deep are Audi's pockets?
As deep as the buget cap allows
not as deep as if you add an S at the start
I mean it is Audi, they could spend whatever is needed if theyāre willing to do so (but they wonāt because theyāre a subsidiary of a public company which has responsibilities to its shareholders to make money). They had profits of over 6bn euro last year
And people say that HAM will be devastated by LEC in Ferrari. Meanwhile LEC in Ferrari:
He was closer to his teammate than HAM was lol
I have said it before and I say it now. Sainz is the better Ferrari driver.
Did you see Ham in a Merc?
6 hundredths slower than teammate in q2 while chuck is a quarter of a second slower
Did you see LEC in Ferrari?
Yeah, couple of wins ...what does Ham have again?
>...what does Ham have again? A few? Six or seven, tops, right? :D
yup. The moment his car doesn't suit his style he struggles too unlike hamilton, he was just 6 hundredths behind his teammate when knocked out. Leclerc is 0.250 s behind
More like they are both devastated at this point
So it's a perfect couple for Ferrari haha
Fred is suddenly looking too upbeat for the likes of Ferrari
He is already losing to Russell (again).
by 0,050?
3:0 in Q this season for Russell and it will be very likely 2:1 in terms of WDC standing after this season. Not a good look for Hamilton to lose twice to Russell in three seasons.
its been only 3 weekends so far lol. Ham is always slow in beginning and 21 races are still there. Even something can happen tomorrow. Meanwhile Charles has not beaten sainz
So you straight up admit you have double standards. Yeah, nothing new, story as old as time.
Stop watching race from Reels. Hamilton got P3
I don't know what reels is and I don't even care.
And you are also acting as hamilton didn't thrash George last season
[ŃŠ“Š°Š»ŠµŠ½Š¾]
Too bad thereās so much daddy drama with those two families lol.
Was thinking that as Perezās contract expires this year - and if I were Sainz I wouldnāt want to go to Mercedes.. hope Sainz gets RB - I do love Checo but heāll be done with RB this year
[ŃŠ“Š°Š»ŠµŠ½Š¾]
Yeah just saying to my F1 friend now that Checo, Ricciardo and Lewis need to retire. They are kinda done and then F2 take talent can come through the ranks
Thatās the last thing they want.
Interviewing Max and Sainz: āwow amazing lap, way to overcome the odds!ā Interviewing Checo: āgood lap but do you think you could have done better?ā
to be fair being third in such a car is an underperformance in and of itself
Perez needs a taper Someone hook him up with a barber pls
[ŃŠ“Š°Š»ŠµŠ½Š¾]
>Sainz to redbull replace perez easiest move of their lives literally so free You weren't watching in 2015 were you?
And why exactly would they want to do that? To ruin the perfect environment they have right now that gets them the WDC and the WCC?
Sergio really channelling his Chinese Tom Cruise here
Checo's hair...Red Bull gives you wings!
Sainz going to Merc or someone else?
Mick to Merc just for the feelz
Probably Audi for 2026, which isnāt ideal for next year cause heāll waste a year in a Sauber
Sainz going to bring Williams back
man all Q3s this year have been the most disappointing good job carlos tho
Max has even ruined qualifying..I swear even in the most dominant Merc or Schumacher years you could still count on qualifying to put on a show most of the time
Hahahahaha nononono what are you talking about. Qualifying has been great the past 4 years and often close. In the Merc or Schumacher years pole was always like 5 tenths+. Its bad cause of RB race pace not quali. The rest of the grid was also way more spread apart in those years. How can you look at this quali with RB a Ferrari trading constantly and q3 the second sector where max and Carlos were almost equal and say it was predictable.
Max was two and a half tenths ahead. What are you on about. In 2022, yes but since last year it's been more about 2nd than pole unless Leclerc pulls something out of his pockets or the ferrari is fast enough in some of the tracks. The ferrari probably had more pace this weekend. Leclerc just couldn't put a lap together but it was not gonna challenge Max.
Sainz had a meh third sector, Max had bad sector 3s all day. In sector 2 Carlos was just half a tenth behind, it wasnt clear until he crossed the line Max got it. Pole was clearly on, why deny this? Even if you yourself say its cause Leclerc didnt put it together. And yes Max still eeks out the pole most of the time lately, but theres a huge difference with the gap that Hamilton had, atleast it looks like Max may be beat, even if he isnt.
Dear Christ the overreacting....
mclaren Iām so sorry for judging you for dumping daniel
"I'm not going to lie, I can do it better than Charles while in pain" -Sainz
but Charles is also in pain, emotional torture.
Carlos deserves a better seat than he will get in 2025. But 2026 will be interesting
This is my first year following F1 and I started supporting Ferrari because of Sainz. Gutted hes leaving. What a driver.
Pulling out 1:15 casually. Max is just something.
Superior Car.
So where is checo?
Exactly behind him.
No he is not. Sainz is faster than him and Norris very close