The F1 Thread

[Mr. Brightside]

Ah, so we're at the "if you don't like Lewis Hamilton you're racist" part of the discourse I see. I had wondered when that would happen.

[Miguel Sanchez]

On 01/08/2021 at 22:34, GordonS said:

I don't understand this.

He avoided the crash on the first corner because he was fastest in qualifying and then got off the start well. That's not luck. They made the wrong call on tyres and he had to fight his way from the back. That wasn't luck either. It wasn't luck that Mercedes undercut Verstappen and Ricciardo, or that Alonso locked up to give him the chance to pass.

He grew up working class and is racing against guys that were brought up by billionaires. Lance Stroll is luckier. Wouldn't you say Hamilton and his family have earned what they've got?

Do you really think that when people say "Hamilton is so lucky" that they should quantify and correct themselves by considering his entire life and circumstances, and that of all his competitors?

[jimmy boo]

Ah, so we're at the "if you don't like Lewis Hamilton you're racist" part of the discourse I see. I had wondered when that would happen.

I've been reading shite like that for years.

[Stu]

Hamilton gets incredibly lucky at times - however the luck only creates the opportunities. He still has to do the business to take advantage of them. How many other drivers would have taken advantage of the circumstances at the likes of Imola this year to still end up in third? Bottas has repeatedly shown that, while he is a good driver, he's not capable of doing a similar job in these situations.

There's a quote from Gary Player along the lines of the more he practises, the luckier he gets, which kind of fits Hamilton (even if it's not really practise that helps him!).

[Mr. Brightside]

2 minutes ago, Stu said:

Hamilton gets incredibly lucky at times - however the luck only creates the opportunities. He still has to do the business to take advantage of them. How many other drivers would have taken advantage of the circumstances at the likes of Imola this year to still end up in third? Bottas has repeatedly shown that, while he is a good driver, he's not capable of doing a similar job in these situations.

There's a quote from Gary Player along the lines of the more he practises, the luckier he gets, which kind of fits Hamilton (even if it's not really practise that helps him!).

Any driver worth their salt. 

[afc_36_0]

I think everyone gets fed up of the same person winning all the time and hamilton’s personality isn’t the most likeable but nobody can deny he’s one of the all time greats.

Personally i think max is also a bit of a c**t but nobody seems to mention that

[afc_36_0]

The last 2 dominant drivers in the sport were schumacher then vettel and they weren’t particularly well like during their success either

[JamesP_81]

See it all the time where people love someone/ some team in the early days but noone likes when there is a continual dominant presence in any sport.  As much as I dislike Hamilton and do think that he gets more than his fair share of lucky breaks I can't argue with stu's point that he makes the most of them , some drives of his in the last couple of years have been absolutely sensational.

[GordonS]

On 03/08/2021 at 10:41, scottsdad said:

His haters are a bit like the Raheem Sterling haters. They won't say out loud exactly why they hate him, but point to stuff like him living in Monaco (like virtually all the drivers do) and avoiding tax. Especially the haters who post in the Daily Heil. 

The trouble with the fanboys/haters being so polarised is that when someone makes a legitimate criticism of Hamilton for something he did on track, there is the suspicion that it is being done for another reason. 

I don't agree with that at all, I think there are plenty of reasons to dislike him and I definitely wouldn't suggest there's any questionable intent behind any of the Hamilton haters on here - well, at least the ones whose post I can see. Elsewhere I've seen the type of person you're talking about, but not on here.

I used to dislike him because of the tax stuff, being a twat about his nephew wearing a dress and the flying around in pimped-up private jets while lecturing us about not eating sausages. He isn't exactly a likeable character and his fierce competitive streak makes him insecure and whiny. But over the years I've found it interesting to watch him grow. He came through as a black kid from an ordinary family and life for him and his family was all about racing. They never paid any attention to politics and the progressive changes of the last few decades passed them by. He's been catching up and I think his experiences of racism have opened his eyes to other forms of discrimination. He's learning as he goes.

I can totally understand why people don't like him though. I think they're dicks because they lose all sense of perspective - he's just lucky, everything that goes wrong is his fault, everything he says should be taken in the absolute worst possible interpretation, all that stuff. It's just tedious.

He's a bit like Neil Lennon. Some hate him because he's a "Celtic-minded" Northern Irish Catholic, some hate him because he's a "Celtic-minded" Northern Irish Catholic and arguably a p***k, and some hate him just because he's arguably a p***k. I might be wrong but I think most are in that last category, and same with Hamilton. 

Edited August 7, 2021 by GordonS

[Iminavest]

[GordonS]

F1's YouTube channel has been very good for a few years and I have to say I've particularly enjoyed Grill the Grid. The series, and especially this episode, have given me more respect for Verstappen who I'd previously thought of as brash and self-centred, but he's clearly smart and interested in his sport well beyond his own corner or it. And Vettel comes across as a very likeable, smart nerd. This one is worth watching to the end.

https://youtu.be/StAi_V99uxw

The channel don't allow the videos to be embedded so you need to click the link.

[scottsdad]

On 09/08/2021 at 15:54, Iminavest said:

Raikkonen really is the best at these. 

Quote

Martin Brundle: “Kimi, you missed the presentation by Pele.”
Kimi Raikkonen: “Yeah.”
MB: “Will you get over it?”
KM: “Yeah. I was having a shit.”

 

[scottsdad]

Aston martin have withdrawn their appeal over Vettel's disqualification. So Hamilton is confirmed in 2nd place, 8 points clear of Verstappen.

[MP_MFC]

Wasn’t the talk from last season that Perez had something lined up for 2022 and how it made sense for him to go to RB for one year rather then missing out?

[scottsdad]

If anyone is replacing Perez it's bound to be Gasly I'd have thought. Since his demotion he hasn't put a foot wrong.

[IainMorton]

That would be an odd move for Bottas, going from Hamilton's number two driver to Verstappen's. He'd be better off moving to another team that isn't fighting for the title where there would be less pressure. There was talk of him going to Alfa if Kimi retired, that would make more sense than RBR.

[afc_36_0]

Yeah i dont see why he would wanna go to red bull either unless max left. Japanese gp cancelled, thats 2 spaces in the calendar they can hopefully fill

[Sherrif John Bunnell]

4 hours ago, Snafu said:

Nicholas Latifi looks set to stay at Williams for a third consecutive season

https://grandpx.news/latifi-set-to-stay-at-williams-in-2022/

That seems sensible from Williams. He brings in millions and is also a semi-competent driver.

[scottsdad]

I'm not a huge fan, truthfully. I hope to see Williams one day back at the front, with money from sponsors and the like meaning they can bring in the best drivers and engineers. For the thick end of 20 years, since the Schumacher/Montoya days with BMW, they've been poor. Latifi makes no waves. 

[scottsdad]

15 hours ago, Snafu said:

If Williams do get back to the front and consistently challenge for titles I have my doubts it would be under that name.

Another thing F1 could really do with some serious new teams and that isn't current F1 teams with names changed. Would really like to see more non road car teams on the grid.

A few years back I spent a bit of time working out who the "original" teams were of current teams. 

Mercedes were originally Tyrell (then BAR, then Honda, then Brawn, then Mercedes)

Red Bull was originally Stewart (then Jaguar, then Red Bull)

Alpine was first Toleman, then Benetton, then Renault, then Lotus (not the original Lotus, mind), then Renault again, then Alpine. 

I reckon Stewart was probably the last actual start-up team. New teams that come in to F1 usually buy out old teams, or take over their stuff after liquidation.