2021 Formula 1 Season Paddock

Good interview with Russell... There's obviously some tension between Bottas and Russell. He even says "Perhaps if It was another driver, maybe he wouldn't have" ie. Bottas didn't want to get overtaken by George in a Williams
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ybBNHGqJNL4

 

I'm still trying to determine through the video what happened but initially to me, it seems Bottas moved towards Russell. If Bottas knew he was there I dunno, we may never know since the investigation is closed, but it could just be a racing incident.

 

Kimi demoted after restart penalty. Alonso in the point(s).

 

Bottas moved a tiny bit to the right. Russel reacted and ended up with a tire in the grass. Lost traction due to that and we know how it ended. I don't really fault either driver but just the conditions. Would have been a different outcome in the dry

 

That little move could have been inadvertent or it could have been the high speed equivalent of a brake check. If its the latter that's hard racing but we will never know beyond what Russel believes and what Bottas says.

 

Really won't ever know. At high speed it doesn't always take much to freak another driver. Small move at 150mph is a lot scarier looking than a move at 30mph for another driver.

 

Totally, I think Bottas was feeling a little insecure in the moment and pushed George to the edge of the track. He was expecting to be lapped by his team mate and on top of that he couldn’t pull away from a Williams in the wet.

This evening I’m going to go back watch the last few laps from Bottas’s car and listen to his team radio. Apparently Toto was putting him under pressure.

Ultimately I think he should have conceded the position to George, George had kept pace with him for quite a while and with DRS it was inevitable...

Gasly could have done a lot better if they got the tire choices better, shame.

 

Well that was entertaining

 

Basically they should have George in his seat and Bottas knows it. It's too much car for his talent.

 

You think they'll pull a Red Bull this year and demote him? I think so because it's gonna be a closer fight with Red Bull for the title and Merc needs both cars this year to be top 5 about every race

 

Toto says that George should drive differently when it is a Merc in front of him. It's a "big picture" thing. Nice.

 

I hope so. I'm done rooting for Bottas. Too much young talent that could take his spot and do as good or better.

 

I feel like a few more races like this and if George continues to out perform the car (I mean he's been doing it for 2 years now) I feel like Toto would do that.

 

Glad to be back after a three week break! Great race overall... wet races are always entertaining. Can't say I wasn't internally cheering when Hamilton went off track - was thinking FINALLY this guy won't finish on the podium. Well, we know how that turned out. Too bad for Norris... was hoping he could stave off Hamilton till the end. Bottas, my Finnish brethren, another disappointing race. I don't think this track was for him... didn't do well in qualifying, didn't do well on race day. Move onto the next! I'm no Ferrari fan but nice to see them finishing up near the top... more competition for everyone. As much as everyone also hates on Verstappen, glad to see he ran away with it. Anything to get Hamilton off the top i'll root for.

 

There's a kink in the track right where Bottas and Russel made contact . Bottas squeezed Russel , Russel put rear tire on the grass . Crash resulted .

only part I can't understand is how , even with DRS , a Williams was able to get along side a works Mercedes

 

Not that it matters because nobody was going to beat Verstappen yesterday but why no interest from the stewards when Hamilton was forced off track on lap one? During the race it looked fine to me but the replay shows them dead even going into the corner. At the 16 second mark in the linked vid they make front wheel to front wheel contact. Wasn't that actually Ham's corner? Toto and Ham didn't complain and the stewards said it was fair so no argument from me. Just wondering about the nuances of the rule.
https://www.formula1.com/en/video/2...stappen_overtakes_Hamilton_at_race_start.html

 

So i took a couple screen screen shots and it looks like Bottas was following the dry line and Russell came by on the right so fast I bet Bottas just didn't see. him and closed the distance from the right side dry line to the grass. No way that would fit a car and thus caused an unintentional squeeze into Russell? Note the dry line goes from left to right of the white line. Seems like just bad timing for both. They are also going 220+ Mph apparently. Just a theory.

 

from my perspective, and I think we can agree that specific turn is not a two wide turn. Verstappen had the inside line, which is the racing line for that corner when passing. In watching Hamilton’s in car, it looks to me that Max is ahead 18” plus going into the turn. So technically Max has possession of that position and Hamilton should have conceded. It would have been better if Max could’ve left him more space, but I don’t think there was enough to give there in any situation. This racing incident.

 

They reviewed it and deemed "no action necessary". Hamilton was beaten to the turn and ran out of track. Racing incident.

Bottas knew exactly where Russell was. The stewards also deemed this one a racing incident, but I think it might have been called differently had the outcome not been as relatively harmless as it was. That was dangerous stuff on Bottas' part.

 

Was it dangerous just because they were nearing the corner in a narrow part of the track? I mean, when passing I always see defending drivers make a 'move' once (which i think they are allowed) to try and defend their position from the driver making the move. Either way, would Russell have had enough space passing Bottas so quickly on the outside position to slow down enough to make that turn? I mean, he was full throttle coming up to a corner on the outside with limited runway left. Just an observation not questioning what happened.