Anyone else worried about Lewis?

john-e89 said:
maxman said:
BeeEmm said:
Russell fastest in free practice 2. If he can continue in that vein then it proves as we all knew anyway that it was 90% the car and 10% Lewis. I do hope that George Russell can keep up the 10%.
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I wonder if Mercedes will make sure it happens to put Hamilton in his place when it comes to contract negotiations.
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Sack Bottas, pay Hamilton less and get Verstappen in the sister Merc.....should give things a much needed shake up.... :P
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Agreed except..................delete Verstappen, insert Russell. Less of an ego clash to manage, and a natural succession in place.
 
Best race of the season. Except Russell didn't win. Bottas card well and truly marked. Need to see Russell next to Hamilton now. :driving: :thumbsup:
 
It was a good 'un yes.
And maybe there's the difference?
At least once or twice this season Hamilton has told the team to leave him out and subsequently won.
Russell didn't have that experience or authority and Mercedes stole the win from him.
Some may argue the puncture did it, but that was in a tyre he need not have had fitted.
Bet he had to choose his words carefully at the debrief.

It was great to see the Williams mechanics cheering him on.
 
Thought Russell drove extremely well was gutted when the call of puncture came over the radio
 
rdgreen said:
So....is it the driver.....or the car? :)
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A combination of the two probably.
There is no denying that Hamilton had brought a lot of useful feedback to the team. The engineers have, over the last few years, consistently reported that he is able to give precise explanations that have enabled them to bring in improvements.
With the most powerful engine and the money they can throw at it, the team are more able to react to the drivers' inputs and develop the car further.
Russell may well be doing the same with Williams, but the reply is likely to be "can't afford that."

And then, as I stated earlier there is the confidence Hamilton has to dictate pit stops, coupled with the team's confidence in him to allow him to do so. I still believe he would have won on Sunday as he would have told them to stuff their 'safety stop'.

So in my mind, now at the culmination of all this development there are several drivers that can step into a Mercedes and win, but whether they could have picked it up in it's infancy and helped bring it to this finely honed point is more open to debate.
 
If I were Max Verstappen I would be extremely worried by Russell's performance because it's now clear that Mercedes will not come knocking on his door. Unless another team can develop a better car than Mercedes, he'll never be the WDC he thinks he should be.
 
Smartbear said:
rdgreen said:
So....is it the driver.....or the car? :)
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Do you think Hamilton would win in Russells usual car? I think not.
Rob
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Of course not and neither would any other driver in F1.

So few get to drive the best car. Once you get the opportunity you just have the tracks and your team mate to conquer.
Keeping the best car under you must also be very hard. That requires a massive team effort. The driver is a big part of that too. If they are not able to help develop the car then, even with the best team around them, they will fall prey to the opposition. I guess it's why teams hold on to experienced drivers, even when it's obvious there are quicker drivers available to them.

Lewis has thus far always had the measure of his various team mates. One day one of them will be quicker for certain. We all get more cautious as we age and our reactions slow down just a fraction. I just hope when that happens he bows out swiftly and grace fully. Unlike so many ex F1WCs who hang on in there way too long. IMHO I guess that is down to still enjoying the lifestyle and brand image bringing in the bucks. :roll:

Ultimately it's all about points on a Sunday. Getting there and staying there are not just about being a talented fast driver. :wink:
 
exdos said:
If I were Max Verstappen I would be extremely worried by Russell's performance because it's now clear that Mercedes will not come knocking on his door. Unless another team can develop a better car than Mercedes, he'll never be the WDC he thinks he should be.
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I wouldnt say that was the necessarily the case, mercedes want the best drivers, no direct comparison between verstappen and russell. Not even an indirect comparison. Russell was faster than albon in f2, but was it by as bigger margin as verstappen is faster than albon in f1? Which is about 0.5 seconds if i remember correctly...
 
Until we put all the drivers in identical cars, and give them all equal setup time, we'll never know who the best driver truly is, but then f1 has alway been about the package as a whole, impossible to separate the two.

See this video for how difficult it is to compare drivers!

https://youtu.be/lGUDIjpWm8c
 
brillomaster said:
I wouldnt say that was the necessarily the case, mercedes want the best drivers, no direct comparison between verstappen and russell. Not even an indirect comparison. Russell was faster than albon in f2, but was it by as bigger margin as verstappen is faster than albon in f1? Which is about 0.5 seconds if i remember correctly...
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If I were the head of a multi-million enterprise where my own money and success were riding on the accumulation of points in a season and the decision making of Max Verstappen, I think I'd prefer a much safer pair of hands.
 
really? across the 2019 and 2020 seasons, Verstappen has had just 1 more retirement than Russell (7 vs 6), but arguably racing at the front is more risky than cruising round at the back, so thats possibly to be expected...

And as for points accumulation, Verstappen got 278 points in 2019, and currently has 189 points in 2020, compared to Russell's 0 and 3...

Verstappen has improved considerably these last two years, he's not the hot headed driver he was in 2017, when he clocked up 7 retirements.

Edit: lets not forget this blunder either!

[youtube]OoY2oxJy6As[/youtube]
 
brillomaster said:
really? across the 2019 and 2020 seasons, Verstappen has had just 1 more retirement than Russell (7 vs 6), but arguably racing at the front is more risky than cruising round at the back, so thats possibly to be expected...

And as for points accumulation, Verstappen got 278 points in 2019, and currently has 189 points in 2020, compared to Russell's 0 and 3...

Verstappen has improved considerably these last two years, he's not the hot headed driver he was in 2017, when he clocked up 7 retirements.
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Obviously Russell has been driving an uncompetitive car but has been gaining experience all the time. If we assume that all the different cars can get around the corners at the same speed, then Russell has now got 2 seasons worth of learning how to corner in a F1 car without having the spotlight on him. From his qualifying record, it's clear, that he has learned how to drive at the limits of grip in a very uncompetitive car.

If we now increase the power of his engine, he can get between the corners so much faster and instantly will get into the mix at the sharp end of the races, and when that happens, the points will come his way.
 
exdos said:
If we now increase the power of his engine, he can get between the corners so much faster and instantly will get into the mix at the sharp end of the races, and when that happens, the points will come his way.
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So which engine is in the back of the Williams then? :wink:
 
buzyg said:
So which engine is in the back of the Williams then? :wink:
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But that engine in a Williams isn't able to make that car go at the same speed as when installed in Mercedes, does it? :poke:
 
problem is, very little is clear in F1! the only direct comparison any drivers have is with their team mates... Yes, Russell has consistently out qualified and out raced his team mates, but then Verstappen has an equally impressive record against his team mates, so one could argue that he has learned to drive at the limits of grip in a competitive car.

Annoying Russell and Verstappen have never had the same team mate for a direct comparison... the only thing we know for sure is that Albon sucks, as he was beaten by Russell in F2, and beaten by Verstappen in F1 :lol:
 
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