George… the real stuff
Discussion
He was held back today by poor strategy, was that his or Mercs strategy? I don't know but 4th was the best he could expect in a car that was no quicker then the Ferrari. At least he gave us some entertainment. A great dice with Norris, probably not a great move as he lost a lot of time but no way was he keeping Hamilton behind him and he should have let Max go early on.
My view is that it was a poor race for GR. By the end of lap 1 he was 1st Lewis 4th, yet he somehow managed to end the race 5 seconds off LH in 4th. No matter how you look at it he went backwards and I’m not sure race craft is his forte, or maybe he struggles with tyre management because he has the pace for sure, he’s just not on the level of others on the grid.
When LH is not at the team guiding them and sharing data, how is he going to cope leading the team? My guess is as long as he’s ahead of whoever his team mate is he’ll be happy.
Mercedes should have moved heaven and earth to get Sainz in the second car on a 2+1. GR would benefit from his speed and technical nouse.
When LH is not at the team guiding them and sharing data, how is he going to cope leading the team? My guess is as long as he’s ahead of whoever his team mate is he’ll be happy.
Mercedes should have moved heaven and earth to get Sainz in the second car on a 2+1. GR would benefit from his speed and technical nouse.
Was great to watch, but ultimately you could see he was never going to keep Lando behind him. Trying to fight lost him a couple of seconds to Lewis, probably would have been wiser to just let Lando go and try to get a bit of DRS at the next zone to keep Lewis behind for longer.
I'm here all day for more F1 driving tips folks...
I'm here all day for more F1 driving tips folks...
maz8062 said:
My view is that it was a poor race for GR. By the end of lap 1 he was 1st Lewis 4th, yet he somehow managed to end the race 5 seconds off LH in 4th. No matter how you look at it he went backwards
Tyre strategy.Hamilton had a better one, Russell had a worse one.
Sometimes, these things happen.
And I'm curious as to how starting in 4th and finishing in 4th means he went backwards "no matter how you look at it"?
Muzzer79 said:
maz8062 said:
My view is that it was a poor race for GR. By the end of lap 1 he was 1st Lewis 4th, yet he somehow managed to end the race 5 seconds off LH in 4th. No matter how you look at it he went backwards
Tyre strategy.Hamilton had a better one, Russell had a worse one.
Sometimes, these things happen.
And I'm curious as to how starting in 4th and finishing in 4th means he went backwards "no matter how you look at it"?
Simply put, he just didn’t have the pace over the race distance. Ok one could argue that the McLaren and RBR were quicker cars but it doesn’t explain his pace compared to LH. He was just slow.
SFTWend said:
I agree that GR still needs to go to finishing school but he was put on the back foot by that 5.3 secs pit stop. I believe that led to them changing strategy, with an early second stop and the choice of hard tyres to go the distance.
Loved the 4th to 1st overtake at the start.
That and his battle with Norris made that race for me. But, as others have said, the latter probably cost him a few seconds. I thought he lost around 7 seconds to MV, and if this was his intent, then it was worth it. If not, then it was a waste of time, literally. Glorious though. I think it stopped Norris having any chance of a victory, which was an irritation to me. But that start! Cracking.Loved the 4th to 1st overtake at the start.
Derek Smith said:
That and his battle with Norris made that race for me. But, as others have said, the latter probably cost him a few seconds. I thought he lost around 7 seconds to MV, and if this was his intent, then it was worth it. If not, then it was a waste of time, literally. Glorious though. I think it stopped Norris having any chance of a victory, which was an irritation to me. But that start! Cracking.
How exactly do you get Norris and Russell dropping 7 seconds to Verstappen through that battle for position? What exactly was Russell supposed to be doing anyway even if he did - just wave a faster driver through the way Hamilton did to Norris? Forester1965 said:
Russell was given a poor pitstop and the wrong tyres. Nothing to judge negatively on him from the race.
He's as much the real deal as Norris. His results in lower formulae confirm it. Both live in the space just below Verstappen and Hamilton, in my opinion.
In driving ability terms I'd agree.He's as much the real deal as Norris. His results in lower formulae confirm it. Both live in the space just below Verstappen and Hamilton, in my opinion.
But big-picture-thinking, and pressure management he's got a way to go. As well as tempering his ego.
Which is unfortunate because he's had every opportunity to work on those by now yet he continually selects a path which affirma his arrogance instead of using the opportunities afforded to him to really sponge operational knowledge.
He spends so much time trying to out-race and prove he's better. He'd be time more spent studying previous races from the pitwall, and reviewing how tactical decisions ultimately affected final positions.
Forester1965 said:
He's score'd 504 points at Mercedes since joining. In that time, the 7x WDC Hamilton who's been at the team for more than a decade has scored 516.
I'd say that's a pretty respectable job.
Pretty disingenuous fact, but crack on if that level of detail floats your boat.I'd say that's a pretty respectable job.
It’s hard to deny that we are currently not seeing peak Hamilton, hopefully that might return next year but who knows, fingers crossed.
With that in mind, anyone hazard a guess as to how Russell would compare to Lewis 6 years into his F1 career (2012)? Lewis had the speed then, much as Russel does now but I can’t recall if he had the race/tyre management skills he has now?
With that in mind, anyone hazard a guess as to how Russell would compare to Lewis 6 years into his F1 career (2012)? Lewis had the speed then, much as Russel does now but I can’t recall if he had the race/tyre management skills he has now?
Forester1965 said:
It's a fact. Facts aren't disengenuous.
Before F1 Russell won about 1 in 3 single seater championships he entered. He crashes too much at vital times, that's true.
F1 'fans' can be very tribal/weird at times.
In fairness - he does seem to be very good at extracting the best from a car that is wanting. Either that or the team relied (sensibly) on the person in the team longest to do the weight of the 'testing' to make improvements.Before F1 Russell won about 1 in 3 single seater championships he entered. He crashes too much at vital times, that's true.
F1 'fans' can be very tribal/weird at times.
One thing isn't under question though - George is one vain mofo with an attitude to match.
Forester1965 said:
It's a fact. Facts aren't disengenuous.
Welcome to the party, but we've played this game for quite a few years now. Not looking to replay old discussions. Having said that, for you to comment that facts cannot be a manipulation of truth is so ludicrous it pretty much marks anything you have to say down as null and void.
As a taster, anyone remember when Hamilton was the main contributor to the development of the car when George came on-board.
Sure though, sweep it under the rug as driver fan bias, or whatever the cool kids call it these days when they aren't able to articulate a valid point.
Gassing Station | Formula 1 | Top of Page | What's New | My Stuff