Formula 1

[Parm]

I think you would be shocked if you knew just how much F1 gear gets made in Woking, not a specific team but the engineers that they all sub their work out to. Lots of Mercedes ,Renault and Ferrari F1 parts being made here in sunny Surrey

Bob.

yep. Dad had a precision engineering firm in West London up until he retired

They did a lot of work for the sub contractors feeding into Williams and McLaren

 

[CornishPete]

As for the conspiracy theories, if this was some mercedes skulduggery then it's the most pointless sabotage as everyone can see if it wasn't for the tyre change mistake Russell would have won and Bottas second. It's just confirmed anyone that thinks the car's the star and made it harder to defend the driver!

 

[ukracer]

As for the conspiracy theories, if this was some mercedes skulduggery then it's the most pointless sabotage as everyone can see if it wasn't for the tyre change mistake Russell would have won and Bottas second. It's just confirmed anyone that thinks the car's the star and made it harder to defend the driver!

So why was Bottas beaten so convincingly? I have no doubt the car is the fastest at the front but it still needed to be driven by a driver who had to alter his braking distances from those he has been used to all season. Plus loads of other things like safety car starts. Leading at the front and setting the pace etc etc.

 

[Roger440]

So why was Bottas beaten so convincingly? I have no doubt the car is the fastest at the front but it still needed to be driven by a driver who had to alter his braking distances from those he has been used to all season. Plus loads of other things like safety car starts. Leading at the front and setting the pace etc etc.

Indeed.

What we learnt is that the merc is the best car. Not new news.

We also learnt, what i already believed, Bottas isnt that good. A "technical" driver if you will. I think plenty of the current crop could match Bottas in the same car. That George was clearly better has increased his chances of a drive at a top team no end, and likely just shortened Bottas career. Bottas is mentally defeated.

 

[Parm]

Indeed.

What we learnt is that the merc is the best car. Not new news.

We also learnt, what i already believed, Bottas isnt that good. A "technical" driver if you will. I think plenty of the current crop could match Bottas in the same car. That George was clearly better has increased his chances of a drive at a top team no end, and likely just shortened Bottas career. Bottas is mentally defeated.

id say that fair

 

[mangocrazy]

Lot of conspiracy theories out there...

But they do bear some consideration!

George Russell was obviously just about to jump in Hamiltons car and do what Hamilton does. Get a good start, lead the race from lap 1, drive off into the distance.

Because I take a sudden dislike to Lewis*, I find it compelling to believe the team might not want to annoy their "star" driver by making it look like "anyone" can do what he does. I find myself wondering how it might have looked different if that madcap conspiracy theory was true...

Mercedes certainly have previous form in unnecessary stops (just in case) ruining a race. I can't recall if that happened when someone clearly "decided" to give their Germanic hero Rosberg the title (we digress). The double stop certainly looks like an attempt to play fair with Russell but they "accidentally" give him Bottas' tyres, this inevitably puts Bottas ahead of Russell when they have to be switched back. But Russell still looks like he can easily win so he is called in for a "slow puncture" that is so slow Russell can't feel it, it has no effect on lap times until the team insist he comes in "just in case".

'Tis obviously a bit stinky and usually no team would ever ruin their race deliberately but Mercedes have already won everything this year. Rather than being the icing on the cake, a Russell win might have looked a bit too easy and more of a kick in the teeth to the other teams let alone the obvious embarrassment for Hamilton. Had Russell won as he clearly ought to have, I wonder what the paddock gossip would have been. Certainly not a positive affirmation that Lewis is winning everything because he is who he is.


*(he has betrayed my belief in him as a fan of his driving skill by assuming I will agree with his idiotic politics)

I take it you've never heard of Occam's razor, or cock-up vs. conspiracy? It's been a while since I've seen someone twist themselves that far out of shape simply because they don't like a particular person and are trying to justify it to themelves (and us).

 

[mangocrazy]

I'd be very surprised if George took over Bottas's drive next year. Mercedes (and Toto Wolff in perticular) do believe in playing fair and honouring contracts. But for 2022 I'd say George is a shoo-in, which will be a mouth-watering prospect. Assuming the Merc is still the class of the field (dangerous, I know) you'll have the Old Master vs. the Young Upstart. Could be a changing of the guard kind of season.

 

[tommullin]

on instagram, both bottas and russell have removed team affiliations from their bios.

read from that what you will?

Edit: Twitter and Instagram apparently (if that makes any difference)

Red Bull Racing trolling:

 

[ukracer]

on instagram, both bottas and russell have removed team affiliations from their bios.

read from that what you will?

Intriguing.....

 

[bricol]

So why was Bottas beaten so convincingly? I have no doubt the car is the fastest at the front but it still needed to be driven by a driver who had to alter his braking distances from those he has been used to all season. Plus loads of other things like safety car starts. Leading at the front and setting the pace etc etc.

Do you not watch - he came in, they took his wheels off . . . . and as Russell had just driven off with his front set (Russell mechanics conspriacy to stop Bottas hunting him down, as he was doing quite well at that point and they didn't want the fairy tale, good news story spoiling . . .) they had to put his worn hards back on . . . so when Russell came up behind him on new mediums . . . and as the car is the only reason Hamilton is so good, its obviously just as easy to throw someone else in to occupy the seat, 'cos we all knows its really a computer controlling it from a darkened room just outside Oxford, with the aid of the extra light from all those green generators all around the track.

So that led to Bottas mechnics running out and throwing handfuls off drawing pins out on the track to only puncture Russells tyres (so as not to ruin the Finnish good news story)

(Some of that might be made up - but not the bit about Bottas having his old tyres put back on as there were no new ones to replace them with).

 

[Screwdriver]

I take it you've never heard of Occam's razor

And have you never met the devils advocate?

 

[Greeves246]

Conspiracy theories are not new in F1, like the man who heard a rifle shot as Mansell had a tyre explode, his car stopping whilst leading in Estoril but started and ran perfectly when returned to the pits. Main problem is that Hamilton is a divisive figure, he flaunts his wealth, pretends to be a gangsta rapper and brings politics into sport. I believe he has a chip on his shoulder as he has never had the admiration from fans that Mansell or Jenson Button had.
If Hamilton won the title again next year he may well retire, solving all problems.

 

[Munkul]

I believe he has a chip on his shoulder as he has never had the admiration from fans that Mansell or Jenson Button had.

I don't know... going by this thread it seems he has no fans, but he has any number of fans and adoration from around the country, and indeed, the world.

He's certainly got that huge chip on his shoulder... but then, so did Senna. Makes for a good race driver IMO.

I'd rather go for a pint with Button, but he's not a winning driver... he's "just" a team player.

 

[Screwdriver]

I'd rather go for a pint with Button, but he's not a winning driver... he's "just" a team player.

Yeah he "only" got one world championship...

 

[Munkul]

Yeah he "only" got one world championship...

Compare him right next to Hamilton a few years ago when they were teammates with the same mediocre cars at McLaren, and Hamilton beat him every which way, race after race after race. It was almost embarrassing for Button.

Not that he's a bad driver in any way, he just didn't seem to have the hunger to win, like Hamilton.

Hamilton seems to have absorbed the saying in Tallageda Nights to his very core: "If you're not first, you're last" and all the associated good and bad that goes with it... lol

 

[Nick DV]

LH seems to be trying to get back in the car.

https://www.bbc.co.uk/sport/formula1/55235331

After taking the crown again, you would think that LH would do the decent thing and not try to get back in the car, thus giving GR another go. Yeah, right...............

I take it you've never heard of Occam's razor,

This should have been in the Arecibo post: Ellie Arroway: "Occam's razor. You ever heard of it?" Palmer Joss: "Hack-em's Razor. Sounds like some slasher movie."

you'll have the Old Master vs. the Young Upstart.

Could be interesting!

I'd rather go for a pint with Button

Me too

Yeah he "only" got one world championship...

He was happy with that and felt he had nothing else to prove in F1

Compare him right next to Hamilton a few years ago when they were teammates with the same mediocre cars at McLaren, and Hamilton beat him every which way, race after race after race. It was almost embarrassing for Button. Not that he's a bad driver in any way, he just didn't seem to have the hunger to win, like Hamilton.

In the three years that they were team mates, and considering LH was the McLaren blue eyed boy as well as used to the car, JB actually scored more points than LH and finished higher than him in 2011

 

[8ob]

At the start to a season both drivers are treated the same, a few races in the team will get behind the driver with the most points/wins. Driver number two gets unproven development parts that may or may not improve the car, if they are good parts he may get the jump on his team mate for the one or two races.There is a strict limit on testing so it has to be done on track during the season and it wont be a compromise for the number one driver.Its the way its always been.There is no such thing as a bad F1 driver, they are the elite and if given the right car are all more than capable of winning a title.

Bob

 

[ukracer]

I'd rather go for a pint with Button, but he's not a winning driver... he's "just" a team player.

I would rather go for a pint with Nick. My lad was racing RC cars at the European Championships in Switzerland and we all had our own pit tables set up for us. We were next to Nick Hamilton. He thanked me at the end of 3 days for treating him as Nick instead of "Lewis Hamilton s Brother".

The strange part was that the guy who was looking after Nick had got one of two identical cars to drive him around.
For some reason Lewis needed that car so he came to the track to swap them around.
You could tell where he was as there was always a throng of people round him (and I don't mean his minders). Nick asked me why I had not rushed off to see Lewis and seemed a bit confused when I said I can see him and follow him on TV. I am here to make sure my son's car is ready to race.

 

[Nick DV]

Driver number two gets unproven development parts that may or may not improve the car,

Driver number two also gets very 'used' parts on their car, often when they are disgarded from driver number one's car!

 

[Bullet2012]

Driver number two also gets very 'used' parts on their car, often when they are disgarded from driver number one's car!

not sure about that, parts are numbered and allocated to a car, maybe not some body panels but all the rest are.