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Post by René on Apr 14, 2021 17:21:09 GMT
Back in Europe and back at a real race track! All signs are that we can expect another Mercedes vs Red Bull battle, Lewis vs Max and Valtteri vs Sergio. If Sergio qualifies well I think he will give Valtteri a very hard time in the race and who knows, even more. Ferrari races on home soil and that usually gives them something extra. Maybe Charles can 'do another Gilles' and I’m sure Carlos will shine in his first 'home' race for the Scuderia. But the battle with McLaren and possibly AlphaTauri will be fierce. Can Yuki shine again? And what about Sebastian Vettel? Seb needs a solid weekend to silence the doubters and get this project back on track. Enough to look forward to. Let’s go Imola…. Forza Ferrari!  |
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Post by chrisb on Apr 14, 2021 18:55:19 GMT
lovely picture Rene, gosh those cars are such beasts - it is a good circuit and should favour some good racing, I still feel MB are going to extend their lead but I would wish for someone entirely different to win, can't quite bring myself to vote for the red cars twice so have gone for young Mr Norris,
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Post by René on Apr 16, 2021 17:55:24 GMT
Ferrari looking goooooood so far!  |
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Post by charleselan on Apr 16, 2021 18:32:34 GMT
Ferrari looking goooooood so far! Steady on there René, now you don't want to get carried away  . In all seriousness the Scuderia looked quite strong and Carlos is obviously fitting in very well, a really good performance by him today. Gilles, sorry I mean Charles, was following in the footsteps of his forbearer with aplomb by giving it his all. You cannot take it away from the lad he gives it everything just as the little French Canadian did, Enzo would love him of that there is no doubt. Great performance by Pierre Gasly once more, he really did look fast this afternoon, but i bet there are those out there who would say that Verstappen would have been fastest in that car, no he wouldn't as he would have broken that too. Do some of those drivers really think that giving it the berries over those kerbs is a sensible way to drive a race car, or at least keep it in one piece for a race distance. Not sure whether some of the aerial views were helicopter or drone but the place looked sensational, and not a grain of sand in sight. Absolutely beautiful surroundings and i never knew that a river ran so close by to the track. |
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Post by René on Apr 16, 2021 20:09:33 GMT
Ferrari looking goooooood so far! Steady on there René, now you don't want to get carried away . In all seriousness the Scuderia looked quite strong and Carlos is obviously fitting in very well, a really good performance by him today. Gilles, sorry I mean Charles, was following in the footsteps of his forbearer with aplomb by giving it his all. You cannot take it away from the lad he gives it everything just as the little French Canadian did, Enzo would love him of that there is no doubt. Great performance by Pierre Gasly once more, he really did look fast this afternoon, but i bet there are those out there who would say that Verstappen would have been fastest in that car, no he wouldn't as he would have broken that too. Do some of those drivers really think that giving it the berries over those kerbs is a sensible way to drive a race car, or at least keep it in one piece for a race distance. Not sure whether some of the aerial views were helicopter or drone but the place looked sensational, and not a grain of sand in sight. Absolutely beautiful surroundings and i never knew that a river ran so close by to the track. It actually feels good to get carried away!  Carlos is already very much a Ferrari driver, you can tell he loves it. And you're right that Enzo would have loved Charles. And Pierre is flying in that AlphaTauri. Also for this team a home race so a good result for them would be very nice. I do expect Red Bull to recover tomorrow but they don't look as convincing as they did in Bahrain. We'll see. |
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Post by robmarsh on Apr 17, 2021 7:21:40 GMT
That river that runs so close to the track had a hand in Senna's death. After Berger's crash at Tanburello in 1989 and Piquet's in 1987 they went to look at moving the wall back a bit further to give more runoff. However, the river was only a few metres the other side of the wall and they thought it would be too expensive to reprofile the river to enable the correct run-off space for that corner. Another case of F1 not spending money where it should be spent.
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Post by René on Apr 17, 2021 17:15:43 GMT
That was an exciting qualifying!
Well deserved pole for Hamilton who must feel the pressure from the Bulls now. And I believe him when he says he cherishes the fight. The best drivers will florish in these circumstances.
And a small wake up for Max! Checo did a very good job and he will be a factor in the race. Max made a small mistake and would probably have been faster but there was not much in it. Let's see how Max handles a challenge from a teammate. Will be interesting. And Charles... yes, yes, yes, he did it again. Another stunning lap when it matters but it's also clear that Ferrari made a huge step in performance. A shame for Carlos but he will shine tomorrow. The Ferrari was actually very good in long runs so still all to play for. And what to think about the blinding pace of Norris in the McLaren? A shame for the little track limit mistake but he was damn fast. Daniel has to up his game soon to justify his salary which will probably be twice what Lando makes. George was also brilliant again. He needs to be in a good car next year.
This is going to be good! |
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Post by Carl on Apr 17, 2021 23:29:14 GMT
Including the top three excluded after Q2, there are 12 drivers within one second of pole, which is remarkable. It should be a good race, especially if Valtteri Bottas is happy with his car and gets angry.
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Post by René on Apr 18, 2021 11:47:23 GMT
Including the top three excluded after Q2, there are 12 drivers within one second of pole, which is remarkable. It should be a good race, especially if Valtteri Bottas is happy with his car and gets angry.
Yep, very close! Enjoy the race guys. |
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Post by charleselan on Apr 18, 2021 18:16:26 GMT
As Anthony Davidson said earlier this weekend circuits like Imola punish mistakes and that is how motor racing should be, couldn't agree more. It certainly was quite a dramatic race with more than its fair share of action and incident.
A good win for Verstappen that came at the right time but neither his race nor that of Hamilton were without errors, and both got away with them. Max was very fortunate that his pace car lap before the race restart did not result in a serious off when he lost the rear at the chicane, and Lewis had the luck of the gods with him yet again with the red flag. According to the S*YF1 team his comeback drive was outstanding, really! he had the second best car on track which had a huge speed advantage on the straight especially when DRS was deployed. However according to Croft & Brundle (more so Croft) the skill of using DRS is in the braking after you have passed the other car on the straight, that really is a new one on me.
Just to illustrate how fast the MB was with DRS, Charles Leclerc's Ferrari could not pass the very impressive Lando Norris on the straight even with DRS deployed.
Both Norris and Leclerc were hugely impressive, Lando completely obliterating Ricciardo and to the best of my observations Charles drove a faultless race getting the absolute maximum from what he had at his disposal. His team mate Carlos also drove a fine race and was right behind Charles at race end, obviously aided by the race stoppage to some extent, but a fine drive none the less.
The accident. Well already we have the keyboard jocks on other sites laying into George Russell which is typical of these embittered little individuals who have little or no understanding of our sport. From the very outset I determined that Valtteri jinked slightly to the right as Russell was almost alongside. Now when you are driving at over 200mph and committed to a pass with the aid of DRS what the blazes are you supposed to do. I do not for one minute think that Bottas did it intentionally, or at least I hope he did not. To say that George should not have attempted the move is a crass remark by those who are making it, the lad is a racing driver for goodness sake and the move was on.
Valtteri's qualifying and race were lamentable and I can only imagine what dear old DSJ would have written after seeing that performance. There should be no way that a current Williams car, even in challenging conditions, should be overtaking a Mercedes Benz and that is a fact.
Also very disappointed with Checo Perez' performance in the race, a driver of his experience and quality should not have made so many errors, especially after his excellent performance in Q3.
Driver the weekend has to be Lando Norris, truly outstanding and makes a mockery of Ross Brawn's comment of Tsunoda being the most outstanding newcomer in ages for Lando has shown this kind of ability from day one.
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Post by René on Apr 18, 2021 19:27:16 GMT
What a difference a real track makes... yes, that was quite exciting.
Well deserved win for Max, he is clearly the fastest in his RB16B right now although Lewis is not far off.
I think most drivers had their 'moments', also Charles lost it in the warm up (like Prost at Imola 1990 or 91). If it wasn't for the crash and red flag, Charles may have finished second but fourth and fifth is not bad for Ferrari. Carlos made a few mistakes but he calmed down and got in the groove to finish right behind Charles. Well done.
Lando and McLaren were very good but also helped a little bit by the red flag. But a great drive it was. Lando is really very good.
About the accident, a difficult one to say whose fault it was. Interesting after the race on Dutch tele, Renger Van der Zande and Robert Doornbos lay more blame with Russell. But I also had the impression Bottas moved slightly to the right.
George made some strong comments, not only blaming Bottas but also saying that Valtteri should not have been there in the first place. He should have been at the front fighting for the win so it was ridiculous he was fighting a Merc with his Williams so maybe Valtteri wanted to make a point..ouch. There was certainly a lot of frustration there.
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Post by robmarsh on Apr 18, 2021 20:10:58 GMT
Great comments Rene and John. I enjoyed the race but only saw the highlights on Channel 4 as was not at home. A lot of mistakes made by experienced people and some got away with it. The thing is the old school tracks produce exciting races. I think George was more to blame than Valteri and I think the competition for next years Mercedes seat exacerbated the responses from the drivers but will leave that upto to Tonto to sort out. I saw LH reverse onto the track from the gravel trap. I thought that was a no no and should result in disqualification or is that no longer the case. Lando out performed Ric which I am very glad about. Seb had another shocker and I hope things change soon. Good to see the Ferrari progress.
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Post by Carl on Apr 19, 2021 0:34:43 GMT
Great comments Rene and John. I enjoyed the race but only saw the highlights on Channel 4 as was not at home. A lot of mistakes made by experienced people and some got away with it. The thing is the old school tracks produce exciting races. I think George was more to blame than Valteri and I think the competition for next years Mercedes seat exacerbated the responses from the drivers but will leave that upto to Tonto to sort out. I saw LH reverse onto the track from the gravel trap. I thought that was a no no and should result in disqualification or is that no longer the case. Lando out performed Ric which I am very glad about. Seb had another shocker and I hope things change soon. Good to see the Ferrari progress. Rob, I totally agree that internal politics at Mercedes exacerbated what happened approaching the first chicane and suspect the machiavellian tonto has been playing with his drivers' psyches like Enzo Ferrari always did. The race was chaotic and boring, an unusual combination, with tyres and drivers both inadequate to the conditions. I sometimes enjoy chaos, but not today. While unimpressive today, Daniel Ricciardo does not deserve to have his name diminished by the likes of "Pauly Dee" and "Teddy Kraven" as though he was a child.
Cheers, Carl
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Post by robmarsh on Apr 19, 2021 1:55:18 GMT
Great comments Rene and John. I enjoyed the race but only saw the highlights on Channel 4 as was not at home. A lot of mistakes made by experienced people and some got away with it. The thing is the old school tracks produce exciting races. I think George was more to blame than Valteri and I think the competition for next years Mercedes seat exacerbated the responses from the drivers but will leave that upto to Tonto to sort out. I saw LH reverse onto the track from the gravel trap. I thought that was a no no and should result in disqualification or is that no longer the case. Lando out performed Ric which I am very glad about. Seb had another shocker and I hope things change soon. Good to see the Ferrari progress. Rob, I totally agree that internal politics at Mercedes exacerbated what happened approaching the first chicane and suspect the machiavellian tonto has been playing with his drivers' psyches like Enzo Ferrari always did. The race was chaotic and boring, an unusual combination, with tyres and drivers both inadequate to the conditions. I sometimes enjoy chaos, but not today. While unimpressive today, Daniel Ricciardo does not deserve to have his name diminished by the likes of "Pauly Dee" and "Teddy Kraven" as though he was a child.
Cheers, Carl
Carl I was listening to the Channel 4 commentary of DC and some other chap so was spared the likes of croft and kravitz. I have recorded the race so will watch it in full when I return home. My pleasure at seeing Norris beat Ric was because I really like Norris and many people think Ric will put him in the shade so when it's the other way round it proves that Norris is not to bad a  driver and that is nice to see. Personally I have never rated Ric in the top four drivers, he is very good but not that good. He has only won in a Red Bull and there Max had the better of him at a time when Max was the less experienced of the two. |
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Post by mikael on Apr 19, 2021 10:08:07 GMT
I saw LH reverse onto the track from the gravel trap. I thought that was a no no and should result in disqualification or is that no longer the case.
Rob,
could it be because the red flag already had been waved at that time and thus, the race was not underway? On another note, as LH said himself, if he hadn't reversed, he most likely never would have made his way out of the gravel. So it was well worth the risk (of disqualification).
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Carlos is already very much a Ferrari driver, you can tell he loves it. And you're right that Enzo would have loved Charles. 
driver and that is nice to see. Personally I have never rated Ric in the top four drivers, he is very good but not that good. He has only won in a Red Bull and there Max had the better of him at a time when Max was the less experienced of the two. 