Russian Grand Prix - Sochi

[René]

To start with a depressing fact , Mercedes has won all editions of the Russian Grand Prix so far, all of them. To say this track is a good fit for the Merc is an understatement!

Can we expect anything else from this year's race? The only man who can beat the Mercs in a straight fight gets a three-place grid penalty for climbing on top of Lewis, so that doesn't help. Will Red Bull use this race to change Max's PU and start from behind?

Another option is of course a crazy race with many crashes and safety cars so that Carlos can win his first Grand Prix! 

Aston Martin, meanwhile, has reconfirmed Seb and Lance as drivers for 2022 and announced former McLaren man Martin Whitmarsh as the new CEO of Aston Martin Performance Technologies…whatever that may be. A good move by Lawrence Stroll I think.

[chrisb]

I am sorry but I have no enthusiasm for this race, and wonder why on earth we are there?

beautiful picture of the DBR1 - it was a lovely looking car just 2 years too late and again my fuzzled brain is trying to establish the driver, Ron Flockhart?

good news about Martin, he is a real asset to any team

[René]

Sept 23, 2021 8:26:25 GMT chrisb said:

I am sorry but I have no enthusiasm for this race, and wonder why on earth we are there?

beautiful picture of the DBR1 - it was a lovely looking car just 2 years too late and again my fuzzled brain is trying to establish the driver, Ron Flockhart?

good news about Martin, he is a real asset to any team

I understand your lack of enthusiasm Chris. It is one of the least attractive venues for more than one reason.... but I'll watch it anyway.

[Carl]

Sept 23, 2021 8:26:25 GMT chrisb said:

I am sorry but I have no enthusiasm for this race, and wonder why on earth we are there?

beautiful picture of the DBR1 - it was a lovely looking car just 2 years too late and again my fuzzled brain is trying to establish the driver, Ron Flockhart?

good news about Martin, he is a real asset to any team

The beautiful Aston Martin is being driven by Roy Salvadori at Zandvoort in 1959

-Carl

[Carl]

It won't be the same without bernie and vladimir intimately close in the grandest grandstand, and I wonder if Nikita Mazepin will be given carte blanche to spin and block to his heart's content...

[René]

Sept 23, 2021 17:35:45 GMT Carl said:

It won't be the same without bernie and vladimir intimately close in the grandest grandstand, and I wonder if Nikita Mazepin will be given carte blanche to spin and block to his heart's content...

"Did Nikita spin again?"

"I'm afraid so, Vlad. But he has other talents I heard."

[robmarsh]

VB's driving seems to have gained a new lease of life since he confirmed a three year contract at Alfa Romeo. Maybe tonto "managed him" by keeping him unsettled by never giving him more than a one year contract. I hope he forgets to switch on the receive button in his helmet if he leads come Sunday.

[René]

Sept 24, 2021 17:28:42 GMT robmarsh said:

VB's driving seems to have gained a new lease of life since he confirmed a three year contract at Alfa Romeo. Maybe tonto "managed him" by keeping him unsettled by never giving him more than a one year contract. I hope he forgets to switch on the receive button in his helmet if he leads come Sunday.

I hope so Rob. Sochi is a track where he’s always been good so he has a decent chance of winning this Sunday. And since he won’t be winning any time soon in the Alfa he should take every opportunity to win while still in the Merc. Even if that means not obeying orders from T. But that is probably Valtteri’s biggest weakness, being too honorable and honest.

[René]

Oh wow, what a fantastic qualifying result! Lando on pole, Carlos second and George third!

And what a hero George is by going on slicks so early. How he raced out of the pits still sliding and oversteering was wonderful to see. That boy is going to give Lewis a very hard time next season.

But the race tomorrow is going to be exciting, guaranteed. Hamilton 4th, Bottas 7th and Perez 9th. And then Charles and Max starting from the back so there will be a lot happening for sure.

Normally not a highlight of the season but this one will be worth watching!

[René]

... and to add to the fun, Bottas also takes a grid penalty for changing parts on his PU. He will now start in 17th, an ideal position to hold up Max...

This will be an intriguing race.

[mikael]

Absolute masterclass by Hamilton as well as by Verstappen; in the latter part of the race, the idiom, "the cream always floats to the top" came to mind ...  Hamilton has now won 35.6% of his GP's - impressive indeed! (With long careers for many drivers nowadays, and with more races than ever per season, 100 GP victories is not easy to understand in itself, but to have won more than one GP out of every three starts certain is.)

[Carl]

Without Martin Brundle, the dreadful duo were left to compare their respective silliness like two fuddy-duddies at a residential care facility. Only when it began to rain did they engage with events.


I felt bad for Lando Norris when the rain intensified, but his team's advice was good. It was a real shame because the gamble could have gone in his favor. It will be a while before he looks at rain as he had before.

[robmarsh]

Sept 26, 2021 19:19:36 GMT mikael said:

Absolute masterclass by Hamilton as well as by Verstappen; in the latter part of the race, the idiom, "the cream always floats to the top" came to mind ...  Hamilton has now won 35.6% of his GP's - impressive indeed! (With long careers for many drivers nowadays, and with more races than ever per season, 100 GP victories is not easy to understand in itself, but to have won more than one GP out of every three starts certain is.)

Hi Mikael, Hamilton did drive well but I still think car for car Lando out peformed him.  I also think Lando made the right decision in the circumstances. 

I just can't get too impressed by Hamilton's statistics despite winning 100 Grand Prix.  Hamilton has started in 281 GP's and retired in 27 (9.6%). He therefore has won 100 out of 254 (39%) of the races he finished and the vast percentage of those in a car which was the best by a country mile. 

Jim Clark started 72 Grand Prix and retired in 22(30.5%) of them. He retired in only five less races in Hamilton despite only racing in less than 20% of the races Hamilton has raced in. He won 25 out the 50 (50%) he finished. Even though in many cases the Lotus was the fastest car, it wasn't by as big as a performance margin that Hamilton has enjoyed over the last seven years. In addition the cars Clark raced were nowhere near as safe as Hamilton's. Had Clark raced as many races as Hamilton, with the same retirement % that he had in the 60s ie 30% he still would have won 98 races. If he had the same retirement percentage as Hamilton ie 9.6% then after 281 races he would have won 127 races.

It is worth noting that both Ascari and Fangio had better win percentages than Clark. 

[René]

That was an eventful race!

A big shame for Lando as he fully deserved the win but the gamble of staying out didn’t pay off, not for him and not for the others who tried the same like Leclerc who could have finished on the podium had he gone in for inters at the right time. But it was all a gamble.

Max was lucky to finish second as he admitted himself. He drove a good race but he would have finished seventh had it stayed dry. But being there at the right moment is also important and for the championship it is good he didn’t lose too much.

Very happy for Carlos to have a solid weekend with a good result under his belt. It was great to see him leading the race but it was clear from the start the McLaren was a fraction faster. But third was good and well deserved! Surely more to come from the Spaniard!

_

100 wins for Lewis Hamilton, what can you say. There is no denying he is one of the best of his generation and one of the all time great drivers of this sport. But the numbers are all skewed by now. Not only the number of races and the massively improved reliability and safety but the whole concept has changed. The sport is a 1000% more professional, the cars are way faster and a driver has a lot more to do in the car. As Jean Alesi pointed out at the Historic Monaco Grand Prix, "I can drive all the cars from the 60's and 70's fast, no problem but I have no idea how to drive Charles' (Leclerc) car!"

But it is a great achievement by Lewis. It is not his fault he was born in this era and also not his fault having the best car for years. That was Niki's fault!

[mikael]

Sept 27, 2021 8:12:19 GMT robmarsh said:

Sept 26, 2021 19:19:36 GMT mikael said:

Absolute masterclass by Hamilton as well as by Verstappen; in the latter part of the race, the idiom, "the cream always floats to the top" came to mind ...  Hamilton has now won 35.6% of his GP's - impressive indeed! (With long careers for many drivers nowadays, and with more races than ever per season, 100 GP victories is not easy to understand in itself, but to have won more than one GP out of every three starts certain is.)

Hi Mikael, Hamilton did drive well but I still think car for car Lando out peformed him.  I also think Lando made the right decision in the circumstances. 

I just can't get too impressed by Hamilton's statistics despite winning 100 Grand Prix.  Hamilton has started in 281 GP's and retired in 27 (9.6%). He therefore has won 100 out of 254 (39%) of the races he finished and the vast percentage of those in a car which was the best by a country mile. 

Jim Clark started 72 Grand Prix and retired in 22(30.5%) of them. He retired in only five less races in Hamilton despite only racing in less than 20% of the races Hamilton has raced in. He won 25 out the 50 (50%) he finished. Even though in many cases the Lotus was the fastest car, it wasn't by as big as a performance margin that Hamilton has enjoyed over the last seven years. In addition the cars Clark raced were nowhere near as safe as Hamilton's. Had Clark raced as many races as Hamilton, with the same retirement % that he had in the 60s ie 30% he still would have won 98 races. If he had the same retirement percentage as Hamilton ie 9.6% then after 281 races he would have won 127 races.

It is worth noting that both Ascari and Fangio had better win percentages than Clark. 

Hi Rob,

thank you for your comment. I have, admittedly, admired Hamilton as a driver ever since he entered the F1 stage in 2007. I understand that he isn't admired by all. (But what is so nice and enjoyable about being a member of this group is that we always can talk about things - and different opinions- in a pleasant and civilized manner :-)  )

It impressed me deeply that Hamilton was not only fast enough, but also mature enough (as a driver) to compete for the World Championship immediately, in his very first season in F1. And, had it not been for that mishap in China, where he got stuck in a gravel trap, then he would have been WDC already in the '07-season! Just as impressive, he duly took the championship the following year.

My opinion/outlook is also colored by the fact that Niki Lauda wanted him as the lead driver for Mercedes. As I understand it, they could just as well have gone for Sebastian Vettel. He would have fitted much better to the Mercedes corporate-image: funny, good-humored, well-spoken, no earrings, no massive gold necklaces. Yet they didn't care about that; they just wanted the best driver they possibly could get; they wanted Hamilton.

Finally, my opinion is colored greatly by watching the F1 drivers going through some difficult corners at Suzuka for several years. Several times, and especially in heavy rain, it seemed clear to me that Hamilton took a different line, different from anybody else, yet it looked obviously better and faster. That was something that impressed me deeply and made me think that, "Hamilton is really different - he's simply the best driver."

I must also admit that I have a good deal of admiration for the Mercedes team. Obviously they have a generous budget - but they do get an awful lot out of it!  At the same time they're smart enough - and humble enough to understand, and to admit, that the F1 expertise is in the UK, and not in Germany. There have been some cases of F1 teams with huge budgets who, nonetheless, got next to nothing out of it (e.g. Toyota. Curiously, they chose to place their factories in Germany ...)

Lastly, it's also my understanding that Jim Clark and J. M. Fangio, and possibly also Alberto Ascari, was on another level yet again; especially when seen in the light that being constantly "on the limit" was so dangerous back then.  Still, irrespective of this, I think that Hamilton's success is well deserved.

Best,

M.