F1 News & Discussions > General F1 Discussion

2021 Italian Grand Prix Heroes and Zeroes

(1/3) > >>

Jericoke:
Heroes:
Ricciardo.  As recently as last week, I thought he had zero chance of winning a race this year.  He lucked out a little without having to fight off Max, but I really think he could have done that if he'd had to.

Norris.  If McLaren was going to win, Norris was my pick.  A great second place, a great teammate drive keeping Perez and Bottas at bay.

Bottas.  Starting lastish and getting a podium for a team that has publicly said he's not what they're looking for.  The Mercedes car was the class of the field, and he wielded it like a scalpel cutting through the field.

McLaren.  What a great job to build a winning team over a season where they were struggling to even be 'best of the rest'.

Zeroes:
Max.  I'm willing to put the crash up as a racing incident, but on Lap One Max established what a 'fair' amount of space in a corner was (that is to say, none).  Hamilton respected that, backed off.  When the positions were reversed where was the respect?

I agree with Toto, it's a racing incident, but a 'tactical foul'

(I more agree with Damon Hill though.  If anyone knows about losing a championship through being crashed off the track, it's Damon)

Perez.  Everyone knows if you gain a place off the track, you give it back.  Pretending you need permission isn't fair racing.

Haas.  I don't know if the team is falling apart because Gene is losing interest, or Gene is losing interest because the team is falling apart.  Haas really had an opportunity to go with the 'loveable loser' role that Stoddard invented for Minardi, and having Mick is a great way to bring in some fans who want a 'feel good' story.  They just can't seem to get anything right.

Alianora La Canta:
Heroes:

The people who developed and introduced Halo - Yes, the FIA managed to get mentioned in the "heroes" column (those of you who have been following for a while know how rarely I do that). Without that, I probably wouldn't be typing this post at all, because Hamilton would not simply have neckache after that accident...

McLaren - good tactics, beautifully set-up cars, brilliant team vibe. Both drivers on song (Daniel literally as well as metaphorically). Feel-good victory and P2. Welcome back, the champagne and canapés have been prepared for you.

Bottas - sent to the back of the grid with a fresh engine. Yes, he had the best engine and two of the 7 cars that could have challenged him crashed. However, he also managed to get through part of the lead DRS queue, which is seriously impressive.

Honourable mention: everyone else in the top 6 had good stories to tell. Perez had no right to be in that cluster after sacrificing his qualifying run to give Max a tow (the incident with Leclerc is part of why he's only an honourable mention). A lesser driver than Leclerc would have missed sprint qualifying due to being ill (most likely by continuing the FP2 run as scheduled while trying to hide the increasing dizziness, making it impossible to recover in time for the sprint. Leclerc bailed out of the FP2 run five minutes early, told his team why, and gave his body a chance) and turned in an anonymous race from the back of the grid. Sainz messed up FP2 but made great strides in the sprint and race to be on the heels of his team-mate and in the lead DRS queue.

Zeroes:

Aston Martin and an unidentified Alpine staff member - AM thought releasing both cars out of the pits simultaneously was a good plan. The Alpine staffer thought walking backwards into the fast lane was wise. Between them, we nearly had a pitlane disaster on our hands. Thankfully, we evaded that and just ended up issuing everyone involved a fine for unsafe pitlane conduct.

Mazepin - I was considering making him an honourable mention on lap 29 of the race. I'd had cause to give him a compliment (for being savvy enough, when his car broke, to get the car parked in a good place to get it towed back with minimum fuss). Sadly, I then discovered he hit Schumacher twice (I'd seen the glancing blow on lap 1, not the much bigger failure to press the brake pedal later), spun five laps after the second spin and was again slow. In a race with few true zeroes, I have to put Nikita on the list.

Alpha Tauri - disappeared without trace in the race, after a scary crash for Gasly in the sprint. Sad to see.

Dishonourable mention - The Red Bull sensors - specifically, the one that didn't notice that Max's wheel was in fact on correctly. (These are team-provided, for anyone wondering, so not the FIA's fault).

(I have opinions on the Max-Lewis accident, but prefer in this post to be grateful than blame-seeking, and won't assign either to the "zeroes" box. I'm sure I'll get round to issuing blame in another post).

Scott:
Ok, I’ll jump in. 

RIcciardo/Norris/Mclaren big hero.  I thought DR’s move from Renault would lead nowhere, but I was wrong.  I hope they continue to punch up to podium places and that it’s not just a Mona anomaly.

Now as for the MV/LH coming together, I’ll agree with Jeri.  Although in my opinion I think Max is adopting a pass him or crash him policy with Hamilton now that he’s ahead in points.  There was simply no way he was going to get through that turn with his car on the track, much less give a bit of room for Hamilton.

But the absolute worst thing about the guy and it goes deep into his character is that with Hamilton’s air intake crushed and HALO clearly damaged, he didn’t stop to ask if Hamilton was ok.  Max is less than pond scum as a human.

Monty:
It will come as no surprise that I do have a comment on the crash and I am happy to play the blame game.
I can start by saying 'I told you so'. I have consistently said that Max will take-out any other driver if they 'get in his way' and he has consistently proved me right.
I cannot understand why so many people keep supporting him. I honestly think he will kill someone if the FIA do not stamp on him - he is completely reckless and he has no empathy for anyone else.
I think his radio comment said everything; "that is what will happen if he doesn't give me room".
The move was deliberate and calculated - just like his first lap move where he forced Hamilton off the track (again).
I am absolutely sure Silverstone was his fault (he clearly turned into Hamilton) and was another attempt to deliberately take Hamilton out rather than be overtaken - only on that occasion it went against him.
He is permanently 'angry' and totally selfish - unless he changes he will always be dangerous and has no place in F1.

cosworth151:
I have a couple to add to those listed above.

Hero:
The Halo bar - We all thought it was ugly when it first came along. Yesterday was just the latest incident to show that it is absolutely beautiful.

Max has been given a well deserved (IMO) 3 place grid ding for Sochi. That said, I really hope that the WDC this season doesn't end up being decided by a steward's penalty.

Haas announced early in the 2020 season that they would be putting all of their time & money into the new formula 2021 car. Than the FIA moved the new car back to 2022. Haas continued to concentrate on the new car. I think that was a wise move for a small budget team, but we all knew from the start that it meant that this season would be a complete write-off. As for Mazepin - Our only hope is that his Daddy figures out that his money would be better spent by just buying Niki his own Dodge'm Cars carnival ride.

Is there any way Max & Niki could end up teammates?  >:D

Navigation

[0] Message Index

[#] Next page