GPWizard F1 Forum
F1 News & Discussions => General F1 Discussion => Topic started by: Jericoke on September 05, 2021, 07:13:11 PM
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A fairly straightforward race with little passing, but it seemed like a great race. Maybe because Spa was a disappointment, maybe because the atmosphere of the fans translated through the TV, or maybe a 'new' old track brings some excellent spice to 2021.
Heroes
Max: a fantastic race, never approaching a mistake all weekend, not from driver nor team. He didn't seem to draw on the crowd as much as British or Brazilian drivers do at home races. Seemed a little weird for 'Mad Max' to be so grounded about being a national hero.
Bottas: there's been plenty of talk about his future, about whether he would be a 'good teammate' if he's not being paid to do so. Well, I think he did a great job of running the 'teammate' strategy, taking a late single pitstop so he could hold up Max for a couple laps, not pushing for the fastest lap point. He really IS a team player, possibly the best 'rear gunner' we've seen in F1.
Gasly: best of the rest, what more to say?
Ferrari: 2 strong points finishes, moving into third in the WCC, and the drivers seemed like they could have done more. Ferrari is strong, and they're hungry. That's what the sport needs!
Alonso: I wasn't sure if Alonso/Alpine would have much to show this year. Boy was I wrong. Alonso is as much a racer as he's ever been. He's getting the most out of his car, and driving the pants off the other midfield drivers who may be the strongest 'midfield' in terms of skill we've ever had.
Zeroes:
Haas: Grosjean and K-Mag couldn't get along... Schumacher and Mazepin can't get along. I'm starting to think the team has some deep seated cultural issues. Maybe Steiner needs to stop swearing for the camera and start getting this team sorted out. He oversaw a great start to the team, but Gene needs more mature leadership for his team.
Williams: They're still looking better, but back to Earth after 2 straight double points finishes.
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Bottas set fast lap on one of the last laps even
when he was told not to. Maybe he thought what
are they going to fire me. I bet he's at Alfa next year
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I have to say I was not overly impressed with the track with little opportunity for overtaking which is down to the track and cars so maybe next year if the cars are to be able to run closer together it'll be a better spectacle.
LH took fastest lap with VB saying he eased off knowing LH would beat whatever he did.
I'm hoping Monza is to be more interesting.
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Didn't watch the race, but it seems the top 10 finished like they started with the exception of Alonso gaining a couple of places. So as great as the drivers say this track is, it doesn't look like there are many passing opportunities. The banked corners looked nice, but didn't seem to help with the overtaking. I was hoping they would enable you to take different lines through he corner.
The highlights didn't add much to that, with the exception of Bottas giving us some intrigue by snatching the fastest lap "by accident". I think his time at Mercedes is up and he knows it...
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The highlights didn't add much to that, with the exception of Bottas giving us some intrigue by snatching the fastest lap "by accident". I think his time at Mercedes is up and he knows it...
He asked the team why he was stopped if it was not for fastest lap but if they hadn't he would have been in front of LH but they didn't tell him that so he was p*ssed!
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At least this time there was an actual race!
Heroes
- Max Verstappen - totally dominated the weekend.
- Valtteri Bottas - for masterfully navigating the terrain between rebelling against Mercedes' disrespectful treatment of him, and keeping their co-operation.
- Sebastian Vettel - for defending the Haas drivers after qualifying when they blocked him.
Honourable mention: Giedo van der Garde -
Zeroes
- Zandvoort gate security - Did you know that flares are banned at Zandvoort because it is near a harbour and they could cause harm to shipping? Or that they are banned at some other circuits (such as Silverstone) because they can burn people's fingers if used carelessly (as one of my friends had happen to them when the fan next to them waved their flare around like it was some sort of flag)? Or that they can set a dune on fire (which happened after the race when a fan dropped theirs over the side)? TV spectators could be forgiven for not knowing any of that. You gate security people? Not so much. Please search for and remove these things as diligently as Hungaroring security dumps large bottles of water!
- Nikita Mazepin - 4 separate incidents of nearly causing a crash due to inept driving this weekend, slow all weekend, and blames everyone except himself. He needs to be benched for not learning how to do F1.
- Ziggo interviewer - For a nasty line of questioning towards Lando Norris post-race, including insinuations he should "get a massage in Amsterdam".
Dishonourable mention - COVID protocols. Sending journalists through the public gates (shoulder-to-shoulder with fans) is likely to expose more of the paddock to infection, which has already jumped from single-figure infections per week to an average of 15.5 over the last fortnight.
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- Zandvoort gate security - Did you know that flares are banned at Zandvoort because it is near a harbour and they could cause harm to shipping? Or that they are banned at some other circuits (such as Silverstone) because they can burn people's fingers if used carelessly (as one of my friends had happen to them when the fan next to them waved their flare around like it was some sort of flag)? Or that they can set a dune on fire (which happened after the race when a fan dropped theirs over the side)? TV spectators could be forgiven for not knowing any of that. You gate security people? Not so much. Please search for and remove these things as diligently as Hungaroring security dumps large bottles of water!
I said in chat I think the one thing that would keep me from going to the Dutch GP is the flares.
Dishonourable mention - COVID protocols. Sending journalists through the public gates (shoulder-to-shoulder with fans) is likely to expose more of the paddock to infection, which has already jumped from single-figure infections per week to an average of 15.5 over the last fortnight.
I thought the entire crowd had to be double vaccinated to attend. I would think that crowd would be as safe as you could get.
Heroes:
Perez - great charge.
Zeroes:
The track. I was briefly excited when I saw the first banking on lap one was almost 3 cars wide, but knew that the rest of the course allows for very little passing. That said, I'd love to see Zandvoort race in the rain.
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Not so much a hero zero comment.
Disliked the track. Too short, tight pit, two places to pass.
The orange smoke was a danger due to obscuring the track at the start and I will say again, breathing issues for others.
Nice to see the race happen after Spa but....
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Most of mine have already been mentioned but I'll repeat two:
Hero:
Checo Perez for carving his way up from the back of the field.
Zero:
Mazepin - No, Niki, it's not all about you.
Sad to see Kimi go, sadder that he couldn't race, sadder still that he won't be at Monza, either.
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- Zandvoort gate security - Did you know that flares are banned at Zandvoort because it is near a harbour and they could cause harm to shipping? Or that they are banned at some other circuits (such as Silverstone) because they can burn people's fingers if used carelessly (as one of my friends had happen to them when the fan next to them waved their flare around like it was some sort of flag)? Or that they can set a dune on fire (which happened after the race when a fan dropped theirs over the side)? TV spectators could be forgiven for not knowing any of that. You gate security people? Not so much. Please search for and remove these things as diligently as Hungaroring security dumps large bottles of water!
I said in chat I think the one thing that would keep me from going to the Dutch GP is the flares.
I thought the entire crowd had to be double vaccinated to attend. I would think that crowd would be as safe as you could get.
From what I gather, the risk level from Delta if double-vaccinated taking recommended protocols around double-vaccinated people is the same as for riding as a passenger in a car. Plenty of people get injured or die as passengers in car accidents, and certainly lots of passengers end up in accidents. At the very least, it seems like an unnecessary risk for a paddock that's not officially meant to be doing sustained mixing with the crowds. (Yes, it's followed more in the breach than the execution when paddock people get a choice, but that's not an excuse for force inappropriate mixing). Also note: one of the recommended protocols is to be at least 1 metre from people with whom you are not in regular contact, even outside and masked...