Crown

Congrats to Redbull and Max.  Class of the field by far in this generation.  Totally embarrassing for Mercedes the rise of Aston as a customer car beating them.   Though even if Toto was not a partial owner of the team, I think he would be secure, the value of the Mercedes Team has risen by multiples under his stewardship and I think he as made Mercedes a ton of money.

Only solace I can take as a Hamilton fan recently is that you can flip the criticisms now that were directed at Hamilton for all those years when he was dominant and now insert Max's name.

• Max can only win with the fastest car or help from the FIA.
• Max can only win when RedBull build the car around him and his driving style.
• Max can only win when his team gives him a wing man who knows his place.
• Max has a really annoying personality and whines too much.
• Max can only win when competitors screw the pooch.
• Max is not real champion, the old guys... now they were drivers.
• Max hangs out with unsavory characters.
• Max's fans are overbearing.

I think the only criticisms you cant now apply to Max happen to be: being Vegan, having Tattoos and piercings.  LOL.

All tongue in cheek.  Max is a talent and Redbull have aced it the last couple of years.  Impressive.

Thuggy you are spot on!!

In the past, when a team aced the regulations, they will be dominant team for that era, it is what it is. 

But with the sliding scale system the FIA wants to bunch up the field to be more competitive. Not sure if the cut in testing will bring Red Bull that much back into the pack as they had a huge lead last year, but maybe perhaps towards the end of this rule cycle they will be venerable like Mercedes was during the last cycle. 

Ferrari wasn't too far off last year, but for some reason they keep wanting to sabotage themselves, and they already started off on the wrong foot this year. In theory they should have gained against Red Bull but will see about that this season.

Mentioned before, Aston had benefitted from the regulation and also daddy Stroll's major investment in the team. Alonso  perhaps really jumped team at the perfect time. It is totally expected for Mercedes to fall back, it's what the rules were about, FIA doesn't want a top team to stay up top forever. 

Williams is making gains also which is nice to see. Will see how Alpine fare this season. Haas should also benefit somewhat with the testing advantage. 

Carlos from Spain:

 

Also Stroll will also be right there, Alonso said he is championship material and did an incredible effort with his injuries to get P6. I know he is a pay driver with a rich dad but imo he has earned his place to be there with the rest and will likely be right up there with Alonso. 

Junior. Let's start measuring him up.

Is he as good as Hamilton or Max? Nope. 

Leclerc and Sainz? Nope again.

Alonso? Nope.

Norris and Russell? Nope also. 

Albon, Gasly, Ocon? Again no.

He is definitely better than Mazepin and Latifi for sure. 

What's left are the likes of Perez, Bottas, Yuki, K Mag, Hulk, Zhou.

Plus the 3 rookies De Vries, Piastri and Sergeant. All of which are quite hyped up with promises.

Put aside the 3 rookies first and assumed Stroll is better simply because he has a few years of experiences under his belt. That means comparing him with a pack of 'normal interchangeable F1 drivers'. 

Among those, take away Perez, he has a superior car for the last 2 years. Can also take Bottas away as he has shown at times over a one lap qualifying pace he can beat Hamilton.

That leaves K Mag, Hulk, Zhou and Yuki as his peers. I would put him ahead of Yuki for sure, but Yuki is also only there because of Honda, so that victory doesn't really means much. 

Zhou arguably is also the one representing Chinese money, so can also be discounted. 

Given equal cars, can Stroll beat K Mag and Hulk? I think it would be closed.

So Stroll has graduated from being member of the Billionaires' Boys Club to a solid average interchangeable F1 driver. Nothing more. If his daddy isn't a team owner, he would be sweating every couple years for a seat like all others. 

With regards to Stroll, hilarious how much Alonso is playing him up.  "Future world champion...", "... my hero", its almost like its in his contract.  Worst things to be though... son of billionaire and an average F1 Driver. HA!

thuggy:

With regards to Stroll, hilarious how much Alonso is playing him up.  "Future world champion...", "... my hero", its almost like its in his contract.  Worst things to be though... son of billionaire and an average F1 Driver. HA!

Bitter much with AM taking Merc's lunch money this weekend? You do realize Alonso and the Stroll family have been friends for many years prior and have become very close?  If Alonso is know for something is speaking his mind and not playing people or teams up, which had gotten him in trouble many times.

This was Stroll senior and Alonso BEFORE the race...  also in his contract? lol

Whoopsy:

Carlos from Spain:

 

Also Stroll will also be right there, Alonso said he is championship material and did an incredible effort with his injuries to get P6. I know he is a pay driver with a rich dad but imo he has earned his place to be there with the rest and will likely be right up there with Alonso. 

 

Junior. Let's start measuring him up.

Is he as good as Hamilton or Max? Nope. 

Leclerc and Sainz? Nope again.

Alonso? Nope.

Norris and Russell? Nope also. 

Albon, Gasly, Ocon? Again no.

He is definitely better than Mazepin and Latifi for sure. 

What's left are the likes of Perez, Bottas, Yuki, K Mag, Hulk, Zhou.

Plus the 3 rookies De Vries, Piastri and Sergeant. All of which are quite hyped up with promises.

Put aside the 3 rookies first and assumed Stroll is better simply because he has a few years of experiences under his belt. That means comparing him with a pack of 'normal interchangeable F1 drivers'. 

Among those, take away Perez, he has a superior car for the last 2 years. Can also take Bottas away as he has shown at times over a one lap qualifying pace he can beat Hamilton.

That leaves K Mag, Hulk, Zhou and Yuki as his peers. I would put him ahead of Yuki for sure, but Yuki is also only there because of Honda, so that victory doesn't really means much. 

Zhou arguably is also the one representing Chinese money, so can also be discounted. 

Given equal cars, can Stroll beat K Mag and Hulk? I think it would be closed.

So Stroll has graduated from being member of the Billionaires' Boys Club to a solid average interchangeable F1 driver. Nothing more. If his daddy isn't a team owner, he would be sweating every couple years for a seat like all others. 

The well above average race he did this weekend with a p6 his injuries when he was told he wouldn't be racing until Australia says otherwise. Guess we will see soon enough along this season.

Bitter?  Not at all, having some fun is all.  I actually grew up in Canada so happy to see Canadians continue to be represented in the pinnacle of Motorsport as drivers and owners.   And if Mercedes  can’t get their act together I’m more than happy to have Aston and Alonso challenge RedBull.  I like leclerc as well but have little faith in Ferrari. 

So, has anything become clear about why Leclerc kicked it in the quali? Was really weird to see him end it prematurely.

Porsche, separates Le Mans from Le Boys

Leclerc wanted to save the last set of soft tyres for the first stint of the race, at least that was his statement.

Carlos from Spain:

 

The well above average race he did this weekend with a p6 his injuries when he was told he wouldn't be racing until Australia says otherwise. Guess we will see soon enough along this season.

Most athletes, outside of footballers, are tough. They are competitive and wouldn't let injuries gets in the way of playing/competing. The circuit itself isn't too demanding as oppose to tougher circuits. 

Also he was helped immensely by the car. And what's not in front. 1 of the Ferraris is gone and that naturally moved everyone up spot. Russell isn't too far back but the Aston was much kinder on tires hence why Stroll finished ahead. The 6th place could have been an 8th place.

But the Aston seems strong this season, so instead of placing it 4th best car on the grid so normally 7th and 8th finishing, it's a toss up between it and the Mercedes and 5th and 6th place are in play for them. 

You make it sound so easy... he jumped on the car having missed winter testing and having had surgery on his hands days prior and limping on one foot. He had trouble turning the wheel and even had to change the approach on turn 1 because of it. 

Loved the comment about footballers, indeed the snowflakes of the sporting world 

Stroll is still a world class athlete, very fit. Had to be to be a modern F1 driver. And yes I saw the onboard about him during practice.

Never said he is a garbage driver like Mazepin, already had him qualified as one that's fit to be on the current grid, he did improved from when he first got here. 

Does he have a higher ceiling than what he is currently at? Maybe, but will he ever be as good as Max or Hamilton? Never. The current crop of young guns, which he is part of, is very very good. Is there anything from him that stands out from the pack? Not really. Max is the standout from that group, back to back champ already. But does anyone thinks had Stroll been driving that Red Bull that Stroll can be back to back champ? Nope. is he able to drag and back marker to places it shouldn't be in like Russell? Also a nope. 

The real litmus test, no matter how unlikely, would be will any other teams on the grid try to offer to sign him to be their driver. He really doesn't have an official contract as his daddy owns the team, but say what if daddy throws in the towel and sell the team, will Junior still have a seat? As of right now, I think he will. He is a fully qualified mid pack driver. Top shelve however is a stretch. 

Whoopsy:

Stroll is still a world class athlete, very fit. Had to be to be a modern F1 driver. And yes I saw the onboard about him during practice.

Never said he is a garbage driver like Mazepin, already had him qualified as one that's fit to be on the current grid, he did improved from when he first got here. 

Does he have a higher ceiling than what he is currently at? Maybe, but will he ever be as good as Max or Hamilton? Never. The current crop of young guns, which he is part of, is very very good. Is there anything from him that stands out from the pack? Not really. Max is the standout from that group, back to back champ already. But does anyone thinks had Stroll been driving that Red Bull that Stroll can be back to back champ? Nope. is he able to drag and back marker to places it shouldn't be in like Russell? Also a nope. 

The real litmus test, no matter how unlikely, would be will any other teams on the grid try to offer to sign him to be their driver. He really doesn't have an official contract as his daddy owns the team, but say what if daddy throws in the towel and sell the team, will Junior still have a seat? As of right now, I think he will. He is a fully qualified mid pack driver. Top shelve however is a stretch. 

We will see, young drivers sometimes surprise, specially when they finally get a decent car, so far I'm very impressed at what he did with two broken wrists and toe, and I'm not the only one, Stroll's performance in Bahrain was ranked by the media at number 4. Ocon's dead last LOL

Carlos from Spain:

thuggy:

With regards to Stroll, hilarious how much Alonso is playing him up.  "Future world champion...", "... my hero", its almost like its in his contract.  Worst things to be though... son of billionaire and an average F1 Driver. HA!

Bitter much with AM taking Merc's lunch money this weekend? You do realize Alonso and the Stroll family have been friends for many years prior and have become very close?  If Alonso is know for something is speaking his mind and not playing people or teams up, which had gotten him in trouble many times.

This was Stroll senior and Alonso BEFORE the race...  also in his contract? lol

 

Friendship in a cut throat business is a lovely thing!

I hope Alonso stays competitive- he’s alot of fun for an old fart

Carlos from Spain:

 

We will see, young drivers sometimes surprise, specially when they finally get a decent car, so far I'm very impressed at what he did with two broken wrists and toe, and I'm not the only one, Stroll's performance in Bahrain was ranked by the media at number 4. Ocon's dead last LOL

Yeah most definitely Ocon had a race to forget. His own mistake for starting at the wrong spot. Then his team pile it on by missing the timing by a quarter second or something, then himself again fro speeding in the pit lane. 

Norris was the other to have one to forget, stopping for air every 10 laps🤦🏻‍♂️

And yes, young drivers' performance will change. Like I said, Stroll has graduated from just being there because of daddy to legitimately a qualified F1 driver. That's a big step by itself. 

Will see if he can improve some more with guidance from Alonso. 

He and Russell are the only 2 drivers on the grid with a very successful partner than can teach them and help them grow as a F1 driver. 

Stroll is no longer the questionables, that group has basically shrunk down to Yuki because of Honda connection and Zhou because of Chinese money. 

Palmer's analysis (embedding is not allowed):

https://youtu.be/vC44UrHerAg

Not sure whether to believe this but...

"The Mercedes Formula 1 team has received a particularly annoying message from its headquarters. If the Silver arrows not turning the tide slightly within two races, headquarters will target Aston Martin. The customer team would then receive the best engines instead of the factory team."

https://www.gpfans.com/nl/f1-nieuws/103035/hoofdkantoor-mercedes-overweegt-sterkste-motoren-aan-aston-martin-te-geven/

Haha, that would burn little Toto's pants  Since MB corporate has controlling interest they could actually do this. They'd have to pop a big MB on the AM paint job

I wonder: IF Aston does well in F1, and MB sees the involvement with the brand as more valuable than before, would this reflect in the car manufacturing side. Maybe this is a bit of good luck and money coming Astons way, which might help get them out of the mess they're in? 

Aston Martin has little to nothing to do with the F1 team, if I’m not mistaken. Just a ‘partnership’ aka sponsorship.

997.2 4S / BMW 745e / Donkervoort GT 

spudgun:

Aston Martin has little to nothing to do with the F1 team, if I’m not mistaken. Just a ‘partnership’ aka sponsorship.

Actually no. Lawrence Stroll is part owner to both.

Stroll first partnered with a few others and brought Force India the F1 team from receivership. 

He later 'rescued' Aston Martin with another group of partners in return for a stake in the company and is after that deal that he rebranded the Racing Point team into Aston Martin.

Aston Martin had a 'partnership' with Mercedes for a decade now using the later's engines in their road cars. 

It's only natural for the F1 team to be a customer of Mercedes also.

As for that baseless rumour of Mercedes switching to supporting Aston Martin, just reading that shows the person creating that rumour doesn't even know F1 or business in general at all, just a typical Mercedes hater. 

Mercedes F1 team isn't like say Red Bull, where the engine supplier can pull the plug whenever. Mercedes F1 team is a full works team, which means to have that rumour coming true, Mercedes will have to pull the plug on themselves, Basically withdrawing from F1, which they aren't doing. 

Furthermore, it's not like Aston Martin was hiding the Mercedes branding with say Honda, if they win anything, it is still showcasing Mercedes, Mercedes can't lose even having a customer team winning either. 

Plus, per the FIA's regulations, all customer engines have to be of the same spec as the works team. Can't play favourites. Mercedes, Aston, McLaren and Williams all using exactly the same engines. Teams are free to turn up or down the engines as they pleased however. 

It's not like Red Bull a few years ago where they used Renault engines while taking Aston Martin sponsorship money, that was the really fucked up part. You can't even make this shit up, Red Bull powered by Renault, branded as Aston Miartin who was actually powered by Mercedes and not the French.

--

meanwhile Toto in total panic

https://www.dailymail.co.uk/sport/formulaone/article-11847719/Mercedes-say-wont-panic-make-knee-jerk-reactions-following-Lewis-H...

Patiently waiting for some 2 bit journalist to start talking about Toto fearing Red Bull poaching Hamilton and dumping Max......

With Hamilton Horner won't have to deal with a nosy daddy that interfere with team operations.

What a joke, only an idiot would want Lewee.  That MB pays the clown $40 m is ineffably ludicrous.;

Into the grip of the Desert

That scorpion has stung Team Red.  Chuck gets, at the minimum, a 10 place grid penalty.  https://www.formula1.com/en/latest/article.ferrari-confirm-charles-leclerc-will-be-hit-with-grid-penalty-for-saudi.2TMC3MUCnDCBgZQahmyLuC.html

Unbelievable! Ferrari is messing things up really early this season

Red Bull

If I don't fly, I drive my .:RS :)

uh oh, the pressure is showing.  Angela's arm wattles got too big, time for a new girlfriend.

https://www.dailymail.co.uk/sport/formulaone/article-11872329/Lewis-Hamilton-suddenly-parted-company-trainer-Angela-Cullen-seven...