Great race from Verstapen

 

It's a pity the cameras never showed the fight between Sanz-Alonso and how Alonso passed him...

 

Very disappointed at Ocon's comments, how quickly he forgot he would have never won the last race if it wasn't for Alonso's help

That whole weekend was just a Verstappen circlejerk really :lol: but he was immense tbf didn't buckle under the pressure or the heavy weight of expectation at all.

 

An intriguing weekend, all the action was in practice & qualifying rather than the race which was another parade. I can conclude that Zandvoort is a great track for driving but a terrible one for racing. It'll get a pass though cos of the electric atmosphere.

It’s a beautiful circuit and I think a safety car might have shaken things up more. Will see what happens next year with the new regs before we write it off.

 

In any event it’s far better than any of the oil Prix’s. It has atmosphere and the circuit is good.

 

 

 

 

And silly season has officially begun! Bottas announced as new Alfa Driver

 

 

@1434841673897553923

For what it’s worth I also think the feed has a lot of the blame when it comes to thinking it was a procession. They missed huge numbers of passes. Most of Perez’s action was missed and we missed Fernandos overtake on Sainz for nothing important at all. They didn’t even show a replay after Max crossed the line

Yeah definitely needs another few races to properly determine and fairly assess. Everyone wrote Baku off after its debut snoozefest but it's genuinely one of the highlights of the calendar now. There really is nowhere to pass though other than turn 1.

 

I've noticed that quite a few times in recent races re missed action. Your best chance is to watch the top 10 onboards they put out on F1 YouTube channel for the unseen stuff. Or Palmer's F1TV analysis picks it up.

Edited September 6, 20213 yr by Dobbo.

I hope Valtteri does a decent job at Alfa. His reputation has taken quite the battering recently (and not always unfairly), however there are often loads of people quick to defend Gasly, Albon and even Perez when they have struggled to impress because their teams were set up to benefit Vertsappen (which is only partly true and lacks the wider view) but this is always ignored with Bottas despite Mercedes clearly favouring Hamilton heavily since he joined the team and in a car that Hamilton has had several years more input on.

 

The reality is that Bottas like Perez and Albon (the juries still out on Gasly) will never be top tier and were put up against drivers that will go down in history as amongst the greatest of all time.

 

 

Next year we truly will learn if George has what it takes. At the moment there is no surefire comparison - Latifi has no frame of reference besides George (and his race pace isn't a million miles away from Russell's) and one admittedly impressive race against Bottas isn't enough to be sure. Russell's a strong qualifier for sure but in races he's often veered between anonymous and poor even allowing for the car. I think he probably has the goods but if he can't consistently challenge an aging Hamilton next year then we will have to look elsewhere

Agreed about Bottas. People forget just how good he was at Williams, scoring loads of podiums in 2014-16. He was comfortably the "best of the rest" after the big teams and when Nico retired it was an absolute no-brainer for Merc to sign him up. 2017 & 2019 were very decent showings from him all things considered but he's just unfortunately had a big drop-off in the last 2 seasons which has become much more noticeable now RB have caught up. Sure he'll do great at Alfa (by their expectations at least).

 

Russell's next season will be fascinating. His racecraft is indeed the area which will be under scrutiny as his qualifying heroics are now well documented. So many unknowns with the new regs though, no one has any clue which teams will be the quickest. Don't rule out another 2009 where the grid was turned upside down.

The least surprising news of the year has been confirmed.

 

I would welcome another 2009 or beginning of 2012 in regards to the grid. I can see Bottas doing similar to say a Hulkenberg or Perez in regards to how he does at Alfa Romeo.

 

 

 

Verstappen has surpassed Stirling Moss and now holds the record for the most GP wins without WDC title to his name.

Actually it's gonna be very interesting to see how Bottas does now, cos now he had the best car ever, so very intriguing to see how he does with a shitty car...

Alpha Tauri confirm they’re keeping the same line up for next year

 

 

Available seats appear to be: 2x Williams, 1x Alfa (and technically 1x Merc but we know that’s George and 1x Aston but we know it’s Vettel)

Is Giovinnazi confirmed not to be continuing?

oh just read Russell in Merc is official now!

Is Giovinnazi confirmed not to be continuing?

No but he’s not exactly confirmed to be staying either.

 

oh just read Russell in Merc is official now!

Just got the notification from sky now too!

Well I never :o

 

3 British drivers in potentially/(hopefully) race-winning cars next season then. Exciting times!

About bloody time for George Russell

 

I am so ready for him to win a race!

incredible for George and so well deserved!

Hamilton won't be happy :D

First few races will be very interesting. I can see a Max vs Lewis battle with George there or there abouts. I can’t see him dropping off the pace at the odd race (like Bottas has been doing)

Yet more unsurprising 'news' as Albon is now confirmed with Williams for 2022.

 

Not sure if Mercedes power move succeded or not as yet though