Alfa Romeo has finally confirmed that Guanyu Zhou will become China’s first Formula 1 driver when he partners Valtteri Bottas next season.

Wouldn't preferred it to be Piastri... Will see how Zhou gets on, but Piastri has an infinitely better junior record (including a likely F2 championship win, hence his confirmation as Alpine reserve - maybe Alonso has already decided to retire next year and Alpine are saving him for themselves...)

Wouldn't preferred it to be Piastri... Will see how Zhou gets on, but Piastri has an infinitely better junior record (including a likely F2 championship win, hence his confirmation as Alpine reserve - maybe Alonso has already decided to retire next year and Alpine are saving him for themselves...)

Giovinazzi level- with the added bonus of having huge financial advantage.

Not exactly shocking news. Zhou will probably do little better than Giovinazzi but maybe, just maybe he will improve in ways the Italian hasn't. Clearly much more valuable in a marketing sense though..

 

 

Who knows though, maybe Antonio will one day get a second coming

Antonio I can see him probably moving to Formula E for his next move.

Mercedes have asked for a review of the decision not to penalise Red Bull's Max Verstappen for forcing Lewis Hamilton wide in the Sao Paulo Grand Prix.

 

The incident on lap 48 of the race was "noted" by the stewards but no investigation was carried out.

 

Mercedes have lodged a "right of review" after new evidence emerged that was not available at the time.

 

This is believed to be on-board camera footage which officials did not have during the race but emerged on Tuesday.

Just seen it (hurrah for it being released), Max definitely drives him off the road :lol:

 

I think had Max kept it on the track himself it would been fine, just hard driving. But the fact he went off himself means he gained an advantage by "failing to lose the position" so I think I've changed my stance on it. Not that it actually matters anyway as Lewis got passed eventually.

The footage alone doesn't really change the situation yet. Once in the corner he's clearly not full lock, but also doesn't exactly open the steering wheel. Which means it needs to be complimented by telemetry from the car. How much does he brake and how little grip has he got?

 

These factors will decide whether there's any intent to run Hamilton off the road. I'm really not sure there is, beyond the acceptable 'mustn't let him pass me' outlook. It could be just hard racing but that in itself isn't enough to earn a penalty. And it wouldn't be an issue it Max had stayed on the track

The advantage he gained by staying ahead is clear though, so I suspect the outcome of n investigation could well be a +5 second time penalty demoting him to 3rd.

 

Mercedes might be best to only push for that rather than anything more. Remember it's not reviewing a previous investigation but actually asking for one to take place based on new evidence and the stewards tend not to like that after the event.

 

As an aside I have been impressed by Hamilton's attitude over the whole incident. Unless I missed something, and bar a brief low-level sarcastic quip aside, so far he has been quite relaxed about it all. Whereas Toto, even of he has a point about Max, has been a bit of an arse all weekend.

Mercedes: we want to win the title on the track

Also Mercedes……

Nah that's just taking any excuse to view this negatively about Mercedes. This is another example of what some of us were saying previously this year. Max often goes aggressive in these situations and expects/relies upon the other person to just move out the way. Hamilton drove exceptionally well this weekend, including managing to avoid Max going straight into the side of him.

 

I understand why he did it (it's similar to something Schumacher would have done and he was also a great driver) but it was essentially taking that situation to a place where only Max could come away from it in the better position.

Well of course. Max is the one in front. Do you want him to just roll over like he’s Bottas???? He has the right to defend his position on track

No but I don’t think he should drive someone off the track to the extent where he can’t even stay on it himself.

 

My point around better position wasn’t about the race, it was about the balance in championship points. He would have known that either they were going to take each other out or Lewis would have to go massively off track. He also wasn’t in front at the corner, he only went back ahead because he refused to break in time to actually manage to turn in.

 

And my reason for comparing him to Schumacher was that he also had a habit of making moves that would potentially take rivals out at key moments.

The Schumacher comparison is totally valid. He's the driver Max most reminds me of.

I was actually having this conversation on Sunday. Hamilton is similar to Prost but with added wet weather skills (to be Alain's fear was justified after the Pironi accident), but Max is very much like Michael. The only reason he's not as well liked as Schumacher was, is because off the track, Michael was (is?) a thoroughly likeable, friendly and engaging individual but Max is much more guarded and private. Both have the same total self belief but Max gets viewed as arrogant because he gives so little of himself away.

 

Additinally he also suffers from the same ailment most foreign drivers experience over here - since the 80s the UK media like to paint any rival of a British driver in a subtly to blatantly negative way. It happened to Schumacher, Rosberg, Piquet, Alonso, Prost, Senna, even Vettel wasn't exempt either and he's one of the nicest guys in the sport. Massa is about the only one who never had this but that really would be pushing it. Even Button gets sneered at on occasion.

It's worth remembering that in the UK press Hamilton is regularly touted as if he's the most popular driver ever but in the recent global F1 survey he came third behind Lando Norris, with Max as most popular

Edited November 17, 20213 yr by Severin

Good points there but Vettel in particular was disliked around the world at the height of his Red Bull days. in 2013 he was being booed on every podium at one point.

 

Was Button ever sneered on? Think of him as one of the most popular drivers ever in Britain.

 

And on your last point yes the British-bias is evident but it's nothing compared to the Max euphoria in the Dutch media. There's nothing wrong with that though, it's pretty expected to celebrate someone from your country doing well at something in the sporting world. If Russell starts winning next season I'm sure the British media narrative will switch pretty quickly too!

There are countless pieces about Button being lucky or focusing on his younger days where he's described as a playboy driver and that his win in Canada was nothing but luck.. of course there's some truth in all of it but it's much harder to find articles that mention how he outscored Lewis over there 3 seasons together or his good drives. Also, anytime he dares to make a criticism of Hamilton you can see the endless 'he's just jealous' comments.

 

You're right about the Dutch media and others I'm sure but I guess I don't mind it so much when it's not in my face the whole time. I haven't ever favoured a driver simply because of their nationality except maybe James Hunt but I was so young then anyway. I've always preferred to support the drivers I feel are the best and haven't been a 'fan' of anyone since Senna died. It used to wind me up when Murray Walker would say how brilliant Damon Hill was when he was clearly not in the top class of F1 drivers, even if he is a nice guy.

 

I can ignore the papers and much online content but it bugs when Sky Sports or Channel 4 focus too much on a few drivers. Compare the coverage any of the British drivers get compared drivers of equal stature. Loads on Norris yet we rarely see much about Sainz or Ocon for example. And I know next to nothing about Latifi, Giovinazzi or Mazepin.

I'd just like to see more balance. Italian GP? How about a feature on the history of Italian motorsport with Antonio? No, we will probably have a chat with Lando or George again.

There's 20 drivers out there but you'd think there's half that number sometimes.

 

Anyway back to the original point, Max is just the current villain for the British press to target but it does seem he's rather liked around the world otherwise

It’s quite interesting to compare Sky UK and Sky Germany. The commentators here call out the positions and that of Vettel and Mick far more than any other drivers but it’s like the occasional like catch up sentence for folks just tuning in part way like „Sebs in 12th and hasn’t pitted yet and mick is currently in 19th but has pitted“. Otherwise I find the commentary to be pretty even handed here and generally of a better standard than the UK when there is at least three times a GP I’m yelling at the TV coz they’ve IDd the wrong car. Get a lot of analysis and info in race too. They use Ralf Schumacher as an expert and commentator and even he can resist speaking about his literal flesh and blood in the way that Sky UK talks about literally anyone with a British passport

 

I will have to sit this weekend and watch the pre-show to see if they have the same level of focus on the German drivers as the UK does on the Brits because then that could be a Sky company editorial position in terms of who appears on Pre-shows and the likes.

 

(Also there’s quite a few team principals that can speak German! More than I had expected)

Antonio I can see him probably moving to Formula E for his next move.

Mystic Mack!

 

 

He has been confirmed today as a Dragon /Penske driver in FE

It’s quite interesting to compare Sky UK and Sky Germany. The commentators here call out the positions and that of Vettel and Mick far more than any other drivers but it’s like the occasional like catch up sentence for folks just tuning in part way like „Sebs in 12th and hasn’t pitted yet and mick is currently in 19th but has pitted“. Otherwise I find the commentary to be pretty even handed here and generally of a better standard than the UK when there is at least three times a GP I’m yelling at the TV coz they’ve IDd the wrong car. Get a lot of analysis and info in race too. They use Ralf Schumacher as an expert and commentator and even he can resist speaking about his literal flesh and blood in the way that Sky UK talks about literally anyone with a British passport

 

I will have to sit this weekend and watch the pre-show to see if they have the same level of focus on the German drivers as the UK does on the Brits because then that could be a Sky company editorial position in terms of who appears on Pre-shows and the likes.

 

(Also there’s quite a few team principals that can speak German! More than I had expected)

I hate the coverage in the UK too - with the exception of Anthony Davidson's segments, they really should just let him run the show as he's far more insightful and accurate than any of the others.

The FIA hearing on whether to open an investigation over lap 48 will be held tomorrow at 5pm local time

Tbh I don't know how you guys can watch via Sky, it's the most boring thing ever

if you ever watched it just once in Spanish via Movistar, you could never watch it again via Sky

it's 10000 times more exciting, they are all over the place with their comments but they are very contagious

and make you feel like you're at the circuit, it's all very thrilling and exciting, 1000% the opposite of Sky

who also only seem to comment on Hamilton, for them people like Sanz its like if he didn't exist even when she's running 3rd or 4th

I hate the coverage in the UK too - with the exception of Anthony Davidson's segments, they really should just let him run the show as he's far more insightful and accurate than any of the others.

Thats a low bar to be fair. :lol: Ive Never been a Fan of Davidson, even back in his days as a poor driver.

 

The FIA hearing on whether to open an investigation over lap 48 will be held tomorrow at 5pm local time

 

Na, toll

Tbh I don't know how you guys can watch via Sky, it's the most boring thing ever

if you ever watched it just once in Spanish via Movistar, you could never watch it again via Sky

it's 10000 times more exciting, they are all over the place with their comments but they are very contagious

and make you feel like you're at the circuit, it's all very thrilling and exciting, 1000% the opposite of Sky

who also only seem to comment on Hamilton, for them people like Sanz its like if he didn't exist even when she's running 3rd or 4th

Lack of Spanish is a bit of a roadblock :lol: but the German Sky are heaps better than the Brit’s!