@1863714084279230553

in the end the lack of a clear candidate Im sure it's gonna benefit Perez and he's gonna stay

actually rather him than Bottas or Magnussen, who should definitely retire good good

Will be interesting to see how Doohan does on his debut

 

Colapinto seems to have slid back a bit, so maybe he'll come back down the line

 

On a personal note (as a Hulkenberg fan), he's now in a battle with Gasly for the 10th place spot. Would prefer them both to be in the top 10 in place of Perez. Really hope he's dropped soon

Zandvoort off the calendar after 2026!

Hooray.

 

We can bin off a challenging track with history, character and a passionate crowd that regularly packs the grandstands in favour of one more street race in the US or Middle East!

 

The worst thing is that the circuit had to make this decision, which tells you everything about hosting fees

George Russell claims Max Verstappen said he would “put me on my f**king head in the wall” during their infamous stewards’ room meeting at the Qatar Grand Prix.

Oh I'm loving this new found drama, George has triggered Max.

Russell has balls Lando doesn’t have I hope he can have a good car next season

On Thursday, Russell said he had not set out to get Verstappen a penalty.

 

"There is nothing to lie about," Russell added. "He was going too slow, he was on the racing line and in the high-speed corner. I wasn't trying to get him a penalty. I was just trying to prepare my lap and you fight hard on track and in the stewards.

 

"The same way as Max the very next day asked his team to look at Lando (Norris') penalty on the yellow flag. That's not personal. That's racing."

 

Russell added: "I don't know why this topic has got him so angry. He cannot deal with adversity. I am not questioning his ability one bit. But the second he does not have the fastest car, Budapest, he crashes into Lewis, slams his whole team and loses the plot."

 

Russell said "people have been bullied by Max for years now", and added: "He's been enabled because nobody's stood up to him.

 

"Lewis stood up to him in '21 and lost that championship unfairly. Can you imagine the roles being reversed and Max losing that championship in the way Lewis lost it? (Then race director Michael) Masi would be fearing for his life."

 

He added: "I'm not looking for any repercussion from this, I am standing up for myself to a guy who is questioning my reputation and slamming me in the media."

 

In an unusual step, Mercedes F1 boss Toto Wolff attended Russell's news conference and criticised Red Bull team principal Christian Horner for calling Russell "hysterical", saying this "crossed a line".

 

Wolff said: "Why does he feel entitled to comment about my driver? If you're thinking about it, yapping little terrier, always something to say.

 

"His forte is not intellectual psychoanalysis, but that's quite a word. How dare you comment on the state of mind of my driver."

 

Verstappen said on Thursday that he had "no regrets" about his comments in Qatar.

 

"I meant everything I said," Verstappen said. "And it's still the same. If I had to do it again, maybe I would've said even more, knowing the outcome of the race results. I still can't believe that someone can be like that in the stewards' room.

 

"For me, that was so unacceptable because, I mean, we're all racing drivers, we all have a lot of respect for each other, we even play sports together, you know, you travel together, and of course, you have moments where you get together, you crash, you're not happy.

 

"In my whole career, I've never experienced what I have experienced in the stewards' room in Qatar. And for me, that was really unacceptable."

 

 

Well this is fun...

 

Russell's somewhat hysterical response not only misunderstands Max's issue with him, in that it wasn't asking for a penalty that was the problem but how he went about it, and this kind of proves Max's point. Russell has a rather unpleasant sense of entitlement about him and does indeed behave like a drama queen. Frankly, I don't need Max or anyone else to tell me that since it's been obvious for years.

 

Verstappen has subsequently denied he was as angry in his response as Russell has said. For me, Max is many things, not all of them are admirable but if one thing is clear it's that he's a straight talker. He won't apologise for his transgessions (the Dutch have a reputation for not doing that anyway) but I don't figure him for being a liar either and whilst I'd stop short of calling him a bully he does seek to intimidate others, on track anyway and has been known to lose his temper in the past.

 

I completely believe it when it was reported Max told George he'd have the lead back by the first corner and Im sure he may have phrased it in a more colourful way but I'm less inclined to believe he genuinely threatened to drive him into the wall. Adding in that there's been suggestions by others in the sport that Russell does indeed have a different personality for the cameras compared to away from them and I'm inclined to think George is still playing the media game for his own benefit. As other driver's have suggested, notably Alonso, Verstappen does appear to be the target of media bias - George is both pushing that angle, trying to needle Max and looking to impose himself as team leader for next year, no doubt believing he'll be a title contender.

 

It's not new - Piquet, Mansell, Senna and Prost stand out as others who've utilised the dark arts but this seems to be going a step further and leaves a bad taste in the mouth.

 

 

For the record Masi did receive death threats in 2021 in Lewis lost, but George has neglected to factor that in and preferred to insinuate a more insidious kind of threat.

 

 

Also this exchange in the F2 press conference raised a few eyebrows after Isack Hadjar was asked about his future -

 

 

Hadjar: “I mean, there’s obviously confirmed and yet to be confirmed, right? So, obviously, I literally can’t tell you what I’m doing next season, because it’s not been [made] official.”

 

Bortoleto: “You know already?”

 

Hadjar: “If I say I know, then maybe you guys know what’s going on, so…”

 

Bortoleto: “Oh, so he doesn’t have pressure anymore, so none of us have the pressure of the last round anymore. Good.”

 

Hadjar: “I don’t like these questions. Just got to wait, man.”

Russell has a rather unpleasant sense of entitlement about him and does indeed behave like a drama queen.

 

Oh come on, really? This could describe Max

Oh come on, really? This could describe Max

Not in my book. Given how hard he had to work to get where is whilst under the tutelege of a father who was borderline abusive to him as a child, I don't see it that way myself. Sure he believes he's the best but they all do and he spent his early career breaking nesrly every record. If that doesn't make it earned what does?

Russell's early career meanwhile saw him finish behind drivers like Stroll, Giovinazzi, De Vries, Leclerc and Gunther yet got fast tracked in to Mercedes. He's clearly developed as a driver since then and is there on merit but those early years seem to have given him an attitude that Hamilton (for example) never got.

Double post

Edited December 5, 2024Dec 5 by Severin

Russell gives off smarmy smug bully head boy vibes. He always has had this air about him but since going to Mercedes it’s just been far worse.

 

Hooray.

 

We can bin off a challenging track with history, character and a passionate crowd that regularly packs the grandstands in favour of one more street race in the US or Middle East!

 

The worst thing is that the circuit had to make this decision, which tells you everything about hosting fees

To be fair to F1, this time it’s not the hosting fees. They know they only pack the grandstands because of max and the Dutch government is borderline hostile to the Grand Prix, and threatened to raise the VAT on tickets from 9% to 21%, so they’re bowing out before they go bankrupt due to the perfect storm of a complete lack of government support and a star that won’t be around forever

 

 

Personally I think it’s premature to think they won’t still be able to hold a crowd after max but the lack of a supportive government is tough to overcome

Persoanlly I found both Russell and Verstappen extremely extremely obnoxious. I get the comment about Russell being two faced and also Max being a big big bully. I find them both the opposite of nice and the opposite of what a sportsman should be.

BREAKING: Charles Leclerc has been handed a 10-place grid penalty for the Abu Dhabi Grand Prix after exceeding the battery allocation

 

oh constructor's title decided then :/

The Hulk 3rd in FP2 (behind the Mclaren's)

 

Qualify well and let K-Mag play bumper cars in the race!

Edited December 6, 2024Dec 6 by Herbs

To be fair to F1, this time it’s not the hosting fees. They know they only pack the grandstands because of max and the Dutch government is borderline hostile to the Grand Prix, and threatened to raise the VAT on tickets from 9% to 21%, so they’re bowing out before they go bankrupt due to the perfect storm of a complete lack of government support and a star that won’t be around forever

Personally I think it’s premature to think they won’t still be able to hold a crowd after max but the lack of a supportive government is tough to overcome

The supportive governments have allowed F1 to keep raising the fees though, as they know there's a bucket load of cash available so they've steadily upped the cost over the years, to the point that independent circuits can't compete anymore. Silverstone has had the same issue before but the found a workaround.

Hosting fees may not be the direct reason but if the circuit can ony break even with a three day sell out the fees are part of the problem as they eat up so much of the income before you start

interesting final one with a crazy start

so weird that now Max is penalized for anything and up until a while ago he had carte blanche to do anything he wanted