[Red Liner]

Originally Posted by Cyborg

I would be most interested in the conversation between Toto, James and Bottas (which we will never know ) after the latter was ordered twice to abort his fastest lap effort when he showed the first two sectors in purple.



Cheers

Does anyone think if Lewis was in this position, he would have accepted such orders or?

[akash_v12]

Originally Posted by Red Liner

Does anyone think if Lewis was in this position, he would have accepted such orders or?

Not meaning to be contradictory here, but I guess he would. We've seen a few of these driver swaps and orders being given to Lewis in previous years, though I haven't seen anything this and the last year.

One thing I know is that Valterri is surely not enjoying this and it's pretty evident from that cheeky attempt for the fastest lap.

[Red Liner]

Originally Posted by akash_v12

Not meaning to be contradictory here, but I guess he would. We've seen a few of these driver swaps and orders being given to Lewis in previous years, though I haven't seen anything this and the last year.

One thing I know is that Valterri is surely not enjoying this and it's pretty evident from that cheeky attempt for the fastest lap.

Don't think Lewis was very forthcoming in his fight with Nico

[NKB]

Will not say it was a great race but I enjoyed it a lot. I mean the atmosphere was electrifying and the way the crowd was cheering for MAX and I think they got Max of MAX.

What a race by MAX. Not a single mistake right from the start. Having said that, Hamilton tried everything he could but it was MAX’s day. RedBull Team had upper hand in terms of race strategy over Mercs.

P8 for Perez after starting from pit was an amazing result in this track where overtaking opportunities are limited and you need to take greater risk to do that. I liked his radio message to his team “Who’s next…”. Now with new engine, hope we see strong comeback by Perez hereon.

Gasly also had a very good race. He had very good race pace. This is one driver to keep watch in the future.

Looking forward to Monza…Super Excited for a fast race there.

Also, I was wondering why the other teams in midfield do not try to go for fastest Lap point. Some of the drivers had wndow to pit to get fresh soft tyres and try it.

[tazmaan]

Superb Flawless drive by Max. Even as a long time Hamilton Fan I am really excited for the New version of Max. Hamilton had no answer and was playing the catch up game through out practice, qualifying and the race.

The race itself was boring with hardly any action on the track.

[clementw]

The race was boring after Max made a fast get away. The more I see it the more I think Lewis starts slowly each time and that increases the gap between him and Max. Bottas had a more energetic start before he was cut off by Lewis but the best move was by the old master Alonso. The mid field also did not have too much excitement except for Perez who worked up to 8th. All in all a boring race.
Also wonder if the orange smoke affects drivers especially in windy conditions, they should be banned at least on pollution grounds.

[reddyboi]

With a 2-1 fight, Merc had a clear advantage in terms of the strategy they can deploy to combat Max, but unfortunately, it didn't work out well, and Hamilton couldn't get past Max

Bottas should have performed better to make the strategy against Max work

Nevertheless, Max is truly a championship material and the way he is focused and been driving without mistakes should make the Hamilton of the new F1 era from 2022

[Wolvie2687]

Originally Posted by reddyboi

With a 2-1 fight, Merc had a clear advantage in terms of the strategy they can deploy to combat Max, but unfortunately, it didn't work out well, and Hamilton couldn't get past Max

Bottas should have performed better to make the strategy against Max work

If Bottas was second they could have taken some risk in strategy to unsettle Redbull and Max. With Hamilton in Driver championship race, I guess they dint want to take any risk.

Bottas pace was not good enough to challenge Max and Hamilton. Even his race engineer was updating him around lap 20 I believe that at this pace he is not gonna be a contender for top spot.

[Cyborg]

Originally Posted by Red Liner

Does anyone think if Lewis was in this position, he would have accepted such orders or?

Performance and place in the drivers standing (constructors is important too of course, but we are talking about the one point difference to Lewis because of his close battle with Verstappen) is above everything. Bottas is not (never has been, in all his time at Mercedes) in contention for the drivers title by any means. What was the point of spoiling relations with the team when his exit is so near or even otherwise.

The only thing Bottas achieved was showing his defiance (what else) and his frustration since he is being booted out of the team. Since the announcement is likely this week itself, it would have been so much more powerful and graceful if he would have actually backed off in the last sector. He showed his pace by being purple in the first two sectors anyways. It’s impossible to believe he lifted off (in the last sector) after being told twice to back off and still got fastest lap. It was merely Mercedes/Wolff not washing their dirty linen in public since the Bottas story is over anyways. Bottas was lucky Lewis did manage to get the fastest lap on the last lap or there would have been serious repercussions for sure.

To specifically answer your one liner, Red Liner Yes, I believe in the exact same circumstances Lewis would have listened to the team. Not because he is the better man, but because he has demonstrated in the past he is the smarter man of the two. There was absolutely nothing to be gained in the one point for fastest lap in Bottas’s circumstances.

Cheers

[StarrySky]

Originally Posted by Cyborg

It’s impossible to believe he lifted off (in the last sector) after being told twice to back off and still got fastest lap.

Bottas' best S3 was 22.285 which he did on his outlap after his second stop. On the next lap, where he did his fastest lap, he did 23.043 in S3. So he quite clearly backed off.

[Vid6639]

Coming up in Monza:

Hamilton: Bono my tyres are gone!

Bono: You're on the formation lap Lewis.........

[aim120]

Originally Posted by Red Liner

Does anyone think if Lewis was in this position, he would have accepted such orders or?

https://www.google.com/amp/s/amp.the...nd-prix-report

https://www.motorsport.com/f1/news/h...937385/937385/

But Lewis in the past has given up a podium for Bottas after he asked for a switch, he said to Bono in the radio that he had better pace to get 2nd place and Bottas was at that time in 3rd place and Lewis in 4th. But since Lewis couldn't overtake the car in 2nd place with 1 lap to go or in the last lap he slowed down enough to let Bottas take back 3rd position. He switched back despite Mercedes not asking Lewis to do so. Lewis did this despite the fact when he was trailing behind Vettel who was at Ferrari and leading the championship points. Lewis eventually won that year.

[Cyborg]

Originally Posted by StarrySky

Bottas' best S3 was 22.285 which he did on his outlap after his second stop. On the next lap, where he did his fastest lap, he did 23.043 in S3. So he quite clearly backed off.

Does a slower time than an earlier lap in sector 3 necessarily mean he backed off

It could also be he was actually slower on this lap (in sector 3) than the previous one. Net result still fastest lap of the race. Drivers of this caliber know where they are fast, where they lose time, by how much and why. So if he genuinely wanted to follow team orders, he could have easily ensured the fastest lap didn’t come to him.

If I could have been a fly on the wall during the post race debrief (not as reported in the media) meeting and heard it from either Wolff or James would I believe he was genuine in his attempt to slow down but failed anyway or as I mentioned earlier it’s Mercedes being smart by not washing their dirty linen in public.

I believe results speak for themselves, rest is all baloney - excuses and justifications for a job not done properly.

Cheers

[mayankk]

Originally Posted by Vid6639

Coming up in Monza:

Hamilton: Bono my tyres are gone!

Bono: You're on the formation lap Lewis.........

That is genuinely funny. And this is from one of the most hard core fans of his on the forum, I believe. Usually, he complains just to divert opponents, but it was overdone this time.
Next up is monza, and he's won that with different teams, and different machines. I expect a bounce back from the man.

[iamahunter]

Originally Posted by Cyborg

Does a slower time than an earlier lap in sector 3 necessarily mean he backed off

Team orders man! Radio message was clear if not direct, "Valtteri this is for the team" he was to back off and let Lewis have the fastest lap and take that one extra point.

Originally Posted by Vid6639

Coming up in Monza:

Hamilton: Bono my tyres are gone!

Bono: You're on the formation lap Lewis.........

Genuinly funny, Lewis has become Sir.Crybaby, not one race and he's not complained about something or the other.
"Max is Noah, traffic gets aside for him and not me."
"Alonso's driving is too dangerous at these speeds."
"RedBulls are fast."
"RedBulls are doing something with their wing" to quote a few, and so many more.

I feel, for the past few years, Sir.Crybaby has never had a bad car. Now, when RedBull has an equally competitive car, he's loosing.
His complaints graph is shooting thru the roof!