F1 (Formula 1) Racing Topic

[Bucki1968]

Waiting for summer break to be over...

[Bucki1968]

In my short time as an F1 fan, I would have to say that Max's performance on Sunday was the most impressive I've ever seen. P14 to first in a relativity short amount of time and then cruise to P1. Looks like 2022 is going to be the year of Red Bull. 

[iacas]

1 hour ago, Bucki1968 said:

In my short time as an F1 fan, I would have to say that Max's performance on Sunday was the most impressive I've ever seen. P14 to first in a relativity short amount of time and then cruise to P1. Looks like 2022 is going to be the year of Red Bull. 

Seriously, yeah. He was in fifth before you even knew what was happening.

Alonso's comment about how Lewis only knows how to race when he's in first was funny.

[Pretzel]

After Max's performance today it seems pretty clear how much on a different level he really is from the rest of the field in terms of driving ability.

Starting from P14, admittedly in the fastest car, he still ends up winning 18 seconds clear of his teammate. His teammate didn't have any kind of strategy disadvantage (pitted whenever was optimal for him, same tire strategy as Max and didn't have to cover for any other cars) and appeared to have the same spec of all parts on the car as Max. 

The only drivers we've seen come close to this type of performance in the last 20 years would be Lewis Hamilton and Michael Schumacher. Not even Vettel or Alonso really had that kind of pace difference from their teammates, and Max has had that large of an advantage over every single one of his teammates since he hit his form in 2019 (and even in 2018 Ricciardo only truly had better races than Verstappen in Australia and China). Gasly, Albon, and Perez have proven in other teams that while they may not have been on the same level as Hamilton/Verstappen, they were among the best of the remaining drivers in the field rather than simply middling performers buoyed by sponsors or outright pay drivers. Gasly and Perez are both race winners in midfield cars while Albon has managed to drag that Williams this year far beyond anyone's expectations. 

It's fun to watch, at least at the moment, but it does start to make one wonder if we're in for a run of Red Bull and Verstappen dominance until the next big shake-up in 2026 similar to Mercedes from 2014-2020. It's always fun to watch a driver with historic talent like that, but when they're in the best car cruising to victories from anywhere on the grid we all know how stale it can become. I'm hoping other teams are able to put together improvements to make their car (or strategy team) a worthwhile challenger for the Red Bull at least, and then we'll have a better idea of how the best of the next generation (Leclerc, Norris, and Russell) stack up against the obvious talent of Max.

[iacas]

3 hours ago, Pretzel said:

best of the next generation (Leclerc, Norris, and Russell) stack up against the obvious talent of Max.

Charles is like two weeks younger than Max. Max has been in F1 since he was like 12, though. 😄

[Pretzel]

On 8/29/2022 at 5:45 PM, iacas said:

Charles is like two weeks younger than Max. Max has been in F1 since he was like 12, though. 😄

Yeah, he got enough of a head start. I was counting Max among those of the next generation, he's just the only one among them to have won a WDC so far.

[Bucki1968]

Charles is starting to look like he's not the driver that I thought he was going to be. At the beginning of the year, it looked like it was going to be a dog fight between Red bull and Ferrari. Red Bull has just pulled away and Charles can't go two races without driving his car off the track. Doesn't seem like Ferrari is very well organized? Lots of head scratching moves during the race.

[Bucki1968]

Well I think after his win this past week-end, Max and Red Bull have pretty much sewn up the championships. I guess their will be some intrigue for the second place finish in the manufacturers title. Maybe Mercedes will get past Ferrari? 

[iacas]

3 minutes ago, Bucki1968 said:

Well I think after his win this past week-end, Max and Red Bull have pretty much sewn up the championships. I guess their will be some intrigue for the second place finish in the manufacturers title. Maybe Mercedes will get past Ferrari? 

Looking like a very real possibility. Also, Checo is still T2 in the drivers championship with Leclerc… but has been fighting the car a bit lately.

[Bucki1968]

I would have to say this Singapore was actually one of the more entertaining races I have watched this season. I guess you need weather and some qualifying drama to make them interesting?

[Pretzel]

Honestly the biggest surprise to me of Singapore was the complete lack of either penalties or warnings for both Mercedes drivers. Lewis re-joined the track right in the middle of a battle for position without a care in the world for whether it was safe to do so or not, and Russell's collision with Mick was baffling considering he turned out into a car that was driving perfectly straight rather than Mick even beginning to turn in.

[Bucki1968]

Quick end to the season. Red Bull is dominating. Only thing left is to see if Checo can finish second. I'm hoping that Haas can score some points before the year is over. Thought maybe this week Mick would get some points but no dice.

[iacas]

I wonder what his reasons are.

I mean, he'd also pulled four seconds ahead.

 

[iacas]

One theory…

[Bucki1968]

That is really strange. Max has nothing to gain here. I figured it would be about getting Checo into second place? 

[iacas]

3 hours ago, Bucki1968 said:

That is really strange. Max has nothing to gain here. I figured it would be about getting Checo into second place? 

He may think it was payback for Monaco… a race that Checo won this year, with Max finishing third. See above tweets?

[Bucki1968]

2 minutes ago, iacas said:

He may think it was payback for Monaco… a race that Checo won this year, with Max finishing third. See above tweets?

No, I saw (and heard) the tweets from above. I'm just kinda stunned that Max would be that petty seeing as though he's already world champion. I guess he carries a grudge. Come on Max....let it go.

[iacas]

19 minutes ago, Bucki1968 said:

No, I saw (and heard) the tweets from above. I'm just kinda stunned that Max would be that petty seeing as though he's already world champion. I guess he carries a grudge. Come on Max....let it go.

Michael Jordan.

Tiger Woods.

Tom Brady.

Really good athletes often have grudges and act like psychopaths.