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How frustrating must it be for other drivers?


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#1 jacdaniel

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Posted 13 July 2020 - 08:26

You can't really blame Mercedes or Hamilton for been so dominant.  But there is no doubt that its making the sport very boring for the fans and extremely frustrating for the other drivers on the grid.  Its really difficult to see anything other than Hamilton winning more titles this season and next season at least.  The other drivers must be demoralized at this point.

 

Seb:  He's a 4 time champion and should be considered a legend.  But I think he's lost his hunger and has made lots of mistakes from trying to overdrive the car in an attempt to compete.  He looks to be on the verge of walking away from the sport.

 

Max:  This is his 6th season in F1.  He has gotten a seat in a good car, made himself number 1 driver, has shown his talent and ability to win races.  But he wants to compete for wins and championships.  He'll be entering his 8th season in F1 when the rule changes come in.  

 

Leclerc:  Only his 3rd season in F1 but he has shown he can races and is very fast.  Doubt he'll be winning races this year.  Like Max, he'll likely be into his 4th and 5th years with still no real hope to challenge for a title. 

 

Those are the main 3 drivers that I can think of that would currently be frustrated right now.  Ricciardo and Perez deserve a mention as well.

 

Do you find it frustrating that other talented drivers can't compete?  Really hope the rule changes will change things.  Would be great to have 3 or 4 drivers competing for a title.  



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#2 thefinalapex

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Posted 13 July 2020 - 08:37

I agree with ever word, you can’t blame Hamilton but i would love too see him getting challenged more.

#3 Marklar

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Posted 13 July 2020 - 08:40

Vettel had the chance to win the title twice and botchered it massively.

Max and Leclerc locked themselves into long term contracts, and I believe at least the former was on Mercedes' radar.

Ricciardo chosed to race for big money in the midfield.

I do feel sorry for the midfield drivers like Perez who just never get any chance to taste victory, but that's about it.

#4 shure

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Posted 13 July 2020 - 08:40

You can't really blame Mercedes or Hamilton for been so dominant.  But there is no doubt that its making the sport very boring for the fans and extremely frustrating for the other drivers on the grid.  Its really difficult to see anything other than Hamilton winning more titles this season and next season at least.  The other drivers must be demoralized at this point.

 

Seb:  He's a 4 time champion and should be considered a legend.  But I think he's lost his hunger and has made lots of mistakes from trying to overdrive the car in an attempt to compete.  He looks to be on the verge of walking away from the sport.

 

Max:  This is his 6th season in F1.  He has gotten a seat in a good car, made himself number 1 driver, has shown his talent and ability to win races.  But he wants to compete for wins and championships.  He'll be entering his 8th season in F1 when the rule changes come in.  

 

Leclerc:  Only his 3rd season in F1 but he has shown he can races and is very fast.  Doubt he'll be winning races this year.  Like Max, he'll likely be into his 4th and 5th years with still no real hope to challenge for a title. 

 

Those are the main 3 drivers that I can think of that would currently be frustrated right now.  Ricciardo and Perez deserve a mention as well.

 

Do you find it frustrating that other talented drivers can't compete?  Really hope the rule changes will change things.  Would be great to have 3 or 4 drivers competing for a title.  

BIB I think contradicts itself.  Why would he be overdriving if he didn't have the competitive hunger?   To me that shows he is still very much hungry but frustrated and that's one reason why he's prone to mistakes.

 

For the rest I agree that the sharp end is a little boring.  Basically Merc can only lose if they stuff up.  Which clearly means. they've done a great job but does make it a bit pointless for. the rest of the grid



#5 Cliff

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Posted 13 July 2020 - 08:42

Can’t disagree with anything. I’m absolutely sure in any other era Max would’ve had a title or 2 by now. Never has there been a car as dominant as that Mercedes for as long as it has.

#6 TomNokoe

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Posted 13 July 2020 - 08:50

Every driver deserves their day ... the joy from Norris last week and the sheer excitement watching Perez hunt down Albon yesterday. We need a competitive field!



#7 klyster

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Posted 13 July 2020 - 09:04

Do MotoGP fans go through this anguish too?



#8 ExEd

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Posted 13 July 2020 - 09:06

Lewis is by far the best of his generation, it takes a lot to beat him and it needs any driver and their team to give 110%.
Not many have the talent and speed to challenge him, too few actually. So it needs one of them to be on the correct car at the correct time.
‘17-18 Seb and Ferrari where close but in the end they botched it. Then they decided to try something different, we all know the results.

#9 jacdaniel

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Posted 13 July 2020 - 09:16

Lewis is a great driver of course.  It would actually be better for his legacy if somebody was competing with him a bit more.



#10 thefinalapex

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Posted 13 July 2020 - 09:16

Lewis is by far the best of his generation, it takes a lot to beat him and it needs any driver and their team to give 110%.
Not many have the talent and speed to challenge him, too few actually. So it needs one of them to be on the correct car at the correct time.
‘17-18 Seb and Ferrari where close but in the end they botched it. Then they decided to try something different, we all know the results.


By far is a stretch, he has the best car wich skews it a bit. Alonso and Verstappen are on the same level for me. Vettel looked nigh on unbeatable in 2011 and 2013 for instance. Hamilton is great no doubt about it but being in the best car helps alot aswell.

#11 as65p

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Posted 13 July 2020 - 09:22

Vettel had the chance to win the title twice and botchered it massively.

 

And in hindsight, aren't we all grateful he didn't? The backlash of the Ferrari engine saga would have been so much harder. Or they would have swept it under the carpet properly, who knows.

 

Really, if you take the now somewhat tainted Ferrari challenge of the last 3 years away, Mercedes domination looks even more crushing obviously. The only theoretical ease of that situation would have been Williams or McLarens approach from back in the day, to go after the best available driver to put alongside Hamilton. But those days are gone for good.



#12 Goron3

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Posted 13 July 2020 - 09:22

It's a real shame that drivers like Ricciardo, Perez, Hulk have spent a HUGE bulk of their F1 careers just waiting for the end of the two tier system. Same for Max but he's still young. Even Alonso tbh.

 

I guess the real issue in this two tier system is that there's not much mobility between the tiers. Even if you look at the V10's you had a number of teams jumping to competitiveness because a lot of teams were spending similar amounts (Williams, BMW Williams, Ferrari, Renault, Mclaren, and then failures like Toyota who spent loads but achieved nothing).

 

Lewis is my favourite driver. I think he's incredible. I'm also happy to admit that his statistics are heavily (heavily) skewed because of this era. And I think that's a real shame. 



#13 F1matt

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Posted 13 July 2020 - 09:23

Did Ferrari & Vettel really botch it up? Was the Ferrari ever as good as a Mercedes in this era? For me Ferrari had to have everything right and the stars aligned to beat the Mercedes, the silver car always seemed to be kinder to its tyres, have more options regarding stops, superior engine, etc. Lewis is a first class driver, but Valterri Bottas can carve his way through the field at ease and he is no more than a default F1 driver, as was Nico Rosberg who managed to win a title because the car and team are so good. 

 

I think the only way they will stop winning is when they get bored and walk away. We have to admire the way the team have gone about this. Kudos. 



#14 P123

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Posted 13 July 2020 - 09:24

I'm sure it is frustrating for other drivers, but I'm not sure I can feel sorry for people who get to do what they do, and get paid $20m+ for it.  The likes of Max and Leclerc are still very young, and will win many championships.  They will also have periods where they will have a car which nobody else can compete with, and I'm sure won't personally feel too bad about it. :)  It's the nature of the sport.



#15 P123

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Posted 13 July 2020 - 09:27

Did Ferrari & Vettel really botch it up? Was the Ferrari ever as good as a Mercedes in this era? For me Ferrari had to have everything right and the stars aligned to beat the Mercedes, the silver car always seemed to be kinder to its tyres, have more options regarding stops, superior engine, etc. Lewis is a first class driver, but Valterri Bottas can carve his way through the field at ease and he is no more than a default F1 driver, as was Nico Rosberg who managed to win a title because the car and team are so good. 

 

I think the only way they will stop winning is when they get bored and walk away. We have to admire the way the team have gone about this. Kudos. 

 

As hard as it may be to admit, yes, yes they did.  Through unreliability, strategic errors and driver screw ups.  Mercedes also wasn't always kinder to it's tyres, nor in possession of a superior engine (albeit turns out the Ferrari was illegal).



#16 ExEd

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Posted 13 July 2020 - 09:31

Did Ferrari & Vettel really botch it up? Was the Ferrari ever as good as a Mercedes in this era? For me Ferrari had to have everything right and the stars aligned to beat the Mercedes, the silver car always seemed to be kinder to its tyres, have more options regarding stops, superior engine, etc. Lewis is a first class driver, but Valterri Bottas can carve his way through the field at ease and he is no more than a default F1 driver, as was Nico Rosberg who managed to win a title because the car and team are so good.

I think the only way they will stop winning is when they get bored and walk away. We have to admire the way the team have gone about this. Kudos.


They (Ferrari) where leading the tables for many months trading wins, definitely in the fight.
If you expect two teams having two identical cars with similar weaknesses and clocking around similar times all the way to count as competition then F1 never been competitive.
They where as close you can get , if their upgrades were not good enough to kill Merc or their lead driver made stupid mistakes , that’s botching it.

#17 OO7

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Posted 13 July 2020 - 09:31

Do MotoGP fans go through this anguish too?

I know of one in particular, so check out the MotoGP thread. :)   The difference however being rather than stating/complaining about a manufacturer or team making the sport boring, it's Marques.



#18 as65p

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Posted 13 July 2020 - 09:32

Did Ferrari & Vettel really botch it up? Was the Ferrari ever as good as a Mercedes in this era? For me Ferrari had to have everything right and the stars aligned to beat the Mercedes, the silver car always seemed to be kinder to its tyres, have more options regarding stops, superior engine,

 

There are credible estimations out there how many points Ferrari threw away in '17 and '18 with plain driver errors. At least it could have been much, much closer if Vettel had been as reliable as Hamilton. And that's before taking into account how a closer title fight and more pressure might have affected Hamiltons error rate (which is just guess work anyway, but surely a factor to consider).



#19 Sterzo

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Posted 13 July 2020 - 09:33

There's a whole other angle to this. We're living through a period of impressive supremacy by one of the greatest teams in history. It's not because there's weak opposition: it's because they are utterly brilliant. I would bet any money in ten years people will be saying "Ah, but current teams aren't a patch on the old Toto Wolff Mercedes team, I saw them and they were the best ever."

 

Similarly for Hamilton. We're in presence of greatness to savour. Every era has its strengths, but fun as it was to see wins by Boutsen, Fisichella, and Maldonado, do they really count for more?

 

Not really disagreeing with the OP, but there are different ways of looking at things.



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#20 ensign14

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Posted 13 July 2020 - 09:36

Must be soooo frustrating being paid the national debt of a developing country every year and getting all the sex you can eat.



#21 DutchQuicksilver

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Posted 13 July 2020 - 09:36

I’m pretty sure Bottas is on the list of frustrated drivers as well. If he didn’t have Hamilton as a teammate, he might be a world champion now.

#22 Lights

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Posted 13 July 2020 - 09:38

That's F1. The best way to counter this is through closing the gaps between the teams. The budget cap could be a step towards that. Restructuring the prize money concept would also help. 

 

Max:  This is his 6th season in F1.  He has gotten a seat in a good car, made himself number 1 driver, has shown his talent and ability to win races.  But he wants to compete for wins and championships.  He'll be entering his 8th season in F1 when the rule changes come in.  

 

In particular Verstappen I consider unlucky considering how long he's been in the sport by now and how good he has been. He was destined to become the youngest world champion.

 

Max and Leclerc locked themselves into long term contracts, and I believe at least the former was on Mercedes' radar.

 

We don't know how interested Mercedes really was. Maybe they were only serious about it had Lewis abruptly quit at some point. It's plausible there was interest from both sides but never when it suited both sides. Max committing to Red Bull also boosted his chances of succeeding with Red Bull as the whole organization is set out to deliver for him. You need to put your eggs in a basket and I don't think it was that bad a decision. They got really far and it's always easier assessing the situation long after contractual decisions are made. Also, if you look at other recent drivers who have become world champion at a young age, they didn't become that by moving to a better team. They either already were in a top team from the start (Hamilton, Villeneuve) or the team they were in became a top team (Alonso, Vettel, Schumacher).

 

Seb:  He's a 4 time champion and should be considered a legend.  But I think he's lost his hunger and has made lots of mistakes from trying to overdrive the car in an attempt to compete.  He looks to be on the verge of walking away from the sport.

 

Vettel has had his success and cannot complain based on the opportunities he has gotten. He made use of them early in his career and lately he has made less use of them. There's been many drivers who I believed to have been around Vettel's skill level that never got even remotely the amount of opportunities that Vettel had. And more specifically: with opportunities I refer to having a great car, team preference, and a subordinate teammate.

 

Leclerc:  Only his 3rd season in F1 but he has shown he can races and is very fast.  Doubt he'll be winning races this year.  Like Max, he'll likely be into his 4th and 5th years with still no real hope to challenge for a title. 

 

Leclerc is still relatively new and hasn't proved as much as Max yet. He should lead Ferrari back to the top and focus on the long game. He's unlucky to have joined Ferrari right before the engine scandal. Well, that did make him win some races but now he's suffering from the consequences for the foreseeable future. That should rightly frustrate him. But Hamilton's success shouldn't frustrate him, it should motivate him.

 

I do also feel a bit bad for some of the long term midfield drivers like Hulkenberg or Perez, maybe Magnussen, who overall have done well for long periods but are stuck in racing for the same positions year after year. Ricciardo recently joined them by the looks of it. But again, that's F1. Luck is a big part of it. Including who your teammate is and how that influences your career.


Edited by Lights, 15 July 2020 - 11:19.


#23 Fisico54

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Posted 13 July 2020 - 09:39

You can't really blame Mercedes or Hamilton for been so dominant. But there is no doubt that its making the sport very boring for the fans and extremely frustrating for the other drivers on the grid. Its really difficult to see anything other than Hamilton winning more titles this season and next season at least. The other drivers must be demoralized at this point.

Seb: He's a 4 time champion and should be considered a legend. But I think he's lost his hunger and has made lots of mistakes from trying to overdrive the car in an attempt to compete. He looks to be on the verge of walking away from the sport.

Max: This is his 6th season in F1. He has gotten a seat in a good car, made himself number 1 driver, has shown his talent and ability to win races. But he wants to compete for wins and championships. He'll be entering his 8th season in F1 when the rule changes come in.

Leclerc: Only his 3rd season in F1 but he has shown he can races and is very fast. Doubt he'll be winning races this year. Like Max, he'll likely be into his 4th and 5th years with still no real hope to challenge for a title.

Those are the main 3 drivers that I can think of that would currently be frustrated right now. Ricciardo and Perez deserve a mention as well.

Do you find it frustrating that other talented drivers can't compete? Really hope the rule changes will change things. Would be great to have 3 or 4 drivers competing for a title.

Vettel had his years of dominance and then chose his course to Ferrari and then chucked 1 if not 2 titles away.
Verstappen and Leclerc are young and have a year and a half to wait for a reset. In another era they would be just finishing their apprenticeship in the midfield

#24 New Britain

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Posted 13 July 2020 - 09:43

I'm sure it is frustrating for other drivers, but I'm not sure I can feel sorry for people who get to do what they do, and get paid $20m+ for it.  The likes of Max and Leclerc are still very young, and will win many championships.  They will also have periods where they will have a car which nobody else can compete with, and I'm sure won't personally feel too bad about it. :)  It's the nature of the sport.

Indeed. The ones who have really suffered through this have been the fans. Instead of being paid to get to do what we love doing, we have to pay out and we get what we don't love - boring and predictable racing.

For years, watching the typical Formula One race has been how Samuel Johnson described one's second marriage: 'the triumph of hope over experience'.



#25 babbel

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Posted 13 July 2020 - 09:43

Might have been better for the sport if 2020 had been cancelled and just run a regular season in 2021 (if possible), atleast then it would be only 1 season.

 

The thought of this for another 35+ races makes me vomit



#26 shure

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Posted 13 July 2020 - 09:45

Lewis is by far the best of his generation, it takes a lot to beat him and it needs any driver and their team to give 110%.
Not many have the talent and speed to challenge him, too few actually. So it needs one of them to be on the correct car at the correct time.
‘17-18 Seb and Ferrari where close but in the end they botched it. Then they decided to try something different, we all know the results.

in your opinion, of course.  I think few would argue that he's not among the best, but "by far the best" probably fails to take into account the equipment he has (and others don't).



#27 shure

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Posted 13 July 2020 - 09:46

I’m pretty sure Bottas is on the list of frustrated drivers as well. If he didn’t have Hamilton as a teammate, he might be a world champion now.

that's more of a talent thing, though.  He can't complain if he gets the opportunity



#28 as65p

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Posted 13 July 2020 - 09:59

Must be soooo frustrating being paid the national debt of a developing country every year and getting all the sex you can eat.

 

Hey, don't let the envy eat you up! :p

 

There are probably a few drivers content with the fame and fortune of being a F1 driver, but for some winning is the only thing that really matters. These are the only ones that I find interesting anyway.



#29 Risil

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Posted 13 July 2020 - 10:01

I do feel sorry for the midfield drivers like Perez who just never get any chance to taste victory, but that's about it.

 

I don't want to seem brutal but I can think of at least one big chance Perez had.



#30 as65p

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Posted 13 July 2020 - 10:01

that's more of a talent thing, though.  He can't complain if he gets the opportunity

 

Plus every year Bottas has what I would call "the Rosberg chance".



#31 kernel

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Posted 13 July 2020 - 10:03

By far is a stretch, he has the best car wich skews it a bit. Alonso and Verstappen are on the same level for me. Vettel looked nigh on unbeatable in 2011 and 2013 for instance. Hamilton is great no doubt about it but being in the best car helps alot aswell.

 

I like VER and I believe he's HAM's heir apparent when HAM retires, but VER hasn't earned the right to be put on the same level as ALO/HAM for now. That may, and will likely change in the future, but not for now.

 

As for VET, he did look good in those two seasons, though benefited from favourable team dynamics and regulations (fair play to him and RB, though), but has shown a lack of adaptability with new regs and has been extremely error prone in the recent seasons. Had his career ended after 2013, I would have agreed, but post-2013 events have tarnished his overall standing.


Edited by kernel, 13 July 2020 - 10:06.


#32 Marklar

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Posted 13 July 2020 - 10:03

I’m pretty sure Bottas is on the list of frustrated drivers as well. If he didn’t have Hamilton as a teammate, he might be a world champion now.

he gets the best car in the field, and relatively equal treatment, frustrated yes, do I feel sorry for him? No.



#33 as65p

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Posted 13 July 2020 - 10:06

I don't want to seem brutal but I can think of at least one big chance Perez had.

 

To be brutal, I think the true top guys might have won at least one race of the last two in that pink Merc, or at least contested for a win much more that Sergio. Really, the wet qualifying failure last saturday was a bit disgusting.



#34 Lights

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Posted 13 July 2020 - 10:08

I’m pretty sure Bottas is on the list of frustrated drivers as well. If he didn’t have Hamilton as a teammate, he might be a world champion now.

 

If Rosberg hadn't abruptly quit, Bottas might've never won a race.



#35 NixxxoN

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Posted 13 July 2020 - 10:10

Blame F1 management and Liberty Media for not being able to stop mercedes after so many time. Pretty sure Bernie would've never allowed such long dominance for so many damn years. In Bernie era no team would dominate for more than 3-4 years at most, and usually not as much as that

MS/Ferrari were stopped in 2005 with critical rule changes made exclusively to hamper Ferrari and they did slow them a hell of a lot. We should have seen something similar vs Mercedes, in 2018 or 2019, but we didn't.


Edited by NixxxoN, 13 July 2020 - 10:12.


#36 Spillage

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Posted 13 July 2020 - 10:12

2014-2016 were frustrating but at least there was decent competition between the two Mercedes drivers. 2017-18 were good seasons which Mercedes/Hamilton won fair and square.

 

Last season and this season were/will be frustrating because Mercedes have easily the best car and are content with a #1 and #2 driver policy. I don't blame them for that it does make the competition really dull. I do feel for a guy like Verstappen who's been driving really well for years but just hasnn't had the car to challenge for the title. Last season I also felt sorry for the talented midfield drivers who were frozen out of the top three, but now it seems Mclaren and Racing Point can fight for podiums I'm less sorry for them.



#37 Zilbert

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Posted 13 July 2020 - 10:13

Most of this started with the idiotic token system, it's from there that Mercedes dominance found it's long term prospects. Also, illegal tyre test couldn't have hurt them either.  :yawnface:  You kind of get the feeling that, even with regulations changes, performance advantage stays locked in, and not just engine, but aero as well. Lewis or no Lewis, Mercedes would have won all those titles anyway, even with Lewis in one of the other cars. Only exception to that could be 2018 season.



#38 OO7

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Posted 13 July 2020 - 10:14

Might have been better for the sport if 2020 had been cancelled and just run a regular season in 2021 (if possible), atleast then it would be only 1 season.

 

The thought of this for another 35+ races makes me vomit

That ones easy.  Just don't watch this season, put it up in 2021.



#39 Erwin123

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Posted 13 July 2020 - 10:14

Lewis is by far the best of his generation, it takes a lot to beat him and it needs any driver and their team to give 110%.
Not many have the talent and speed OR CAR to challenge him, too few actually. So it needs one of them to be on the correct car at the correct time.
‘17-18 Seb and Ferrari where close but in the end they botched it. Then they decided to try something different, we all know the results.

Fixed that...

And being in a brilliant and stable car that is a second a lap quicker than any other car in the field does tend to flatter the driver a bit since he needs to take less risk.
He is great, but I think any solid driver (say Ricciardo) would also have had a few WC's to his name now and be regarded as a legend if it would have been him and not Hamilton in that car.
So don't get too carried away.



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#40 NixxxoN

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Posted 13 July 2020 - 10:19

Lewis is by far the best of his generation, it takes a lot to beat him and it needs any driver and their team to give 110%.
Not many have the talent and speed to challenge him, too few actually. So it needs one of them to be on the correct car at the correct time.
‘17-18 Seb and Ferrari where close but in the end they botched it. Then they decided to try something different, we all know the results.

People forget the Lewis pre-Mercedes hybrid years it seems, from 2009 to 2014

Realise how much a car changes your results no matter how talented you are...



#41 Sennasational

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Posted 13 July 2020 - 10:22

This again? Already?



#42 TheFish

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Posted 13 July 2020 - 10:23

I wrote in a different thread about how in the past, drivers would have a chance of getting into a title winning car for a season or 2 and how it feels less likely now. Partly due to years of domination by teams now, partly because drivers stay at teams longer.

 

Drivers like Ricciardo would have won a title in the 80s and 90s. He'd have ended up in a Williams for a year or 2, or a Brabham or something. It saddens me that he's very unlikely to win a title. He's definitely no worse than other drivers that managed to win a title or 2. It may end up being the case for other drivers. At least most of the current crop that could be champions have youth on their side. Leclerc, Max, Lando and George should all be around for the next 10-15 years, hopefully we get some good title battles with them.

 

I'm a Lewis fan, and I love seeing him break basically every record there is, but I was also bored to tears during the Schumi/Ferrari years, I stopped watching. It can't be much fun for others now.

 

I wonder how much longer the Lewis/Merc domination will go on for. Maybe he could even get to 10, which would be depressing for a lot of people.



#43 Retrofly

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Posted 13 July 2020 - 10:24

Is it at all possible that Max at some point could have switched to Merc? If so why didn't he?

 

If not why has he never had the option. The best drivers should be in the best cars, with Max he clearly isn't in the best car, why?



#44 absinthedude

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Posted 13 July 2020 - 10:24

There is no "two tier system". Any team is welcome to design and race a better car than the Mercedes. Any motor manufacturer is welcome to build and supply a better PU than the Mercedes. Unfortunately for the last few years, nobody has. It is not unusual for one team to be dominant for a few years but this dominance going into it's 7th season is unusual, possibly unprecedented. But it is not the fault of Mercedes or Hamilton that no team has been able to match them.

 

One could lay some of the "blame" with the FIA, who could have produced a different set of rules. The token system worked in Mercedes' favour for sure and the others just haven't caught up. But even then, it is down to Ferrari, Honda and Renault that they cannot build a PU which is equal or better than the Mercedes. As Williams are now showing, it's not just the PU either. The whole Mercedes team is a better working outfit than any other. 



#45 pdac

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Posted 13 July 2020 - 10:26

One could argue that if great drivers do not have the correct equipment to get the job done, then that's because they are not the greatest - otherwise you'd somehow manage to get yourself into a team with the right equipment.



#46 Arundo

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Posted 13 July 2020 - 10:29

I dont want to take away anything from Mercedes or Hamilton they just did the best job for years, their team is so structured hardly any mistakes are done. Great drivers like Hamilton grow even greater with such as stable environment around them. I just hope that Mercedes and Hamilton stick around long enough to have another team challenge them. Ever since this engine era they have not been really challenged over a full year. Sure there were some races Ferrari or Redbull came close but nothing for a whole season.

 

And like i said its not Mercedes fault for being this dominant, but you start to wonder how long this will be good for F1. How long with Redbull try to get close to Mercedes ? How long wil Honda stay around if they cant have a shot at the WDC/WCC. How long will Redbull stay clear of the blame game towards Honda ? 

 

My hope is that Redbull can catch up this season and with the rules not changing next season they can challenge but we might even need to wait till 2022.



#47 goldenboy

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Posted 13 July 2020 - 10:29

Double whammy for Ricciardo joining Red Bull the first year their dominance ended.

#48 Spillage

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Posted 13 July 2020 - 10:29

Is it at all possible that Max at some point could have switched to Merc? If so why didn't he?

 

If not why has he never had the option. The best drivers should be in the best cars, with Max he clearly isn't in the best car, why?

The Hamilton-Bottas partnership works for Mercedes. It works well to have a great driver and a teammate who can't match him but doesn't kick up a stink about it. Good for team harmony and given they're winning both titles every year anyway they don't really need a better driver than Bottas in the second car.



#49 Arundo

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Posted 13 July 2020 - 10:30

Is it at all possible that Max at some point could have switched to Merc? If so why didn't he?

 

If not why has he never had the option. The best drivers should be in the best cars, with Max he clearly isn't in the best car, why?

 

Mostly because there are only two best cars for a years now, Hamilton and Verstappen fun to watch in one team. 

For a team not so much I bet :)


Edited by Arundo, 13 July 2020 - 10:31.


#50 BRG

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Posted 13 July 2020 - 10:31

It is so frustrating that Alonso is coming back to get a second dose.

 

Nearly everyone suffers frustartion in their daily work.  it is part of life.  If they don't like it, they can go to another series.  But oddly enough none of them do (willingly).