46 replies to this topic

[ANF]

Best driver:
Worst driver:
Best team:
Worst team:
Best overtake:
Worst overtake:
Best moment:
Worst moment:

And the race in a sentence:

[greenman]

Best driver: Hamilton, although a number of other drivers had good races (Norris, Leclerc, both Alpines, Mick)
Worst driver: Mazepin for the pace and blue flag infringement
Best team: Mercedes, most surprising - Alpine. Very happy about that, hope they continue mixing it up with Mclarens and Ferraris.
Worst team: Haas, most disappointing Williams and Aston Martin.
Best overtake: I quite liked Max on Bottas, both cars sliding around in turn 1, and going side by side for a bit.
Best moment: Max vs Bottas, also in general seeing Alonso slide through the field.
Worst moment: SC for 5 laps for a broken front wing.

And the race in a few sentences:

I don't like the result, and I'm afraid this will be the picture as we go on through the season - Mercedes with a bit of an edge, Max being close, but usually not close enough (while unreliability will be more often on RB's side than Mercedes), Valterri being there, but ultimately not good enough to challenge.

 

Overall though I liked the race. We saw overtaking near the front - Max on Lewis, Lewis on Max, Lewis on Bottas, Max on Bottas. We've seen some solid drives throughout the field. It's a shame it wasn't closer at the end, but sometimes that's just how it goes. Merc had an edge, but Bottas had an issue so it wasn't going to happen. DRS did what it was supposed to do - give a shot, but not be an automatic overtake. Wish there would be more different strategies, but ok.

 

The stupidest thing remains the inconsistency re: track limits, jUsT sTaY wItHiN wHiTe LiNeS doesn't work when people are passing outside them, and it had me googling "Portimao track limits rules" during the race. 

 

7/10

[Risil]

Best driver: Hamilton (didn't do everything right, but his race pace was overwhelming)

Worst driver: Mazepin (slow and in the way)

Best team: Mercedes (won on raw pace for the first time this year)

Worst team: Williams (what happened to Russell's speed??)

Best overtake: I liked Ocon's brave move around the outside of Sainz(?) into the first corner

Worst overtake: Kimi running into the back of his teammate Giovanazzi on the pit straight early on

Best moment: Probs the rendition of the national anthem complete with Hammond organ

Worst moment: Vettel falling back, being caught by Stroll, and both finishing well outside the points. And Croft and Kravitz gurning about tapas(??)
 

In a sentence: I didn't hate it, but it wasn't eventful.

[NixxxoN]

Kinda crappy race IMO

Shorter DRS zone = hard to overtake (so much for Portimao being that great eh)

Also Mercedes... hey seem to have got the edge yet again, making sure the races get boring with Bottas as always being a wingman and stopping Max. yawn

Replace Bottas with Russell already so we can have another contender for the race wins and championship please...

[maximilian]

Seems like it was another snoozefest.  Glad I missed it.

[masa90]

Best driver: Hamilton
Worst driver: Mazepin
Best team: Mercedes
Worst team: Haas
Best overtake: Was there a single overtake without drs?
Worst overtake: Kimi on Giovinazzi. Stupid mistake by my favourite
Best moment: Midfield battles
Worst moment: Just did not live close to expectation. Easily the worst race sofar this season. Although not a horrible race, just really average.

And the race in a sentence: One more easy win for Lewis. Up to 100 yet?

[greenman]

Kinda crappy race IMO

Shorter DRS zone = hard to overtake 

If this is the general opinion of modern F1 fans, I really dread the moment when they decide that DRS stays permanently because there's "not enough passing", even if the rules will be a success.

 

How many faster cars were stuck behind slower cars in this race again?

[GunnarN7]

Best driver: Hamilton. His car seemed a little bit better here, but the still needed to get the overtakes done
Worst driver: Mazepin. Worst F1 driver in years
Best team: Mercedes but only just, they had clear better pace but were over 1 second slower on the pit with Bottas which probably cost them a 1-2
Worst team: Williams and Aston Martin seemed particularly disappointing
Best overtake: Most were pretty good, DRS wasn't as cheap as in Imola. My fav would be Verstappen on Bottas.
Best moment: Alonso's comeback, he had pace for much more by the looks of things. Good to see Alpine up there
Worst moment: Mazepin almost taking the leader out, or Kimi doing a rookie mistake

And the race in a(few) sentence(s):

This track is nice but not so good for overtaking. Too difficult to stay close at the last corner and the first is too fast. All things considered, it wasn't a bad race. If only the whole grid was as tight as the midfield is. Still much better than we could've hoped considering 2019 and 2020.

[ANF]

Best driver: Hamilton, Leclerc or Schumacher? I don't know.
Best overtake: Norris around the outside of Ocon in T10/11 on the opening lap.
Best moment: The Schumacher vs Latifi battle was fun to watch.
Worst moment: Bottas suffering an exhaust temperature sensor error and dropping back from Verstappen when I was expecting a battle for P2.

[jcbc3]

Best driver: Norris
Worst driver: Mazepin
Best team: Mercedes
Worst team: Mercedes (slow pit stop and atrocious strategy decision)
Best overtake: Max on Valterri (but best 'body of work', definitely Lewis for his overtakes of all three of his closets opponents)
Worst overtake: Kimi on Gio
Best moment: Lewis sailing past VB and into the sunset
Worst moment: Mazepin ignoring reality

And the race in a sentence: I was entertained

[shure]

Best driver: tied between Max and Lewis.  Both got the maximum they could IMO

Worst driver: Mazepin

Best Team: Red Bull.  Their pitstops are sublime

Worst team: Mercedes.  Terrible pit stops

Best overtake: Max on Bottas

Worst Overtake: not sure, any boring DRS one I guess

Best moment: Max taking Lewis at the SC restart (so good feeling didn't last long lol)

Worst moment: Watching Vettel get overtaken by Stroll

 

And the race in a sentence: not as good as previous two, where there was always a feeling it could go either way.  This one was obvious quite early on that Lewis would win.  

[NixxxoN]

How many faster cars were stuck behind slower cars in this race again?

Many

Max stuck behind Bottas

Alonso stuck behind Gio

Gasly stuck behind Ric

 

And probably several of others, don't remember at the moment

[greenman]

Many

Max stuck behind Bottas

Alonso stuck behind Gio

Gasly stuck behind Ric

 

And probably several of others, don't remember at the moment

Whether Max was actually clearly faster I'm not that sure about, but anyway Max finished ahead of Bottas, Alonso passed his way through to 8th, and IIRC Ric got out of the pits behind Gasly, only to pass him afterwards.

 

edit: point being, just because a car doesn't do a DRS fly-by in the first lap it appears behind a slower car, it doesn't mean they'll be unable to pass. As someone who hates DRS, today's race was a good example of how it's done right - there were proper battles, but cars that were noticeably faster did eventually manage to make their way through. 

Edited by greenman, 02 May 2021 - 16:54.

[404KF2]

Didn't even watch it.

[NixxxoN]

Whether Max was actually clearly faster I'm not that sure about, but anyway Max finished ahead of Bottas, Alonso passed his way through to 8th, and IIRC Ric got out of the pits behind Gasly, only to pass him afterwards.

I'm not a fan of Max but I want him to fight Merc/Lewis "dictatorship" for the sake of the entertainment. I absolutely hate the tactic of Bottas holding up max to help Lewis get away, thats why I think it should never be that hard to overtake.

[Mat13]

Best driver: Hamilton/ Norris- think that’s two races in a row now!

Worst driver: Mazepin was nearly lapped by his teammate...

Best team: Red Bull definitely made the most of what they had.

Worst team: None stood out, although McLaren need to give their pit crew a massive kick up the arse.

Best overtake: Norris on Ocon.

Worst overtake: No shockers.

Best moment: Watching Norris take Perez. I know, I’m turning into a fanboy.

Worst moment: The 5 safety car laps.

And the race in a sentence: Good start, bit of a damp squib. 6/10

[greenman]

I'm not a fan of Max but I want him to fight Merc/Lewis "dictatorship" for the sake of the entertainment. I absolutely hate the tactic of Bottas holding up max to help Lewis get away, thats why I think it should never be that hard to overtake.

I mean I feel the same about Max, and as I said I didn't like the result. But I also think that he didn't really prove to be "faster" than the Mercs today (maybe around their pace), and being unable to pass Bottas (for a while... he ended up in front anyway) was probably also Mercedes being generally faster in a straightline speed.

[Risil]

Didn't even watch it.

There's 23 of these! Pace yourself!

[NixxxoN]

I mean I feel the same about Max, and as I said I didn't like the result. But I also think that he didn't really prove to be "faster" than the Mercs today (maybe around their pace), and being unable to pass Bottas (for a while... he ended up in front anyway) was probably also Mercedes being generally faster in a straightline speed.

 

Yes, Merc is obviously a bit better in power and straightline speed, so a longer DRS would always help to cut this deficit.

Max was a good chunk of the race in dirty air, IIRC, that compromised his race and pace

Edited by NixxxoN, 02 May 2021 - 17:07.

[balage06]

7/10

 

Best driver: Hamilton, Alonso's late charge was also nice to see
Worst driver: Probably Mazepin, with a honorable mention to poor Seb
Best team: Merc, also impressed with Alpine this weekend
Worst team: Haas
Best overtake: All the overtakes round the outside of T1 were spectacular enough
Worst overtake: Kimi on Gio, obviously
Best moment: Red Bull's genious strategy call to give Hamilton the tow and DRS with Perez   
Worst moment: Probably the gimmicks with Bottas' car, could have been an interesting fight till the end

And the race in a sentence: Solid, but not spectacular.

[Topsu]

4/10

 

Best driver: Hamilton, masterful
Worst driver: Mazepin, a disgrace
Best team: Mercedes
Worst team: Haas, this is almost redundant
Best overtake: Hamilton on Bottas lap 20. Major deja vu.
Worst overtake: Kimi on Gio I guess
Best moment: Max going for the fastest lap, quali mode.
Worst moment: Kimi hitting Giovinazzi, what a blunder. Considering their usual race pace, Kimi could have been on points today.

And the race in a sentence: About what I expect from this track. Pirelli needs to look in the mirror.

Edited by Topsu, 02 May 2021 - 17:09.

[greenman]

Yes, Merc is obviously a bit better in power and straightline speed, so a longer DRS would always help to cut this deficit.

Max was a good chunk of the race in dirty air, IIRC, that compromised his race and pace

But that goes the other way around too. In the second stint, Max seemed slower than Mercs. With longer DRS zone Bottas'd just fly by as soon as he got within one second (without the problem he had).

 

And if you had a longer zone, then most other overtakes would be an easy drive-by.

[NixxxoN]

But that goes the other way around too. In the second stint, Max seemed slower than Mercs. With longer DRS zone Bottas'd just fly by as soon as he got within one second (without the problem he had).

 

And if you had a longer zone, then most other overtakes would be an easy drive-by.

So whats the problem exactly? if the car behind is faster, the normal thing is to gain the position... If both cars are similar in pace they could overtake each other several times, I'd rather have this than the race being decided at a single pitstop, ultimate borefest.

For getting DRS you have to stay within less than 1sec. Being that close is never easy. Never easy to follow another car so close in dirty air in corners.

[AlcidioG]

I'm surprised not to see some votes for Kimi as worst driver... driving into your teammate on the straight is really bad... If not we might aswell remove the worst driver vote and just put in Mazepin by default.

[balage06]

I'm surprised not to see some votes for Kimi as worst driver... driving into your teammate on the straight is really bad... If not we might aswell remove the worst driver vote and just put in Mazepin by default.

 

Fair point actually, it was a silly mistake by him, but still, Mazepin was so far off the pace again, it's hard to ignore that.

[Outsider]

I'm surprised not to see some votes for Kimi as worst driver... driving into your teammate on the straight is really bad... If not we might aswell remove the worst driver vote and just put in Mazepin by default.

oh come on, Kimi is a fan favourite, he can do/say whatever he likes, he will be praised for that. actually surprised he isn't praised for this stunt 

[Ramon69]

Best driver: Hamilton

Worst driver: Mazepin
Best team: Mercedes
Worst team: Aston Martin , HAAS I'm used to.
Best overtake: Hamilton on Bottas
Worst overtake: Raikkonen - great moment to pay attention to the steering wheel buttons instead of the car in front!
Best moment: The opening laps with the battle between Max & the Mercs
Worst moment: Hamilton leading without too much trouble, because it made the race less exciting.

 

6/10 race, it had it's moments, but very few and not very dramatic.

[CSF]

Best driver: Hamilton
Worst driver: Raikkonen. Mazepin is dreadful, but what Kimi did was almost unbelieveable. 
Best team: Mercedes 
Worst team: Aston Martin - it just isn't working right now. 
Best overtake: Ocon on Sainz
Worst overtake: Raikkonen on Giovanazzi.... 
Best moment: Bottas restart was pretty damn good...
Worst moment: Transponder and direction issues still not fixed. 

And the race in a sentence: It was ok.

[Gareth]

Surprised by the low ratings given the close fight at the front (top 3 would have finished inside 6s of each other were it not for Bottas’ problem and the fastest lap shenanigans), 4 overtakes on track between the top 3, and the quality of the midfield battle.

[w1Y]

Best driver: Hamilton
Worst driver: Mazepin or Kimi. No mazepin
Worst driver excluding Mazepin:Bottas/Laitifi
Best team: Merc but a shout out to alpine for turning it around.
Worst team: Haas for employing Mazepin
Best overtake: Lewis on Bottas
Worst overtake: perez on mazepin
Best moment:
Worst moment: kimi crashing ot mazepin on perez

And the race in a sentence: if this is a poor race then we have been spoiled. Was a top race.

[alframsey]

4/10

 

Best driver: Hamilton, masterful
Worst driver: Mazepin, a disgrace
Best team: Mercedes
Worst team: Haas, this is almost redundant
Best overtake: Hamilton on Bottas lap 20. Major deja vu.
Worst overtake: Kimi on Gio I guess
Best moment: Max going for the fastest lap, quali mode.
Worst moment: Kimi hitting Giovinazzi, what a blunder. Considering their usual race pace, Kimi could have been on points today.

And the race in a sentence: About what I expect from this track. Pirelli needs to look in the mirror.

4 out of 10? I seriously don't understand this fair enough you have your reasons but if you thought this race was that bad then, come Barca, you might need to start using negative figures.

 

I honestly thought this race was good and I enjoyed it, at no point was I bored. It wasn't a classic granted but it was a solid 7/10 imo.

[P123]

Surprised by the low ratings given the close fight at the front (top 3 would have finished inside 6s of each other were it not for Bottas’ problem and the fastest lap shenanigans), 4 overtakes on track between the top 3, and the quality of the midfield battle.

 

Well one who didn't watch it gave it a 1, and another who made a similar claim to fame gave it a 2.

[Claudius]

I thought the results were predictable. Merc had slightly the better car and Lewis performed on top.
Bottas fumbled and Max took second.

[messy]

Not a bad race but a very predictable one without any real surprise moment to spice it up. Hamilton was excellent. Norris was excellent. Mazepin is Yuji Ide in disguise. So, as usual for 2021 all round. 6

[Laster]

Best driver: Hamilton unlike a lot of his other wins he did have to make the moves to take this one and he did so superbly. - Norris, and Ocon should both get shout outs too.

Worst driver: Mazepin, he was just painfully slow.

Best team: Mercedes did a good job this weekend as did Alpine.

Worst team: Haas though at least Mick got to fight with Latifi.

Best overtake: Hamilton around the outside of Bottas.

Worst overtake: Raikkonen on Giovinazzi - I don’t even understand what happened, he just drove into the back of him.

Best moment: A fight for the lead, it was nice while it lasted.

Worst moment: Long safety car period took what 5-6 laps to clean one car and some debris up.

And the race in a sentence: 6/10 - It was okay, it just lacked an element to it possibly not helped by the track surface which they seemed to struggle with.

[ThadGreen]

I scored it a 7.

 

Didn't enjoy this race as much as the previous two and have to admit these early lap safety cars are becoming tiresome. 

 

It would seem that Norris has shown consistency and pace so far this year and it is reflected in his points tally.

[Topsu]

4 out of 10? I seriously don't understand this fair enough you have your reasons but if you thought this race was that bad then, come Barca, you might need to start using negative figures.

 

I honestly thought this race was good and I enjoyed it, at no point was I bored. It wasn't a classic granted but it was a solid 7/10 imo.

I would rate an average race 5/10, and this was slightly below average to me. 4/10 is still far from the worst score.

[HeadFirst]

Best driver: Lewis
Worst driver: Nikita
Best team: Red Bull
Worst team: Aston (Haas already has the trophy)
Best overtake: Hamilton on Bottas
Worst overtake: Kimi ... omg
Best moment: Alonso's late charge
Worst moment: Bottas' pit stop

And the race in a sentence:

[ARTGP]

Best driver: Lewis
Worst driver: Mazepin comfortably. The 2nd worst driver was a wooden spoon   
Best team: Alpine
Worst team: The strategy guys at Ferrari....
Best overtake: Max on Lewis on the restart
Worst overtake: Kimi
Best moment: Just a good race in general.
Worst moment: Mazepin and Perez

And the race in a sentence: Just the right amount of drama for a classic F1 race

 

7.9/10

Edited by ARTGP, 03 May 2021 - 03:32.

[Dhillon]

Best driver: Max for keeping the merc. pair honest.
Worst driver: Bottas, upped the pace when Toto asked, how , what?
Best team: Mercedes.
Worst team: Ferrari, should be at the sharp end with resources they have.
Best overtake: Max on Bottas
Worst overtake: Kimi
Best moment: Max overtaking Bottas
Worst moment: Max loosing fastest lap.

[tourister46a]

Best driver: Lewis. 

 

Worst driver: Raikkonen
Best team: Mercedes
Worst team: Williams
Best overtake: Lewis on Bottas
Worst overtake: Kimi's attempt on his teammate
Best moment: Max passing Lewis on the restart
Worst moment: Lewis passing Max

 

The race in a sentence: 6/10. It was boring at the front once Lewis cleared his teammate, but there was some interest and passes at the front until then

[TheFish]

Surprised it’s had such a low score. We had an overtake for the lead, Lewis and Max both passing each other, overtakes all the way to the end, not sure what more people want.

[ARTGP]

Surprised it’s had such a low score. We had an overtake for the lead, Lewis and Max both passing each other, overtakes all the way to the end, not sure what more people want.

 

I thought it was a classic and what the standard F1 race should look like, but I think a 9 or 10 would be overrating it. We have to leave room in the scoring system for an absolute bonkers race with twist and turns and a final lap, final corner pass for the win.

Edited by ARTGP, 03 May 2021 - 08:06.

[Nitropower]

So I stopped watching early in the race. It's been too predictable for years so I get bored and move on. Cars levelled was a mirage apparently.

[shure]

I thought it was a classic and what the standard F1 race should look like, but I think a 9 or 10 would be overrating it. We have to leave room in the scoring system for an absolute bonkers race with twist and turns and a final lap, final corner pass for the win.

yeah, I gave it a 7 for that reason.  Was reasonably decent but missing the uncertainty factor that the first two races provided.  But overall not a bad race with some good moments

[Retrofly]

A solid 7 out of 10.

[William Hunt]

Best driver: This may be a bit of a controversial choice but I will give this to Mick Schumacher for completely dominating his team mate, for finishing ahead of a Williams, for driving very consistent lap times and for showing he is clearly learning and he made a big step forward in Portugal compared to Bahrein & Imola imho. It's controversial off course because he finished 2 laps behind and would have been lapped by the Aston Martin's even if the race was one lap longer. But the difference in mentality & performance between him and Mazepin deserves mentioning him imho.
One could also make an argument for Pierre Gasly because he also outpaced his team mate Tsunoda by quite a big margin in Portimao, even if Pierre ended up finishing out of the points he still raced well and was passed by cars that were simply quicker as his car imho.

. Esteban Ocon was excellent as well, so was Lando Norris. Leclerc was good as well, fighting himself higher up the order and finishing ahead of Sainz whilst starting behind him. Alonso: also very good race, was behind Ocon in practice & qualy but in the race Alonso had more or less the same pace as Ocon and he climbed up the order to finish just one place behind Ocon.

 

Still I will give the best driver award this time to Mick Schumacher for 'most improved form' and for beiing a 'good learner'.
 

The Mercedes & Red Bull drivers? Well they had a car so much quicker as all the other drivers it is hard to compare their performance with the rest of the field since they have an unfair advantage. I didn't have the impression that any four of them performed outstanding, they were just normal imho.

 

Worst driver: has to be Kimi Raikkönen because of his mistake, driving against the back of his team mate's car. But Kimi had the class to admit his mistake after the race, no blaming others as Russell did in Imola.

Mazepin was not as bad as in Imola, his race pace was more constant and closer to Mick (but still quite far off Mick's pace) and at least he managed a race finish again. Yes there was the blue flag incident with Perez but that is off course not as bad as driving in the back of your team mate, what Kimi did.

 

Best team: Alpine for making a step forward in Portugal. Both drivers drove an excellent race as well.

 

Worst team: Williams had terrible race pace and were on a similar pace as Haas, Russell performed terribly, dropping back all the time and not outpacing Latifi (except at the end of the race). Aston Martin & AlphaTauri also had dissapointing results but the poor pace of Williams all race means they were the worst team. Russell's qualy pace & race pace was day-night difference.

 

Best overtake: Ocon on Sainz

 

Worst overtake: Kimi off course

 

Best moment: there were none it was a boring race, I'm fed up with just 2 teams able to fight for the win

 

Worst moment: Kimi again

 

Rating: 2/10, the Mercedes & Red Bull teams were way too far ahead. It's like you have 3 formula's: Formula 1 = Red Bull & Mercedes, Formula 2= midfield teams, formula 3 = Williams & Haas. 

Edited by William Hunt, 03 May 2021 - 13:32.