208 replies to this topic

[Afterburner]

Piastri certainly looks better so far, yet if Norris starts to click with car... all still wide open. And I wouldn't yet discount Max and RB, 6th on a "catastrophic" weekend, that's how titles might be won in the end - if he has no more than 2 or 3 equally bad weekends of course.

6th being a "catastrophic" weekend is exactly the formula Álex Palou has used to dominate IndyCar.

[Beri]

6th being a "catastrophic" weekend is exactly the formula Álex Palou has used to dominate IndyCar.

 

I fully expect Red Bull to edge closer. Perhaps not becoming the fastest car. But since they have the absolute fastest driver, that would make for a title bid for Verstappen regardless. Perhaps even from Barcelona onwards where flexiwings will be banned. And as we speak, the deficit is only 8 points. 8 points after 4 races. Thats negligible.

[PrinceBira]

To be only 8 points behind with this car is criminally good.

[Taxi]

I still think it will be Norris. Piastri sure seems closer but Lando has more natural speed and he will settle down to win 2 or 3 races on the trot. Then when someone fights and closes on Piastri (Russel, Max) Mclaren will have to make THE decision. 

[perky]

6th being a "catastrophic" weekend is exactly the formula Álex Palou has used to dominate IndyCar.

Yep, but then again in Indycar you still get more than half of the winners points for sixth (50/28), in F1 barely a third (25/8).

[noikeee]

Yep, but then again in Indycar you still get more than half of the winners points for sixth (50/28), in F1 barely a third (25/8).

 

And also Indycar has way more random results for all other drivers, whereas in F1 you can reasonably expect your main competitors (ie Norris and Piastri) will be on the podium or top 5 almost every race.

[Dalton007]

Russell is the sleeper. He will likely give antonelli a beat down so has all the focus on himself unlike the Ferrari and mclaren drivers. This assumes Mercedes understand their car, I am still not sold that they do.

 

What about now?

Edited by Dalton007, 17 April 2025 - 15:16.

[Lazy]

Well, given the context of the current discussion, I guess we're mostly talking about a driver's behavior when dealing with the pressure of going head to head against other competitors. Nonetheless, I cannot recall, for example, Michael Schumacher swearing at his engineers or blaming Ferrari, even before early 2000s success.

 

Similarly, despite demonstrating a much less reliable behavior under pressure, I also do not remember Hakkinen, Hill or Jacques Villeneuve demonstrating those habits. To the list of self control masters, I'd also include the likes of Prost, Piquet and Lauda. Senna I view as a special case, more on the camp of prima donas that you mentioned. However, I see a long list of drivers that demonstrate greater degrees of resilience and composure when they are in similar positions to the one we currently see Norris at. 

If things continue to unfold as they are now, I'd guess by the end of the year, we could safely add Piastri to the list of mostly cool heads with the likes of Prost and Schumacher.

The rose tinted spectacles through which some people see the past of F1.

[Touchdown]

Well, given the context of the current discussion, I guess we're mostly talking about a driver's behavior when dealing with the pressure of going head to head against other competitors. Nonetheless, I cannot recall, for example, Michael Schumacher swearing at his engineers or blaming Ferrari, even before early 2000s success.

 

Similarly, despite demonstrating a much less reliable behavior under pressure, I also do not remember Hakkinen, Hill or Jacques Villeneuve demonstrating those habits. To the list of self control masters, I'd also include the likes of Prost, Piquet and Lauda. Senna I view as a special case, more on the camp of prima donas that you mentioned. However, I see a long list of drivers that demonstrate greater degrees of resilience and composure when they are in similar positions to the one we currently see Norris at. 

If things continue to unfold as they are now, I'd guess by the end of the year, we could safely add Piastri to the list of mostly cool heads with the likes of Prost and Schumacher.

As much as I actually agree with your point about Piastri, we heard basically nothing of the other drivers you mentioned on team radio because broadcasting it just wasn't the done thing on TV at the time - so it's pretty much impossible to know is Piastri's in car temperament similar to a Schumacher or a Prost.