2021 MotoGP/F1 Thread
2021 MotoGP/F1 Thread
I figure neither one gets enough action for their own so combining the world road racing series into one seemed like a good idea.
MotoGP so far this year has been pretty good. Nice balance between teams on who has straight-line speed and who has corners. Bummer for the Prema team losing Martin as he looked to be on pace for an amazing year and that bike is well overperforming. Something weird with the tires last round though, lots of riders pushing and just losing it at weird times. Excited to see how that continues to shape up now with Marquez officially back, seems his story is really close to Kenny's comeback.
The real reason I created this was I wanted to talk about the Russell and Bottas incident. I personally didn't see it being that big of a deal other than the crash really saved Lewis's day and the stewards did deem it a racing incident but it seems to have had this massive impact for Merc themselves that I didn't think of at the time. Obviously, the way George handled it coming out of the car to talk to Bottas before he got out of the car was not a great move and understand that was a bad look. Though Merc's big deal of it was that George was racing a Merc to begin with and that racing/crashing one of their cars shouldn't have been done by him considering he works for them. Now, I get he is contracted by them but a Williams should not have been racing a Mercedes to begin with. Even before that, a few turns ago Lewis was about to put both of them a lap down before he went off track. How is none of this on Bottas in the realm of why was a Mercedes still in 9th place getting dragged by a Williams??? There was nothing different Bottas could have done because of what car he was in and who he was racing against but however, Russell should have acted differently because of what car he was passing and who he was racing against? I just don't see how Toto and Merc can say all this with a straight face that Bottas should have some preference of track position to a driver who is in another brand of car that isn't deemed competitive to you. Also, the way they just keep stringing him along teasing him with that seat to keep him in a Williams is brutal, he has proven he is worth a better drive but my guess is they don't want a Hamilton/Rosberg situation ever again. The longer this goes through the better chance another team has of swooping in. I get Lewis is Lewis but keeping a star for two years but losing the future for 10 years doesn't sound like the trade-off.
MotoGP so far this year has been pretty good. Nice balance between teams on who has straight-line speed and who has corners. Bummer for the Prema team losing Martin as he looked to be on pace for an amazing year and that bike is well overperforming. Something weird with the tires last round though, lots of riders pushing and just losing it at weird times. Excited to see how that continues to shape up now with Marquez officially back, seems his story is really close to Kenny's comeback.
The real reason I created this was I wanted to talk about the Russell and Bottas incident. I personally didn't see it being that big of a deal other than the crash really saved Lewis's day and the stewards did deem it a racing incident but it seems to have had this massive impact for Merc themselves that I didn't think of at the time. Obviously, the way George handled it coming out of the car to talk to Bottas before he got out of the car was not a great move and understand that was a bad look. Though Merc's big deal of it was that George was racing a Merc to begin with and that racing/crashing one of their cars shouldn't have been done by him considering he works for them. Now, I get he is contracted by them but a Williams should not have been racing a Mercedes to begin with. Even before that, a few turns ago Lewis was about to put both of them a lap down before he went off track. How is none of this on Bottas in the realm of why was a Mercedes still in 9th place getting dragged by a Williams??? There was nothing different Bottas could have done because of what car he was in and who he was racing against but however, Russell should have acted differently because of what car he was passing and who he was racing against? I just don't see how Toto and Merc can say all this with a straight face that Bottas should have some preference of track position to a driver who is in another brand of car that isn't deemed competitive to you. Also, the way they just keep stringing him along teasing him with that seat to keep him in a Williams is brutal, he has proven he is worth a better drive but my guess is they don't want a Hamilton/Rosberg situation ever again. The longer this goes through the better chance another team has of swooping in. I get Lewis is Lewis but keeping a star for two years but losing the future for 10 years doesn't sound like the trade-off.
Re: 2021 MotoGP/F1 Thread
First year i've been heavily invested in MotoGP and i'm loving the returns
The racing really has been great, Fabio definitely has the eye of the tiger right now though.
I wonder what happened with Vinales? Looked outstanding at the Qatar GP and then a week later on the same course, seemed like a different rider.
I was hoping to see him back in the top five this week but it seems Doha Vinales is still lurking.
Marc coming back as well, I wanna know who didnt smile at that
The racing really has been great, Fabio definitely has the eye of the tiger right now though.
I wonder what happened with Vinales? Looked outstanding at the Qatar GP and then a week later on the same course, seemed like a different rider.
I was hoping to see him back in the top five this week but it seems Doha Vinales is still lurking.
Marc coming back as well, I wanna know who didnt smile at that
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Re: 2021 MotoGP/F1 Thread
That's just the usual Vinales lol, hes winning then next race he's back of the pack, same thing every year
Re: 2021 MotoGP/F1 Thread
MotoGP was a really good race and shake up. F1 was hit and miss, overall FIA have some real blind spots for track limits.
Re: 2021 MotoGP/F1 Thread
F1 off weekend but IndyCar made up for it with some F1 flair. Really happy to see Grosjean's quick progress
MotoGP was made interesting by the rain. Yamaha still looks good, Zooks are falling back to earth and the Ducati's are the surprise for me.
MotoGP was made interesting by the rain. Yamaha still looks good, Zooks are falling back to earth and the Ducati's are the surprise for me.
Re: 2021 MotoGP/F1 Thread
How about factory KTM this week? Oliveira and Binder with great rides!
Was bummed to see Pecco, Marc and Rins all crash out.
Rins now four consecutive weeks without points.... yikes.
Re: 2021 MotoGP/F1 Thread
Was very sad for Pecco and Rins. Pecco for championship reasons and Rins simply because he doesn't deserve it like this. Hoping Miller can find some consistency and claw his way into championship contention.
I have never seen so many crashes on a circuit. I expect a lot of safety car activity during the race.
I have never seen so many crashes on a circuit. I expect a lot of safety car activity during the race.
Re: 2021 MotoGP/F1 Thread
Good on Olivera to continue his momentum from last week. Also good to see Miller and Zarco ahead of Fabio but wtf happened with him during the race? That was so strange.
Now, this was something else. I would've never, ever been able to guess the podium. On top of that both Merc's finishing the race and neither being in points? When is the last time that's happened if ever? I hate to see that for Max, he did nothing wrong and I expect some news from Pirelli about this because it's far too suspicious that the same rear tire blew out for two drivers on that straight. Once that happened though, with the few amount of laps left I knew for sure Lewis had the lead back but Sergio holding on and Lewis making such a critical mistake was wild. Could not be happier for Vettel, had a good race at Monaco and now a podium is massive to see for him.
Now, this was something else. I would've never, ever been able to guess the podium. On top of that both Merc's finishing the race and neither being in points? When is the last time that's happened if ever? I hate to see that for Max, he did nothing wrong and I expect some news from Pirelli about this because it's far too suspicious that the same rear tire blew out for two drivers on that straight. Once that happened though, with the few amount of laps left I knew for sure Lewis had the lead back but Sergio holding on and Lewis making such a critical mistake was wild. Could not be happier for Vettel, had a good race at Monaco and now a podium is massive to see for him.
Re: 2021 MotoGP/F1 Thread
Oliveira was on another level this weekend. He ran consistent 40.6's pretty much the entire race. Unreal
Also Rins out with injury now, hopefully he can come back and kinda reset, get some points under his name.
If you didnt get to watch M3, the last lap was absolute insane.
Also Rins out with injury now, hopefully he can come back and kinda reset, get some points under his name.
If you didnt get to watch M3, the last lap was absolute insane.
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Re: 2021 MotoGP/F1 Thread
Did I see three cars spin after losing the rear, or was it just two? That was reminiscent of the Indy fiasco.
jlv wrote:If it weren't for Havoc I'd have been arguing with the 12 year olds by myself.
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Re: 2021 MotoGP/F1 Thread
I watched the extended highlights of the Catalan GP and had a laugh when on-bike showed what looked like Maverick sticking his hand down his pants and jerking it lol. The drama that ensued and the penalty was incredible. At 1st I thought it was for dumping the chest protector on the track. If the zipper malfunctioned or something like that they should give him the benefit of the doubt. He pulled that chest protector out probably because it was flapping violently at 200 miles an hour and hurting. It'll be interesting to hear what they really do say about it sometime later. It's surreal what's happening with the turnaround in fortunes. Both Rossi and Marquez down! Too many other people suffered too.
jlv wrote:If it weren't for Havoc I'd have been arguing with the 12 year olds by myself.
Re: 2021 MotoGP/F1 Thread
Big congrats to Marc. We all knew it would happen eventually but his performance here was above what I think anyone saw coming. A bit Tomac like this weekend where he has been "good" but not what you'd expect from his name then suddenly it just happens. Also big congrats to Olivera for doing what he did, matching Marc when he is on like that is something very few can do.
OH BOY
Do we have a series here. Absolute shame Honda will be walking away after this because it seems like there is finally some magic happening. Red Bull is really taking Merc for all they have this year and you can tell they are almost caught off guard by it when things like this happen. This season so far has been defining mostly because of Perez and he has once again proven to be the bigger asset in my eyes. Last week taking the win and salvaging the week for the WDC and then this week being in exactly the right spot on an alternate strategy to push Merc into a corner. Sure Max has been taking wins but thats not new for Max, having this support driver for both him and Red Bull has been the missing link.
Now, the juicy bits and Merc garage side. I feel so bad for Bottas, like, every week. I'm not going full tin foil hat with his call for two stops being ignored because he suggested it, Lewis said the same in his radio message they should stop and make sure they do it first. Once they didn't do it first, already knowing the undercut works on the track to the degree it did and RB not messing up the stop if they were to pit it would be conceding the win and rolling over. They were already pressuring Max and couldn't outright pass him so following his pit strategy would never work. Their best and only option was to stay out and hope he didn't catch them.
HOWEVER.
This is where Valterri can and should be mad and that's because they didn't pit him. We know Lewis couldn't have pitted because there was little chance of him overtaking Max. But, what if his strategy was the correct one? You take the second car which also can't pass Max but, you also have the chance of overtaking Checo on the alternate strategy meaning you secure a 2/3 over their 1/4. Why I don't think they did this is because there was also a chance, the two stop was so good, it meant that Lewis would get 3rd and Valterri 2nd and therefore the risk of Lewis getting 3rd in comparison to Bottas getting 4th was the better outcome. You could argue that because Perez pitted later it also covered off a run from Bottas ever having the tire advantage needed to pass which I'd entertain but I still think they prioritized Lewis's spot in the finishing order. I'd say this is further confirmed with the after race radio, both the manager and strategist get on the radio and apologize to Lewis for the loss saying it was their fault but there is literal radio silence after the race to Bottas.
Re: 2021 MotoGP/F1 Thread
LETS GO LANDOOOOOOO
Not much to talk about here this week. Max is making the lead boring lol.
Except for the penalties. All terrible calls, however, something for the AMA to learn from. I don't agree with the penalties given but appreciate the consistency at the very least. Starting with Lando/Perez, he tried to pass around the outside, never had the advantage, ran out of track and that was that. There was no contact, no advantage, the driver on the inside held the racing line. A 5 second time penalty was given though, harsh in my eyes. Next up, Perez/Leclerc in the same corner and same position however this time there is a bit of contact before the corner, and the once again ends with the car on the outside going off. Very little time between investigation announcement and penalty given simply because they already set a precedent with Lando, give no room to a car and get a 5 second time penalty, cut and dry. Last one with those two again a few corners down the track with Leclerc once again trying to pass on the outside and once again running out of road. Once again Perez slapped with the time penalty. This one annoyed me more than anything because of the precedent the stewards themselves had set between those two it essentially caused the second incident. Leclerc knew that Perez would get a penalty if he did not yield track position basically, and when you essentially saw to the person on the inside you have to let off and leave the other driver room you are incentivizing them not to race. Later in the race between Alonso and Russell it showed that well, Alonso kept trying but would back off when on the outside because rightfully so, he would go off track, and eventually found a way around him. Don't baby them FIA, if they want to make bad choices and pass on the outside, let them find the consequences.
Re: 2021 MotoGP/F1 Thread
What an absolute crazy race
Re: 2021 MotoGP/F1 Thread
Oh boy are things popping off. So last week was the beginning of the end or the first sign of writing on the wall for Bottas/Russell. With him putting it in P2 outqualifying both Mercedes cars in a Williams in the wet proved about anything you could've ever wanted to see from him. If Merc didn't pull the trigger it was very obvious another team would.
The following week, Kimi announces his retirement and leaves a seat open. Now confirmed, Bottas will be taking that seat. One can only guess this leaves the rest of the rumors to likely come true now that the biggest domino has fallen of where Bottas would go. This leaves the Merc seat open to George and the second rumor being the return of Alex Albon to take that Williams seat.
Personally love all of this. Nothing wrong with Bottas as a driver, as a second seat he does everything right but with George coming up and Lewis not leaving they really were given no choice. He still is deserving of a seat at this point. Russell getting the move up makes things crazy at the front. Already Max and Lewis are having an amazing year for the title and now throw in George it easily becomes a 3-way fight next year. Not even including the new car regs for next year to really mix it up. Also happy to see Albon get another chance at F1. He was pushed up too high too quickly and then thrown to the side. He wasn't a bad driver by any means, he almost won the first round last year until he and Lewis came together near the end, and after never got his feet under him again.
The following week, Kimi announces his retirement and leaves a seat open. Now confirmed, Bottas will be taking that seat. One can only guess this leaves the rest of the rumors to likely come true now that the biggest domino has fallen of where Bottas would go. This leaves the Merc seat open to George and the second rumor being the return of Alex Albon to take that Williams seat.
Personally love all of this. Nothing wrong with Bottas as a driver, as a second seat he does everything right but with George coming up and Lewis not leaving they really were given no choice. He still is deserving of a seat at this point. Russell getting the move up makes things crazy at the front. Already Max and Lewis are having an amazing year for the title and now throw in George it easily becomes a 3-way fight next year. Not even including the new car regs for next year to really mix it up. Also happy to see Albon get another chance at F1. He was pushed up too high too quickly and then thrown to the side. He wasn't a bad driver by any means, he almost won the first round last year until he and Lewis came together near the end, and after never got his feet under him again.