George Russell claimed his first Formula One sprint race win at the 2026 Chinese Grand Prix, maintaining his perfect start to the season after a closely fought contest that highlighted both Mercedes’ strengths and the evolving competitive order under the 2026 regulations.
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Dude, it's not about Hamilton. Leclerc isn't doing well!!!!.
Hamilton is doing fine, better than before, obviously. If that is the reason for Leclerc´s mistakes, then I can´t know for sure but further GPs will give better understanding about that.
This is overlooked to the extend you start to wonder if it is deliberate
What I said is very objective and clear. People said Bottas was one of the best drivers ever over one lap to support narratives about Hamilton. Likewise, Perez was said to be mega slow to support narratives about Verstappen. Now we´re seeing Perez being speculated to go to a better team than Cadilac while Bottas is on the verge of ending his F1 carreer because he is just too slow. Maybe you have not been following what is being said on the media about Caddie drivers....
I know Perez and Bottas are off topic here but it does make one think that(both) Ferrari´s drivers might not be as good as Mercedes´, Red Bull´s and Mclaren´s, not just lacking on the engine side.(just my impression anyway)
You are misunderstanding me (english is not my native language so maybe I am wording it wrong), but I agree with you. I find it weird (on this board) there's a great lack of comments about Perez and Bottas, even when Perez outqualified Bottas by a second... But yeah offtopic indeed so nevermind.
You cant be more unobjective when you mention Bottas to claim that Lewis is overrated when Lewis beat world champion after world champion and three of them as teammates. I know that some people dont like Lewis and prefer Leclerc but the championships talk. Anyway enjoy the championship battle.
Last edited by Darth-Piekus on 13 Jun 2026, 19:20, edited 2 times in total.
Guys noone saw the post race interview from Charles? He said it crystal clear, he went with more speed in T4, the car went to the dirty side and game over. He said also he was embarrassed of this. No brakes or anything, clearly on him.
I mean appreciate the honesty, great but it just happens too much when he's under any kind of pressure. Reminds me of '22 (Paul Ricard for example).
I don't think it is fair to Leclerc to use 3-4 races when rating him, as since he joined the team , he has really been the only figure worth putting any hope into this team for. He is in a rut, and he needs to improve, but using this as a referendum on his talent when the overall sample size shows what a talent he is is silly.
The important thing is that the car is absolutely there. They removed a ridiculous amount of drag on the car, fastest on the straights even with 30 HP deficiency, fastest in the corners as well. Just the engine gave up on Lewis with the lack of energy. What a job by the team to keep pushing. Let's hope for a comeback drive by Leclerc and a fight for the win for Lewis.
Last edited by SoulPancake13 on 13 Jun 2026, 19:17, edited 1 time in total.
I like how they keep saying Hamilton was not as fast as Leclerc, but fail to mention Hamilton not only keeps it on the track but missed an entire practice session which makes a huge difference.
You've missed an entire season in which Leclerc completely humiliated Hamilton.
You've missed an entire season in which Leclerc completely humiliated Hamilton.
yeah, missing FP1 doesn't matter and since when start position is getting decided by FP
Charles will come back stronger but don't pretend that he is not facing tough competition this year from Hamilton.
And if continues like this for few more races then it will be incredibly difficult to digest for the fastest qualifier of current generation and will take a toll on his mental strength which seems bit lacking already.
Guys noone saw the post race interview from Charles? He said it crystal clear, he went with more speed in T4, the car went to the dirty side and game over. He said also he was embarrassed of this. No brakes or anything, clearly on him.
I mean appreciate the honesty, great but it just happens too much when he's under any kind of pressure. Reminds me of '22 (Paul Ricard for example).
This tbh. Forget about Lewis, Charles makes these mistakes too often throughout his career. There’s no use being fast but erratic because that’ll never mean a world championship. He needs to be consistent, even if that comes from losing a tenth here or there - he needs better judgement for the limit. The worst part is that this often happens when a good result is on the table and we’re left with “what ifs?”.
Now thinking about Lewis separately, this was a great lap and what you want from someone with his experience - ie when the result is possible, he delivers. Hopefully there’s still some start advantage on a much longer run to turn 1 and the indications from Charles’ long run on Friday is indicative of good tyre wear with the new package.
"We basically had this exact same setup now in Quali, and, you know, Charles's been quick all weekend.”
“I think on the data, I think I was braking very late into turn four, which had been visible. And I think Charles probably tried to carry a lot of speed into that corner, and unfortunately, it didn't work out for him.”
“But, you know, he's still going to be really quick in the race."
Japan: Leclerc had much better pace, particularly on the straights. Take it for what it's worth.
Miami: Leclerc had much better pace but then dropped it. Had Hamilton not had damage from Colapinto, he'd have had an even better result differential.
Canada: Hamilton had much, much better pace.
Monaco: Only qualifying matters; Hamilton was faster. I contend that Leclerc's knife's edge effort was the only reason
for the fastest Q1, but he was likely to bin and he did.
Spain: He binned it again while Hamilton was on course to set a purple in sector 1.
So, when Hamilton had equal or slightly better pace on the race, you claim he had "much better" pace. When Leclerc destroyed him, you claim Hamilton had an engine problem or whatever...
These last years have been horrible to you, I imagine. Leclerc and Russell beaten Hamilton by big margins most of the time and on the very few times Hamilton was quicker, it was by very small margins. Very devastating for people who pushed narratives about him when he had a car several seconds faster than the second one and mediocre team mates giving him big trouble, one of which is getting destroyed by Verstappen former team mate, who was said to be the slowest of the grid by the very same people who pushed thoses "hype" narratives about the most succesful driver ever
This is overlooked to the extend you start to wonder if it is deliberate
I suspect it's for the same reason that Hamilton beating a bunch of WDCs in the same machinery is described as beating 'mediocre teammates'. It's probably also the same reason that people compare Bottas with Perez to show how bad Hamilton is rather than comparing, say, Ricciardo with Alonso, Button, etc. I'll leave you to work out what that reason is likely to be...
Frankly, Ferrari have done a great job to have two drivers with different qualities who are competitive with each other.
Where did the Ferrari pace come from? I was so shocked when I saw Lewis in P1 after q1 and then I thought he will probably fall back by q3 and finish on the third row or something. But he ended up missing pole by a few hundredths of a second. Very surprising performance and also very good for the team. Leclerc with two crashes in a row in qualifying now. He will bounce back eventually. I still expect the Mercs to be too strong in the race though. Lewis is likely going to have to defend p3 most likely. As the mclarens and max will be strong too.
Dude, it's not about Hamilton. Leclerc isn't doing well!!!!.
Hamilton is doing fine, better than before, obviously. If that is the reason for Leclerc´s mistakes, then I can´t know for sure but further GPs will give better understanding about that.
This is overlooked to the extend you start to wonder if it is deliberate
What I said is very objective and clear. People said Bottas was one of the best drivers ever over one lap to support narratives about Hamilton. Likewise, Perez was said to be mega slow to support narratives about Verstappen. Now we´re seeing Perez being speculated to go to a better team than Cadilac while Bottas is on the verge of ending his F1 carreer because he is just too slow. Maybe you have not been following what is being said on the media about Caddie drivers....
I know Perez and Bottas are off topic here but it does make one think that(both) Ferrari´s drivers might not be as good as Mercedes´, Red Bull´s and Mclaren´s, not just lacking on the engine side.(just my impression anyway)
Bottas vs Perez is definitely off topic and I’m sorry to bring it up but to me it is one of the great anomalies this season. Their prior records would indicate Bottas is the better qualifier. But yet somehow Perez is destroying him in quali and race this year. I don’t think that is going to continue all year. Something is amiss there even though I have no clue what it could be.
So, when Hamilton had equal or slightly better pace on the race, you claim he had "much better" pace. When Leclerc destroyed him, you claim Hamilton had an engine problem or whatever...
These last years have been horrible to you, I imagine. Leclerc and Russell beaten Hamilton by big margins most of the time and on the very few times Hamilton was quicker, it was by very small margins. Very devastating for people who pushed narratives about him when he had a car several seconds faster than the second one and mediocre team mates giving him big trouble, one of which is getting destroyed by Verstappen former team mate, who was said to be the slowest of the grid by the very same people who pushed thoses "hype" narratives about the most succesful driver ever
This is overlooked to the extend you start to wonder if it is deliberate
I suspect it's for the same reason that Hamilton beating a bunch of WDCs in the same machinery is described as beating 'mediocre teammates'. It's probably also the same reason that people compare Bottas with Perez to show how bad Hamilton is rather than comparing, say, Ricciardo with Alonso, Button, etc. I'll leave you to work out what that reason is likely to be...
I did not know Ricciardo was teammates with Alonso and Button?
Frankly, Ferrari have done a great job to have two drivers with different qualities who are competitive with each other.
Wow, what mixed feelings I have about this qualifying!
Very positive about the amazing job the team has done, once again showing how strong that car is and especially making the mega upgrade work. Being that fast on this track is, as we know, a really good sign.
Hamilton keeps getting better and more comfortable with the car. Should have even taken pole.
As for Leclerc’s crash… this time, I’m afraid it was all on him. He pushed a little bit too much there. Really frustrating…
It was Ferrari’s pole to lose - with such a big power deficit. Let that sink in. Bravissimo, team!
