FW17 wrote: ↑27 Jul 2026, 08:08
Chuckjr wrote: ↑27 Jul 2026, 02:30
Hats off to Max today. An epic race. The pass on Lewis was exceptional. Dropped my jaw when I saw him going for it. Really great stuff to see at a time like this.
Everyone other than Max will not be called out for moving under braking.
BS commentators
It was an opportunistic move, caught Hamilton sleeping (I'm sure he would've blocked had he seen it coming 1/4 a second before he noticed it) and required tremendous bravery under braking.
F1tv commentators were effusing praise on the move, but Sky F1 ensured that the praise was minimal and that it was because Hamilton had used up his battery in T12-T13 to get past Lawson (which has nothing to do with how late Hamilton brakes for T1 and what line he uses doing so).
The difference between the two drivers - Hamilton was faster in the first stint with offset tyres, but still wasn't brave enough to 'make a move' - he was hoping on pressuring Max into a mistake and waited, only for it to never happen. Max, ont he other hand, he got one opportunity, and he was brave enough to 'go for it'.
This race is getting a lot of flak in the race thread - 'boring' / 'Monaco without walls' etc etc. I thought it was a brilliant race, there was a point when the entire lead group was in a train, behind Hadjar for a lap and a half. This idea that 'more overtakes = better racing' is naive, and for some of us who were watching, it was the best race of the year - no safety cars to nullify built up gaps (just a small VSC), and hence no 'lucky break' for anyone. It was pure racing. Apart from P1, no position was guaranteed until the last 3-4 laps.