2021 Bahrain Grand Prix - Sakhir, March 26 - 28

[siskue2005]

Yep too early to say Max wont be champion.
He has the best car that seems to be half a second a lap quicker than a mercedes and he has a great team behind him with the best pitstops and strategy.
The only thing stopping Max from being champion now is his head.
Once he is on pole and doesnt let Lewis cone withing 8 seconds after 15 laps each race he is a champion. It's those moments with undercuts and strategy overlaps where Lewis can deffend for the win where max will get into trouble.
And then there is rain.. if it rains a lot this year Hamilton will win all of those races.

Personally, I think as Mercedes gets more on top of their cars set up, the gap will become much smaller, maybe even reverse.

it's obvious at least in the hands of Lewis he's figured out how to extract every ounce of life from the hard compound.

Not just this race; Lewis has been a the Pirelli Tyre Whisperer for the last 5 years

[lh13]

The cars aren’t very, very close mate. The Red Bull is clearly faster. Nice try (again) though.

You are exaggerating. Today's race showed cars are close indeed.

Sorry, but no. If the Mercedes is on pole by 0.4 seconds then you’ll be among the first people to say how much of a better car it is than any other. Now the situation is reversed and it’s ‘very very close’ between the cars. Come on.

Well, Mercedes have been pulling 6-7 tenths the last 2-3 years. So 3-4 tenths is indeed close. RedBull is better, but not as dominant as the Mercedes have been the past few years.

Edit: Also, if Mercedes can win the race with car issues, then it won't even be 'close' when they sort out the car issues.

[El Scorchio]

You are exaggerating. Today's race showed cars are close indeed.

Sorry, but no. If the Mercedes is on pole by 0.4 seconds then you’ll be among the first people to say how much of a better car it is than any other. Now the situation is reversed and it’s ‘very very close’ between the cars. Come on.

Well, Mercedes have been pulling 6-7 tenths the last 2-3 years. So 3-4 tenths is indeed close. RedBull is better, but not as dominant as the Mercedes have been the past few years.

Edit: Also, if Mercedes can win the race with car issues, then it won't even be 'close' when they sort out the car issues.

No. It’s not ‘dominant’ or at least it wasn’t this weekend but it was still clearly faster on pure pace in like for like situations.

Don’t forget Verstappen had damage in qualifying that was claimed to cost at least a tenth and that diff problem today which still saw him pulling a two second gap in the opening laps before the alternative strategies kicked in.

[siskue2005]

You are exaggerating. Today's race showed cars are close indeed.

Sorry, but no. If the Mercedes is on pole by 0.4 seconds then you’ll be among the first people to say how much of a better car it is than any other. Now the situation is reversed and it’s ‘very very close’ between the cars. Come on.

Well, Mercedes have been pulling 6-7 tenths the last 2-3 years. So 3-4 tenths is indeed close. RedBull is better, but not as dominant as the Mercedes have been the past few years.

I am sorry but it doesnt work like that; you cant put some arbitrary numbers to claim your point.
See i can also do it back
Mclaren in 1980s were 1 to 1.2 sec faster than the second best team, same with ferrari in 2002 and 2004; so considering that Merc and others were really really close in 2018 to 2020
See

[lh13]

Sorry, but no. If the Mercedes is on pole by 0.4 seconds then you’ll be among the first people to say how much of a better car it is than any other. Now the situation is reversed and it’s ‘very very close’ between the cars. Come on.

Well, Mercedes have been pulling 6-7 tenths the last 2-3 years. So 3-4 tenths is indeed close. RedBull is better, but not as dominant as the Mercedes have been the past few years.

I am sorry but it doesnt work like that; you cant put some arbitrary numbers to claim your point.
See i can also do it back
Mclaren in 1980s were 1 to 1.2 sec faster than the second best team, same with ferrari in 2002 and 2004; so considering that Merc and others were really really close in 2018 to 2020
See

Okay.

[bosyber]

lol

Better Burn

[siskue2005]

Toto saying that track limits were not mandated in race

[LM10]

What a race. Hamilton deserved that, no doubt. Sublime drive.

RBR was the better car, Max did a good job as well, but I think that it would have been better to not overtake where he did, but wait a bit and get him on the long straight right after.

As for the T4 limits discussion, I think that Hamilton and Bottas both knew pretty well that they were not allowed to do that, but they did anyway because they knew the only consequence would be a warning which eventually came in the middle of the race. Max started doing the same after his engineer told him that Mercedes were doing it as well.
I’m pretty sure that such points are being talked about in the pre-race briefing. On top of that the limitation was there in qualifying already. There is no chance Mercedes didn’t know it.

[bosyber]

Sorry, but no. If the Mercedes is on pole by 0.4 seconds then you’ll be among the first people to say how much of a better car it is than any other. Now the situation is reversed and it’s ‘very very close’ between the cars. Come on.

Well, Mercedes have been pulling 6-7 tenths the last 2-3 years. So 3-4 tenths is indeed close. RedBull is better, but not as dominant as the Mercedes have been the past few years.

Edit: Also, if Mercedes can win the race with car issues, then it won't even be 'close' when they sort out the car issues.

No. It’s not ‘dominant’ or at least it wasn’t this weekend but it was still clearly faster on pure pace in like for like situations.

Don’t forget Verstappen had damage in qualifying that was claimed to cost at least a tenth and that diff problem today which still saw him pulling a two second gap in the opening laps before the alternative strategies kicked in.

I think if you want to go that route, you'd also have to admit to crediting all the times that Hamilton (and Bottas, though not always when winning) 'turned out' afterwards to really have had the thoughest job keeping the car/tyres/engine in one piece during the race. From what we saw/heard during the race, sure it might have not been quite a 100%, and I am sure it is harder than it sometimes looks from the outside, but not more than that sort of stuff seems for all of them at times (unless we get more solid facts about that).

[lh13]

Sorry, but no. If the Mercedes is on pole by 0.4 seconds then you’ll be among the first people to say how much of a better car it is than any other. Now the situation is reversed and it’s ‘very very close’ between the cars. Come on.

Well, Mercedes have been pulling 6-7 tenths the last 2-3 years. So 3-4 tenths is indeed close. RedBull is better, but not as dominant as the Mercedes have been the past few years.

Edit: Also, if Mercedes can win the race with car issues, then it won't even be 'close' when they sort out the car issues.

No. It’s not ‘dominant’ or at least it wasn’t this weekend but it was still clearly faster on pure pace in like for like situations.

Don’t forget Verstappen had damage in qualifying that was claimed to cost at least a tenth and that diff problem today which still saw him pulling a two second gap in the opening laps before the alternative strategies kicked in.

Like it has been said a few times in this thread, Mercedes were always looking a bit better race-pace wise than qualifying pace. This has also been said that Mercedes were looking better on harder compounds than softer compounds. The cars are close, but RedBull is just ahead. That is my only point.

[ispano6]

What a race. Hamilton deserved that, no doubt. Sublime drive.

RBR was the better car, Max did a good job as well, but I think that it would have been better to not overtake where he did, but wait a bit and get him on the long straight right after.

As for the T4 limits discussion, I think that Hamilton and Bottas both knew pretty well that they were not allowed to do that, but they did anyway because they knew the only consequence would be a warning which eventually came in the middle of the race. Max started doing the same after his engineer told him that Mercedes were doing it as well.
I’m pretty sure that such points are being talked about in the pre-race briefing. On top of that the limitation was there in qualifying already. There is no chance Mercedes didn’t know it.

It's hypocritical for Mercedes to call it out when you're passed but you've gained a lasting advantage throughout the race.

[siskue2005]

What a race. Hamilton deserved that, no doubt. Sublime drive.

RBR was the better car, Max did a good job as well, but I think that it would have been better to not overtake where he did, but wait a bit and get him on the long straight right after.

As for the T4 limits discussion, I think that Hamilton and Bottas both knew pretty well that they were not allowed to do that, but they did anyway because they knew the only consequence would be a warning which eventually came in the middle of the race. Max started doing the same after his engineer told him that Mercedes were doing it as well.
I’m pretty sure that such points are being talked about in the pre-race briefing. On top of that the limitation was there in qualifying already. There is no chance Mercedes didn’t know it.

It's hypocritical for Mercedes to call it out when you're passed but you've gained a lasting advantage throughout the race.

[dans79]

Sorry, but no. If the Mercedes is on pole by 0.4 seconds then you’ll be among the first people to say how much of a better car it is than any other. Now the situation is reversed and it’s ‘very very close’ between the cars. Come on.

Well, Mercedes have been pulling 6-7 tenths the last 2-3 years. So 3-4 tenths is indeed close. RedBull is better, but not as dominant as the Mercedes have been the past few years.

Edit: Also, if Mercedes can win the race with car issues, then it won't even be 'close' when they sort out the car issues.

No. It’s not ‘dominant’ or at least it wasn’t this weekend but it was still clearly faster on pure pace in like for like situations.

Don’t forget Verstappen had damage in qualifying that was claimed to cost at least a tenth and that diff problem today which still saw him pulling a two second gap in the opening laps before the alternative strategies kicked in.

the thing is, a two second Gap isn't big enough on this track because of the power of the undercut. So while people might say he was managing his tires, he wasn't able to manage his tires and pull out a big enough Gap to be safe.

[nevill3]

It has been said that the track limits were going to be policed during qualifying but not the race, that is why Lewis and many other drivers were going off at turn 4. When Max was informed that Lewis was going wide he too was told he could. Then Lewis was warned by the stewards and obviously modified his lines. Why there are all the negative comments regarding this I don't know. A pass off track has never been allowed

Teds notebook just mentioned it was all due to gaining a lasting advantage whilst completing a pass off track

[NoDivergence]

Previous posters are ignorant. Leclerc confirmed that they were told in the driver briefing that Turn 4 could be crossed during the race. AND overtaking off track is strictly not allowed no matter what track or corner. Totally different situation