I think it was worth a shout bringing Hamilton in, but proved a mistake. The other mistake was not bringing in him whilst he could pit again and be ahead of Verstappen. But Mercedes have had the upper hand in terms of calls recently. I think Hamilton was secretly pleased Ferrari refound its mojo. What will make this championship special was the fact he was ahead when they had the better car. A strong finish for them gains him more credit, and he actually gained points on his rival for the title. Basically its over!
Think we saw a big difference between Lewis and Seb yesterday when Lewis was battling Max. Lewis has confirmed today what i saw yesterday - in that he gave Max far too much room. And basically he probably could have squeezed him more, kept off the marbles, and passed him.
And Seb just keeps hitting people in close combat. His wheel to wheel skills have been found wanting.
Hamilton is much the more intelligent driver. He banks the points, and is much better in close proximity to others.
Couple of questions that I can't seem to get answers to through google. Can anyone answer?
Why did Hamilton's tyres only last for 25 laps (with substantial impact on lap time) yet the same tyres lasted 35 laps for Raikkonen without the lap times reducing?
In short, Hamilton lost about 10 laps of tyre wear when he was following in Kimi's dirty air. If he'd had a clear track ahead of him then he'd have opened up a gap that would have seen him with a 2nd pit stop window and enough time to win the race.
Couple of questions that I can't seem to get answers to through google. Can anyone answer?
Why did Hamilton's tyres only last for 25 laps (with substantial impact on lap time) yet the same tyres lasted 35 laps for Raikkonen without the lap times reducing?
How did Vettel make up the time and overtake Bottas after spinning? Is Bottas useless, Vettel that good or did Ferrari have the dominant car?
There's a variety of factors that can affect tyre performance. Pushing the car to the limit degrades them quicker (as Hamilton was doing towards the end of the race), and being behind someone and chasing them down in hot air doesn't help either. A lock-up might flat-spot them too.
Raikkonen was driving at whatever pace he needed to to stay ahead of Verstappen, and with fresh air ahead of him. So that lack of pressure on his racing allowed him to conserve his tyres here and there by not hitting certain corners really hard. Because the Ferrari was so well tuned for the course, it made up the time by being really quick elsewhere, not relying on Kimi to drive as hard as Lewis had to.
Vettel was driving as hard as possible too, in a car that was quicker than the Mercedes that Bottas was driving. And Bottas's tyres were dying by the last few laps.
Think we saw a big difference between Lewis and Seb yesterday when Lewis was battling Max. Lewis has confirmed today what i saw yesterday - in that he gave Max far too much room. And basically he probably could have squeezed him more, kept off the marbles, and passed him.
And Seb just keeps hitting people in close combat. His wheel to wheel skills have been found wanting.
Hamilton is much the more intelligent driver. He banks the points, and is much better in close proximity to others.
Yes, he said as much but it wasn't worth the risk. To be fair to Seb, he has had to make things happen quite often, or at least felt he did.
Think we saw a big difference between Lewis and Seb yesterday when Lewis was battling Max. Lewis has confirmed today what i saw yesterday - in that he gave Max far too much room. And basically he probably could have squeezed him more, kept off the marbles, and passed him.
And Seb just keeps hitting people in close combat. His wheel to wheel skills have been found wanting.
Hamilton is much the more intelligent driver. He banks the points, and is much better in close proximity to others.
Think its just Seb Lewis actually... dont need to add the and in his name
He has his critics for various reasons on here. For me, you never know how long it will be before we get another F1 Champion, make the very most of it. Not exactly a queue of British contenders.
I remember James Hunt winning it, that was a very long time ago.
He has his critics for various reasons on here. For me, you never know how long it will be before we get another F1 Champion, make the very most of it. Not exactly a queue of British contenders.
I remember James Hunt winning it, that was a very long time ago.
Brilliant Lewis !
We've got two rookies joining F1 next year so hopefully it'll be the start of something for them
One of the all time greats of his sport goes without saying - frankly one of the all time British sporting greats full stop.
Vettel had a better car for at least as much time as Lewis enjoyed that luxury - so this championship is for me total affirmation of his superiority over Vettel
He has his critics for various reasons on here. For me, you never know how long it will be before we get another F1 Champion, make the very most of it. Not exactly a queue of British contenders.
I remember James Hunt winning it, that was a very long time ago.
Brilliant Lewis !
Meant to mention after James Hunt, had to wait another 16 years before another Brit (Mansell) won it.
You youngsters don’t know how lucky you have it at the moment !
Yes, two more Brits next year - Russell could be sensational. Really,really,really dont get the negativity towards Lewis - dont get it at all.
well done Lewis.
He was a bit of a drama queen when he was younger. Not judging him - he has been famous his entire adult life and that must be incredibly hard to deal with - but I think that's part of why he lost some people along the way. He's grown up a lot, maybe some of his detractors haven't realised/ noticed.
One of the greatest drivers of all time. And seeing him come from where he started without the backing that most drivers starting out have makes it even better.
However, this achievement has been somewhat undermined by the fact that nowhere near as many people tuned in to watch him yesterday though as they were when he won his first Championship - a fall from over 12m back then to no more than a couple of million now. The reason? The pure uncompetitive nature of the sport is one and the greed inherent within it is another.
In the last 4 seasons the 79 races have been won by the following teams:
Mercedes - 56 Ferrari - 14 Red Bull - 9 The Rest - 0
In essence, a maximum of two or three drivers in any season can win the Championship simply because they have to be driving for one of those three teams and also be the number one driver in that team - not many "sports" dictate that you have to "give way" to a fellow competitor, team mate or otherwise.
The viewing numbers aren't going to get better either from next year when live coverage is only on pay-TV. It will be interesting to see how many do subscribe but I certainly wouldn't back against Hamilton getting a 6th Championship.
One of the greatest drivers of all time. And seeing him come from where he started without the backing that most drivers starting out have makes it even better.
However, this achievement has been somewhat undermined by the fact that nowhere near as many people tuned in to watch him yesterday though as they were when he won his first Championship - a fall from over 12m back then to no more than a couple of million now. The reason? The pure uncompetitive nature of the sport is one and the greed inherent within it is another.
In the last 4 seasons the 79 races have been won by the following teams:
Mercedes - 56 Ferrari - 14 Red Bull - 9 The Rest - 0
In essence, a maximum of two or three drivers in any season can win the Championship simply because they have to be driving for one of those three teams and also be the number one driver in that team - not many "sports" dictate that you have to "give way" to a fellow competitor, team mate or otherwise.
The viewing numbers aren't going to get better either from next year when live coverage is only on pay-TV. It will be interesting to see how many do subscribe but I certainly wouldn't back against Hamilton getting a 6th Championship.
Also when he won in 2008 it was shown on the normal channels. Yesterday was on sky only - that would make a massive difference. Added to the fact it was a forgone conclusion (2008 went down to the last corner of the last lap of the last race)
You only have to look at budgets to see that those three teams are going to be at the top. That or there is a major rule change that a smaller team gets to grips with better! Having the best budgets allows you to employ the best drivers so that shouldn't take anything away from Hamilton - and he can win in a car that isn't the best - it has to be decent though of course!
BBC doing a quiz on how much like Hamilton you are - I am Hamiltonish : Hmm...you seem to like some of the same things as Lewis and it seems like the two of you would get on pretty well if you bumped into each other. But that's quite unlikely because you'd probably be hanging out in totally different places!
Anyway, you can find it here if you want to do it:
BBC doing a quiz on how much like Hamilton you are - I am Hamiltonish : Hmm...you seem to like some of the same things as Lewis and it seems like the two of you would get on pretty well if you bumped into each other. But that's quite unlikely because you'd probably be hanging out in totally different places!
Anyway, you can find it here if you want to do it:
Hamilton gets a lot of question marks about whether he's a great but one thing we've learnt today is the fact he knows now when to pick his battles / moments, i.e. today we saw Verstappen overtaking him with ease because it was a battle Hamilton knew he wasnt going to win - A bit later Verstappen then for me forced an issue with Ocon which was a battle he didnt even need to win!!
Ultimately Verstappen only has himself to blame for me - Ocon was unlapping himself today and Max could EASILY have ran slightly wide to ensure there was no contact between the two drivers... Instead he stubbornly stuck to his driving line because he was race leader, yet by giving Ocon room it meant that he'd have lost a second or two but because of the issues Mercedes had today it meant Hamilton wouldnt have had stood a chance of catching him regardless... Then we get this from him!!
Never had much respect for Christian Horner any way to be honest the way he's always had an Arsene Wenger approach with his drivers yet to defend Max for acting the way he's done is poor
BBC doing a quiz on how much like Hamilton you are - I am Hamiltonish : Hmm...you seem to like some of the same things as Lewis and it seems like the two of you would get on pretty well if you bumped into each other. But that's quite unlikely because you'd probably be hanging out in totally different places!
Anyway, you can find it here if you want to do it:
Hamilton gets a lot of question marks about whether he's a great but one thing we've learnt today is the fact he knows now when to pick his battles / moments, i.e. today we saw Verstappen overtaking him with ease because it was a battle Hamilton knew he wasnt going to win - A bit later Verstappen then for me forced an issue with Ocon which was a battle he didnt even need to win!!
Ultimately Verstappen only has himself to blame for me - Ocon was unlapping himself today and Max could EASILY have ran slightly wide to ensure there was no contact between the two drivers... Instead he stubbornly stuck to his driving line because he was race leader, yet by giving Ocon room it meant that he'd have lost a second or two but because of the issues Mercedes had today it meant Hamilton wouldnt have had stood a chance of catching him regardless... Then we get this from him!!
Never had much respect for Christian Horner any way to be honest the way he's always had an Arsene Wenger approach with his drivers yet to defend Max for acting the way he's done is poor
Yep, debatable if there was much point in doing it, but Ocon had every right within the rules to un-lap himself. Crashtappen had everything to lose and virtually nothing to gain by squeezing him. It was a fight he didn't need to pick, he knew he was there because Ocon was briefly in front coming out of the previous corner, and he didn't leave him room, which technically you are supposed to do. I thought it was 75% Verstappen's fault. Ocon created the situation in which a crash could potentially occur, but Verstappen made sure it happened.
Hamilton said as much in his is post race interview that he'd have let Ocon go and have got on with his own race. Until Verstappen stops acting like a petulant teenager he won't win a championship, no matter how fast he may be. It's the way they bread them at Red Bull though - it's the same kind of mentality that has cost, ex Red Bull graduate, Vettel significant points and possibly a championship this season.
Verstappen is gonna get himself a race ban at this rate. And not cos of the on track incident.
He totally lost his head after the race - and when he tried blaming Ocon for the incident at the scales when he started pushing him around. They won’t stand for that
Verstappen is gonna get himself a race ban at this rate. And not cos of the on track incident.
He totally lost his head after the race - and when he tried blaming Ocon for the incident at the scales when he started pushing him around. They won’t stand for that
The problem is that they will stand for it because, in their eyes, it improves the "show". It's the same reason that Vettel didn't get a penalty yesterday. If a lesser driver had committed the same offence he would have been penalised.
Verstappen is a great driver and massive talent, but he should have been shoving himself. When a driver like Hamilton gives you advice, you ought to listen. And it was great advice. Nobody was going to catch Verstappen and he should have been a bit more careful. I can understand why Okon got a penalty, as maybe he should have respected the race leader more, but in his defence, for probably a one or two lap window, his car was faster due to new tyres. Give him room, overtake him a few laps down the road and win the race.
If Hamilton was catching Verstappen in the faster car, it would have been different, but it wasn't. I think Verstappen should have been punished for the shoving with a grid penalty at the next race personally. Great talent and future world champion, but immature and arrogant and his own worse enemy sometimes.
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And Seb just keeps hitting people in close combat. His wheel to wheel skills have been found wanting.
Hamilton is much the more intelligent driver. He banks the points, and is much better in close proximity to others.
Raikkonen was driving at whatever pace he needed to to stay ahead of Verstappen, and with fresh air ahead of him. So that lack of pressure on his racing allowed him to conserve his tyres here and there by not hitting certain corners really hard. Because the Ferrari was so well tuned for the course, it made up the time by being really quick elsewhere, not relying on Kimi to drive as hard as Lewis had to.
Vettel was driving as hard as possible too, in a car that was quicker than the Mercedes that Bottas was driving. And Bottas's tyres were dying by the last few laps.
Champion again, up there with the very best.
He has his critics for various reasons on here. For me, you never know how long it will be before we get another F1 Champion, make the very most of it. Not exactly a queue of British contenders.
I remember James Hunt winning it, that was a very long time ago.
Brilliant Lewis !
Congrats to Lewis though, one of the greats
Vettel didn’t answer David Coulthards question of “you had a great car but what went wrong”
Because Sebastian kept mucking things up..!!.
Lewis up there with Fangio and Schumacher- wow
Really,really,really dont get the negativity towards Lewis - dont get it at all.
well done Lewis.
Great achievement
Vettel had a better car for at least as much time as Lewis enjoyed that luxury - so this championship is for me total affirmation of his superiority over Vettel
Never thought I’d see the day a Brit wins a 5th WC.
You youngsters don’t know how lucky you have it at the moment !
More of the same next year please.
However, this achievement has been somewhat undermined by the fact that nowhere near as many people tuned in to watch him yesterday though as they were when he won his first Championship - a fall from over 12m back then to no more than a couple of million now. The reason? The pure uncompetitive nature of the sport is one and the greed inherent within it is another.
In the last 4 seasons the 79 races have been won by the following teams:
Mercedes - 56
Ferrari - 14
Red Bull - 9
The Rest - 0
In essence, a maximum of two or three drivers in any season can win the Championship simply because they have to be driving for one of those three teams and also be the number one driver in that team - not many "sports" dictate that you have to "give way" to a fellow competitor, team mate or otherwise.
The viewing numbers aren't going to get better either from next year when live coverage is only on pay-TV. It will be interesting to see how many do subscribe but I certainly wouldn't back against Hamilton getting a 6th Championship.
Anyway, you can find it here if you want to do it:
https://www.bbc.co.uk/cbbc/quizzes/how-hamilton-are-you
Ultimately Verstappen only has himself to blame for me - Ocon was unlapping himself today and Max could EASILY have ran slightly wide to ensure there was no contact between the two drivers... Instead he stubbornly stuck to his driving line because he was race leader, yet by giving Ocon room it meant that he'd have lost a second or two but because of the issues Mercedes had today it meant Hamilton wouldnt have had stood a chance of catching him regardless... Then we get this from him!!
https://www.skysports.com/f1/news/12527/11542890/brazilian-gp-max-verstappen-and-esteban-ocon-clash-on-and-off-track
Never had much respect for Christian Horner any way to be honest the way he's always had an Arsene Wenger approach with his drivers yet to defend Max for acting the way he's done is poor
Hamilton said as much in his is post race interview that he'd have let Ocon go and have got on with his own race. Until Verstappen stops acting like a petulant teenager he won't win a championship, no matter how fast he may be. It's the way they bread them at Red Bull though - it's the same kind of mentality that has cost, ex Red Bull graduate, Vettel significant points and possibly a championship this season.
Horner is a smug prick too.
He totally lost his head after the race - and when he tried blaming Ocon for the incident at the scales when he started pushing him around. They won’t stand for that
It's the same reason that Vettel didn't get a penalty yesterday. If a lesser driver had committed the same offence he would have been penalised.
If Hamilton was catching Verstappen in the faster car, it would have been different, but it wasn't. I think Verstappen should have been punished for the shoving with a grid penalty at the next race personally. Great talent and future world champion, but immature and arrogant and his own worse enemy sometimes.