2021 Russian Grand Prix - Sochi, Sep 24 - 26

[LM10]

Norris has been let down there. He needed an old head telling him to pit.

Didn’t you hear him shouting “No!” like a little kid after having been told to pit for Inters?

we don't know how old that message was, might have been 1-2 laps before it was played and at that time it was 50/50, the whole situation was very much a casino, had he committed to pits it could easily have been Lewis staying out and rain going away - thus throwing the win away

in fact, the swap to inters made few get very lucky, look at Bottas, from like 15th to 5th with no effort from him basically... and Verstappen, from "hopeless" 7th to 2nd

As a driver you can trust your engineer who pretty reliably can tell you if rain is going to get heavier in the next laps or not. He’s been told not only once, but a few times to pit.

[pantherxxx]

Poor qualy and start from Hamilton, still wins the race because Mercedes is so fast.

[Mattyw]

Oh I’m not doubting that at all. Mad luck. But they pitted on the correct lap.

Such mad luck has gained Verstappen whole 4 points!!!! Because if it doesn't rain Hamilton finishes P2 instead of P1. Meanwhile hamilton throws away 35 point swing advantage in Baku.

Every point is crucial. It can’t be downplayed.

Plus another engine in the pool!
Ver to lose now I think

[ringo]

Good race, but one of those wacky weekends which is what rain brings.
Sir LH100GOAT
He really has nothing left to prove in this sport.

[grubschumi13]

Can Mclaren do us all a favor and make a competitive race winning car next season. That was a great race decided by the rain at the end. Max was so lucky today with that rain and if Lewis got past Norris before the rain, he might have been the one insisting to stay out and could have gone horribly wrong.

It is Lewis' championship to lose now.

[pantherxxx]

What a magnificent race from Max Verstappen. 2. finish from the last grid position. Super Max!

It luck not super.

How is that lucky that you receive a grid penalty because another driver destroyed your engine?

[El Scorchio]

Without the weather he finishes 7th. The rain was lucky for him.

Oh I’m not doubting that at all. Mad luck- all weekend actually. But they pitted on the correct lap and did do a good job of dealing with the circumstances.

That was my point. We shouldn’t ever be hearing HaMiLtOn Is LuCkY again but you know we will.

They will just mentally forget this…and Spa and others.

Yes- some people will! I think the more level headed of us will realise both drivers have had a share of good and bad. Hamilton has had some lucky weekends, and so has Verstappen. This being one.

[ringo]

Did redbull sacrifice Perez for Max when the time came to go on rain tyres?

[aMessageToCharlie]

Didnt HAM also deny the call for inters at first? Both wanted to stay out and I also thought they could make it the 3 laps. But in once case the team over ruled and that's the difference between a good team and a wcc team. Look at Ferrari. Strategy "F" again on the first stop and then Carlos took the job of telling the team what to do. Just like Vettel always had to.

[renault rs26]

Without the weather he finishes 7th. The rain was lucky for him.

Oh I’m not doubting that at all. Mad luck. But they pitted on the correct lap.

Such mad luck has gained Verstappen whole 4 points!!!! Because if it doesn't rain Hamilton finishes P2 instead of P1. Meanwhile hamilton throws away 35 point swing advantage in Baku.

+poor box for Ricciardo gave Hamilton chance to fight for win.

[LM10]

He is a little kid. All the other youngsters who are older than him get cut loads of slack for huge outbursts of swearing in far less pressurised situations.

I think he can be 100% forgiven.

Whether he can be forgiven or not is a totally different story and not what I was referring to. Restomaniac suggested that Norris has been let down, which simply isn’t true.

Fair. He wasn’t let down, but I think to pick on him for an excitable response under the circumstances isn’t so fair. We see all the drivers getting snappy with their engineers on the radio all the time.

Yea, I don’t know what was going on between Leclerc’s engineer and himself, but considering Sainz was one of the firsts to pit for Inters and Leclerc on the other hand the last one, I’m sure he as well did the opposite to what his engineer told him.

[Restomaniac]

What a magnificent race from Max Verstappen. 2. finish from the last grid position. Super Max!

It luck not super.

How is that lucky that you receive a grid penalty because another driver destroyed your engine?

You've just utterly proved my point. Even when the luck goes to your driver it didn’t.

[Gillian]

Without the weather he finishes 7th. The rain was lucky for him.

Oh I’m not doubting that at all. Mad luck. But they pitted on the correct lap.

Such mad luck has gained Verstappen whole 4 points!!!! Because if it doesn't rain Hamilton finishes P2 instead of P1. Meanwhile hamilton throws away 35 point swing advantage in Baku.

I don't get it either. Verstappen did a great race, saved his car a few times and made a pitstop at the right time.

If anyone was lucky it was Bottas. Did a terrible race and still got P5.

[Scorpaguy]

In a world of "ifs"...what if Max stays out longer initially on his hards? I understand the undercut, but he was doing respectable laps on those shoes...and the DRS train was big. I sort of think Merc was a bit too much in Horner's head on this. Max stays out...retains better track position and keeps from getting the Fred! Then the rain fiasco plays out with Max much further up. Max was lucky to get this today.

[Joker]

Alonso Masterclass! Great pace in the first stint, second stint overtook Verstappen and waited towards the end of the race to go in attack mode. Could have been P2, if the rain did not start to pour heavily.

DotD