ringo wrote: ↑10 Oct 2021, 02:05
max_speed wrote: ↑09 Oct 2021, 16:56
Barring any accidents. Hamilton will have to pass perez and alonso. Any given day perez is more difficult to pass than Bottas and Alonso is in legends league ( on same tyre age and he is also looking handy), if verstappen manage to pass bottas at start, game over for merc.
Hamilton passed Alonso in Russia didnt he?
He is even faster here.
it's just a orange-glasses comment. Hamilton has a completely fresh race engine from now on, he can open full power on sunday, get some Merc strategy with that, and finish P1 with Valterri P2 and Max P3 - RBR is not having a good weekend at all and Hamilton set his pole lap fully loaded and even with a bit of lift in T8 - there was much to improve, but he drove conservative.
Hamilton looking to extend his championship lead with 10 points, perhaps 11 over Max if he grabs DHL fastest lap, which will get him a 13-point lead, with then 6 races still to go. He can comfortably finish P2 in Mexico and Brazil - supposedly 'RBR tracks' and all he has to do is grab 2 fastest laps in those races and they're still going to be equal on points.
Mercedes has been strong in both COTA and Abu Dhabi, only Qatar and Jeddah are big question marks.
Back to Turkey - people think that just because Alonso was able to fend off Hamilton a couple of races back, he can do that every GP. Nah, Alonso will be driving a totally different stage of race compared to those a few back, he will not be in any position to fight off or defend him at all, and instead will rather focus on taking on Gasly, and perhaps with a bit of luck and strategy, finish P4.
If instead mayhem occurs between Max and Bottas or Hamilton, he could pick his precious fruits and finish on the podium.
Ferrari will be tougher than before after getting an improved engine, so beating Leclerc is not a given at all.
Beating Gasly will be more likely.
I would be inclined to feel the result without incidents will be:
P1 - Hamilton (thanks to the engine and strategy) (including fastest lap)
P2 - Bottas
P3 - Verstappen
P4 - Leclerc or Alonso
P6 - Perez
P7 - Norris
P8 - Gasly
P9 - Vettel
P10 - Stroll
Finish result for WDC : 13 point lead from verstappen (272.5 points vs 259.5 points)
What's going to be important for Hamilton still is to get more wins under his belt, as if they finish equal on points, Verstappen will beat him on amount of wins.
And/Or, make sure that when there is no way to beat RedBull at a certain race, that they grab fastest lap points.
If hamilton can get all fastest lap points in the 6 gp's after Turkey, then that could be the deciding factor for the WDC.
Either way, this race is going to be crucial for Hamilton.