2021 Spanish Grand Prix - Catalunya, May 07 - 09

[Hammerfist]

On their fastest laps Hamilton was faster in sector 2, but in their second runs when both lost time Verstappen was .15 seconds faster.

Verstappen was slower on the first run, and on the second run, that's all that matters. You can come up with all the ifs, ands, and buts you want, but you're still just grasping at straws.

He is comparing verstappens’ second run to Lewis’last run. He may be trying to say that Redbull is faster on average but really Redbull did not beat the ultimate time so no Redbull was not faster.

[Hammerfist]

Perez is so useless... It's so hard for RBR to find equal flunkey for Ver as Mercedes found for Ham...

Hard push for Russell in 2022?

It doesn’t matter who is in that second seat. I think we’ve had 3 decent drivers underperform now so it’s time to stop with the consistent hypothetical replacements. Not quite sure what is going on but there is something going on at Redbull that prevents the second driver from achieving his maximum performance level. That much should be clear by now.

[f1316]

I’m honestly not especially impressed by Verstappen this year. He’s had a car that’s fast enough for pole in all four races and the only time he actually got the pole was when they had a margin. Add in the mistakes and it’s really not the driving of someone of the calibre they make him out to be - this hasn’t so far been the Alonso 06 standard where he met Schumacher on his level in order to depose him; so far Hamilton is still a step above whenever it matters.

I say this as someone who supports neither team nor driver - but is rooting for Max just as a break for the norm - but he needs to cut out the errors and maximise his package week in/week out if he wants to have any hope of getting the job done.

[etusch]

Can we delay the new cars to 2023 please?!!?!? We would end up with 1st through 20th covered by .5 sec!

This is what I am thinking too but not first time I feel so and will not be first time ends opposite

[dans79]

It doesn’t matter who is in that second seat. I think we’ve had 3 decent drivers underperform now so it’s time to stop with the consistent hypothetical replacements. Not quite sure what is going on but there is something going on at Redbull that prevents the second driver from achieving his maximum performance level. That much should be clear by now.

I think we are seeing the same thing was saw with Vettel before him. The team favors one driver over the other, and will develop the car to best suit the chosen drivers style.

[Jolle]

why was max in a hurry to overtake so many cars on his second run? he does that quite often. he doesn't care about keeping up the tyres. not sure how much that contributed in lack of laptime.

When you’re last in the cue, there are 9 possible yellow flags in front of you.

[El Scorchio]

why was max in a hurry to overtake so many cars on his second run? he does that quite often. he doesn't care about keeping up the tyres. not sure how much that contributed in lack of laptime.

When you’re last in the cue, there are 9 possible yellow flags in front of you.

Was he quite close to potentially not making it to the line in time either? It must have been a close call for some of the cars toward the end of the queue.

[Jolle]

why was max in a hurry to overtake so many cars on his second run? he does that quite often. he doesn't care about keeping up the tyres. not sure how much that contributed in lack of laptime.

When you’re last in the cue, there are 9 possible yellow flags in front of you.

Was he quite close to potentially not making it to the line in time either? It must have been a close call for some of the cars toward the end of the queue.

That wasn’t to bad I think. Looked like the moment he went out of the box he wanted to be right behind the AMG’s.

[ringo]

I’m honestly not especially impressed by Verstappen this year. He’s had a car that’s fast enough for pole in all four races and the only time he actually got the pole was when they had a margin. Add in the mistakes and it’s really not the driving of someone of the calibre they make him out to be - this hasn’t so far been the Alonso 06 standard where he met Schumacher on his level in order to depose him; so far Hamilton is still a step above whenever it matters.

I say this as someone who supports neither team nor driver - but is rooting for Max just as a break for the norm - but he needs to cut out the errors and maximise his package week in/week out if he wants to have any hope of getting the job done.

I wont be too hard on Max. He is under pressure. He wont say it but its a new experience for him and he is trying to be brave and appear relaxed on the outside. He is handling the pressure well but there are cracks..

As for the fastest car, slowest car debate. The cars are basically equal. You cannot sepsrste the driver from the car since it takes both to do the lap time and the lap time is what is beibg used to judge the performance.
The redbull looks like the most impressive moving around the track. That's all i can say.
If the cars are eqaul and lewis is an ordinary driver then Max should have won all 3 races so far.

[Fnatic1]

I’m honestly not especially impressed by Verstappen this year. He’s had a car that’s fast enough for pole in all four races and the only time he actually got the pole was when they had a margin. Add in the mistakes and it’s really not the driving of someone of the calibre they make him out to be - this hasn’t so far been the Alonso 06 standard where he met Schumacher on his level in order to depose him; so far Hamilton is still a step above whenever it matters.

I say this as someone who supports neither team nor driver - but is rooting for Max just as a break for the norm - but he needs to cut out the errors and maximise his package week in/week out if he wants to have any hope of getting the job done.

If the RB was that good (capable for pole), how come that PER is 9 tenths down the road on a track that all drivers know in and out?

Max had a good qualifying session. He improved in every session and didn’t make any mistakes so.

It is just that Merc play the media game that they are lacking performance to Red Bull, while in reality they aren’t .

[RZS10]

Perez said he had some injury or at least some issues with his shoulder and the pain was getting increasingly worse by the minute and that he didn't put together a single decent lap ... explains his poor performance but i wonder how he'll do tomorrow - long physio session incoming

[tangodjango]

I’m honestly not especially impressed by Verstappen this year. He’s had a car that’s fast enough for pole in all four races and the only time he actually got the pole was when they had a margin. Add in the mistakes and it’s really not the driving of someone of the calibre they make him out to be - this hasn’t so far been the Alonso 06 standard where he met Schumacher on his level in order to depose him; so far Hamilton is still a step above whenever it matters.

I say this as someone who supports neither team nor driver - but is rooting for Max just as a break for the norm - but he needs to cut out the errors and maximise his package week in/week out if he wants to have any hope of getting the job done.

I wont be too hard on Max. He is under pressure. He wont say it but its a new experience for him and he is trying to be brave and appear relaxed on the outside. He is handling the pressure well but there are cracks..

As for the fastest car, slowest car debate. The cars are basically equal. You cannot sepsrste the driver from the car since it takes both to do the lap time and the lap time is what is beibg used to judge the performance.
The redbull looks like the most impressive moving around the track. That's all i can say.
If the cars are eqaul and lewis is an ordinary driver then Max should have won all 3 races so far.

I agree both are real talents and performing at a high level. I'd wait till race 10-12 before we can make any judgements.

[erudite450]

I'm beginning to see Vettel's point. Leclerc might be the better of the two. If they were teammates, my money would be on Leclerc at least on Saturdays.

[NathanOlder]

I’m honestly not especially impressed by Verstappen this year. He’s had a car that’s fast enough for pole in all four races and the only time he actually got the pole was when they had a margin. Add in the mistakes and it’s really not the driving of someone of the calibre they make him out to be - this hasn’t so far been the Alonso 06 standard where he met Schumacher on his level in order to depose him; so far Hamilton is still a step above whenever it matters.

I say this as someone who supports neither team nor driver - but is rooting for Max just as a break for the norm - but he needs to cut out the errors and maximise his package week in/week out if he wants to have any hope of getting the job done.

If the RB was that good (capable for pole), how come that PER is 9 tenths down the road on a track that all drivers know in and out?

Max had a good qualifying session. He improved in every session and didn’t make any mistakes so.

It is just that Merc play the media game that they are lacking performance to Red Bull, while in reality they aren’t .

Did you miss Perez wreck his first run? did you miss all the front runner unable to improve on their first run (track conditions). So Perez ended up with 1 run, on a slower track. I guess you conveniently missed that.

[erudite450]

I’m honestly not especially impressed by Verstappen this year. He’s had a car that’s fast enough for pole in all four races and the only time he actually got the pole was when they had a margin. Add in the mistakes and it’s really not the driving of someone of the calibre they make him out to be - this hasn’t so far been the Alonso 06 standard where he met Schumacher on his level in order to depose him; so far Hamilton is still a step above whenever it matters.

I say this as someone who supports neither team nor driver - but is rooting for Max just as a break for the norm - but he needs to cut out the errors and maximise his package week in/week out if he wants to have any hope of getting the job done.

If the RB was that good (capable for pole), how come that PER is 9 tenths down the road on a track that all drivers know in and out?

Max had a good qualifying session. He improved in every session and didn’t make any mistakes so.

It is just that Merc play the media game that they are lacking performance to Red Bull, while in reality they aren’t .

That argument will no longer fly after Checo beat Verstappen in Imola and almost took pole position.