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Thread: 2021 Brazilian GP: Post Race Analysis

  1. #1
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    2021 Brazilian GP: Post Race Analysis

    A very controversial Brazilian Grand Prix weekend, and rightfully so. There were many unusual procedures and decisions made throughout the weekend that left millions of fans scratching their heads. It also allowed for fans with a biased opinion to have an argument to support their views. All of this shows the real losers are F1 and the FIA. Their inconsistencies and irrational decisions from one incident to the next show they have their best interests in hand, with the main one being keeping fans engaged. Always remember, Formula 1 is a business first, and a racing series second. Unfortunately this can cloud their judgement, for lack of a better word, on seemingly straight forward decisions. Another post may be required to discuss the controversies. On the bright side, this is the last weekend of the silly Sprint Race Qualifying.

    Mercedes back to having the best car. After being outclassed by Red Bull in Mexico, there is no denying Mercedes had the upper hand. Though this comes with a load of controversy. Despite a DQ from failed tech on Friday, a last place start in the Sprint Race, and 5 place grid penalty for an ICE change, the Mercedes in the hands of Hamilton was easily able to blow by the competition down the big long straight of Interlagos. A speed differential so great it has raised a lot of eyebrows, including the smart guys at Red Bull Racing, who have suggested there is something fishy going on. There is also data and speculation that this advantage is only present on Hamilton's car, which could explain why Bottas can never seem to advance through traffic like his teammate. Bottas sadly once again did not get any support from his team, they compromised his race to benefit Hamilton's. To be fair, that is completely understandable, except there was a very realistic chance for Bottas to get 2nd. Given the speed from Hamilton's Mercedes, there is no reason why Bottas should not have been in the challenge for the win even.

    Red Bull Racing calling this a damage limitation race despite starting the Sprint Race on pole, having their drivers in 1-2 positions after lap 1, and the rivals weighed down with penalties, that is of huge concern for the remainder of the championship. Verstappen had an incredible drive for the most part, but the car was going to be a sitting duck against the Mercedes, it was just a matter of time. Though Max reverted back to doing his traditional Verstappen tactics of weaving on the straight, and driving the outside driver off the track. Seems awfully convenient that the onboard of Verstappen is missing so we can see his steering inputs when he drove Lewis off track. At the very least it was a very questionable move, and perhaps even deserving of a penalty. Fortunately it was a no harm no foul type of incident, much to the sharp mind of Hamilton. Lets not forget, Hamilton pushed Perez into the pit entry lane in Turkey, and nobody seemed to care. As for Perez, a very good drive by him once again. For most of the year he can barely stay within 30 seconds of Max during a race, yet he wasn't too far off all race until he was forced to pit for the fastest lap point.

    Ferrari had another fantastic race. Going into any weekend, their maximum target has to be 5th and 6th, realistically. The main goal to attain more points than McLaren in the fight for 3rd in the WCC. Not only did Ferrari finish 5th and 6th, but McLaren had another terrible race and it was huge points for Ferrari in back to back races. As for the drivers, both did top notch, but I have to say that Leclerc is either not quite the superstar we all believe, or Sainz is really stepping up his game.

    AlphaTauri perhaps came in the weekend as a favorite to finishing 5th in the race, didn't quite have the same pace they showed in Mexico. Gasly still delivered the maximum the car could achieve, including some good battling with both Apline drivers. Tsunoda's ability to make mistakes which happen to hurt the big Red Bull team continues to impress. His dive bomb on Stroll was beyond ambitious and deserved a penalty for sure, though was 10 seconds too harsh? Putting it in perspective, Lewis Hamilton received the same 10 second penalty for his collision with Verstappen in Silverstone which not only destroyed the Red Bull, forced an engine change, but also put Max in the hospital for precautionary reasons.

    Alpine, always inconsistent with their pace. I am sure the team knows where they strong and weak, but I haven't figured it out as their performance varies each and every race and we never seem to know what will show up. A double points finish and both drivers looking pretty equal has to be considered a successful weekend.

    McLaren perhaps could have scored some decent points with Ricciardo, who lets give this guy some credit has been driving MUCH MUCH better than he was for the first half of the season. It is starting to feel like the balance is falling in favor of Ricciardo lately. But he still DNF'd and Norris scored a point who probably could have been much better if it wasn't for his tiny mistake into T1 which caused his puncture and ruined his race.

    Aston Martin is another team that struggles with consistent performances. Stroll we know got rammed by Tsunoda, but Vettel just wasn't fast enough at any point in the race. Perhaps Aston Martin feel no need to develop this years car and are fully committed to next years car, since they are pretty much locked into 7th place this season.

    Alfa Romeo had another good performance from Raikkonen. A collision or a couple of DNF's ahead and he's in the points. Giovinazzi probably wanted a better race, though it is unsure if he had issues or damage.

    Williams unremarkable race. George as usual finishes ahead of Latifi, and the team can truly only finish ahead of Haas.

    Haas at the back. I was expecting a replay to see Schumacher lose his front wing in a collision with Mazepin, but it turns out it was his own mistake that caused it in a bump with the Alfa. Mazepin stayed clean and finished ahead of Mick, which is somewhat rare.

    Driver of the Day. Lewis Hamilton. It can seem hard to give DOTD to the guy that had a car that fast and could make passes on the straight with such little effort or skill involved, but let's be fair and recognize he was in plenty of positions to over drive the car while being aggressive, or getting caught up while dicing through traffic in the opening laps. He need to drive good enough to put maximize what the car was capable of, and he did it.

  2. #2
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    Quote Originally Posted by SS454 View Post
    Mercedes back to having the best car. After being outclassed by Red Bull in Mexico, there is no denying Mercedes had the upper hand. Though this comes with a load of controversy. Despite a DQ from failed tech on Friday, a last place start in the Sprint Race, and 5 place grid penalty for an ICE change, the Mercedes in the hands of Hamilton was easily able to blow by the competition down the big long straight of Interlagos. A speed differential so great it has raised a lot of eyebrows, including the smart guys at Red Bull Racing, who have suggested there is something fishy going on. There is also data and speculation that this advantage is only present on Hamilton's car, which could explain why Bottas can never seem to advance through traffic like his teammate. Bottas sadly once again did not get any support from his team, they compromised his race to benefit Hamilton's. To be fair, that is completely understandable, except there was a very real chance for Bottas to get 2nd. Given the speed from Hamilton's Mercedes, there is no reason why Bottas should not have been in the challenge for the win even.
    Absolutely, Hamilton is good, but not that good.
    From the sprint Quali to the race, that Merc was unnaturally QUICK! (flashbacks from 2014 to 2016)

    Though, I will admit that Hamilton is up there with the best (top 5, maybe).
    His grasp of the rules is quite commendable (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=gqhX-ZzPhzo),
    he tried to do the same to Max during the race (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=FaZdB-B8_qk).

    I have a feeling that RBR is collecting data on Hamilton's Merc to present to the FIA.
    Things are going to get extremely tight toward the final 3 races.

    Quote Originally Posted by SS454 View Post
    Ferrari had another fantastic race. Going into any weekend, their maximum target has to be 5th and 6th, realistically. The main goal to attain more points than McLaren in the fight for 3rd in the WCC. Not only did Ferrari finish 5th and 6th, but McLaren had another terrible race and it was huge points for Ferrari in back to back races. As for the drivers, both did top notch, but I have to say that Leclerc is either not quite the superstar we all believe, or Sainz is really stepping up his game.
    Ferrari has been quite impressive performance and team dynamics-wise through the weekend.
    As I said before in a different thread, I was one of the nay-sayers. Their performance through the season has been a pleasant surprise to say the very least.

    But, I have a feeling talent management is going to take a hit.
    I don't see Sainz being a No.2, absolutely not.
    "Sainz is really stepping up his game", this is probably the case.
    Sainz has a very good understanding of the game and is more technically reliable, than Leclerc.
    But, in terms of pure speed, I feel Leclerc has the edge.

  3. #3
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    Charles is the real deal IMO, and Carlos is also a great attribute to the team, more experienced and possibly better technically for feedback, but Charles is younger, quicker (usually) and is managing to learn from mistakes while taking opportunities when they present themselves. Give them a truly competitive car and they will both do the job.

  4. #4
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    Did the taxi's used DAS again?

    Some movies around the web suggest so.
    Hero's come and go, but legends never die!

  5. #5
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    Quote Originally Posted by Toothlessrage* View Post


    Ferrari has been quite impressive performance and team dynamics-wise through the weekend.
    As I said before in a different thread, I was one of the nay-sayers. Their performance through the season has been a pleasant surprise to say the very least.
    But, I have a feeling talent management is going to take a hit.
    I don't see Sainz being a No.2, absolutely not.
    "Sainz is really stepping up his game", this is probably the case.
    Sainz has a very good understanding of the game and is more technically reliable, than Leclerc.
    But, in terms of pure speed, I feel Leclerc has the edge.
    My personal feeling is that Lec IS the real deal !!! This doesnt mean that here wont be races where Sai could end up on top of him.All the great drivers had such races.I have no doubt that if the team bring a chamrionship winning car on the track ,he will beliver BIG TIME !!!Thats my gut feeling!!! The very good news is that Sainz is also very good and very fast!!Also i kind of expected it. His previous seasons when he was teammate with Max and Lando ,he was quite competitive and almost a true match of them .So i have a very good feeling that we have the most complete all around driver duo of the grid !!!! BUT on pure speed and talend i really dont see anybody better then Lec , not even Max and Ham !!! I know he has his bad moments and weekends but who hasn't ????!!!!
    FERRARI FOR EVER !!!!!!!

  6. #6
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    Had either Charles or Carlos finished in second place pushing Max to third; Lewis would have been overwhelmed with joy!! And we would have had a Ferrari podium. Mixed feelings for sure among Ferrari fans; I would take the podium !

  7. #7
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    Quote Originally Posted by PURE PASSION View Post
    My personal feeling is that Lec IS the real deal !!! This doesnt mean that here wont be races where Sai could end up on top of him.All the great drivers had such races.I have no doubt that if the team bring a chamrionship winning car on the track ,he will beliver BIG TIME !!!Thats my gut feeling!!! The very good news is that Sainz is also very good and very fast!!Also i kind of expected it. His previous seasons when he was teammate with Max and Lando ,he was quite competitive and almost a true match of them .So i have a very good feeling that we have the most complete all around driver duo of the grid !!!! BUT on pure speed and talend i really dont see anybody better then Lec , not even Max and Ham !!! I know he has his bad moments and weekends but who hasn't ????!!!!
    I was going to say what you said, but it's worth emphasizing.

    Carlos was just as quick as Max! Let that sink in.

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  9. #9
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    Quote Originally Posted by Cavallino View Post

    Carlos was just as quick as Max! Let that sink in.
    I do remember when Max did get his contract to Red Bull and that time Carlos had all data better than Max, so I was thinking that, what would Carlos think about that now, I am sure he was not feeling good.

    PurePassion: So i have a very good feeling that we have the most complete all around driver duo of the grid !!!!

    Yes, I am pretty sure about that too, sadly car is slow. Maybe next year, we`ll see.

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