Formula One ( F1 )

Didn't Wolff say in his post race interview that he 'let the stewards decide, I don't want to be a punter like some of my colleagues'? In the next breath he says it was like a tactical foul in football ie Max took Hamilton out deliberately.

To be honest I've just been switching off after the flag waves the past season or two. It's hard enough having to put up with some of the crap spouted during the race, an hour or so of nothing but that sounds like hell!

Looking forward to being able to get F1TV and forgo the commentary altogether. Aside from the irritating biases, the amount of objectively wrong calls they (mostly Croft to be fair) make during the race is ridiculous. At least Murray Walker was endearing enough that it was forgivable to a point, and I guess back then we didn't have access to all the data that we have now that for a portion of the viewership makes play-by-play commentary superfluous (though the pit-lane commentary is handy I'll concede, wish that was given by Chandok over Kravitz though).

Jesus that's a lot of complaining up there, I do love the sport but Sky (and F1 themselves to a lesser extent) have definitely made watching it more irritating over the past couple of years.

Yeah, and most of the stuff that comes out of the mouths of team members or drivers is just PR/marketing with sometimes a nod to the truth. It seems like all the 'my tyres have gone' type driver radio messages are just hoping to confuse their opponents just before setting a fastest lap!

The only F1 thing worth watching outside of the race is Drive to Survive on Netflix. Some really genuine moments of behind the scenes insight.

My favourite clip...

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=fLeA0GX2JVs

The opening clip to season 2.

Truth. I often think about having the Horner / Halliwell household as neighbours. They would be awful.

Sweet Jesus - what a horrific thought. I was at the F1 a few years ago in Abu Dhabi and she appeared onstage next to Pharrell who seemed perplexed as to how she'd got there. A rather strained duet emerged (not sure on the song) and she fucked off stage right. He looked out at the audience and said: "Now we can get on with the show..."

You weren't wrong, damn good fight. Not the result I was hoping for, but such a great race to watch!

Marquez looking distinctly human, the Honda does not look to be an easy bike to ride.

Those Hondas have looked like a handful for quite some time that's for sure. Think after last season's big crash he's just lost a bit of performance and likely won't get it back.

Always figured he'd have a relatively short career with the way he raced, but good to see he can still put on a show. Ah well, fingers crossed for winning his 12th consecutive German GP next season!

Only caught the highlights, but what happened Perez? That second RB seat seems to attract terrible performances from otherwise pretty decent drivers.

I'm also interested to hear Hamilton's thoughts on this season (after he retires I imagine). He's been all over the place this year and I don't think it's due to pressure from the championship fight, he's definitely been short of breath a good few times over the past year (much moreso than the average driver at least) so it'll be interesting to hear if he's been impacted significantly long-term from contracting covid.

If this was any other season I reckon he'd be walking it, especially given the number of DNFs from Verstappen.

Only caught the highlights, but what happened Perez? That second RB seat seems to attract terrible performances from otherwise pretty decent drivers.

Like Schumacher era Benetton and Ferrari, when you build a car for what one exceptional driver likes, you make it very hard for anyone else.

From my sketchy memory, didn't they force the previous newbs to copy Max's set up, I seem to remember when Gasly was allowed to do his own he got worse so they took that decision away from him again? Wonder where Perez is with how much decision he can make atm.

https://www.motorsport.com/f1/news/bottas-russian-gp-grid-penalty-engine-change/6674900/

"For Valtteri, we are still thinking about possible strategic decisions to be taken in the next hour or two on what the best and quickest race strategy could be for him," he said when asked by Motorsport.com about Mercedes' strategy options for Sochi.

Gives Valtteri a new engine sending him to the back of the grid after doing the same thing last race, top trolling by Wolff

Loving these new pit lane "safety" procedures /s

Haha, I did watch a couple from S1 but have been avoiding it on account of how much F1 loves to suck it’s own carbon fibre cock, assuming it would be sanitised and self-reverential

Gutted for Norris. Would have won if he’d taken the inters.

Grim for Norris, McLaren really should've pushed that call. Good to see McLaren and Ferrari back on the podium again.

Hands down the best season since 2012

TBH Valtteri seems to be pretty fucking useless right now, case of "you had one job".

Obviously however, he's a gazzilion times better than I would ever be!

so it'll be interesting to hear if he's been impacted significantly long-term from contracting covid.

My girlfriend reckons he's been affected really badly by Covid, be interesting if he talks openly about it.

I mean, Verstappen did win his first race with RB. Ricciardo & Kyvat didn't struggle as much as Perez, Albon, Gasly (& Vettel in his later RB years). I'm guessing it's more a general style that fits some drivers and takes others some time to get up to speed with (much like Ricciardo in the McLaren). Though I wouldn't be surprised if they're currently chasing raw pace and Verstappen can deliver that, as long as the number 2 can score enough to keep them ahead of McLaren & Ferrari I guess it's not a major problem.

Useless from whose POV though. Mercedes have routinely used him only as a barrier to Hamilton and now that he's got no reason to put up with it I wouldn't be surprised if he's given up playing the team game.

I did love hearing the Sky folks completely surprised that he didn't fight Verstappen harder. The guy's just had his 2nd consecutive back of the grid start, in this instance for the sole purpose of holding up Verstappen, he's leaving the team at the end of the year and is likely done with being there solely to help Hamilton. On a slightly tangential note there was a wonderful moment pre-race where they were talking about how Verstappen's going to have such a tough race from way back in the field, and I think it was Di Resta who chipped in saying that Hamilton's got a similar problem.

I remember the flak Ferrari took when they gave Massa a new gearbox incurring a 5-place drop at the end of the 2012 season, as well as the obvious Barrichello treatment. The double-standards at play does provide a good chuckle if nothing else!

My girlfriend reckons he's been affected really badly by Covid, be interesting if he talks openly about it.

He will at some point, maybe after he's wrapped up an 8th World Title and is considering what to do next. Isn't it every driver's dream to drive for 'Rarri?

Looks like another dull-as-shit Middle Eastern track this year in the form on Losail in Qatar. On the plus side, it's replacing Melbourne which is a bit of a snooze-fest at the best of times.

On the positive side of things, the amount of free highlights content being pumped out on YouTube is awesome. This would not have happened with Bernie at the helm.

We race as one!