Pete the Elaner

Somebody has actually told Max what to do? I thought the team constantly told him how great he is? I still think back to the US GP in 2017 when he passed Kimi by cutting a corner: "great move Max" was the response from his team. Er no. He cut the corner, gained a place by going off track. How wrong can that be? The stewards had no choice but to penalise him for that one.

I'm not so sure. The amount of people suggesting a new freight line would be more acceptable 'because it will be much cheaper' is quite large. Many on here will understand that such a railway will not be a great deal cheaper because it will still need the expensive tunnels through the countryside & will not be of any practical benefit either. But take away 'High Speed' & it somehow becomes more palatable.

Was phase 2 actually the Leeds bit? Wasn't the Manchester section called something like Phase 1.2? Pulling much of the Manchester, Liverpool & Glasgow traffic off the WCML will make a huge difference. As a slight aside, I saw a news article last week claiming that an 'alternative to HS2' is to run more stopping services on the existing route. That would be like trying to pour a litre of beer into a pint glass. HS2 was so badly mis-sold to much of the public & many believe the rubbish they read.

Don't think too far ahead. He has won 1 race in his entire career, as has Piastri. Either one would need to win consistently, ideally with the other behind them & Ferraris/Mercedes also consistently in the podium places in order to claw back Verstappen's lead. As for Verstappen he needs to score solid points & grab the odd win, for which opportunities will be there, but maybe not every race like he is used to. What Verstappen does not need is any DNFs. He did his best to screw up his own race in Hungary by crashing into Hamilton. He was 4th & may have had a better chance to pass, but gambled it & dropped to 5th. He was lucky though; he could easily have crashed out. Now he no longer has a car which can breeze past others & ease away, he will be stuck with other cars around him, so DNFs are very possible.

The stewards could have told him it was reckless by giving him a penalty. But they didn't, so he will do it again...& again.

They pitted Norris first to cover off an undercut from Hamilton. That decision could well have given them a 1-2 instead of a 1-3 today. If Norris had given back the position soon after they asked, he may well have been allowed to attack Piastri. I guess we will never know that?

I completely agree. I also feel that this is also the reason Verstappen has very little left to do to secure the title. He is a long way ahead & while the McLarens, Mercedes & Ferraris have have all shown they can win occasionally, none are likely to do it consistently. It needs 1 of them to consistently win & the others to all relegate Verstappen into 5th/6th each race, which looks highly unlikely. Regardless of the championship, it is nice to approach each weekend (for now) wondering how it will unfold instead of wondering if anyone can catch the lead Red Bull.

This sounds sensible. Whether or not you believe that Perez was always intended as a No2, he is far enough behind Verstappen now that it makes no sense to treat him as anything other. Verstappen has a big lead. Ferrari seem to have dropped back a little, but both McLaren & Mercedes are now challenging. If winners keep rotating as they are (which is likely), all Verstappen has to do is score decent points consistently. I suspect Red Bull have significant developments still to deploy. Red Bull really need to throw more support behind Perez. They need points for the constructor's title & if they team can help to turn his season around, he will could also be taking points away from Verstappen's rivals & also still get 2nd place.

But according to the latest gossip, Newey was going to Aston instead of Ferrari. But if Cardile has quit Ferrari to sign with Aston, then both are unlikely to be true.

I doubt that will happen. Verstappen will get a good start, pass Norris, Hamilton & Russell then build a gap, because the Bull is faster with a heavy fuel load. But it may take him a little longer than usual, allowing the others to close up later in the race when the cars have lightened again. That is my prediction. We will see how accurate it is.

Not really a correction, but the way I see things. If they wanted a proper competitor, surely they would have signed him as soon as he was available & they had a drive available? But they did not. If they wanted a driver to compete properly with & push Verstappen, surely they would have looked elsewhere instead of re-signing him? But they did not.

No. He is employed as a support driver. If they really wanted him they would not have left him without a drive in 2020 while they had a spare seat; they would have snapped him up...but didn't. He picks up spare points (but maybe not as many as they would really like) but obeys team orders & is no threat to Verstappen.

My first thought was to use Google Earth & look at Paddington: https://www.google.com/maps/@51.5178913,-0.1784339,130m/data=!3m1!1e3?entry=ttu They look curved to me. Sorry, I know that will be more challenging to model.

Unlikely. Max nails EVERY start. He never misses one, ever. His starting is so consistent that it borders on suspicious. So don't hold out much hope for an off-day.

I agree. I firmly believe that Silverstone '21 was a result of Hamilton having enough of being bullied off so he decided it was time to stand his ground. The Max fanatics who were critical of his decisions to back off & stay in the race were outraged when their driver showed them why backing off can be a wise move.