Have to say I was more than slightly disappointed to hear Toto Wolff mention that of the things “Russell has so much to learn” on included an awareness of the fact the car ahead of him was a Mercedes. This guy would control a procession if you let him wouldn’t he? **** off Toto, this is racing.
Toto has also said Russel has to prove he is worthy of a Merc seat. What could have been better that passing a Merc, on merit, in a Williams? I think he is more annoyed that the crash has limited Mercs ability to develop as the budget cap is starting to bite
One can't argue with that statement from Russell, albeit it is a bit OTT. His passion to win will see him challenge Max, those two racing against each other over the next decade will help F1 maintain a fan base. I think Toto's words were hard but maybe he wanted that apology from George. I expect George and Toto had words.
I suspect it was George’s reaction that Toto was mainly unhappy about after the incident. Inexperienced drivers do make bad mistakes when they are learning, but he needed to own it and apologise. I’m glad he has, I just hope there’s no harm done in the long term.
Just owning it will go a long way to putting it right. Sure it'll be behind him in no time. All part of his development.
I can't really think of a fair way to deal with lapped cars, it'll always punish some and hinder others no matter what they do. Hypothetical situation, 10th and 11th are 4 seconds apart, the leader laps p11 but before he gets to p10 the red flag is thrown. It's not especially fair to then put p11 a lap down on the field he was merely seconds behind.
I have thought about this. Strictly speaking Lewis did not deserve that podium. He was also closing the gap on Verstappen and there was a point where you could even imagine him challenging for the lead. Would there have been an outcry had he won? Certainly would have been strange, but no stranger than taking second. I see no reason why they have to unlap themselves. Keeping the order is providing continuity. Where a backmarker position is a consequence of performamnce alone it disadvantages noone to leave them lapped. Where it is a driver mistake, as in Lewis's case, that driver gains a significant advantage, Lewis should buy George a drink of his choice as a thankyou. At a restart someone will likely gain some advantage, and someone will lose an advantage, both through closing the gap, but to the effect of a whole lap is not appropriate. Much as I want Lewis to get his 8th he did not earn that podium. If he wins this season, I hope it is by more than 18 points.
Just reading the ratings on the other thread. Lando had a brilliant race, no doubt, but it's worth pointing out the red flag really helped him too. He wasn't going to catch Leclerc for what would have been second place without it.
Apparently the damage to Bottas's car is almost a million quid. https://www.autosport.com/f1/news/how-a-million-pound-crash-highlighted-f1s-money-squeeze/6434695/ Not the best way to impress the would-be boss.
True but you have to give him credit for going for it. It's just him panicking that Bottas was moving that caused him to hit the wet. Toto did say George had to prove he deserves a Merc seat - what better way than to pass a Merc???? Oh well that didn't go to plan. If the crash is hurting Merc's budget imagine what it's done to Williams!!!