It's also the first time in the hybrid era that no Mercedes driver has finished on the podium 2 times in a row. Maybe the dominance is over :O
Hmmm. I know this may or may not be gossip of course, but some claims today that Russell has been told by Toto that he’s replacing Bottas next year. https://apple.news/AABIv4ymFTtuh7P49nMU5wg
Mercedes know they have a fight on their hands and next year may be tougher than this. They need the two best drivers in their team that they can muster. Sorry for Bottas but his driving has suffered of late, I think he is his own worse enemy, gets low very quickly, internalises his problems. Hamilton and Russell...going to be interesting. Based on this year you would say 5 races to get used to the car but George set a standard last year, but hard to beat that debut so I think he will take a few races to settle in.
Next season may be too late. Amazed they're not looking to do it now tbh. Yeah it would be a crappy thing to do, but RBR have them on the ropes atm..
I'd love to see him in now, although I think they would need to compensate Williams somehow, I guess with a driver swap but I'm not sure Bottas will accept being sent back to Williams, not under these circumstances anyway. I think we need to see the next two or three races before we can assess whether Red Bull have Mercedes on the ropes. They have have managed to come out of two of their worst circuits with the damage relatively limited (although Hamilton's error in Baku will haunt him) and both teams expect something more like the normal status quo at more conventional circuits. As for next year, nobody really knows what the pecking order will be so George could get his dream drive at last and find out he's not in one of the top drives still. It wouldn't be the first time such a thing has happened.
Merc may not come out on top next season, but either way you would imagine it will be a massive upgrade from the Williams. But imagine if somehow Williams pulled a Brawn, and you've given up that seat. Highly unlikely I know. Personally, with the pack closing, I just wish they'd bin the reg changes. Never going to happen though.
I'm slightly surprised It's that long. Hasn't shown any signs of being great in his F1 career. And currently being beaten by Alonso who is passed his best and rusty.
Just read an interesting article that states that now it the wind tunnel readjustment time based on constructors position. As red bull are 1 place above their last year placing they have a reduction of 2.5% wind tunnel time. As Merc are 1 place lower they get 2.5% more time in tunnel! I can't believe Merc sandbagged to gain wind tunnel time but maybe they did it to reduce red bulls time? Interesting. This mid season wind tunnel time adjustment has affected other teams as well.
If Merc genuinely are backing away from this year to nail next year then good on them- Ferrari and Red Bull paid a heavy price for battling it out in 2012 and 2013 when Mercedes absolutely nailed 2014 out of the box. Next year is huge and sets up a new era- I’d like to see all teams doing great jobs on it rather than a dominant exceptional one. Lewis might be more prepared to forfeit this year knowing he has several more years in a competitive car able to fight for wins, so perhaps they’ve taken a long term view and tried to pull Red Bull in. I do wonder if Red Bill are being driven by Verstappens performance clauses in a contract- the irony being he could be taking a title this year and yet sacrificing chances over the next 4 or 5 years whilst the likes of Hamilton, Le Clerc, Norris, Russell get a run at it? Always interesting to see it play out!!
How much actual time does that equate to? A couple of additional runs per week, one per week?. Could that be significant in any way?
Readi g a few comments from sky and James Allison, I think merc will keep Bottas for next year . I like him but I think his time is up .
The likes of Joe Saward are convinced Russell is a done deal. He mentioned a conversation with a senior Williams official talking about wanting a "proven race winner, experienced, championship contesting driver to lead their recovery next season"....which sounds a lot like Bottas. It's really interesting to see this play out. Hamiton has spoken in favour of Bottas previously, and now he's got a two year deal, do you need your "next lead driver" in the car next season?