Grand Prix thread 2020 Portuguese Grand Prix

He's a racing driver. Is he a resilient, ruthlessness, balls to the walls racer? Sadly no.

On his day, he can be really good. There's just no consistency.

 

I agree that is where he is now .

if I wasn’t married , I’d also like to know where his ex lives . Just out of curiosity...

 

*Laughs*

 

He reminds me very much of Carlos Reutemann ( sp )

 

Hamilton's Gerhard Berger, sans the Friendship.

 

spot on . Good on his day , but mentally weak .I think we agree ?

 

How old are we

 

Wonder if be needs some sort of sports phycologist to help him. A lot of it seems mental. Just the way he presents himself, he seems defeated before he's started.

 

I like to think I'm still 20... The body says otherwise.

 

Last race of the Indycar season about to start btw. Championship decider.

 

Max has the talent, and he's finally getting on top of some of his major issues, but it all depends on how the reg changes pan out. I think of the new crop, Leclerc is the man that I'd put my money on... But will Ferrari be the right place to be long term? Possibly not.

 

Is he? The practice crash showed to me he still thinks he has a divine right to be on any part of the track. He dived up the inside on a practice lap! Why risk the car on a practice lap, it was like he forgot it was practice. Same in the race when he and Perez made contact - as normal it's never Max's fault. I know drivers have to be ruthless but there are battles that you need to win and ones that don't matter.
Yes he has skill but he still need to mature a little.

 

We’re all really harsh on Bottas and it’s nothing personal on him- I actually quite like him.

The problem he has is that he’s the only man who can really make the racing at the front interesting and sadly (for him) he is up against one of the very best ever. So throw in the fact that Ferrari are in a hole, Red Bull are lacking, whilst McLaren and a Renault all chase their way back to the front and Bottas being beaten fairly cosily leads us to some boring race wins for Lewis.

He then has the tendency to hold up any other challengers a la Verstappen and so he almost becomes a non threat to Lewis but sadly for race fans like me also a threat to the entertainment too by holding off anyone else

I don’t think anyone dislikes him, we’re just willing him to really step up and make Hamilton reach into the bottom of that talent barrel.

I still maintain Nico Rosberg was seriously underrated. He was meticulous in forcing Hamilton to dig deep and I think with hindsight emerges with serious credit looking back on that rivalry.

Where do you think Valtteri would be a good fit after Merc? I kinda think he’d be a proper fit at Racing Point (Aston Martin) if they are serious about moving towards the front end, and need to ditch the chosen one.

 

Fair points... Okay, he's been showing signs of getting beyond his major issues... Somewhat.

 

Rosberg was fast. There's no two ways about it. People really did underate him. I don't think I did. Just needed some more stamina.

 

Thats a good point though. His marriage ended so he could focus on his career... but nothing has changed.

Sorry don't mean to stir anyone up, just so frustrated with the years of no competition at the front.

 

I think it's fair to criticize Bottas. He's in the best car and just can't make it happen consistently.

And did the marriage end to focus on racing? I really don't know much about that side of it, but that seems a good way to fill yourself with regret. Seems like looking for the answer in the wrong place. But again, I know nothing about that.

 

I think it's fair to say he's progressing in the right direction, but I thought the same about the Perez incident.

 

I think you are right, he is going in the right direction.
I do wonder if sometimes he gets an easy time with stewards as, currently without Max there would be no chance of a competition with the Mercs. With Max there is a perceived chance that Max can put some pressure on the Mercs.
I hope he matures a bit more and retains his skill and determination.

 

I think on the Rosberg / Bottas front - could it not also he a question of Hamilton simply being too good? Who could realistically keep close to him in a more consistent way than Bottas?

From everything I've read and heard from Rosberg he focused his whole life on getting close to Hamilton. From adjusting his body clock for races way ahead of other racers, to getting specially made gloves, he sought every possible marginal gain. Yet - in my opinion - he still only won the championship through better reliability and didn't have the stamina to maintain that for more than one year.

Don't get me wrong, I think Rosberg was a cut above Bottas based on what I've seen, but I'm not sure it's fair to use Rosberg as a stick to beat Bottas with either.