[morini]

Yeah, ranking drivers is always personal and not like exact science. Who can be right or wrong? Even I am willing to discuss almost every single one of those drivers positions in my own list.

And to put some of those young drivers next to Hamilton? No, that would not be wise. Probably would have the same effect as when they put Gasly and Albon next to Verstappen. But they are coming up and already I think you can put them next to all of those other drivers except the top 2, maybe top 3 or 4. 

I believe I said it before, that from a fan point of view another driver should get that Mercedes seat, but from Mercedes point of view this is just working perfect.

PS. With my dark grey theme, your text colour is hard to read for me. Can we change the colour of our text?

Yeah, there are a couple of issue with using a dark background on here, I have found that myself. It's fine if you (and everyone else) types the text, but if you cut / paste from a website then a lot of the time the formatting tags get copied too which makes the text black, or dark. Sometimes makes the text unreadable on dark backgrounds, but not much I can do about it.

Responding to your point about it being better for fans if someone other than VB was in a Mercedes, I know I am a lone voice, but I (sincerely) think there is no driver on the current grid who would beat Hamilton so it is kind of moot. Including Max Verstappen (sorry for the bluntness). Hamilton is just too good for all of them.

Lots of opportunity for the young guns when he retires though.

[NeilP]

I voted No in the original poll. On reflection he has done his job and done it well. In truth he was never going to beat Hamilton on a regular basis but who would based on what we have seen.

So, come on Neil, don't keep us all in suspense. The poll is pretty old I admit, but the question is still valid. If we ignore the original responses and hold the same poll now what would you say? What would the rest of you say too?

A simple yes or no?

I'm genuinely interested in folks opinions on this as we have a couple of seasons under our belt since Jody originally asked the question.

Sorry Morini my post was not very clear. Yes he deserves his spot, are there better drivers on the grid for sure but based on availability and circumstances he did deserve it.

[morini]

are there better drivers on the grid for sure but based on availability and circumstances he did deserve it.

Ok, I have a bit of a problem with that throw away line, but lets run with it anyway. The poll from two years ago asked "does VB deserve the Mercedes seat" (which is a simple black and white question), most said "no" at that time, which was probably fair enough. You've said "yes" in 2020 and then qualified it with a "but there are better drivers" get out clause. Me, I don't think that extra bit of qualification after the "yes" is necessary, the "yes" tells me all I need to know.

My view: Yes, VB certainly deserves the seat. He simply would not be in a Mercedes for 2021 if that were not the case (they have plenty of options). It was not by accident he got the drive in the first place and IMO he has delivered in a major way over the past 3 years. If you were principal of a top F1 team you couldn't ask for much more from one of your key employees.

All the F1 journos say "what if Lewis and Max were in the same team".? I'll turn that around and say "what if Max and Valtteri where in the same team"? That would be very interesting to see. Everyone writes VB off, but he's a lot, lot better than he is given credit for. My money would be on VB for a quali lap against Max more often than not (Max has no real record of special one lap pace).

[Antilochos]

So, what about Bottas after today's race?

I say he really has no excuses anymore why he is that far behind the pace of his teammate.
Mercedes knew already that Bottas is no match for Hamilton, but it works fine because they have such a dominant car. But even for them this must becoming embarrassing.
And Bottas, what is he telling himself?

[morini]

So, what about Bottas after today's race?

I say he really has no excuses anymore why he is that far behind the pace of his teammate.
Mercedes knew already that Bottas is no match for Hamilton, but it works fine because they have such a dominant car. But even for them this must becoming embarrassing.
And Bottas, what is he telling himself?

I have been his biggest supporter in the past, I fully admit. But today I was thoroughly disappointed in his performance and he blew a big chance to claw back a decent chunk of points. He really does not do well when he needs to pass cars on track, that much has been made clear on quite a few occasions.

Mercedes don't treat Bottas as a wingman though, he is given equal opportunity in that team I am convinced of that. I think his biggest problem this year (so far) is Hamilton has brought a bit more on Saturday (compared to last year) and is always starting ahead. If VB starts ahead he can win races, much like Vettel could back in the day. Ask him to fight for it and he has been found wanting.

Apart from Giving George Russell a chance to develop and learn from Hamilton I don't see Mercedes have many better options though. They won't find many who could do better than VB on a Saturday which is important at most races.

No contracts are watertight. I wonder if we might see someone else in the second Mercedes seat next year?

[Antilochos]

So, what about Bottas after today's race?

I say he really has no excuses anymore why he is that far behind the pace of his teammate.
Mercedes knew already that Bottas is no match for Hamilton, but it works fine because they have such a dominant car. But even for them this must becoming embarrassing.
And Bottas, what is he telling himself?

I have been his biggest supporter in the past, I fully admit. But today I was thoroughly disappointed in his performance and he blew a big chance to claw back a decent chunk of points. He really does not do well when he needs to pass cars on track, that much has been made clear on quite a few occasions.

Mercedes don't treat Bottas as a wingman though, he is given equal opportunity in that team I am convinced of that. I think his biggest problem this year (so far) is Hamilton has brought a bit more on Saturday (compared to last year) and is always starting ahead. If VB starts ahead he can win races, much like Vettel could back in the day. Ask him to fight for it and he has been found wanting.

Apart from Giving George Russell a chance to develop and learn from Hamilton I don't see Mercedes have many better options though. They won't find many who could do better than VB on a Saturday which is important at most races.

No contracts are watertight. I wonder if we might see someone else in the second Mercedes seat next year?

[morini]

???

Nothing

Did you mean to type a response there Anti?

[Antilochos]

I get an error in this thread, can not post text.

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Now it is working. Weird.

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Anyway.

I don't meant that Mercedes is treating Bottas as a number two, only that Mercedes knew they don't have to for the same result.

Pretty sure Mercedes can open Bottas his contract at any time. I mean, what did he had to negotiate? Every single driver wants that seat and it happens they offered it to Bottas and not because he is that special.
Talking about that. I would like to see Russell, I do believe they can get every driver they want. Who could say no to Mercedes at this point?

Me, I still dream of Hamilton versus Verstappen at Mercedes, how epic would that year be! Probably will be nothing more than a dream...

[Beano]

I get an error in this thread, can not post text.

---

Now it is working. Weird.

---

Anyway.

I don't meant that Mercedes is treating Bottas as a number two, only that Mercedes knew they don't have to for the same result.

Pretty sure Mercedes can open Bottas his contract at any time. I mean, what did he had to negotiate? Every single driver wants that seat and it happens they offered it to Bottas and not because he is that special.
Talking about that. I would like to see Russell, I do believe they can get every driver they want. Who could say no to Mercedes at this point?

Me, I still dream of Hamilton versus Verstappen at Mercedes, how epic would that year be! Probably will be nothing more than a dream...

you can dream Anti but let’s be very honest, a couple of reasons come to mind:
lewis is about to equal MS and very likely to pass MS in titles next season so why even rock that boat?
Mercedes have a winning formula in a No.1 and No.2 it’s kept them winning throughoutNobody there wants a reoccurrence of 2016 it got a bit ugly. 
but yes that would be a fantastic pairing for everyone to see. I feel robbed tbh as it’s clearly a one horse race.

[morini]

I feel robbed tbh as it’s clearly a one horse race.

Well, you can't blame the team for that this year. They give both the drivers equal opportunities as they did in 2016 and they do every year.

The wingman comments were "fair enough" when Mercedes were fighting Ferrari and Vettel for the WDC, they will always back the driver with most chance of winning if fighting it out with another team. Not really a fair comment in the seasons where there is only an inter team battle happening. Both drivers are given the same equipment and opportunity. I struggle to see why people can't accept that? Do you think Bottas has been handicapped by his team this year?