[Antilochos]

My "Driver" of the day; Gianpiero Lambiase for telling Max to effectively shut up and get on with it. I love that guy!!!!

---

A pretty uneventful race which was a masterclass from Lewis Hamilton. Bottas looks like every last breath of air has left his body. Verstappen splitting the Mercedes was an excellent drive by him. Vettels Ferrari nightmare continues the lack of team work with him was I thought personally a disgrace by Ferrari . One could be forgiven for thinking they are they can force Vettel to quit such was the poor performance of his pitwall.

I am always reluctant to open up wounds in any team and with any fans so I say this in the spirit of understanding, not gloating, not beating up on a team but what the hell has happen with that Ferrari engine. From this outsiders very limited knowledge I am now even more suspicious of the "deal" between F1 and Ferrari over their engine from last year.  This smacks of a major cover up for me.  That said surely there has to be more than that to it.  In previous years engine performance has been at about and even better than Mercedes.

Someone want to educate me?

I think we all want to know what is with the Ferrari engine. 
Last year I already said it was cheating when it came to light that Ferrari was influencing the amount of oil that went in (they did something tricky with the sensor, can't remember what exactly). That is cheating, when you know what the maximum amount is but you measure the wrong way so it doesn't show that you - with intent - go above the maximum amount. Not everyone agrees on this (which I don't understand, but anyway). FIA seemed like they just wanted the matter go away, but other teams like Red Bull insisted an further investigation.
Then, after FIA had to investigate into the matter, they came to a settlement. First, if you agree on a settlement, then there must be something wrong. Second, that they don't say anything about the content of the settlement, makes me think the consequences much be very large. Like that whole 2019 season could be a disqualification for Ferrari (and all the money involved, must be a nightmare).
Funny thing is though, Ferrari is asking for transparency in the Racing Point case...

[morini]

My "Driver" of the day; Gianpiero Lambiase for telling Max to effectively shut up and get on with it. I love that guy!!!!

Max certainly knows how to have a good old moan doesn't he? Much like the other 19 drivers, truth be told.

I actually like Max a lot as a driver but it's really hard for me to ever get fully behind him because of my irrational and total dislike of Marko and Horner. If Max went to a different team I could get fully behind him as he has a great talent. There are only three drivers on the grid who can outperform their equipment and have demonstrated it this year. I'll leave that as an exercise for the reader to come up with which three.

Max is so much better now than his first 4 seasons where, frankly, I thought it was mostly media hype. He has now developed in to a very fast but also reliable driver. I still hold on to my view that he needs someone to learn from regarding optimally setting up a car, but as driver he is second only to Hamilton at the moment IMO.

[NeilP]

"I actually like Max a lot as a driver but it's really hard for me to ever get fully behind him because of my irrational and total dislike of Marko and Horner. If Max went to a different team I could get fully behind him as he has a great talent."

I am right with you Morini. I hate Marko with a passion. I want to like Horner but just cannot seem to get there and in truth I feel the same about Max. That said RBR is a fantastic outfit.

The Racing Point situation is laughable to me. There should be no penalties in my view. I wonder how close the relationship is between Ferrari and Alfa Romeo. Between Red Bull and Alpha Tauri. Not to mention all connections between Haas and Ferrari. So what if they used Mercedes brakes this is a company (Liberty) that are trying their best to get a level playing field, how does that sit with this situation.

On a completely different note I wonder what rule change they will come up with next to thwart Mercedes because it sure looks to me like they are gunning for them.

[morini]

On a completely different note I wonder what rule change they will come up with next to thwart Mercedes because it sure looks to me like they are gunning for them.

The Sky team were rumbling about Merc not using quali modes yesterday. I don't know if there is any truth in that? In my view it is LM exerting pressure on the FIA to slow Mercedes down to improve "the show". I have my own feelings about that, not least because F1 is a technical competition as much as it is about racing and everyone should acknowledge that. However, any measure(s) FIA do put in place to try and handicap Mercedes and close the gap I'm pretty confident they will claw it back quicker than any of the others. They really are that good!

[NeilP]

On a completely different note I wonder what rule change they will come up with next to thwart Mercedes because it sure looks to me like they are gunning for them.

The Sky team were rumbling about Merc not using quali modes yesterday. I don't know if there is any truth in that? In my view it is LM exerting pressure on the FIA to slow Mercedes down to improve "the show". I have my own feelings about that, not least because F1 is a technical competition as much as it is about racing and everyone should acknowledge that. However, any measure(s) FIA do put in place to try and handicap Mercedes and close the gap I'm pretty confident they will claw it back quicker than any of the others. They really are that good!

This is perhaps my biggest issue with F1. Most of you guys are hugely more knowledgeable about motor racing. I follow many sports closer than F1 but my interest in it is British drivers, British teams and technical development in that order. I do not care about equality, I get enough of that BS in American sports. I care about quality and if you are that good you deserve to be the best and the other just have to catch up. Could F1 be a little better about how it handles money to teams?  Absolutely. To me at least F1 is about technical excellence and I never want it to change... ever. Liberty are indeed more intent on 'the Show' which trust me is the typical American mindset.

The day that changes too much will be the day I stop watching. I have like many others seen Ferrari, McLaren, Williams, Red Bull and now Mercedes dominate and I have never had any issues with it. Good for them. To be the best takes hard work, money and technical expertise and if you have those things you deserve to win in my book.

[Jody Barton]

I've taken some time to digest what we've seen this weekend. Lewis Hamilton set his Merc up totally for the race, it was clear, yet he still put it on pole against a team mate who set his car up for single lap pace. He then proceeded to deliberately drive at a set delta, keeping Max in his dirty air for 12 laps before pulling the pin and blowing him away. He saved his tyres and was just so much quicker in the race than everyone else, including his team mate, and he was driving seemingly within himself and the limits of the car. That was as dominant an F1 win as you are likely to see.

[morini]

I've taken some time to digest what we've seen this weekend. Lewis Hamilton set his Merc up totally for the race, it was clear, yet he still put it on pole against a team mate who set his car up for single lap pace. He then proceeded to deliberately drive at a set delta, keeping Max in his dirty air for 12 laps before pulling the pin and blowing him away. He saved his tyres and was just so much quicker in the race than everyone else, including his team mate, and he was driving seemingly within himself and the limits of the car. That was as dominant an F1 win as you are likely to see.

It didn't make for spectacular viewing though. Personally, I enjoyed watching the race as it really was a masterful display of control and a lesson in how to execute a plan, but as far as exciting races go it was way down in the "forgettable" category. Now that doesn't matter all that much to me, but an American media company trying to make a profit would be preferring drama and unpredictability over jaw dropping excellence every time. Sad but true.

LH really was worth the Grand Chelem this weekend (I thought). However, VB three stopping and bolting on shiny new mediums 1 lap before the end took the FL away from him. Actually, ironically VB already had it at that point anyway but went on to set a new track record. Small consolation really, but it shows the speed in the car was always superior (he was 1.5 seconds faster than the next fastest lap, Lewis). I don't think RBR would get near that time if they did the same.

[Jody Barton]

It was not a classic by any stretch of the imagination Morini. At the end of the race he was literally 24 seconds plus ahead of Max who wasn't really threatened by Bottas either. Lewis was very Prost like today. Metronomic lap after lap and executed his plan perfectly. He applied pressure when he needed to and he just had way too much pace for anyone to handle. It was a crushingly controlled race. Unless Bottas finds another 10 gears to shift into, or Red Bull actually make a good enough car he'll canter to the win this season, and given the stable regs quite probably walk it next season too. I'm not sure what to make of it all. Sure, it's nice to see history being made, but Vettel, Schumacher, and McLaren with Senna and Prost were never as dominant. It's dull. There's no getting away from it, the Hamilton / Mercedes combo is the best we've ever seen in F1.

---

Hearing Mercedes didn't use party modes in qualifying this weekend either, just to show the FIA it won't slow them down. If true, then I'm speechless.

[Jody Barton]

So according to SVT it seems Bottas has had some sort of dig at Lewis for not giving him the tow down to turn 1, as part of the reason for his bad start:

"if the guys behind get a tow from you and if you don't get the tow and if your start is not better, you pay the price, so that's it."

If he really is suggesting Lewis should have pulled over to give him a tow that's bad form. Lewis doing that would have give Max the run on him and quite frankly Lewis can only drive one car. Not seen the interview this is from, so SVT could be taking it out of context, but if not it shows Bottas is broken mentally already.

[morini]

So according to SVT it seems Bottas has had some sort of dig at Lewis for not giving him the tow down to turn 1

I heard him say that in his sky interview. It didn't sound to me like he was blaming anyone though. Lewis got away well and as he said himself "just pulled away straight". If there was any agreement about a tow then surely it is up to the driver behind to move into it? VB looked to get an ok start as well but he lifted way, way too early for the first corner. He may have already lost the position to Max, but Stroll sailed past him into the corner (not before it). Basically he was very timid and I agree with Rosberg that he needs to show more aggression. Not maximising yesterday by bagging 19 points is typical of his performance when not starting from the front.

It is a shame, but he doesn't have the full skillset to live with the greats. I have no doubt he could be a WDC because he has superb one lap pace (genuinely one of the quickest ever IMO), knows how to win from the front and has a very cool head. Where he comes up wanting time and time again is whenever he is not at the front. I have never seen him show any killer instinct in a racing situation.

His body language yesterday showed it is all over. He is already thinking about 2021 which will be his last chance to win a title in a Mercedes.