[forzaferrari]

In chat if anyone fancies it

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Apologies for leaving you on your lonesome Neil. Hopefully will be back online for Quali

[morini]

Well chaps, all I will say is this -> what more entertainment do you want out of F1 qualifying? Was that not a superb thing to watch? Red Bull looking nailed on for the pole all weekend then VB puts in a stonker (with his teammate close behind).

Sorry, Stefano & Ross, you can stick your sprint races right up where the sun don't shine. Quali is (and always has been) about raw, pure speed. Valtteri Bottas has some flaws on race day if he isn't leading from the front (a bit like Seb Vettel), but man I really like to watch him on a hot lap. One of the best I've seen, bar none.

[PapaofGags]

So...... how many of us expected a Mercedes 1/2?

As Morini says F1 can stick sprint races where the sun doesn't shine

I've not seen any support for it online in any of the motorsport sites, what do we know, we are only life long fans....

The starts going to be crazy, hope no shenanigans come to play & they all make it round the first lap.

Got to mention, does short spice have no honour? blaming young Yuki Tsunoda when Checo followed him off the track.

I can't see past a Checo driving error, yet rather than admit a mistake from Red Bull he threw young Yuki under the bus.

https://www.autosport.com/f1/news/why-ts...y/6755166/

I really respect the Red Bull team, its hard not to, though short spice & "the Helmut" bring so much crap to the team with their dumb words & accusations, they should think before they speak imo.

[NeilP]

Just another reason to hate Red Bull in my book.

I think the start of the race will determine the day we get. If Mercedes get through the first few corners I think it will be interesting, if Max gets through its all over unless we get safety cars.

Just for the record I think Forza is cooking a Tomahawk steak today, may he rot in hell!!!!

I will probably be in chat but I am sure far behind others viewing but I can handle it!

EDIT: I would put Verstappen in a room with Tost and see who comes out alive, not rating Verstappens chances. Just read the attached link which does an awesome job of explaining things.

https://www.autosport.com/f1/news/why-ts...y/6755166/

[morini]

Just another reason to hate Red Bull in my book.

I don't need any more reasons. Horner and Marko are enough!

It's a shame because the team is another UK based powerhouse, full of talent and I would be a supporter if they had different leadership. I have the utmost respect for Adrian Newey as well. I wish he'd distance himself from those two bellends.

[PapaofGags]

Sergio Perez has revealed Red Bull “gave” him Max Verstappen’s damaged rear wing for qualifying, the Mexican driver saying his car was “never the same again”.

Perez, who was almost half a second down on pole-sitter Valtteri Bottas, has since stated that part of his deficit was down to Red Bull’s decision to give him the wing that Verstappen ran in FP3, even though the Dutchman had a “problem with” it.

“The car was not the same as the one in the third practice session after we had to change the rear wing, but we made a couple of adjustments in the session,” Perez said as per the Spanish edition of Motorsport.com.

“Max had a problem with his wing in FP3 and they gave that wing to me and, I don’t know, from the first qualifying round on the car was never the same again.”

[NeilP]

Can we say "Wingman" (Pun Intended) For the grief Mercedes take about Bottas tell me Perez is any different.

[morini]

Well, that was the most dominant win I've seen all year. Both Red Bulls quicker (much quicker) on both tyres. I fear the WDC is over now.

[Antilochos]

Well, that was the most dominant win I've seen all year. Both Red Bulls quicker (much quicker) on both tyres. I fear the WDC is over now.

Come on Mornini, not so dramatic.

Mercedes had a 1-2 qualification to start with. Then Bottas lost position (and as always never manage to really race on Sunday) and Hamilton only saw Verstappen drive away. The other Red Bull was nothing faster than Mercedes. 

Verstappen is just on another level in a car quite even with Mercedes (depending on track, but overall I bet the Mercedes is slightly more powerful). I watched the start two times and still don't see how Verstappen did that. But he was so much faster today, he would've won anyway.
Hamilton did good as well, can't say he made a single mistake. Just another great driver in a great car. Like Verstappen, but the difference was quite big so altitude might be a factor overal, but Verstappen always drives good at this track (like Hamilton is good at others).
Bottas, bad luck and he is just not a racer. He is not able to fight his way up.
Perez, good job, gave everything he had and wish he took that second place but Hamilton was to fast for him. Just like Verstappen I think Hamilton is just on another level than most drivers.
Gasly deserves more credit, like I said before. Tremendous job. Also, I think that Torro Rosso is pretty decent, would love to see some other driver than Tsunoda in the other Torro Rosso.
Vettel and Raikonen did well also. 
McLaren was disappointing today.

All and all the race wasn't spectacular, but yet again very tense and enjoyable. Great crowd. 

Like I said before, championship is still wide open. I see Verstappen winning Brazil and still it is open. Both teams and drivers are close and last three races seem to favor Mercedes. Will be mighty close.

[NeilP]

I agree with everything you said Anti apart from the your last statement. I mean its never over until the fat lady sings as the saying goes. Well she is well into her warm ups and frankly I think Hamilton would have to win the last 4 races to take the title now and that is simply not going to happen. The only other thing would be a Verstappen DNF and as much as I want Hamilton to win not that way I dont. Mercedes got pole here not because they were the better car but because the Red Bulls had issues.

Mercedes royally screwed the start up today. I mean Verstappen deserves a lot of credit for his pass but come on guys get your act together you should have blocked him out like Ferrari blocked Hamilton last race that was held here. I think the cars are very evenly matched right now but I think Red Bull had the better car for a large part of the year and Verstappen has been awesome. I also think Mercedes have screwed up way too many times and Red Bull have not. Their pit wall (Red Bull) has been spot on this year, Mercedes not so much, in fact not at all. Hamilton was stopped way too soon today I know there was the fear of the undercut from Perez but so what stay out (unless there was an issue we do not know about)

The big fight now is for the Constructors. What seemed beyond Red Bull a few races ago now looks a distinct possibility. Bottas needs to raise his game substantially. Again today we saw the talent gap between Verstappen and Hamilton and the rest. Its huge.

Ferrari took full advantage of McLarens woes to build a decent 13.5 point lead in the battle for 3rd place. That may be hard to come back I guess that depends on engine reliability. Which leads me on to another pet hate too few engines for the teams. Its ridiculous. Its a stupid rule and it is not helping the smaller teams either. I think we should revisit the rule and maybe go back to 5 per car per season. I mean 11 drivers had taken their final engine by Spa, that was 7 races ago!!!!!

On to Brazil and I think again this is a Red Bull advantage track. Mercedes need to spring a major shock here if the they are stay in front in the Constructors. All things being equal its hard to see past another Verstappen win.