[NeilP]

Amazing how fast the onboard footage of Hamiltons car was in the public domain he is lucky it was available!!!!!!!!

---

How can it be fair on a driver going into qualifying not knowing if he is going to get a penalty. We are seconds away from a start of qualifyinga dn the FIA cannot complete what should be a routine decision. Masi and Co. may be hard working but they lack clarity of thought and action.

[morini]

It doesn't absolve the track from being crap, but that was another great quali unfolding in front of our eyes.

Max Verstappen has nobody to blame but himself for that mistake. It's going to hurt him, a lot. Interesting that he did the first half of the season more or les mistake free (apart from Silverstone, which he could have approached a lot differently and got a better result). Seconnd half of the season the guy has made a bunch of mistakes, this latest one being a full "hero to zero" moment.

I just want to close by saying this - if Lewis Hamilton was 0.3 up going into the last sector he would have finished the lap and secured the pole. Today was a prime example of a driver feeling pressure.

Red Bull clearly set up for one lap pace hoping to win it from the front. Big ask from here.

[NeilP]

Been saying this forever. Verstappen is a fantastic driver but he still has a lot to learn and a lot of that is learning under pressure.

That said that was a stunning lap up to the crash.

[black]

Anybody notice the Sky coverage is becoming inflammatory as well as clearly biased? The interviews with Horner and Wolff after qualifying were absolutely cringeworthily appalling. Lazenby outright encouraging Horner to appeal against the lack of a penalty for Hamilton. Really? The man is a disgrace.

All media, be it written or visual, have a duty to be totally impartial. Sky aren't impartial and have not been for a good while. I think they should either do a complete refresh on their race presentation crew or give up their monopoly so viewers have some sort of choice. Sky spoil a race weekend for me as it's not possible to mute the dick heads yet still keep some atmosphere of quali / race. We pay through the nose for this coverage too.

On quali itself, it seemed clear early in the weekend that Red Bull were prioritising track position above all else. Either they were sandbagging in FP2 or they have completely ignored a viable race set up. Max Verstappen showed today that pressure is a real phenomena and only the very best can deliver when it ramps right up.

[PapaofGags]

The FIA has confirmed Red Bull did not appeal the decision on Lewis Hamilton’s yellow flag practice incident at Formula 1’s Saudi Arabian Grand Prix, despite the team hinting it might.

Red Bull’s motorsport advisor Helmut Marko even went as far as to say that the team had lodged an appeal.

He told Servus TV: “Max gets five grid positions in Qatar, and here suddenly yellow is no longer yellow. There's another interpretation, and it can't go on like this: to interpret it in such an arbitrary way.

“It was a yellow flag, a clear yellow on the display. The team should have at least given a warning.

“We appealed, but now we have some other worries. We are following it up.”      (wonder what this is? gear box?)

But with Red Bull having had until 21.32 local time to lodge notification of its intention to appeal, the FIA confirmed that no paperwork was submitted – which means Hamilton will face no fresh scrutiny over the matter.

Red Bull also later stated that it had decided not to take the matter any further.

[black]

Red Bull’s motorsport advisor Helmut Marko even went as far as to say that the team had lodged an appeal.

Let me translate that for you ....

My name is Helmut Marko and I am a senile old c**t who has outstayed his welcome in the F1 circus.

He's like Bernie Ecclestone, minus the sense of humour, charisma and personality

[morini]

That said that was a stunning lap up to the crash.

That's like saying "I cooked a perfect meal, but I cremated the fillet steak right at the last minute". It is either a stunning lap, or it isn't. And I'm afraid it bloody well wasn't!!! The guy parked it in the wall FFS! A cynic might say he'd used all those tyres had to give.

There's a reason Hamilton has triple digit pole positions mate

All media, be it written or visual, have a duty to be totally impartial.

This ^^^

To be honest, unless there is some integrity within the media then we all may as well go to Twitter and Facebook for our news and commentary. Fucking farcical IMO.

[PapaofGags]

You know the chances of a penalty are bloody slim when whinger spice isnt even being asked his opinion

To be honest mate I wouldn't have been surprised if the Helmut & short spice had appealed Lewis's pole for him having put pressure on Max by claiming P1 shortly before! 

Its obvious to all had they thought they could win they would have appealed, the only reason they didn't (imo)
is because there was no case to answer.

Got to just add, that was an epic lap, right up until it wasn't.

As Morini has said & Toto also thought the same, I'm hoping their car is set up for one lap to grab pole, because if its not.....

bloody hell he'll be rapid tomorrow.

[morini]

bloody hell he'll be rapid tomorrow.

No convinced Paps. From what I saw on Friday RBR were nowhere on high fuel and went all out to control the race from the front. I think Mercedes will have a good advantage race pace wise.

But, then again, it has been that sort of "WTF!!" season, so who really knows. I'll be very, very surprised if Verstappen doesn't need a new gearbox. ANd if it is't changed I reckon that will be a serious worry reliability wise.

Pressure...., love it!

[PapaofGags]

No convinced Paps. From what I saw on Friday RBR were nowhere on high fuel and went all out to control the race from the front. I think Mercedes will have a good advantage race pace wise.

But, then again, it has been that sort of "WTF!!" season, so who really knows. I'll be very, very surprised if Verstappen doesn't need a new gearbox. ANd if it is't changed I reckon that will be a serious worry reliability wise.

Pressure...., love it!

Yeah obviously we're all hoping for a Merc 1-2, then we can let them race in Abu Dhabi.

Helmut seems to be worried, he is quoted on various sites.

"Pressure....... love it"   

^^^  This