F1 Conundrums, No3: Formula 1 in general – This is the third in what was meant to be an occasional series of articles where an incident is chosen and then aspects of that incident considered from different perspectives, often with conflicting outcomes, and the reader would be asked their opinion on the outcome.
This week’s race had a lot of options as to which conundrum to choose, therefore I lumped them all together and called it F1.
This weekend saw the inaugural GP of the Sakhir GP circuit, the second consecutive GP to be held in the Bahrain International Racing Complex.
Last week we saw the classic GP track being used, which was 5.4km long, with 15 corners and two DRS zones. This week, to try to have a different race the ‘outer’ circuit was deployed, which linked turns 4 and 13 of the GP circuit, to cut a big chunk of the track. The outer circuit was reduced to 5.4km and eight corners.
After last week’s horrific crash, Romain Grosjean was unable to race and was replaced at Haas by Pietro Fittipaldi (grandson of former F1 Champion Emerson). Lewis Hamilton tested positive for Corona Virus and was unable to race. His place at Mercedes was taken by George Russell, vacating a seat at Williams, which was filled by Jack Aitkin.
Recipe for disaster? Lots of short fast laps, with 20 cars on track, two rookies, and an (albeit very talented) driver in the fastest car on the grid who had never scored a point in F1. Well, that wasn’t the half of it.
This race opened a can of worms to put it mildly, namely:
- Is Hamilton’s dominance due to a) His Ability (i.e he is the GOAT – aka Greatest of all time) or b) The Car (Mercedes is fastest on the grid and ‘anybody’ could win in it).
- Does Charles Leclerc EVER learn from his mistakes? Vettel complained last week (very vocally) about him diving into spaces which don’t exist and Vettel had to take evasive action to avoid a crash, effectively ruining his race).
- How does it feel for a potential race winner (Max Verstappen) to have his race ruined by an inexperienced, hot headed, aggressive young driver in Leclerc?
- Why does Sergio Perez not have a seat in F1 next year?
- Will Perez replace Albon at Red Bull?
- How will the outcome of this race affect Hamilton’s negotiations at Mercedes for 2021?
- Will Hamilton still be at Mercedes next year?
- Will George Russell be at Williams next year?
- Will Bottas be at Mercedes next year?
- Was Mercedes really using the last few races as practice for 2022?
- Why did the Mercedes pit crew suddenly forget how to change a set of wheels?
- What would have been the outcome if Mercedes hadn’t messed up their pit stop?
- Why has Ferrari STILL not managed to learn how to do a half-decent pit stop?
The list goes on and on. (Far too long for each question to be answered in this one article), still, that won’t stop readers from having their own opinion on each point. Good luck!
@F1TheaJ
1.Is Hamilton’s dominance due to a) His Ability (i.e he is the GOAT – aka Greatest of all time) or b) The Car (Mercedes is fastest on the grid and ‘anybody’ could win in it).
Not anyone one – but almost every F1 driver today could.
2. Does Charles Leclerc EVER learn from his mistakes? Vettel complained last week (very vocally) about him diving into spaces which don’t exist and Vettel had to take evasive action to avoid a crash, effectively ruining his race).
No. But he was chosen by Marchionne and is managed by Todt and gets a pass on everything he does from the Italian press. Without Ferrari’s “special” engine he looks mostly average in a race.
4. Why does Sergio Perez not have a seat in F1 next year?
He’s a pay driver and the available pay seats are all taken.
5. Will Perez replace Albon at Red Bull?
If the Thai Yoovidhya family, who own 51% of Red Bull, want to keep Albon, he stays. if they don’t care, maybe. Mateschitz can’t overrule them.
6. How will the outcome of this race affect Hamilton’s negotiations at Mercedes for 2021?
I doubt it has any impact. M-B have a 7 time WC they can market.
7. Will Hamilton still be at Mercedes next year?
Yes.
8. Will George Russell be at Williams next year?
Yes.
9. Will Bottas be at Mercedes next year?
Yes.
1. Is Hamilton’s dominance due to a) His Ability (i.e he is the GOAT – aka Greatest of all time) or b) The Car (Mercedes is fastest on the grid and ‘anybody’ could win in it).
90% of the grid could win in the MB.
4. Why does Sergio Perez not have a seat in F1 next year?
Race seats are not given with regards to 1 race result. He did 194 GPs and is a good midfielder. If he still has Mexican sponsors the question is why did he not end up at Haas?
6. How will the outcome of this race affect Hamilton’s negotiations at Mercedes for 2021?
Only on the salary part, if Hamilton tries to bluff for a huge increase with the question “who else would you put in the car”, he already knows the answer.
7. Will Hamilton still be at Mercedes next year?
Depends if he still wants to race in 2012 and 2022 and wants to put in the time and energy to develop the 2022 car. He could do a Rosberg-move at the end of the season, but only Hamilton will know it. Will depend on how hungry he is for title 8 and 9.
8. Will George Russell be at Williams next year?
Depends on the outcome of 7.
9. Will Bottas be at Mercedes next year?
He has a contract and I don’t think MB will buy him out for next year. They signed Bottas quite early this year and they probably regret it now, because Russell developed very well at Williams and he is ready to go to a better team.