FORMULA ONE - 2020

Keith Tanner said:

That's a good point. And I agree that the #1 job of the stand-in will be "don't crash the car". 

 

 

That may well be job one for Toto and Mercedes, but I will absolutely guarantee whoever plants their ass in that car is going to go into the weekend knowing that they can win...

Latest report from Motorsport.com is that Wednesday morning is when they hope to announce and that RUS is the favorite and merc's preferred choice.  Just a matter of figuring out what bone to throw to Williams so they bring their reserve driver in to replace RUS.  How amusing if Aitken also out-qualifies LAT!

This would probably break Russ's streak of out-perfoming his teammate in qualli 100% of the time, but somehow I don't think he'll mind that much.

But also knowing that crashing the champion's car is what could be termed a Career Limiting Move.

The more I think about it, the more I believe Russell is the right choice. But man, who thought the last two races of the season would get so interesting so quickly? This weekend's track is a weird one, too. It's basically an oval with a couple of wiggles.

Keith Tanner said:

But also knowing that crashing the champion's car is what could be termed a Career Limiting Move.

The more I think about it, the more I believe Russell is the right choice. But man, who thought the last two races of the season would get so interesting so quickly? This weekend's track is a weird one, too. It's basically an oval with a couple of wiggles.

It's a sub-minute lap in this configuration, isn't it?

In reply to Keith Tanner :

If it does turn out to be RUS and if he did wad up Lewis's car...  That could make for some pretty interesting FIA press conferences.

It does sort of remind me of the call between Alonso and Button in Monaco back in 2018(?).  "I'm going to pee in your seat"

wae said:

In reply to Keith Tanner :

If it does turn out to be RUS and if he did wad up Lewis's car...  That could make for some pretty interesting FIA press conferences.

Especially if the Williams replacement scores a point for them!

wae said:

In reply to Keith Tanner :

If it does turn out to be RUS and if he did wad up Lewis's car...  That could make for some pretty interesting FIA press conferences.

It does sort of remind me of the call between Alonso and Button in Monaco back in 2018(?).  "I'm going to pee in your seat"

The former F1 driver's tweets have been interesting/funny around this open seat.  Rosberg wants to start a petition for Russel and Button was on board with the same, but Button also promised to NOT pee in the seat!

https://twitter.com/JensonButton/status/1333800605702254595
 

-Rob

z31maniac said:

Keith Tanner said:

But also knowing that crashing the champion's car is what could be termed a Career Limiting Move.

The more I think about it, the more I believe Russell is the right choice. But man, who thought the last two races of the season would get so interesting so quickly? This weekend's track is a weird one, too. It's basically an oval with a couple of wiggles.

It's a sub-minute lap in this configuration, isn't it?

The estimate I heard was 53 seconds...

rob_lewis said:

wae said:

In reply to Keith Tanner :

If it does turn out to be RUS and if he did wad up Lewis's car...  That could make for some pretty interesting FIA press conferences.

It does sort of remind me of the call between Alonso and Button in Monaco back in 2018(?).  "I'm going to pee in your seat"

The former F1 driver's tweets have been interesting/funny around this open seat.  Rosberg wants to start a petition for Russel and Button was on board with the same, but Button also promised to NOT pee in the seat!

https://twitter.com/JensonButton/status/1333800605702254595
 

-Rob

For those that don't tweeter- Mercedes posted this screenshot of Toto's phone.
 

Lolzers.

The admin was probably a file wit George Russell's PowerPoint of why he should get the drive.

Just to go back a topic or two, I'm watching the race again, and he went in on a narrow enough angle that it would have been a noisy, but unremarkable collision if it had been a concrete wall.  Would have messed the car up spectacularly, but wouldn't have been a bunch worse than Albon on Friday night.

New York Nick said:

This is a strange take on this but I would kind of like to see whoever gets in the car not do great, good yes but not great. Obviously the car is great but so is Lewis so it wouldn't hurt my feelings to see this weekend look like most of the other weekends do for Red Bull. One driver at the very top of the game getting 100% out of the car and one who is still very good getting something less than that. This weekend may show how dominate LH really is?

This weekend may also show that Bottas is not the dead weight he's often portrayed as. He keeps Lewis honest during quali at least. We may see a massive gap between him and the rest of the field. 

Williams getting Lewis for a race next year would be super-fun.  

I wonder what tire degradation will look like with this track? Fast and mostly the same direction, the outside tires are going to get hammered. 

In reply to Keith Tanner :

Fewer corners = less deg.

But lower drag = more sliding = more deg.

so...

I think there are going to be some high speed, high load corners in there as well.

Say what you will but this season has had a LOT of interesting talking points. 2020 will be a Formula 1 year to remember

I am still processing the Grojean accident. I was certain he was dead as I watched it live....

1. Grojean mentioned that some part or chemicals from the battery also caught fire. 
2. The medical car guys said the moment they opened the door they could see Grojean moving. And that motivated then to do whatever to get him. 
3. The medical car team also said they had onboard feed from Grojean's car and could see him scrambling the moment his car stopped. Not sure if they watched it live or after.
4. The corner workers are still volunteers and while some stayed too far back some ran right in. All did their best.
5. The damn medical car team......man I had tears as I watched them get that close to that aggressive a fire. And actually grabbed Grojean. I was barely able to stand across the street from a gasoline fueled wood garage fire. 
6. Grojean says he couldn't see a thing and he didn't even know if he was getting clear until he felt a hand on him.
7. Fuel containment improvement limited the fire, HANS device helped him stay conscious, Halo prevented blunt force trama, medical car team performed well. 
8. Guenther Steiner told Grojean he crashed because he turned right into Kvyat. That must be a big phycological puzzle to get his head around. 
9. Grojean will be back for a goodbye lap at Abu Dhabi. Great and good that he can go home and hug his kids for days. 

I vote for Russell in MB.

Jamie Chadwick in for Russell.

It's official, Russell gets the seat and Jack Aitken gets to drive for Williams.

https://www.formula1.com/en/latest/article.breaking-george-russell-to-replace-hamilton-at-mercedes-for-sakhir-grand.5vMOKRppSzFMz7RZzdzmxs.html

In reply to codrus (Forum Supporter) :

This will be fun!

I'm looking forward to seeing what RUS can do in the Merc.

In other news, Mick has been confirmed for Haas next year.

Yuuussssss!  I am going to be watching every single lap this weekend.

Such an awesome end to the season for sure! 

Hypothetical question:    Had Lewis not gotten sick would he have driven to second place behind Bottas, or would he have ridden off into the distance and let Valteri deal with Max on his own?  We'll likely never know, unless 2nd place is still up for grabs the last race of the season and Hamilton returns. This coming weekend will certainly be interesting to watch.

I'm late to the party as I had nothing useful to add to the Grosjean accident / LCH Covid / Russle etc. conversation.  With all that going on the news that both Mike Schumacher has signed for Hass next year and that Pietro Fittipaldi will be standing in for Grosjean this weekend.

https://www.haasf1team.com/news/haas-f1-team-confirms-fittipaldi-sakhir-grand-prix

https://www.haasf1team.com/news/mick-schumacher-confirmed-haas-f1-team

This whole situation is making for a really interesting race weekend. Between this and the midfield closeness there is still something to watch for even though both championships are wrapped up.

F1.com just announced that Grosjean is out of the hospital

https://www.formula1.com/en/latest/article.grosjean-discharged-from-hospital-in-bahrain-after-three-nights-of-care.6AenPRbndABoFcvnhKGLzJ.html