Congrats to Red Bull for their strategy. I think it is pretty clear that Bottas will be replaced by Russell, maybe sooner rather than later. Bottas isn't going to get the same support as Hamilton at this point. Dead man walking.

 

I have nothing against HAM or BOT but I have to admit that Toto's smugness annoys me at times.

 

I'm not entirely a fan of ol' Hammy (though I respect him as athlete), but comments like that are just on another level.
I don't understand it.
I'm happy seeing Max giving him a bit of a run though. Can't say I'm a huge fan of him either...but again, still respectful.

 

There are too many haters in F1. At the end of the day it is entertainment. Just sit back and enjoy it.

 

Bottas was entertaining in FP2 today, tried to take out McLaren's pit-wall staff.



That earned him a 3 place drop on the grid and a couple of points on his licence.

 

Bottas is decent enough when he's ahead but he has no WtW racecraft and can't overtake anyone unless there's a massive speed differential.

 

Conscious or unconscious bias is where I think it lies. Too many white fans can't handle the fact that the fastest man in F1 is a Black man.

 

I'd rate Nico much higher than Perez. Nico doesn't get the same recognition but he was the only guy to able to really push Lewis.

 

It took him 4 years, an unlucky Hamilton and it drained all of his energy and desire to race...
Speaking about teammate only: Alonso vs Hamilton are on par, and Button in a very good day was too fast for Lewis also in a very good day. So no, Rosberg was not the only driver to really push Hamilton... In fact, only Bottas and Kovalainen did not push Lewis.
And if we extend to the outside of the team, Hamilton rated his battles against Vettel as the most difficult ones

Perez is hugely underrated. He also never faced a Top-1% F1 driver. I am pretty sure he will continue to improve next to Verstappen. If only he had waited his time and not rushed to McLaren, his career would have been completely different.

 

Eazy peazy win for Max today, Perez needed another lap. Red Bull looks strong and still improving. Toto not happy.

 

Tough break for Russell. He had a very good chance of being in the points.

 

If it wasn’t for Perez’s pit stop issue, he probably would have finished third and probably have prevented Hamilton from getting fast lap.

 

Not the most enthralling race, which doesn’t bode well for next weekend’s carbon copy edition.

It’s a shame the original Österreichring can’t be resurrected...

 

Agree about the Österreichring - it will always be a favourite of mine, especially for Siffert's '71 win there. Also, its configuration made less processional races.

 

Far superior to the straw bales on the old Zeltweg airfield.

Jochen Rindt in Rob Walker's Brabham-BRM on his F1 debut.