BOF Posted September 27, 2020 Author Moderator Share Posted September 27, 2020 4 hours ago, bannedfromHandV said: reading up about his Mother and the way his lavish upbringing was funded I’ve kind of not wanted him to do too well. Is that not 95% of the grid? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
bannedfromHandV Posted September 27, 2020 Share Posted September 27, 2020 5 minutes ago, BOF said: Is that not 95% of the grid? Yeah maybe so, I haven’t checked into anyone else to be fair. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Genie Posted September 29, 2020 Share Posted September 29, 2020 During the slow down lap after the race Bottas said the following on the radio "For my critics... to whom it may concern, **** you" I don’t think it did anything to shut up the critics did it? He’s in by far the fastest car and his team mate got a penalty that ruled him out from otherwise winning. If he’d beaten Lewis on the track then fair enough but he was the default winner really. They mentioned during the race too that he (Bottas) was replying to people on Instagram who were criticising him. Is he cracking up a bit under the pressure? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
fightoffyour Posted September 29, 2020 VT Supporter Share Posted September 29, 2020 1 hour ago, Genie said: During the slow down lap after the race Bottas said the following on the radio "For my critics... to whom it may concern, **** you" I don’t think it did anything to shut up the critics did it? He’s in by far the fastest car and his team mate got a penalty that ruled him out from otherwise winning. If he’d beaten Lewis on the track then fair enough but he was the default winner really. They mentioned during the race too that he (Bottas) was replying to people on Instagram who were criticising him. Is he cracking up a bit under the pressure? To be fair if he can win a grand prix whilst using Instagram that is pretty impressive. 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
BOF Posted September 29, 2020 Author Moderator Share Posted September 29, 2020 I don't think he's cracking up under pressure. My view is he is using the negativity as motivation. I get the impression he's a nice guy who struggles to get angry enough to have a nasty edge, and the criticism can give him that. There are very few drivers on the grid that Bottas would be number 2 to. I like to see little outbursts like that after a successful race. It shows he cares and it shows the pressure they're all under. While Valtteri was flipping off the critics, Lewis was spitting the dummy. They're not robots and give me emotion over media-training any day. 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Genie Posted September 29, 2020 Share Posted September 29, 2020 Just now, BOF said: I don't think he's cracking up under pressure. My view is he is using the negativity as motivation. I get the impression he's a nice guy who struggles to get angry enough to have a nasty edge, and the criticism can give him that. There are very few drivers on the grid that Bottas would be number 2 to. I like to see little outbursts like that after a successful race. It shows he cares and it shows the pressure they're all under. While Valtteri was flipping off the critics, Lewis was spitting the dummy. They're not robots and give me emotion over media-training any day. Yeah I agree, it adds an interesting angle to get a bit of emotion now and again. I just thought it didn’t really answer any critics in reality. With Lewis neutralised then the other Mercedes car should absolutely be winning. He managed to be beaten into second by the Red Bull in qualifying too. Good on him to win but I suspect majority of the drivers could achieve the same in that car. It doesn’t mean he’s not a good driver, it just didn’t really prove much to justify the outburst imo. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
BOF Posted September 29, 2020 Author Moderator Share Posted September 29, 2020 Oh they'll still criticise him. Critics are like that. He just took the opportunity to say **** you. Fair enough after a race win I think. I also don't think the majority of drivers could achieve the same in that car tbh. We take for granted that he comes 2nd to Lewis. How many other drivers come a relative 2nd to their team leader? Not many. I think there's maybe a handful of drivers on the grid at Bottas' level. Certainly not the majority, otherwise they'd be up for his seat. He's not a million miles away from Lewis race after race, and when you consider Lewis is in the discussion for GOAT you've got to re-assess how good Bottas is. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Genie Posted September 29, 2020 Share Posted September 29, 2020 I don’t think he deserves criticism for winning, but likewise not really a case for saying “**** you” to the critics either. Well done, enjoy it, move on to the next one. He’s making himself a target unnecessarily. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
OutByEaster? Posted September 29, 2020 Moderator Share Posted September 29, 2020 I don't think you get to be a formula one driver on the back of a balanced and fair personality - you need to have the absolute focus and drive to win races, to be first, to be better than other men - you have to be something of an egomaniac. They're all slightly unhinged and it's exactly as they should be. 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
BOF Posted September 29, 2020 Author Moderator Share Posted September 29, 2020 Nothing on 2 wheels or 4 this weekend. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Genie Posted September 29, 2020 Share Posted September 29, 2020 1 hour ago, OutByEaster? said: I don't think you get to be a formula one driver on the back of a balanced and fair personality - you need to have the absolute focus and drive to win races, to be first, to be better than other men - you have to be something of an egomaniac. They're all slightly unhinged and it's exactly as they should be. I completely agree, like when it’s pissing down and Hamilton is on another level to everyone else. He must be bloody mental. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
BOF Posted September 29, 2020 Author Moderator Share Posted September 29, 2020 I do think within the bonkers world of racing drivers there are different levels of bonkers though. It may only be 1 or 2% and it may be personality types, but you have drivers like Max, Lewis & Danny Rick who will do absolutely everything in their power to take advantage of every glimmer of a chance and then you have the likes of Valtteri & Albon who can be more circumspect and will let chances go begging, or similarly will be overtaken by the more daring drivers. The over-simplistic internet argument against that is "yeah but they don't crash as much as the risk takers". That's not even true at this level. You can count on the fingers of a hand with no fingers the amount of retirements Lewis, Max & Danny have had this season owing to crashes from their driving. And this is where I think Bottas benefits from getting wound up by critics. I'd say he even acknowledges somewhere in himself that he needs a fire lit that isn't there by default, but that's me speculating that he can self-assess what he needs to do to try and bridge the gap to Lewis and give himself any kind of an edge. He's clearly not content to follow his teammate around and pick up 2nd places, even if that's what he usually ends up doing. I like that he's trying different things - like in Mugello - to try and be the champion. 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Genie Posted September 29, 2020 Share Posted September 29, 2020 Are Max and Danny R both single? I’m pretty sure Lewis is. I wonder if that is part of it. Not having a significant other / kids to make you just back off 0.1% cos you don’t want to crash and kill yourself. I could be completely wrong. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
BOF Posted September 29, 2020 Author Moderator Share Posted September 29, 2020 I've read enough racing biographies to know that from the point of view of a racing driver, if that 'what if' thought goes through your mind then you're no longer an effective racing driver. They basically have that switch turned off. 2 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Genie Posted September 29, 2020 Share Posted September 29, 2020 1 hour ago, BOF said: I've read enough racing biographies to know that from the point of view of a racing driver, if that 'what if' thought goes through your mind then you're no longer an effective racing driver. They basically have that switch turned off. Look at someone like Massa after he had the big crash / spring hit to his head. He lost his edge after that and wasn’t the same “racer”. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
leemond2008 Posted September 29, 2020 Share Posted September 29, 2020 7 hours ago, BOF said: I've read enough racing biographies to know that from the point of view of a racing driver, if that 'what if' thought goes through your mind then you're no longer an effective racing driver. They basically have that switch turned off. In series 1 of the Netflix F1 series (can't remember what it was called now) Danny Rick is talking about how his Mom is always worried about him before every race and how she is terrified that he is going to die in the car, I'm pretty sure it was Ricciardo who said that anyway, he was quite a big focus on the first series. Anyway, it just goes to show that it must go through all of their heads at some point. 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
BOF Posted October 9, 2020 Author Moderator Share Posted October 9, 2020 Nothing quite like a wet 'ring to cheer me up at the weekend. 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
BOF Posted October 9, 2020 Author Moderator Share Posted October 9, 2020 Seven Merc employees currently self-isolating after a positive covid test. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
BOF Posted October 9, 2020 Author Moderator Share Posted October 9, 2020 Oh and it looks like Kimi is taking his option on the Alfa seat for 2021. You would think that's curtains for Giovinazzi with 3 Ferrari protégés waiting in the wings. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Genie Posted October 11, 2020 Share Posted October 11, 2020 It’s amazing to watch the pre-race with everyone in coats, hats and gloves. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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