Formula One - 2020

[BOF]

Just now, YouUnastanFren said:

I'm never overly fond of the pay drivers that just use parents money but he's a horrible little turd by all accounts. Notably punched Ilott (who is currently beating him in F2) in the face for spoiling a lap in free practice.

All of the other drivers seem to hate him and there was something about him threatening to "out" Russell. If Haas hadn't signed MSC I'd have happily rooted for them to finish dead last every race next year.

OK, I didn't know any of that other than punching Ilott, which in isolation and lacking context isn't automatically a black mark (see Verstappen punching the prick Ocon). I'll be brushing up on him over the next few months now anyway. There does seem to be a Russian wave recently, and if anything the best of them is next. Robert Shwartzman looks a belter and is going to have the most misspelt surname in F1.

[YouUnastanFren]

6 minutes ago, BOF said:

OK, I didn't know any of that other than punching Ilott, which in isolation and lacking context isn't automatically a black mark (see Verstappen punching the prick Ocon). I'll be brushing up on him over the next few months now anyway. There does seem to be a Russian wave recently, and if anything the best of them is next. Robert Shwartzman looks a belter and is going to have the most misspelt surname in F1.

I had a feeling there was more stuff and someone has very helpfully done a summary of all of it on reddit:

https://old.reddit.com/r/formula1/comments/k4snkn/nikita_mazepin_and_his_problematic_behaviour_a/

Quote

Haas sign F2 racer Nikita Mazepin for 2021 on multi-year deal

There already were a lot of issues over having another pay driver in F1, but Mazepin comes with more behavioural problems- which is even more problematic for having him in F1.

F1 is the pinnacle of motorsport. We aren't talking about some random series full of pay drivers, we're talking the fastest cars on the planet.

Money does speak louder than results, but even more so over morals:

Remember people were outraged when a karting driver punched a competitor in the face, and threw a front wing on the track, or when Dan Ticktum deliberately crashed under the safety car? Mazepin once punched Callum Ilott in the face, which left him with a swollen jaw and a black eye, because he ruined Mazepin's lap in FREE PRACTICE. not even qualifying.

Or here slamming the P2 board, which nearly hit Yuki Tsunoda.

And this stupid instagram story.

Or this creepy comment on Russell's live.

Defending his racist fans who spewed hate in someone's DMs

Disrespectful towards Tsunoda

And Worst of all, throwing a party when 9 Mine workers were killed in a fire at a Uralchem Mine.

Here where he asked someone to send nudes to get a free paddock pass, which is absolutely disgusting. received via u/RealEmpirix (thanks dude) and also creds u/PI-E0423 and u/kubazz Also see this post

Also, Credits to @ntkrlx on Twitter.

I didn't realise his threat to Russell was actually made in public, I thought it was a paddock rumour.

 

[BOF]

Well that makes things a lot easier

As for money trumping morals though. We definitely knew that one! See next year's Bonesaw Grand Prix in Saudi Arabia. Even Bahrain and China aren't exactly the biggest fans of human rights but they are nice and rich.

EDIT : Just reading through the comments in that reddit thread is fun too!

Quote

Marzipan is the living embodiment of a spoiled Russian kid.

Aaand now his name is Marzipan forever

[Farlz]

Ah man, gutted for Stoff but it's to be expected really. Russell is obviously the future for Mercedes so this makes the most sense. 

Feels like a big weekend for Bottas this. I do expect him to be comfortable but if Russell comes close or even beats him well that's going to be quite something on Sunday. 

[Genie]

9 minutes ago, Farlz said:

if Russell comes close or even beats him well that's going to be quite something on Sunday.

Bottas’s message about f-you to the haters might come back to haunt him.

[BOF]

I think this is a much bigger weekend for Russell than Bottas.  We know the performance we'll get from Bottas. He will be on it, and the odds are he wins the race or comes 2nd to Verstappen.  But this is a huge chance for Russell.  He will be expected to put that car on the front 2 rows of the grid simply because it's a W11, and a big points haul will be expected. If he fails to do that or puts it in the wall then it'll be another in an emerging list of opportunities he has spurned. It won't define him or anything like that but it'll be a question mark.  I think a bad weekend for Russell is more damaging to him than a good Russell weekend would be to Bottas. One has proven himself and the other is trying to.

[BOF]

 

[YouUnastanFren]

On 02/12/2020 at 14:11, BOF said:

 I think a bad weekend for Russell is more damaging to him than a good Russell weekend would be to Bottas.

I agree with this but I think that a bad weekend for Bottas would be a disaster for him. It's very unlikely but if he as a similar race to the last one it would build so much pressure, to the point I think Merc would be enquiring about the cost of buying Russell out again.

95% chance he outqualifies Russell though and hopefully that settles his nerves enough to get a good start for once.

[Genie]

I think there’s a lot of pressure on Bottas this weekend. He’s obviously feeling it already hence his previous outbursts and debates with fans on social media.

If he doesn’t show his superiority this weekend then it’ll reflect badly on him. There’s no shame getting outclassed by Lewis week in week out, but with a rookie in that seat it’s pressure on Bottas.

[Sid4ever]

Russell fastest in first practice.

[YouUnastanFren]

We obviously have no idea on fuel levels as far as the times are concerned but Bottas seemed very on edge, far more errors than we're used to seeing from him in practice.

Edit - Toto has just been on and said VB's first incident damaged his car and that damage probably caused most of the subsequent errors.

Edited December 4, 2020 by YouUnastanFren

[BOF]

It's one of those where Friday doesn't matter to Bottas but it does to George. Well done to George on coming top. He's familiarising himself with the car including finding its limits etc.  Bottas is just doing his normal Friday programme. It's encouraging though definitely for Russell.

[BOF]

Schumacher making life difficult for himself in F2. Just qualified 18th with Tsunoda on pole. He (Schuey) was also involved in a crash in qualifying which he is under investigation for. I'm sure he'll still win the title but it's an interesting start to the weekend if nothing else.

[YouUnastanFren]

1 minute ago, BOF said:

Schumacher making life difficult for himself in F2. Just qualified 18th with Tsunoda on pole. He (Schuey) was also involved in a crash in qualifying which he is under investigation for. I'm sure he'll still win the title but it's an interesting start to the weekend if nothing else.

I don't think he's qualified on the front row all season but 18th is dreadful. I missed the replay of his crash but watching live to me it looked like they were jockeying for track position and the other guy misjudged it and ran into the back of him.

[BOF]

1 minute ago, YouUnastanFren said:

I don't think he's qualified on the front row all season but 18th is dreadful. I missed the replay of his crash but watching live to me it looked like they were jockeying for track position and the other guy misjudged it and ran into the back of him.

I didn't get a proper look at it. When I saw it was Nissany involved, I just assumed Nissany was at fault because ... Nissany. But it does seem like Schuey was rather abrupt with his overtake and made life difficult for Roy, and it's ze Cherman under investigation.

[Farlz]

Schumacher is a really poor qualifier isn't he? He can make up for it in F2 because his race pace does seem very strong but he's not exactly going to be able to fly past everyone in the Haas next year. 

Also pretty good start for George that today, topping FP1 and 2.

[Xela]

I never realised he was in the flames that long. Miracle

 

[leemond2008]

2 hours ago, Xela said:

I never realised he was in the flames that long. Miracle

 

18 seconds wasn't it? That's what I heard and without watching the video and actually counting myself,.

Looking forward to the qualies tomorrow, I just hope Russel does a good job 

[BOF]

15 minutes ago, leemond2008 said:

18 seconds wasn't it? That's what I heard and without watching the video and actually counting myself,.

Looking forward to the qualies tomorrow, I just hope Russel does a good job 

2nd or 3rd is my guess. Pole would be absolutely amazing. 

[leemond2008]

9 hours ago, BOF said:

2nd or 3rd is my guess. Pole would be absolutely amazing. 

 

I was talking to my old man about where Russel should be expecting to finish, pole would be superb but I would say that 4th or 5th would be a good result considering that he doesn't know the car and they are still making last minute adjustments to it.