FORMULA 1 AZERBAIJAN GRAND PRIX...2021...QUALIFYING...... ▄▀▄▀▄▀ SPOILERS ▀▄▀▄▀▄

I'm not yet sold on Russell as the Second Coming. It is difficult to assess his performance while competing in an unremarkable car against an unremarkable teammate. It would be interesting to see him go head to head with someone like Stroll in identical cars.

 

That didn't work too well for Ferrari, a car rubbish in corners but fast on the straights

 

I don't "blame" him, I'm merely pointing out that he got incredibly lucky with how things went.

When there was (finally) a more level playing field in 2009, Button did not really look like WDC material.

 

Where was the payback tow for Bottas from Hamilton?

 

Yea, I don't know what some of you guys were smoking. Ferrari absolutely had the pace for pole today. Hamilton had also a big tow from Bottas and was only a tenth slower than Lec in sector 3 and still lost by 2 tenths. And all this with Charles' having a bad 1st sector (he was 2 tenths quicker on s1 in the last lap).

Now are you seriously going to tell me that Ham's Merc that wasn't so good in corners because of setup, had 4 tenths more pace? I don't think so, atleast the Mercs were never going to touch Leclerc today.

 

Charles Leclerc described his pole lap as being: "A bit s**t!"

Without the tow from Hamilton, do you think Leclerc would be on pole? - I'm struggling to see it!

 

Ferrari spent the best part of 20 years + with a car that was great in a straight line, but couldn't corner for s**t.

Great at Monza - Cr*p pretty much everywhere else!

Then some German bloke turned up to drive the car, bringing a couple of Benetton guys with him, and Ferrari learned to go round corners fast too!

 

Wolff explains why Hamilton was given a tow by Bottas

Mercedes' Toto Wolff has explained why Valtteri Bottas was apparently towing Lewis Hamilton around the track during qualifying

http://www.gptoday.com/full_story/view/776306/Wolff_explains_why_Hamilton_was_given_a_tow_by_Bottas/

 

Charles last lap S1 was 2/10 faster before the red flag. Watch his onboard pole position lap and you will see him make two big mistakes. His lap was not good. He definitely had pace to be on pole without a tow

 

Don't stop at Button.

You could question several other WDCs too, who were "incredibly lucky" too.

And what's the point? What do you want to prove?

 

Hamilton was picking up 0.4 seconds on the Red Bull in sector 3 alone!

He's stripped off down-force for straight line speed (a tactic that has been used by others before with a generally "slow" car at this track)

Bottas was visibly running more down-force, and he was nowhere today!

Ferrari aren't far off the Red Bull's pace, but in a straight fight, as shown by all the free practice times, the Red Bull is still the faster car.

Hamilton's straight-line sprint car is going to cause Leclerc a problem tomorrow, IF (and it's a big IF!), Hamilton stays out of trouble with Mad Max!

(Best situation for Charles?: Hamilton and Mad Max have a coming together, and it doesn't go well for either of them!)

 

Even though they were all on better laps, including Carlos, Max would probably have beaten Charles but what would HAM’s time be without his tow from Bottas?

 

What you should rather do is provide factual evidence how much Lec benefitted from the tow, and that is something you couldn't possibly do or anyone else here.

 

Leclerc’s point was that he was surprised that with what he considered s**t lap he was still on pole and his second attempt was on target to be faster. He also said that the tow helped him but he felt that even without the tow he could have matched HAM’s time.

Ultimately, the top three all got clean first runs, the top two both got a tow and at the end Charles was fastest—what more is there to say?

The race tomorrow will of course be another story but qualifying is done and Charles was first.

 

No one is William, and no one will ever be...but Charles is pretty good and pretty special.....and i like him a lot!

 

It was mentioned that Charles Leclerc now had more pole positions than Jenson Button, to which andrewmr posted:

As though Button's WDC automatically means he was a better race driver than Leclerc is.

The point I was making was that Button's WDC was mainly due to him being in the right car, at the right time - He wasn't necessarily the best driver that year

(As you rightly point out - There are many drivers for whom that applies to )

Charles Leclerc has rarely enjoyed the sort of car advantage that Button did, and he hasn't won a WDC (yet - Hopefully!), but he does now have more pole positions than Button, and despite Button's WDC, I'd say Leclerc is the better race driver of the two.

 

Regarding that topic . . . . . . . Wait a minute . . . you can understand DiResta?

 

...by a mile!!!

 

I suspect Leclerc is better than Button, but I cannot prove it. I hope Charles will do that for me one day, as I also suspect he is WDC material.

Actually I think he is among the 3 best drivers on the grid (the others being Verstappen and Hamilton), but it's only my opinion.

Leclerc would need a car that can perform well regularly to challenge for the title, and that may be not a red car.

 

And in Monaco, 3 or 4 drivers claimed they were on for a pole lap if Leclerc hadn't hit the barrier - Woulda, coulda, shoulda!

We'll never know if Charles could have gone faster or not without a tow in the last sector - What I do know is, I don't recall him setting purple last sector times without a tow, and that say's to me that without Hamilton's tow, chances are he wouldn't be on pole for tomorrow's race.

I think (and I get the impression that Leclerc and other drivers think), that he got lucky today, and Hamilton's tow helped him out massively.

 

I think you do a good job if you can "steal" a tow from a rival. Not sure Hamilton liked it !

 

I love the fact that he wants to do everything he can to be WDC with Ferrari - Even offering to extend his contract already.

In some ways, he reminds me of Jules Bianchi - And I rated Jules highly! (I was really hoping Jules would be at Ferrari one day - Such a tragic loss! )