Formula One 2021.

[Cleoriff]

So the new season will start in March and Australia was planned as usual to be the opening track. Now it looks set to be cancelled. (March 21st)

I have heard via someone who lives in Australia that although Covid related, nothing to do with that per se. More due to the fact, they are not prepared to run it without spectators. It's a street circuit and they make millions from the fans and ticket prices.

I'm inclined to agree with that. The Covid Bubble teams have put in place seemed to work well, 3 drivers out of 20 catching a mild dose and 3 team staff...

https://www.motorsport.com/f1/news/formula-1-season-opener-in-australia-set-for-postponement/4935595... 

It means that the Bahrain Grand Prix scheduled for 28 March now looks poised to become the 2021 season opener.

[Anonymous]

Leclerc is a bit of a crash bandicoot though and Ferrari need a win big time.

[Anonymous]

[Cleoriff]

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@Anonymous wrote:

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I saw him say that @Anonymous. Horner said 'Toto needs to keep his mouth shut and look at the flex on his own FRONT wings.....and that was Toto's response. A Class act.

[Anonymous]

Well well well 

Mercedes really are a disaster at the moment. Lewis made an unusual but catastrophic mistake, his brakes looked absolutely shot on the starting grid though - almost on fire! Surely the team could see there was likely to be a problem, Also earlier in the race how did Perez get past Hamilton? Hamilton lost 2 seconds being held but then so did Perez and Perez was behind Hamilton before the stop and Hamilton had an extra lap on new tyres? Shocking. 

You have to say verstappen was unlucky today and Perez did a great job.

Mercedes: Poor.

[Cleoriff]

If you missed this race you need to watch it. Pirelli have a lot to answer with two dangerous blowouts.

Stroll and the race leader Max who had a blow out on lap 48.

Perez leading then with LH 2nd.

Race stopped and last two laps started under safety car. Lewis had it in the bag. He had overtaken Perez and was on for the win....then shot off into the run off area.!! Finished 15.

His brakes were smoking at the restart before lights out, but he has just said when overtaking Perez he flicked the wrong switch...and it affected the brakes.

So both contenders scored no points.

Max still leads the championship.

[Anonymous]

I'm not believing it was a switch that caused Hamilton to go straight on at the first corner, there was something seriously wrong with those brakes, he had only done one lap to the restart and they were smoking like a steam train.

[Cleoriff]

@Anonymous I'm simply repeating what Hamilton said when he was in the interview pen.

It was confirmed by Toto.

"On the restart, I think when Checo [Perez] moved over towards me I clipped a switch and it basically switches the brakes off so I just went straight," said Hamilton. "I had no idea that I'd even touched it."

The 'magic' switch is essentially designed to heat the front tyres on the car before a race start by changing the brake balance. Hamilton likely turned it off before the start before hitting it again by accident.

"He touched a button and the brake balance changed," explained Mercedes boss Toto Wolff. "The brake balance went forward and basically the car doesn't stop."

https://www.skysports.com/f1/news/24181/12326356/azerbaijan-gp-lewis-hamilton-blows-race-chance-with-error-after-mistakenly-hitting-magic-switch 

People should be more concerned by Bottas's performance. Proving yet again why he doesn't deserve a seat in that car.

At least Max has got Checo to back him up. Hamilon has got no-one.

[Anonymous]

Those tyre failures were unbelievably dangerous. Two mandatory pit stops per race would be better for safety and the racing in general in my opinion.

[Cleoriff]

To be honest, there was a lot of controversy about the FIA restarting that race. As Red Bull were heard to say with what happened with Max there was no guarantee that it wouldn't happen to someone else (Checo)

As it happened, Perez was lucky, as his car was virtually out of fuel. That's why, as he was coming into the pits, he was told to turn the car off NOW. He was not allowed to drive it to the winners section in the pits.

As for Bottas, he better pick up his game...he might find himself swapped out after the summer break!!

Even if you have given up, the team can't allow him to pootle around at the back end of the grid.

Lewis would have fared better had they not restarted. Lol

As for the tyre situation @Anonymous , Pirelli have a lot of questions to answer.

[MI5]

Checo had a hydraulic issue which was the reason for him being told to stop immediately and RB asked Massey to red flag the race on safety grounds to allow everyone to change tyres.