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In an interview with Motorsport, Helmut Marko from Red Bull basically implied that Russell is probably already signed to Mercedes. The context is him being asked if Red Bull would sign Russell should Mercedes pass up on signing him to the team this year.
The exact bit from the article:
Marko added that he assumed Russell would be driving for Mercedes in 2022, and when asked if Red Bull would make an offer if he wasn't, replied: "If I am informed correctly, then that is not relevant."
Basically, he said that Mercedes would be foolish to pass up on Russell for next year, and that Red Bull have their eye on him should Mercedes not sign him. The "If I am informed correctly, then that is not relevant" is the key bit here since it implies he already has heard that Russell is signed so Red Bull's interest is not relevant. Though, as always, take everything Helmut says with a cow salt lick-sized grain of salt.
I do wonder that if this week, at both Hamilton and Russell's home race, is when they will announce Russell to complete their all-British line-up. It would make sense. They said they want their driver decision by around summer break.
I wonder what will happen to Bottas should he lose his seat. He might end up as lead driver at an improving Williams, which might not be that bad of a gig. That team just got a huge infusion of cash and has Jost Capito, who was very successful in the WRC as VW's team boss when that team was dominating, as their new leader. Williams has completely revamped their whole team structure to be much more modern and in line with what the other teams are doing. Apparently there were a lot of structural issues within the team that didn't get fixed for years that have now been worked out, and this is partly why the team has been improving so much this year.
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We will in all likelihood see a George contract reveal during the British GP
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Now George is denying there are going to be any announcements regarding his future this week, so who knows what's gonna happen.
Mercedes signing Bottas again and letting Russell leave their orbit would be a colossal mistake. I can't see them doing it, but given Wolff's loyalty to Bottas (despite just giving him one year contracts over and over), I suppose it could happen.
Just to be clear, I don't think Bottas is a bad driver. He was fantastic at Williams and his qualifying is still probably among the best in F1. It just seems like years of facing off against basically one of the best, most complete drivers of all time has worn him down and he seems to be struggling more and more at Mercedes. I think if he moved to a lower pressure environment, we'd see the old Bottas return.
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Rosberg was a straight up better driver than Bottas, and every bit Lewis's equal in qualifying, and just barely squeaked out a championship.
Bottas is very good, no denying that, but he's a solid number two. He is further behind Lewis than Perez is behind Verstappen, and that doesn't bode well for his future at Mercedes. If Russell doesn't have a seat at Merc next year, another team is going to scoop him up. He's waited too long in uncompetitive shitboxes to not be in a podium capable car.
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Sprint starting soon with the Mclaren being the best Mercedes in FP1 needs getting some used to
Max fucks up his lap in Q1 and is still 0.4s ahead of the Merc.
Q2 and its Mr Friday now. Looks like Merc has some sandbags after all
RBR didnt set up the cars properly while Merc has removed their sandbags. That was a cracker
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That was such a good qualifying. Such a shame that it means nothing because of this stupid sprint race stuff.
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Very exciting qualifying. I wouldn't say it doesn't matter. It matter for tomorrow's sprint, which matters for Sunday. Tomorrow is going to be very exciting as well. Can't wait
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Quali was amazing today.
As the pole position was, the crowd was clearly even more excited for Russell. I'm pretty sure the cheers were louder when Russell made Q3 than when Verstappen failed to beat Lewis's time.
Good to give it a shot, but a sprint race on a track that's hard to overtake on is rough because it means if you can first lap hero two starts in a row, you're far higher than you might realistically deserve to be.
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MAXXXXXXX takes the lead on T1
Alonso gains 6 places at the start from 11th to 5th
Perez goes off wow on Lap 6
Alonso train was the best part of the sprint qualifying race for me. This made me realised that I've missed Truili trains in F1 haha
Victory lap parade is fucking stupid imo but if it works then good for them
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I was pleasantly surprised by the sprint race. I guess that's a good thing. So many of the engineering types had mentioned that most teams would be in risk avoidance mode for it so it might end up dull. It turns out it only takes a couple people not avoiding risks (or a Fernando Alonso with zero fucks to give) for things to get interesting
That Perez crash was sure something. He just lost it completely by himself.
That parade was definitely awkward and weird. I think just a regular podium-type thing would be better.
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He just lost it completely by himself.
Well, yes and no. He got hit by the wake of the two cars ahead of him going through a sequence of left and right corners, which tossed his car of balance. An overcorrection saw him into the wall. Everyone knows this is a possibility, but you can't really get close enough to pass on the next straight without risking that wash. Clearly his own fault, don't get me wrong, but it wasn't like he just randomly lost it for no reason.
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Northern Ireland27190 Posts
I’m not sure I get the point of the sprint race, any F1 experts explain it to me? Just seems it sits between making qualifying less impactful, but isn’t as exciting as the main race by virtue of not being the main race.
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It's about money. With this sprint race there are 3 sessions that matter instead of 2.
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51639 Posts
yep worldwide once fans are allowed everywhere, more people are going to come in for the sprint session. less people would've come in for qualifying but as you could tell from today silverstone was a full house for a non-race day.
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With the cars being able to follow much more closely next year, and a pseudo balance of power being imposed through additional resources for teams lower down the order, it's a good bet that the field will be closer next year. A sprint race trial this year and a full implementation next year is going to be on the cards for at least some races, because it's a helluva way to sell more weekend tickets.
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Max was going balls to the wall , Lewis was on his gearbox and Max even came off track and they touched wheels , Lewis knew that that was his last chance in the lap to pass and stuck his nose with NO WAY to make this turn without hitting Max ..... full blame on Lewis , he now knows he cannot back down from a dog fight with Max as the RB is as fast as the mercs in free air ......
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They are going to give Lewis a 5 sec and he will win the race by 30 seconds , this is a home race with home stewards , no way they are going to give him a stop and go , just NO WAY , and any time penalty is meaningless for him ..... wow , i dont like RB at ALL , but this was just lewis going YOLO , as Max was pushing him around all year long when they were side by side , never giving him an inch.
Lewis should keep it cool now , going hard vs Charles might end up in the wall himself , Charles is not going to let him by if he isnt clearly ahead.
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Max assumed Lewis will brake but he didn't and they were kinda next to each other.
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Meh racing incident. For years Max has yielded absolutely nothing, as he did here, turning in because he assumed Hamilton would just yield. It was always bound to happen that at some point everyone else would treat him exactly the same way he treats them.
edit: add to that, Max defends with all 4 wheels off track in first corner, that surely isn't kosher either
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EPT
