Motosport General discussion tread --- Formula1, MotoGP, WTCC, ETCC, DTM.....

[Naida_BR]

Anyway the times for Today are

    Lewis Hamilton (Gbr) Mercedes GP 1min 16.652secs
    Valtteri Bottas (Fin) Mercedes GP 1:16.754
    Max Verstappen (Ned) Red Bull 1:16.904
    Charles Leclerc (Mon) Ferrari 1:17.090
    Sergio Perez (Mex) Racing Point 1:17.223
    Alexander Albon (Tha) Red Bull 1:17.437
    Carlos Sainz (Spa) McLaren 1:17.520
    Lando Norris (Gbr) McLaren 1:17.525
    Pierre Gasly (Fra) Scuderia AlphaTauri 1:17.803
    Daniel Ricciardo (Aus) Renault 1:17.481
    Esteban Ocon (Fra) Renault 1:17.614
    Lance Stroll (Can) Racing Point 1:17.626
    Daniil Kvyat (Rus) Scuderia AlphaTauri 1:17.728
    George Russell (Gbr) Williams 1:17.788
    Sebastian Vettel (Ger) Ferrari 1:17.919
    Kimi Raikkonen (Fin) Alfa Romeo Racing 1:18.201
    Antonio Giovinazzi (Ita) Alfa Romeo Racing 1:18.323
    Romain Grosjean (Fra) Haas F1 1:18.364
    Kevin Magnussen (Den) Haas F1 1:18.508
    Nicholas Latifi (Can) Williams 1:18.777


Source: https://www.telegraph.co.uk/formula-1/2020/10/24/portuguese-grand-prix-2020-qualifying-f1-live-algarve-news/

I didn't expect such a competitive Ferrari, only 4/10 from Mercedes.
Don't look at Vettel times he is demotivated and maybe he also has not all the updates.

Ferrari was so confident with Charles to do 2 time attempt on FP2 with hardes tires like Mercedes, astonishing IMHO.

Easy pole for Lewis Hamilton once again...
If he doesn't make any huge mistake he is going to win this circuit.
Having Bottas on the second position gives him a security for doing the 1-2...

[1714277134]

1714277134

[Cnut237]

~

Easy pole for Lewis Hamilton once again...

Not so easy, it was very close. One key takeaway from qualifying for me is the similarity between Hamilton and Verstappen, and how they differ to Bottas. The standard approach is to have an 'out lap' to get the tyres in the right window, before going for the qualifying lap. However this time around, both Hamilton and Verstappen - independently of one another - decided the conditions meant that having 2 warm up laps might be better... which they both did, which led to Hamilton securing pole and Verstappen being right on their tails.
Note that Bottas was ahead of Hamilton in practices and qualifying sessions right up until the final attempt at the end of Q3 when it really mattered. The difference for Hamilton and Verstappen in this instance is that they both had a better and more nuanced understanding of conditions than Bottas did, and that 2 lap warm up paid dividends.

[dre1982]

Well I don't think it would be that easy for Hamilton. Verstappen is much closer this qualification. Lets see what this race brings us.

I don't expect a 1-2 for Mercedes

[coinlocket$]

The GP is staring and Gasly said

"some drops of rain".

Enjoy the GP, will be a fun start with 1st turn where only 1 car can pass.

[dre1982]

Albon being lapped again by Verstappen. I think he won't be a Red Bull driver anymore next year.

Mercedes are outstanding today.

[boltz]

If anyone had any more doubts regarding Hamilton this should settle the things forever as there is no other driver better than him and I think he has a lot more to offer in the next coming years.

History has been re-written today and I'm glad I watched it live but it would've been more fun if the rain was coming but I don't get it how so many dark clouds can be around the circuit and yet no one touches it...

[LTU_btc]

It not bad race I think, even without rain. Start was crazy when nobody didn't had grip and Sainz took the lead. Offcourse, few laps later everything returned back to normal. There was no fight between Lewis, Bottas and Vertsappen and gaps between them were huge.
Very solid race for Leclerc, Gasly continue his great performance. Perez lost few positions in final laps, but was good race for him - he was last after accident with Verstappen, but managed to recover many places.
I liked Portimao track and it's sad that F1 probably won't return here next year

Albon being lapped again by Verstappen. I think he won't be a Red Bull driver anymore next year.

Mercedes are outstanding today.

I think it's big hit for Albon to be overtaken by his teammate. Odds for him to stay in Red Bull isn't good I think. I read somewhere that Red Bull aren't planning to replace him by Alpha Tauri or youth program driver. So, probably it will be Perez or Hulk - I don't see any better options available now.
And not Mercedes were outstanding today, Hamilton was outstanding, he won race against Bottas by 25 seconds! And Mercedes managed their tyres very well today, what let them to pit very late.

[Cnut237]

If anyone had any more doubts regarding Hamilton this should settle the things forever as there is no other driver better than him

Yes. The ease with which he dispatched of Bottas was very revealing. He won by almost half a minute. He has the best car, but so does Bottas. Over one lap in qualifying, there's not much between them. In a race the story is very different. Hamilton is able to consistently hit good lap times, in a way that Bottas can't. He can manage his tyres better, which was a factor in the simple overtake today. He's better in the wet. He makes fewer mistakes.

A few laps in, and we had Bottas leading with Hamilton a couple of seconds back. Everyone knew what would happen: Hamilton would close in, pressure Bottas - who may or may not make a mistake - but regardless, Hamilton would likely pass him. But once Hamilton had passed, that was it, end of race - barring some anomaly like bad pit stop, rain, safety car. There is almost zero chance of Bottas attacking and passing Hamilton and holding him at bay in a race situation.

[coinlocket$]

Fun Grand Prix only in the initial part when we had a bit of rain on the track and the riders with red and therefore softer tires were able to take advantage.
When the track dried completely, the values on the drivers emerged with a dominating Hamilton and a Bottas "killed" even today.
The third force in the world championship is Verstappen and an excellent fourth place for LeClerc, the Ferrari updates seem to be working, even Vetter bottled up in traffic managed to set decent times as much as he could find a clear track.
Vetter and Albion are a step below their teammates this year.
Gasly and Russel are also excellent, incredible that these two drivers probably won't be in F1 next year.

[Koal-84]

Albon being lapped again by Verstappen. I think he won't be a Red Bull driver anymore next year.

Mercedes are outstanding today.

I also don't believe that Albon or a other RedBull junior drive next years at RedBull team. Helmut Marco also say that candidate are Hulkenberg and Perez, so all look at the future performance of Albon the last races.

[swogerino]

Not a boring race in the beginning but unfortunately the waters calmed down during the ending phases of the race.Congrats to Lewis Hamilton for making history with his 92th win but the main event of the race I think was Kimmi Raikonnen going from P17 to P6 in the first lap.It was a brillant lap and anyone can opt to re watch it in Youtube and Instagram F1 page.

[Koal-84]

Not a boring race in the beginning but unfortunately the waters calmed down during the ending phases of the race.Congrats to Lewis Hamilton for making history with his 92th win but the main event of the race I think was Kimmi Raikonnen going from P17 to P6 in the first lap.It was a brillant lap and anyone can opt to re watch it in Youtube and Instagram F1 page.

Kimi have a perfect strategy with the soft red tyre and make all right but he have the same problems for all other Ferrari powers tems the weak engine. So it's so hard to drive into the points with this engine. Only Williams is weaker thank all other Ferrari powers Teams, so sorry for the drivers.

[tokeweed]

If anyone had any more doubts regarding Hamilton this should settle the things forever as there is no other driver better than him and I think he has a lot more to offer in the next coming years.

History has been re-written today and I'm glad I watched it live but it would've been more fun if the rain was coming but I don't get it how so many dark clouds can be around the circuit and yet no one touches it...

He's an excellent driver no doubt but he wouldn't be dominating without driving for Merc imho.  I mean put Verstappen or Vettel in that car and they'd be winning lots of GP's for sure...  Can't wait for the spec changes.

[AakZaki]

Nobody watched MotoGP Truel yesterday? Franco Morbidelli of Petronas Yamaha SRT, won that day. After pole sitter Takaaki Nakagami fell, Morbidelli comfortably took first place until the end of the race. Actually I hope that Takaaki Nakagami can compete until the finish. But that was only hope, at turn five on the first lap he fell. I know that starting from the front is Nakagami's first experience. It made him feel like he was under mental stress and it made him nervous.

[RealMalatesta]

I do not understand why people have to make a big deal out of "who is better" talks but I am pretty sure people could make a valid point for every big time racer if they ever want to. I mean Schumi was just another level amongst the best of his time, his car wasn't much better than others, sure he raced with some decent cars but he would be at the top whatever car he drove and never had the obvious advantage as Mercedes has today for example, give him any car racing that they even the worst one and you could count on the fact that he would be top 5 with it, higher if he had a decent car.

Hamilton on the other hand may have the car advantage, but dude used that advantage so well that in a sport with milisecond mistakes that could cause as further as death, this dude has raced perfectly without any problems for so many years now, that is rare and incredibly and unseen as well. They are both just too good to separate.

[coinlocket$]

I mean Schumi was just another level amongst the best of his time, his car wasn't much better than others,

Are you sure about it?

Ferrari from 2003 to 2007/2008 was dominating almost like the Mercedes of Today.
A bit less in later years since they were "robbed" with the spy story.

[Naida_BR]

Not a boring race in the beginning but unfortunately the waters calmed down during the ending phases of the race.Congrats to Lewis Hamilton for making history with his 92th win but the main event of the race I think was Kimmi Raikonnen going from P17 to P6 in the first lap.It was a brillant lap and anyone can opt to re watch it in Youtube and Instagram F1 page.

But it was just the beginning... From the time that Bottas passed Sainz (who was in the first place) then the race because a usual one as the previous races.
Portimao is a perfect track and an impressing one considering the overcomes and the corners that give the chance to drivers to pass other cars.
I hope we are going to see more tracks in the calendar like Portimao in the future.

[Koal-84]

Nobody watched MotoGP Truel yesterday? Franco Morbidelli of Petronas Yamaha SRT, won that day. After pole sitter Takaaki Nakagami fell, Morbidelli comfortably took first place until the end of the race. Actually I hope that Takaaki Nakagami can compete until the finish. But that was only hope, at turn five on the first lap he fell. I know that starting from the front is Nakagami's first experience. It made him feel like he was under mental stress and it made him nervous.

Yes so sorry to say that's the first race i doesn't saw this year. But the trend continues at Suzuki, they are not only getting stronger in the race but now also in the championship. It remains tense, and a very strong race from Morbidelli. I'm sorry for Nakagami, but this is real racing in MotoGp, everyone is just doing their best.

[coinlocket$]

Binotto left a "funny" statement.
Journalists had asked him if the cars between Vettel and Leclerc were the same or if they had any differences.
He practically replied this way: the cars are the same, Charles is very good and we expect more from a second driver like Sebastian.

FLAMED 

[dre1982]

Binotto left a "funny" statement.
Journalists had asked him if the cars between Vettel and Leclerc were the same or if they had any differences.
He practically replied this way: the cars are the same, Charles is very good and we expect more from a second driver like Sebastian.

FLAMED 

Did he really said that? 

You can't say that about an old Champion. Vettel isn't be supported well by his own team so it's now only his fault he isn't doing that well as Charles.