At least Verstappen made it close for a little bit. Tire wear should help tomorrow with keeping the pace closer at the end

Was hoping Bottas could take pole since he won't be allowed to push for 1st. Could have made it more interesting to have Hamilton try.

Robert C. Christian said:

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Was hoping Bottas could take pole since he won't be allowed to push for 1st. Could have made it more interesting to have Hamilton try.

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& finally picked Bottas for pole in fantasy... dog gone gone.

Goodness - what an awful start to this one.

This is fun

Races like this are why I completely laugh at the idea that F1 drivers are inherently superior to IndyCar. Doesn't stop the European fans from saying it, but reality doesn't agree. This sounds like I'm crapping on F1 drivers, but at the top tiers of motorsport, it's pretty indistinguishable who is better overall. BAR and Williams wanted Jeff Gordon back in the day. I'd bet Scott Dixon would give Lewis a hell of a championship battle in that Mercedes.

I'm a little surprised to see the fans in attendance. I wouldn't have thought they would let anyone in.

Alright guys, let's try to get through a complete lap this time.

I think they said it was only 3k fans.

For now about the only thing to root for is points for Russell and hopefully a podium for Ricciardo.

Lewis: Which curbs?
Team: Pretty much all of them

nice

Definitely rooting for Ricciardo to make a podium any week. But I want to see it even more now so Cyril has to get a tattoo.

Well dang. Another safety car. That should change things a bit.

Wow. Lance really effed that car.

Team is probably telling Lewis, see Stroll's car, he was driving on the curb

'kerb'

La Fours said:

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Happy for Albon. Good thing Hamilton was out in front so he couldn't wreck Albon.

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Lol

Vernada said:

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For now about the only thing to root for is points for Russell and hopefully a podium for Ricciardo.

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Unfortunately neither happened but he still got driver of the day and drove a great race. I fee like he's starting to get the hang of the car and now he'll be jetting to MacLaren next season.

Pretty wild race with two Reds today. Clear as day watching the first restart Merc is on another level while everyone else is F1.5. Honda hasn't done Red Bull many favors here of late.

TopFlightReject said:

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Vernada said:

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For now about the only thing to root for is points for Russell and hopefully a podium for Ricciardo.

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Unfortunately neither happened but he still got driver of the day and drove a great race. I fee like he's starting to get the hang of the car and now he'll be jetting to MacLaren next season.

Pretty wild race with two Reds today. Clear as day watching the first restart Merc is on another level while everyone else is F1.5. Honda hasn't done Red Bull many favors here of late.

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They sure didn't do anything for McLaren. They're now on par with Renault engines (who needed primarily to fix reliability a few years ago). Now, with Ferrari caught cheating, Merc engines are in a lone league. Look at RP-Mercedes. Williams is chassis limited. McLaren moves to Merc engines next year. Red Bull could find themselves in a bigger fight for second next year - they sure can build a chassis though.

Interesting find that the "radio call" when Stroll was released into Max wasn't the actual radio call.

https://instagr.am/p/CFC-lV8BtaC

I've posted this on the Auto board and some may have seen it, but for those who have not, I can recommend enough you check out the following podcasts, "Beyond the Grid" and "Bring Back V-10's". Good interviews with F1 drivers, mechanics, designers, team principals, etc. from past and present.

Gordan Murray basically walked into his first F1 job at Brabham as a practically new college grad and was head designer a month later. Also good background on why Prost was really fired from Ferrari (not because he said the car handled like a truck).

the time shift is going to make this weekend's race a lot harder to catch live - it starts at 610 CDT.

Quali done. We just almost had an awesome grid for tomorrow. If Hamilton wouldn't have made it to Q3 it'd have made for some great drama.

Lewis starting on softs and Max and Bottas on mediums will add some interest that might not usually be there with Lewis on pole. That was a wild Q2 though!

Yeah Lewis has to have a good start and keep p1 out of the first turn, or he could be in trouble.

That will buff out Sainz

Goodbye Honda. They announced today that they are pulling out as engine supplier after 2021. That leaves Redbull and Alpha Tauri with Renault most likely. That will be awkward considering how that partnership ended previously.

Yeah, can't imagine Redbull is very happy about that.

Option three is that Red Bull buys a stake in that factory and badge them something generic like the Mechachrome/Mugen type days of F1.

I think Red Bull goes back to Renault and Alpha Tauri takes Ferrari engines again.

Hulk in for Stroll for qual and race

Gladiator 96 said:

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Hulk in for Stroll for qual and race

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Crazy to hear him talk about drinking coffee at 11, getting the call, and driving an hour there to race.

Robert C. Christian said:

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Gladiator 96 said:

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Hulk in for Stroll for qual and race

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Crazy to hear him talk about drinking coffee at 11, getting the call, and driving an hour there to race.

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Hulk need a permanent drive next year. He's earned it. Very good driver, does thinks right and things like this just reinforced how capable he is.