Formula 1 2025

[The Horse's Mouth]

Swapping them would’ve done **** all, having both on the same strategy was the problem i think. Especially with how well kimi did on going long

[Super_horns]

Channel 4 “highlights “ made it sound like the race was tight and tense at the front !

[The Horse's Mouth]

17 minutes ago, Super_horns said:

Channel 4 “highlights “ made it sound like the race was tight and tense at the front !

I mean in a way it was, think they made the point during the race pretty much every Suzuka winner has been 10 seconds up the road past couple of races.Tense is an overstatement though  

[BlueSi13]

On 06/04/2025 at 07:07, Muzzy_no7 said:

Even ill admit now Hamilton is washed.

 

Comfortably being beaten by both his Teammate and the two Merc’s both of which said teammate is beating in the same car.

 

Such a shame, 21 really did take it out of him. 

Yea as much of a fan I am of Hamilton it's becoming increasingly clear he's way past his prime.  He's still capable of brilliance on occasion but those moments are becoming increasingly rare.  

 

At 40 years old he's beginning to look like yesterday's man around the paddock (same with Alonso).  Most F1 drivers are out of the sport in their early to mid 30's  I mean he was replaced at Mercedes by a guy who was 1 when Hamilton debuted in F1.  

 

We all know he's still there because of what happened in '21 but I think he's been a bit slow to realise that no contending team is going to make him their number 1 driver at his age.  

 

Mercedes rightfully favoured Russell last year, especially once Hamilton announced he was leaving before the season and Leclerc is Ferrari's man for the long term.  Even if Ferrari turn up with a championship winning car next year, a 41 year old Hamilton isn't beating a prime Leclerc, no chance.   

[grobyfox1990]

24 minutes ago, BlueSi13 said:

Yea as much of a fan I am of Hamilton it's becoming increasingly clear he's way past his prime.  He's still capable of brilliance on occasion but those moments are becoming increasingly rare.  

 

At 40 years old he's beginning to look like yesterday's man around the paddock (same with Alonso).  Most F1 drivers are out of the sport in their early to mid 30's  I mean he was replaced at Mercedes by a guy who was 1 when Hamilton debuted in F1.  

 

We all know he's still there because of what happened in '21 but I think he's been a bit slow to realise that no contending team is going to make him their number 1 driver at his age.  

 

Mercedes rightfully favoured Russell last year, especially once Hamilton announced he was leaving before the season and Leclerc is Ferrari's man for the long term.  Even if Ferrari turn up with a championship winning car next year, a 41 year old Hamilton isn't beating a prime Leclerc, no chance.   

He's still around because he's still got plenty of cash to make, even at his age he is still clearly a very marketable asset. He's looked after his physical health superbly, the benefit of that is you get longer at the table when there's money on it.

[Chris_OGrady]

Certainly no F1 expert, but is Hamilton as good as his 7 titles suggests? Or did he just have the best car by a mile in 6 of those seasons... Would prime Hamilton get close to Verstappen now in the same car? I think Max would beat him. 

[The Horse's Mouth]

8 hours ago, Chris_OGrady said:

Certainly no F1 expert, but is Hamilton as good as his 7 titles suggests? Or did he just have the best car by a mile in 6 of those seasons... Would prime Hamilton get close to Verstappen now in the same car? I think Max would beat him. 

Pretty much, I don’t think Hamilton and vettel are too dissimilar in terms of talent,both very good drivers that benefitted from the machine behind them but I don’t think many would consider them in the greatest conversation. I don’t think max would’ve ever lost to Rosberg and button in the same machinery 

[BlueSi13]

13 hours ago, The Horse's Mouth said:

Pretty much, I don’t think Hamilton and vettel are too dissimilar in terms of talent,both very good drivers that benefitted from the machine behind them but I don’t think many would consider them in the greatest conversation. I don’t think max would’ve ever lost to Rosberg and button in the same machinery 

Hamilton is miles clear of Vettel, the only man to beat 3 world champions in the same car.  Plus won everything at junior level.  Verstappen benefits from immense recency bias but would have lost to a 36 year old Hamilton in an inferior car (Newey confirmed the Red Bull was the faster car in 21) if the FIA hadn't come to his rescue.  Verstappen also lost to Ricciardo.

 

Hamilton is 100% in the greatest conversation as he is literally the most decorated driver in the sport's history.  

 

Should Schumacher be discounted from the greatest conversation because he clearly benefited from the rocket ship Ferrari and having undisputed number 1 driver status written in his contract?  Or because he was well beaten by Rosberg 3 years on the bounce at Mercedes?  Of course not.  The best drivers on the grid get the best cars on the grid in the prime of their careers.  That's the way it's always been.  

 

[grobyfox1990]

16 hours ago, The Horse's Mouth said:

Pretty much, I don’t think Hamilton and vettel are too dissimilar in terms of talent,both very good drivers that benefitted from the machine behind them but I don’t think many would consider them in the greatest conversation. I don’t think max would’ve ever lost to Rosberg and button in the same machinery 

Equating Hamilton to Vettel LOL. April fool's was 8 days ago pal

[grobyfox1990]

2 hours ago, BlueSi13 said:

Hamilton is miles clear of Vettel, the only man to beat 3 world champions in the same car.  Plus won everything at junior level.  Verstappen benefits from immense recency bias but would have lost to a 36 year old Hamilton in an inferior car (Newey confirmed the Red Bull was the faster car in 21) if the FIA hadn't come to his rescue.  Verstappen also lost to Ricciardo.

 

Hamilton is 100% in the greatest conversation as he is literally the most decorated driver in the sport's history.  

 

Should Schumacher be discounted from the greatest conversation because he clearly benefited from the rocket ship Ferrari and having undisputed number 1 driver status written in his contract?  Or because he was well beaten by Rosberg 3 years on the bounce at Mercedes?  Of course not.  The best drivers on the grid get the best cars on the grid in the prime of their careers.  That's the way it's always been.  

 

Yeh I love this forum for the hyperbole, but I think that was an actual serious post. 

[The Horse's Mouth]

12 hours ago, BlueSi13 said:

Hamilton is miles clear of Vettel, the only man to beat 3 world champions in the same car.  Plus won everything at junior level.  Verstappen benefits from immense recency bias but would have lost to a 36 year old Hamilton in an inferior car (Newey confirmed the Red Bull was the faster car in 21) if the FIA hadn't come to his rescue.  Verstappen also lost to Ricciardo.

 

Hamilton is 100% in the greatest conversation as he is literally the most decorated driver in the sport's history.  

 

Should Schumacher be discounted from the greatest conversation because he clearly benefited from the rocket ship Ferrari and having undisputed number 1 driver status written in his contract?  Or because he was well beaten by Rosberg 3 years on the bounce at Mercedes?  Of course not.  The best drivers on the grid get the best cars on the grid in the prime of their careers.  That's the way it's always been.  

 

To say he’s miles clear is a bit ridiculous ngl. Does kinda show you’ve got a bias in the conversation. Hamilton edges him in pure ability to adapt to different eras, but on raw talent and comparing both in their pomp it really is more debatable than miles clear 

 

Max did lose to Ricciardo, but at the same time context does matter he was 18/19 at the time. Lewis lost to his rivals in his prime years. Lewis did however draw with Alonso in his rookie year so that’s a good point for him

 

Obviously not, but I Schumacher has showed enough in having the worser machinery in how bloody good he is. The one thing I think nobody can doubt is that Hamilton is the GOAT of the political side of things and picking the right options. If only someone like Alonso had that same acumen he might have beaten schumachers record. 

[The Quick Brown Fox]

I do find the best driver conversation interesting, it's always the best car that wins. Look at Brawn, Button was a decent driver, was he the best that year? No, but he had the best car. No doubt that the cars need a better driver but you can't say they're the greatest. 

 

It's a shame the A1 series never really took off, exactly the same car for all drivers. 

 

Either way it's good to watch xxx 

[Muzzy_no7]

Absolutely pathetic from Hamilton AGAIN

[VinceNoir]

Poor from Norris that. Will probably still finish P2, but I expect Piastri to close the gap to him and Max this weekend. 

[Super_horns]

Work for Lando and Max to do.

 

Mercedes well in the mix with Leclerc so hopefully will be a decent race .

 

Where did Gasly  come from ?

[Ian W LCFC]

That grid should make for an interesting race tomorrow!

 

Piastri is surely nailed on for a win.

 

(Both Mercedes drivers getting a 1 place grid drop in case anyone missed that)

[Super_horns]

2 hours ago, Ian W LCFC said:

That grid should make for an interesting race tomorrow!

 

Piastri is surely nailed on for a win.

 

(Both Mercedes drivers getting a 1 place grid drop in case anyone missed that)

Not too bad for them - could have been 3.

 

They will probably get past Leclerc and Gasly respectively anyway .

Hopefully the track allows for good racing

 

Poor luck for Alex Albon - missed out on a chance to improve his grid position after Hulkenburg had a lap time deleted post qualifying .

Edited 13 April by Super_horns

[Muzzy_no7]

Gotta be a 5sec time penalty for GR

[mancunianfox]

Piastri could absolute walk this, he seems very confident this year. Norris already in his own head and it looks like his one lap advantage is either gone or drastically reduced. 

[reporterpenguin]

3 hours ago, Muzzy_no7 said:

Gotta be a 5sec time penalty for GR

I’m glad a bit of common sense prevailed for a change. Yes it should be a penalty by the letter of the law but given the circumstances around it with his car and him slowing down to compensate for opening the DRS, no penalty is the right call for me. 

[StanSP]

1 minute ago, reporterpenguin said:

I’m glad a bit of common sense prevailed for a change. Yes it should be a penalty by the letter of the law but given the circumstances around it with his car and him slowing down to compensate for opening the DRS, no penalty is the right call for me. 

Seems like other drivers were affected. Norris was being told when to use DRS by his engineer too. 

[Super_horns]

Piastri and Russell just getting on with their drives without too much fuss .

 

All the chaos seems to be elsewhere with bad starts and pit stops .

 

Hamilton probably feeling if only Saturday had been better .

 

Gasly and Haas rewarded well .

[BlueSi13]

On 10/04/2025 at 02:10, The Horse's Mouth said:

To say he’s miles clear is a bit ridiculous ngl. Does kinda show you’ve got a bias in the conversation. Hamilton edges him in pure ability to adapt to different eras, but on raw talent and comparing both in their pomp it really is more debatable than miles clear 

 

Max did lose to Ricciardo, but at the same time context does matter he was 18/19 at the time. Lewis lost to his rivals in his prime years. Lewis did however draw with Alonso in his rookie year so that’s a good point for him

 

Obviously not, but I Schumacher has showed enough in having the worser machinery in how bloody good he is. The one thing I think nobody can doubt is that Hamilton is the GOAT of the political side of things and picking the right options. If only someone like Alonso had that same acumen he might have beaten schumachers record. 

I think you might be the biased one here buddy.  At least based on your posting history in this thread 

 

Yes Verstappen lost to Ricciardo in his rookie year.  He was also losing to him again the following year until Ricciardo announced his departure to Renault which resulted in his results in the Red Bull strangely falling off a cliff.  BTW Ricciardo is still the only semi-decent teammate Verstappen has ever had.

 

Compare that with Hamilton's rookie year.  He finished 2nd in the world championship and fell short by 1 point.  If it wasn't for a gearbox failure in the final race he would have won it.  Sorry but that also counts as a win against Alonso as Hamilton won more races, an unbelievable achievement against a man who had just won 2 world championships and was being heralded as the next Schumacher by some.  

 

I also don't get what you mean by losing to his rivals in his prime years?  If you mean teammates he beat Button 2-1 and Rosberg 3-1? Two former WC'S?  His only really sloppy season I can remember was in 2011 but Hamilton got him back the next year.  In 2016 he lost to Rosberg but won more races and suffered more mechanical DNF's.  If his engine didn't blow up in Malaysia when he was running in 1st he would have won another WC.  

 

The only outright defeat was a 2-1 loss to Russell but that is Hamilton touching 40 and Russell has been heralded by many as a future WC so no shame at all there.

 

BTW I do consider Verstappen to be an unbelievable talent and is the best driver on the grid right now.  I also agree with you that Alonso should have won more WC's with the natural talent has has/had. 

 

But the lack of respect Hamilton gets from some is almost unbelievable, former European and World Karting Champion, GP3 Champion, GP2 Champion, 7 time F1 Champion and could have been NINE if it wasn't for late season mechanical failures and TEN if Michael Masi and the FIA actually did their job.  But yea Hamilton is just the GOAT at politics 

 

However back to the present day it was another sad qualifying performance from him, the decline in his one lap qualifying pace is genuinely hurting him now and is putting him way out of position for the Sunday.  If he can't turn this around I genuinely think and hope he should call it a day after this season.  His race pace is still stellar but I personally don't want to see another Schumacher 2.0 which is what it was turning in to last season and looks as if it's continuing this season.    

 

 

[SouthStandUpperTier]

Oh dear Lando 

[cityfanlee23]

Max is just a special, special talent.