planetf1.com

Yeah he was much better today, fair play. Kimi was anonymous.

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"Clark came through at the end of the first lap so far ahead that we in the pits were convinced that the rest of the field must have been wiped out in an accident."
-Eddie Dennis, describing the dominance of Jim Clark in the Lotus 49 at Spa 1967

He is only 13th points behind Vettel and was only 10.5secs behind the race winner having the 5 grid place penalty. When he has bad races he is way off. Here Mercedes had advantage and he was back to speed. Without the penalty I think it would have been easy cruise for 1-2.

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https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=YM9-GK3MeLI

Kimi was driven off the track by Hulkenberg on lap 1 or 2. He fell back to 14th. Came through well after that.

What's worse is I actually saw that but forgot all about it.

In my defence I got like 3hrs sleep before getting up for the race.

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"Clark came through at the end of the first lap so far ahead that we in the pits were convinced that the rest of the field must have been wiped out in an accident."
-Eddie Dennis, describing the dominance of Jim Clark in the Lotus 49 at Spa 1967

Drive off the track or outraced? I dont recall Hulk getting a penalty, but it was very early i the morning. I might have missed it.

I mean he was driven off the track by Hulkenberg which is exactly what I said. No drivers get a penalty for that but it still happened.

Bottas will either be close to Hamilton, or he will be out. Verstappen is coming for 2019, most probably.

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The end is near

I thought Red Bull still had hold of Verstappen in 2019? I'm not saying it isn't possible that this won't be the case. I actually do think that Bottas will improve enough next year that if Ricciardo goes to Ferrari for 2019 and Verstappen isn't available, they will very likely keep him. But I'll be honest, I'm not sure if Hamilton and Verstappen will be a great combination as a team. I know they are both very strong, but I just can't see them getting on as well as team mates as Hamilton and Bottas currently are. I feel that there will me more teension between them and I really don't seem to think that Verstappen will accept team orders in the way that Bottas does. I feel that this could at some point lead to big crashes like Hamilton and Rosberg had in Spain which I'd say was due to both of them trying too hard. Bottas seems to be doing a good job at playing along with this and there have been a lot of examples this year that even when he's not been at his best, he has been helping out Hamilton. I expect Bottas to improve, and I still think he will continue being a good team player. There have been many moments I've seen from Verstappen's career that makes him appear rather difficult to get him to do these sorts of things. This is nothing related to the driving style, but it is one importent area I do think Bottas is better than Verstappen. But the team will quite possibly still want Verstappen over Bottas. But we can't be sure who it is they are wanting most just yet. But I don't think that it certainly won't be Bottas again.

Rosberg was resigned for 2018 so they really don't care that much about having a harmonious team.

It's a choice of having a No.1 driver and someone who will back him up with enough points, or having 2 top drivers.

Bottas has done well at the start of the year, but is clearly in the No. 2 driver role now.

At the moment, it's looking like Hamilton is making the Mercedes successful - in comparison to Bottas.

If Mercedes want it to clearly look like the car is the best car, then they should be prepared to have 2 top drivers - unless they think the car isn't the best and they need a No. 1 driver policy with Hamilton to be successful.

Contracts being what they are though, the availability of other top drivers could leave Mercedes with only one option.

He should get faster

Mercedes is like any other team. They prefer the WDC because they know that's what gives them the most exposure. The marketing department at Mercedes know that there is no better driver for promotional purposes than Hamilton so as long as they have him and he wins regularly they are happy. It's maybe romantic to imagine they might want another top driver there but for the brand it's already worked a treat all over the world. Even the trackside team would prefer a clear No.1 driver in theory so they can avoid the headache of their drivers taking points off of each other allowing a rival to swoop in. They are not desperate for a Verstappen or a Ricciardo in the immediate future because they have the best guy for the brand at the moment. Frankly you can put anyone alongside Hamilton and the team still thrives. They don't need 2 top drivers. Not saying Bottas is not a top driver mind.They just need Hamilton and someone who is capable of picking up the slack when Hamilton is having a difficult weekend. For 2020 onwards though I suspect Mercedes will want Verstappen there even if Hamilton is still there to prepare for the next 5-10 years.

Elsewhere on the board - will Bottas come second in the WDC?

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Shoot999: "And anyone who puts a Y on the end of his name as a nickname should be punched in the face repeatedly."