Imola a Glimpse of What’s to Come for Merc?
Imola may have looked like what’s becoming the “new normal”: Mercedes fighting to be the third best car on the grid in ideal conditions. This weekend, they weren’t, so George’s P4 was subject to some luck and retirements. Likewise, Hamilton’s P14 wasn’t truly indicative. P6-P8 is probably more like where they should’ve ended up.
But, regardless it’s not what fans or anyone in media expected for this season. And definitely not what the team was planning on.
And even though we’ve seen disappointing results from them before, The Race explains why it was actually worse than in weeks before—and how it could make the future even more bleak.
Helmut Marko to Blame for Ocon Squeezing Hamilton in Pitlane?
As Esteban Ocon and Lewis Hamilton were finishing their pitstops and heading back out, Ocon cut out and squeezed Hamilton in the pitlane, almost causing a collision.
It added insult to the injury of Hamilton’s weekend, and slow stop from his crew.
But it could be Helmut Marko continuing to try to mess with the Silver Arrows.
Did Red Bull Save the Season?
No way to give commentary on this without just copy/pasting, but a great write up on what we did and didn’t learn about Red Bull and Ferrari this weekend, and what it could mean for the season.
Christmas Comes Early for McLaren?
McLaren were quick to say that after the Australian Grand Prix, their improvement was down to track characteristics, not any progress made on their car or ability of the drivers to contend.
But, after this weekend (Danny Ric was in a good position until his collision with Sainz), have they changed their tune?
Nice Words for Leclerc, Less So for Hamilton
Verstappen tells it like it is, when asked about passing Lewis Hamilton. Reminds me of the “He’s not being rude, he’s just Dutch” quote from Ted Lasso.