Poll: Portugese Grand Prix 2020, Portimao - Race 12/17

Rate the 2020 Portuguese Grand Prix out of ten

  • 1

    Votes: 2 3.0%
  • 2

    Votes: 0 0.0%
  • 3

    Votes: 2 3.0%
  • 4

    Votes: 7 10.6%
  • 5

    Votes: 9 13.6%
  • 6

    Votes: 11 16.7%
  • 7

    Votes: 21 31.8%
  • 8

    Votes: 12 18.2%
  • 9

    Votes: 2 3.0%
  • 10

    Votes: 0 0.0%

  • Total voters
    66
Caporegime
Joined
19 May 2004
Posts
31,505
Location
Nordfriesland, Germany
Another enjoyable race, although it calmed down after a chaotic first few laps.

92 wins for Hamilton and delivered in real style. Talk all you want about Mercedes dominance, he trounced his teammate by 25s despite losing out on the first lap and was about half a second faster on his fastest lap. Hamilton is simply head and shoulders above the pack.

Vettel had a better race than of recent times; after a bad quali he recovered to a point. Not impressive, especially with his teammate delivering a solid 4th, but not as dire as many performances this season. I'm kind of bored of talking about Albon's lack of quality at every race. It's true RB dumped him onto the worse strategy, but the guy was already circulating in a pathetic 12th place and looking slow before that happened. I doubt it made much difference in the big picture.

Stroll had a mare. Terrible quali, worse race. I hope he can return to form at the next race. Pérez, on the other hand, might well have been mixing it with Max - he was faster for solid parts of the race - had the two not tangled near the start. I thought Max was lucky not to get penalised for that. He delivered a really impressive recovery drive, and some real overtakes, and it's a pity that late race tyre choice cost him a couple of places.

I feel for Russell. He delivered a truly scintillating weekend and got another nul points. Awesome in qualifying, he blasted through the field in tricky conditions, and then slid back as the car failed to match his skill. I cannot wait to see him in a decent bit of machinery. Raikkonen, after a pretty poor season so far, showed that there is life in the old dog yet. I am disappointed he didn't get the points he richly deserved.

Gasly excelled again, and Ocon finally showed some class even if he only beat Dani because of a poor strategy choice for the Aussie.
 
Soldato
Joined
5 Nov 2010
Posts
23,946
Location
Hertfordshire
4/10
First few laps were good, but ultimately despite this track looking awesome and being nice to drive, it's terrible for this gen of F1 racing.
That DRS zone is far too long as well, but the only way they get to overtake.
 
Soldato
Joined
5 Apr 2009
Posts
24,850
He went past that though, didn't he?
I think as long as at least one 'part of the car', i.e. a wheel, is touching the defined limit it counts as not having exceeded track limits. It varies from track to track, even corner to corner, exactly what the limit is - white line, red and white kerb, green strip...
 
Associate
Joined
22 Mar 2020
Posts
24
Another generic race - usual tedium at the front after the first few laps, but with some good racing down the field. Ultimately all a bit 'meh'...
 
Soldato
Joined
18 Oct 2002
Posts
5,153
Location
Riding my bike
Watched the highlights - still can't get over:

DRS is just "mario carts" - might as well give them banana skins - I know it's 'needed' but fix the problem.
I now about track limits, but what purpose do the kerbs provide other than some pretty red/whte bits.

It all seems just so manufactured now.

Are there any hopes on the horizon?
 
Soldato
Joined
3 Aug 2015
Posts
7,039
Watched the highlights - still can't get over:

DRS is just "mario carts" - might as well give them banana skins - I know it's 'needed' but fix the problem.
I now about track limits, but what purpose do the kerbs provide other than some pretty red/whte bits.

It all seems just so manufactured now.

Are there any hopes on the horizon?

2022 maybe.
 
Soldato
Joined
15 Feb 2003
Posts
10,051
Location
Europe
The little livestream he did where he played some of his music was interesting. Wasn't my kinda thing, but wasn't bad.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1C9ujq0pozM

Is it one of those though where if he wasn't already famous no-one would think anything of it? You often see so many crazy talented musicians, singers, artists, performing in locally or on the street, then you get crap 2 unlimited - no limits, making the charts, or these manufactured groups from reality tv shows.
 
Caporegime
Joined
22 Oct 2002
Posts
26,909
Location
Boston, Lincolnshire
2022 maybe.

The same thing was said in 2013, 2008, likewise in 1997. Problem is now F1 is just far too advanced to provide any real racing spectacle. Bring back manual gearboxes, increase mechanical grip, bring back refueling so engines can be run on the ragged edge again.

You put anyone on the grid in that Mercedes apart from Hamilton and they will win a world championship. The days of Schumacher winning a championship in a Benetton (which was an inferior car) are long gone.
 
Soldato
Joined
10 Jan 2006
Posts
4,468
Location
Catterick/Dundee
The same thing was said in 2013, 2008, likewise in 1997. Problem is now F1 is just far too advanced to provide any real racing spectacle. Bring back manual gearboxes, increase mechanical grip, bring back refueling so engines can be run on the ragged edge again.
I'm most definitely being wildly optimistic. However, now is a better time than ever for a huge overhaul. Yes F1 is hugely invested in Hybrid tech and wildy technical power units, But there is no better time than now to completely turn it on its head. Lets face it to stay relevant F1 either needs to go full electric to stay relevant with current/emerging tech, or it can just say **** it! This is racing!!! This is entertainment!!! and go completely 180. unfortunately the latter risks alienating the manufacturers who likely wont want to have anything to do with it, therefore will never happen...
 

mjt

mjt

Soldato
Joined
31 Aug 2007
Posts
20,015
Enjoyable race. I hope some of these smaller European circuits make it on to next year's calendar!

Sainz went from leading to being lapped in about 20 laps :eek:
 
Man of Honour
Joined
21 Nov 2004
Posts
45,019
What a dominant car, an engineering masterpiece!

Funny to look back at the posts we were making last year talking about how Mercedes hadn’t brought upgrades since the summer break and how they must be focussing on this years car. My how they developed this car. Even when the regs tighten up or other teams push them to the limit, they still find even more performance. It’s really impressive. This years car must be one of the best ever. It’s been interesting to see DAS in use too, especially on these cooler days and after restarts, also allowing them to use different tyre strategies to the rest.
 
Associate
Joined
7 Jan 2011
Posts
497
Location
Australia
Funny to look back at the posts we were making last year talking about how Mercedes hadn’t brought upgrades since the summer break and how they must be focussing on this years car. My how they developed this car. Even when the regs tighten up or other teams push them to the limit, they still find even more performance. It’s really impressive. This years car must be one of the best ever. It’s been interesting to see DAS in use too, especially on these cooler days and after restarts, also allowing them to use different tyre strategies to the rest.

I have a feeling they've been sandbagging their performance too at times. There was a telling fact when at race half distance they were nearly 30 seconds up on Verstrappon and nearly a minute on everyone else. You have to wonder their future cars will be in a really good place given their engineering team and resources (despite the cost cap).

No disrespect to Lewis, really, but this car has to take some of the credit for his success. It is such a dominant, well engineered machine and a credit to everyone behind the scenes. Well done!
 
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