Pick the Podium - F-1 - Mercedes-Benz Grosser Pries, Von Deutschland, Hockenheimring, 2019

[Retroram52]

This week-end is the race on the Mercs home track. You can bet Hamilton and Bottas are going to be jacked as Vettel is pretty good at this track. We shall see who pulls this one out.

 

[Hank Kingsley]

 

[Retroram52]

Too funny Hank.

 

[Retroram52]

Leclerc and Vettel are finishing practices 1-2 and Hamilton and Bottas are either sandbagging it or legitimately suffering from some performance issue. Should be interesting to see how this plays out tomorrow in qualifying.

 

[BoiseStateFan27]

Ferrari looked dominant all weekend, then qualifying comes around and both cars fail LOL

Their season has been comically bad

Rain is a possibility tomorrow, but seems like it never actually happens

Grosjean qualified 6th for Haas, going to be fun watching him either slowly drop through the pack for a 14th place finish or crash on the first lap

Hamilton
Verstappen
Bottas
Leclerc

 

[forty_three]

Ferrari... lol.

I mean, it seems even God is against them at this point. The shot of Jean Todt in Merc's garage after Charles got out of his car made me laugh.

Anyway, good showing by one Red Bull. Gasly just isn't up to snuff it seems. Curious who replaces him. It won't be long. I imagine both Haas drivers are looking over their shoulders too.

My picks:
HAM
BOT
VER
LEC (car is too fast to stay behind for long. )

 

[Retroram52]

Ill go with:
Hamilton
Verstappen
Bottas
LeClerc

 

[Hank Kingsley]

I want to be risky. I could see Bottas and Verstappen interacting early, possibly requiring pit stops.

But, fuck that shit.

Hamilton
Bottas (long run Benz pace on harder tires)
Verstappen
Leclerc

 

[BoiseStateFan27]

Well needless to say we all definitely missed the mark on this one

What a calamity filled race, and probably the best race in years

So many opportunities for so many drivers, it looked like Mercedes was in control then the race just unraveled spectacularly on them. Just when it looked like it was about to fall apart for Verstappen he snuck in the pits at the perfect time and had a brilliant drive from there on

Kvyat was nowhere to be found all race, I think he spent most of it in 13th, makes a brilliant call and comes out with a podium, Stroll was a lap down from Hamilton when things were starting to go south for him and somehow Stroll came out with a 4th place

What race to watch

 

[forty_three]

Even as a joke, I would never have considered VET, KVY or STR in the top 4, let alone the top 10.

So, I guess the rumors of Hamilton having the flu or something were true. You don't usually see 2 mistakes in the span of four races then to make 3 in one race...

And it's safe to say Honda has it figured out.

 

[BoiseStateFan27]

Even as a joke, I would never have considered VET, KVY or STR in the top 4, let alone the top 10.

So, I guess the rumors of Hamilton having the flu or something were true. You don't usually see 2 mistakes in the span of four races then to make 3 in one race...

And it's safe to say Honda has it figured out.

Exactly and even if I was more confident in the rain coming, Hamilton usually does really well so it was tough to bet against him winning and of course the Verstappen the only driver we would have put in the top 4 that actually finished there was in the wrong spot.

Really the first mistake he made led to the 2nd one, and of course to top it off the events following that mistake were basically the opposite of what he needed. I think the spin he had late was out of frustration

Double podium for Honda, if Pierre Gasley wasn't so horrible then Mercedes may have needed to worry about Red Bull after a day like today. Verstappen is a threat to take 2nd in the drivers standings from Bottas this year, a lot of the upcoming tracks will also play into Red Bull's favor

 

[Hank Kingsley]

Hamilton questioned the mediums. That's where it went pear shaped for him.

After that it just spiraled down the terlet.....

 

[Retroram52]

Yep, Verstappen steals one followed by a meteoric drive by Vettel to finish second. The finishing order is as follows:

1 Max Verstappen
2 Sebastian Vettel
3 Daniil Kvyat
4 Lance Stroll

 

[Retroram52]

Here's How We Did:

BoiseStateFan27: 0 points-Skunked
forty_three: 0 points-Skunked
Hank Kingsley: 0 points-Skunked
pachyderm: 0 points-No show
Retroram52: 0 points-Skunked

2019 Season totals:

BoiseStateFan27: 40 points
forty_three: 39 points
Hank Kingsley: 64 points
pachyderm: 10 points
Retroram52: 48 points

Next Race: Hungary Grand Prix Grand Prix, August 02-04, 2019

 

[pachyderm]

Even as a joke, I would never have considered VET, KVY or STR in the top 4, let alone the top 10.

So, I guess the rumors of Hamilton having the flu or something were true. You don't usually see 2 mistakes in the span of four races then to make 3 in one race...

And it's safe to say Honda has it figured out.

From my understanding there is no joking allowed in here.


I enjoyed the hell out of that race.

If VET had a few more laps he may have won!

VER had a pretty decent race making fewer, less costly, slip ups than the MERC boys.

 

[BoiseStateFan27]

Alpha Romeos got DQed to top it off, so Hamilton got a couple points, while Robert Kubica has scored a point for the much maligned Williams team... congrats to them, they got their one point in what was pretty much their only chance to do so

Must say it was fun seeing the drivers look human today, almost everyone had slip-ups....wasn't just Vettel and the Haas drivers like it had usually been this year... in fact Vettel actually drove a rather flawless race today

 

[Retroram52]

I agree BSF. Vettel came from 14th to get a podium finish in even with rain and sech. Don't know what happen to the Mercs but both bagged it early.

 

[Hank Kingsley]

I misspoke with Lewis and the Mediums. He was on softs for his off track excursion.

Red Bull had the luck of the Irish on timing of pit stops several times with Dutchie.

And also made the correct call more often than not.

It seemed to be a perfect storm for the AMG boys though. Nothing went right after it was seemingly in the bag for Hamilton 29 laps in.

 

[Retroram52]

Yea Hank. I suppose the Mercs were due for a crappy day. You can bet with confidence, they'll be back in Hungary with a vengeance.

 

[Hank Kingsley]

I suspect it's a Red Bull track...