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Post by Frontrunner on Jan 2, 2017 12:24:31 GMT
Seems a sure thing, be interesting how the Merc team mates will compare throughout 2017.
Will it be close or will Bottas get left behind??
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Post by Wß on Jan 2, 2017 13:44:41 GMT
I would judge Bottas to be equal to, or greater in pace, and certainly far better in the wet. In qualifying, Nico was good and only got better because he had to in order to beat Hamilton. In racecraft Bottas is a very clean driver, certainly not dirty and I don't believe Bottas to be the type of driver to park his car in Monaco to secure pole.
People can only rise to the occasion when given a chance. Let's see what Bottas does, but I haven't entirely bought into the line that Red Bull has "the" driver pairing of the grid.
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Post by Hammer on Jan 2, 2017 14:17:02 GMT
I think next year is going to be a very fun year...for me that is. You're now a Merc/Redbull fan?
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Post by Liam Catterson on Jan 5, 2017 23:12:35 GMT
I think next year is going to be a very fun year...for me that is. You're now a Merc/Redbull fan? Damn, way to pour salt on the wound before the season starts
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Post by London on Jul 21, 2017 15:24:12 GMT
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Post by London on Nov 5, 2017 21:22:23 GMT
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Post by Wß on Nov 6, 2017 13:35:00 GMT
Would love to see him grow at Mercedes, he's got something to prove to himself. I think the results were fair, and he's got wins under his belt that he wouldn't have had. Next year will be his final shot at Mercedes to either prove himself able to bring his abilities to the car or leaving Mercedes for their next choice.
Personally I'd love to see him challenge Hamilton,with reliability issues he could certainly become a WDC. The more people driving competitive cars, the less points to gather for a championship win.
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Post by London on Nov 11, 2017 18:53:42 GMT
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Post by London on Feb 22, 2018 21:44:05 GMT
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Post by London on Mar 17, 2018 14:49:03 GMT
Raising my game for 2018If Bottas can be what Hakkinen was for Schumi this time, he will keep his seat easily. Hopefully not the same ending though. Still think Bottas isnt a finished product. It will be interesting to see what he has in the store. I expect him to be fairly closer. He has to close a lot of mouth too.
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Post by London on Mar 17, 2018 15:26:36 GMT
Bottas could have passed Ricciardo 🤔
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Post by Wß on Mar 17, 2018 16:00:21 GMT
This is a make or break year for him. Too much talent in the pool not to look elsewhere. If Mercedes has a dominant car like they did in 15, nothing but a close second to Hamilton if not beating him will save his seat.
Alonso would pay Mercedes to drive for them in 2019.
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Post by London on Mar 17, 2018 19:23:45 GMT
Hamilton is still in contract talk with Mercedes, If I was him, I would put a clause which allow me to have a word on the driver choice. Hamilton is smart. He knows that hes in period where he needs to cement his legacy before retiring. He cant have a top 3 driver alongside him. Same thing for Vettel as you get older and older. So this is going to be Ricciardo or Ocon.
Alonso is a black cat we dont need him. Just wait when Vandoorne will start to beat him (If he can). True color he will show again. Mercedes doesnt need his money and they will never allow him to drive one of their car because of the spygate. I would really like to think some teams care about their history. To finish, Hamilton doesnt want to be teammate with Alonso again. So on this side the case is closed for me.
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Post by racechick on Mar 29, 2018 8:19:57 GMT
Lewis doesn’t need a sneaky bastard driving alongside him. He can handle fast, not so much sneaky.He’s had that with Alonso, Button and Rosberg. Bottas isn’t sneaky, but he isn’t quite fast enough. He needed to up his game this year and it hasn’t started out well. With the top three teams seemingly closer in race trim, Mercedes need their second driver closer to Hamilton, but not destabilising him...which lets out the sneaky bastards. I’d trust Ricciardo. He’s fast but fair. Verstappen I’m not so sure. If I were Mercedes I’d try to secure Ricciardo on a two year contract with an eye on a fast youngster...like Ocon to take the team forward, alongside Lewis initially, for the future. I’m not sure Ocon s quite ready yet for a top team, maybe I’m being unfair on him.
I like Bottas. He just doesn’t excite me much.
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Post by Wß on Mar 29, 2018 13:55:42 GMT
This could be a make or break year for Bottas. If he loses his Mercedes seat, I doubt he'd be picked up elsewhere. If he doesn't finish in the top three, he's done, and it would be awful for him, but I can't see Mercedes keeping him when Ricciardo is not only available but he seems like the kind of guy that would drive for free just to get a shot at a winning car and a shot at competing against Lewis.
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Post by racechick on Mar 29, 2018 18:51:38 GMT
I think it would be a good combo. Danni is fast, fair and I reckon he’s an honourable guy. Lewis is also fast, fair and honorable. But Lewis couldn’t slack, he’d be pushed, and that would be good. I think I’d like to see that pairing. Danni can be a clown, and he’s popular. I wonder how Lewis would handle that? They’d either be on song and it would be mega......or not 🙃 edit: this is the Bottas thread So a shout out for Bottas. Let’s hope for him and Mercedes he gets his act together this year, then we don’t have to contemplate any other scenario.
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Post by London on Mar 29, 2018 21:10:20 GMT
Ricciardo is not fast as Lewis though. And Lewis keep going faster and better year after year. His last pole testifies. I dont see Ricciardo outrace Lewis like Rosberg was capable.
Its crazy to think Bottas beat Ricciardo in lower categories and Ricciardo turned out to be faster than him in F1 and a much better racer but Bottas is still close to Daniel on race pace, maybe faster on one lap but not by much or the opposite order.
I think in F1 to be more than decent you have to be extremely good at one thing at least, either its your racecraft or your one lap pace if you want to exist alongside a top driver. And Bottas is nowhere on both to be honest. Bottas is just decent and still since the hybrid era, Bottas always had a good engine.
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Post by racechick on Mar 29, 2018 22:48:22 GMT
No I don’t think Ricciardo is on Lewis’s level. But hes better than Bottas. And he defends well.
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Post by London on Apr 23, 2018 18:34:17 GMT
I dont think Ricciardo is better than Bottas to the point Mercedes should take Ricciardo instead of wasting their time with Bottas. But more races to come, we will see.
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Post by London on Apr 23, 2018 18:37:21 GMT
I think in F1 to be more than decent you have to be extremely good at one thing at least, either its your racecraft or your one lap pace if you want to exist alongside a top driver. And Bottas is nowhere on both to be honest. Bottas is just decent and still since the hybrid era, Bottas always had a good engine. I said Bottas had a weak racecraft but he is demonstrating that cool headed race craft decisons meaning scoring points whilst others accrue DNFs for both themselves and more importantly, their team. we saw several instances of that where leading drivers with severly depleted rubber, allowed room for an easy pass and so scored points. Even Vettel was seen to do that yet the "torpedo" got him... Some saw brilliant over takes whilst others, myself included saw simple easy passes. Funny how opinion change from week to week. Could be like that for the entire season. I still think Bottas isnt a finished product though. My initial opinion is if he continues like that Mercedes has to keep him. Apetite comes with eating and fustration. Great potential. I still dont like his car control though, there is lack of finess that bothers me.
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