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Some (media) teams do everything to talk down Verstappen and Red Bull.
Same with the budget cap breach. Apparently also widely known in the paddock but broke just before he could clinch the title.

I can easily start the same rumors: If Mercedes stays within budget cap this year they have a shadow book keeping. No way a team can gain this much in a season and stay within budget.

All of the below presumes that the rumour is accurate.



He was 3rd, but he was ahead of Max, and this was the apex of the 'Perez-is-equal-to-Max' storyline. Which would explain why Max took it particularly badly - he didn't do it to protect pole but to specifically stop Max from setting a better time.



I don't think he intended to hit the barrier, but it is possible he wanted to make it look more real than Schumacher\Rosberg by spinning.



One theory going around is that it slipped out when he got very drunk after winning the race. Obviously, it would be very silly to tell them on purpose.



Perhaps they didn't - if Perez was indiscreet about that information (see above) it could have been anyone who told the Verstappens.



If only Red Bull people (and their confidants) knew for sure, none of them would have had any reason to spill the beans before yesterday. And anyone else in the paddock who had been tipped off would not have been taken seriously.

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Dan Wheldon ¦ 1978-2011
Marco Simoncelli ¦ 1987-2011
Jules Bianchi ¦ 1989-2015
Justin Wilson ¦ 1978-2015

Yeah, I know he's mad and I don't care. I do not care. I did not care then. I do not care now. I'm here to race him.

I can think of many world champions who did everything in their power to ensure they outdid their teammate, even against orders. It's the mongrel that they use to be the best. Senna and Prost did it, Mansell and Piquet did it, Schumacher did it, Hamilton and Rosberg did it, Vettel did it and Max does it.

We even saw the selfishness from Leclerc today to wish for a hard fought podium to be taken away so he could gain an advantage for a meaningless 2nd place in the standings.

None of this should surprise anyone.

Perez had been faster than Max in the Monaco practice sessions, and had the better time in Q2 and Q3. I can't remember how the times were looking on their final runs. Had Perez already made a mistake, or was he on a better lap when he spun? It still seems unlikely. He's helped the team plenty of times since then and has never put up a fight against Max on track.

Looking back at the Hamilton/Verstappen incident, I'm beginning to see why Max took the penalty (my initial thought was racing incident and Lewis should have given more room). Looking back at the replays, Max goes into turn 1 slightly ahead because he brakes late. However, he's a bit wide into the corner and by the time they approach turn 2, his front wheel is nearer Lewis' sidepod. At this point he just accelerates into turn 2 to make sure he arrives side by side. Lewis could have left more space, but I think Max would still hit him because he's carrying too much speed into the corner. His post race comments seem to confirm this as well.

It's a bit like the Monza incident last season. Max is always falling behind but makes sure he keeps his nose stuck in. It's a grey area between Lewis should give more space and Max should know when to back out of the move.

as Murray once said of Senna "he thinks he has a God given right to win"

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Motorsports trend for 2024: everything is a bad taste joke now

IIRC Perez' final lap at Monaco was down in S1 - his wheel screen was showing him down by the time he got to Portier.



This is porbably the crux of that particular incident - both drivers could have done something fundamentally different to avoid a collision, which is why it's odd that Max got enough of the blame to warrant a penalty (actually, not so odd once you consider that Warwick was the driver steward, but still). If Lewis had given Max a car's width and Max had understeered into him anyway, then that would obviously be much more Max's fault (like Lewis at Silverstone).

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Dan Wheldon ¦ 1978-2011
Marco Simoncelli ¦ 1987-2011
Jules Bianchi ¦ 1989-2015
Justin Wilson ¦ 1978-2015

Yeah, I know he's mad and I don't care. I do not care. I did not care then. I do not care now. I'm here to race him.

Two thoughts about Perez: he´s like Bottas. Good on his day, but misses the pace in most weekends. Yesterday would have been another day to prove himself but he couldn´t do better than 7th, I´m sure Verstappen would have ended on the podium had it not been for his crash and penalty.

If Perez did crash on purpose in Monaco, he deserves a punishment like Renault Singapore 2008, or other drivers who did similar things in Monaco in the past years. But he has also been helpfull to Verstappen on more than one occasion, so if what he did in Monaco was the only incident and Verstappen holds that against him instead of looking at all the help he got, then he´s a dick. (Like many other champions were, BTW).

Agree. Even if, and that's a big if, Checo did the Monaco thing... He was still a loyal teammate for the rest of the races, which represent about 97% of their time together as teammates.

This rumour sounds a lot like either people in need of media attention, or Max fans/backers trying to smear shit to distract from the fact that Max' action itself was petty and unnecessary. This is a common defensive tactic to fool people into thinking that this is about Perez, when it's not, it's about Max.

@

James B: no worries, I just conveniently selected your quote to bounce back on, not for arguing. You're right that with some perspective, assholes who are also winners always end up prevailing, especially if they're full of inexhaustible talent. Maybe he will grow up and understand that being a gentleman is not a sign of weakness, and that you can win without being actively hostile to others, as evidenced by the countless gentleman driver champions of the past (OK, those I have in mind most only won once, if ever, and many are from before color TV was invented )

The apple doesn't fall far from the tree, especially when said wife and girlfriend beating piece of shit has been one of those "racing dad's" his whole life, and been in an environment that constantly praises, deifies and protects him. So yeah....good luck with that.

Monaco doesn't need a sprint, it would be 2 parades to sit through

The sprints should be at tracks where you can pass.

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now that everything is (sorta) setlled, time for our beloved bonus stats:

.1st pole position for Kevin Magnussen, also the first pole position for a dane (106th different driver to have a pole start);
.1st pole position for Haas, also the first for an american team in 47 years and the 41st different to do so (last Shadow with Tom Pryce at Silverstone, 1975 British GP);

.1st win for George Russell, 113th different driver to win, 20th different british driver to win a GP (also his first sprint victory);
.11th straight season with a win for Mercedes (ties with Lotus [1960-70] for 3rd overall. Record holder is Ferrari with 20 [1994-2013]);
.70th straight season with a win for a british driver or constructor (since 2006 at least one victory for a brit in each season);

Kevin Magnussen is the second driver in history to start on pole position but failed to lead any GP lap (first one is Teo Fabi with 3 poles and no laps lead). I expect this one to increase in the incoming years due to increase in sprint races and possible chaotic qualifyings

Interlagos also holds distinction for being the track where 4 drivers had their first pole position start (Ronnie Peterson, James Hunt, Nico Hulkenberg and Kevin Magnussen) and the first victory for José Carlos Pace, René Arnoux, Giancarlo Fisichella and George Russell (the first 3 for Brazilian GP and the latter for São Paulo GP).

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Motorsports trend for 2024: everything is a bad taste joke now

I think you've hit the nail on the head here. Those two are absolute kryptonite for each other when they're about to share a corner.

KMag had either a Planes Trains & Automobiles or Home Alone experience (pick your John Hughes movie) after being wrecked out

https://www.motorsport.com/f1/news/magn ... /10401195/

Sounds like a bit of a dick move by Dan

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