I agree but also there would be nothing wrong with HAM getting worse because whatever reason. He is doing this for such a long time that it's possible that at some point he will be passed by other drivers and people should not attack people who have such opinions or people in the paddock who see in their eyes signs of his worse performance.
I get why you put Lewis in the same class as Max based on historical performances, but after last season… He showed plenty of mistakes and to be fair he already did in 2021
Verstappen has been better than Hamilton for the last few years. The only reason the championship went to the last race in 2021 was because Max got taken out twice by the Mercs(Silverstone, Hungary) and Baku tyre incident.
Yeah agreed, even as a George fan it isnt a case of him beating Lewis (and therefore Max) it's that if Merc are on form then Checo is about get demolished by both Merc drivers.
Marko. He of course has a silly belief that Max is eons ahead of everyone, but he did say if it’s anyone he fears it’s Hamilton and Leclerc, not Russell.
Agree, as soon as the car started being more competitive Hamilton improved massively. Excluding Brazil, I didn't see any race where Russell had a pace that could threaten the leaders, whereas Hamilton was often matching times with them. If mercedes builds a better car, Hamilton will definitely be far ahead
Considering the experiments stopped in Canada, Lewis did have the edge since then. However, destroy would be completely inaccurate. The difference between them was 0.150 in quali and 0.13 in the race. Hamilton would more likely beat Russell but this was Russell’s first year at Mercedes and also first time in a car that can actually compete on the grid. Seems like a Lewis nico situation where russell would need a bit of luck but would most definitely be able to challenge Hamilton.
Wouldn't go as far as destroy, but even Max cracked at the end of last year and he had a lot more experience with winning. I think George could win the title, but it would be a stressful experience for him
There is literally no logical reason to think this other than you hope it is true. Everything we look at says that Hamilton is slightly faster on average but they are very close; close enough that small changes in fortune can turn the battle largely.
Lewis was faster this year when the car was good, at least most of the time, but Russell still has room to improve imo. This was his first season in a decent car with a teammate good enough to learn from and the chance to do some proper racing. Just being able to compare data with Lewis should give him some clues on where he can improve. Things like tyre management for example is an area I feel like experience and seeing how Lewis does it will help. He also showed a tendency to try too hard in his final q3 laps trying to be the hero and often just failing them instead. If he learns from these things remains to be seen though but it's possible.
Not sure I agree with the global statement that Russell is “stronger” than Hamilton. Strength can come in many forms in F1, and all walks of life. Let’s not forget that Hamilton was allowing a lot of development work and experimenting setup changes on his car early in the season - once he stopped that he matched or outperformed Russell.
Fully agreed! I wonder if Hamilton is used to trusting Mercedes strategy because it’s worked pretty well for him in the past. So then this season when Merc strategy is not so great (eg prioritizing track position in a season with much easier overtaking) that doesn’t go so well for him. Zandvoort was interesting because there was clearly a team intention there for Russell to act as a buffer. And George was right about pitting, but I’m surprised the team let him. Lewis was obviously holding position because he expected George to follow the plan (like Bottas would have in the past) and George hung him out to dry. George has a right to look out for his own race, but I don’t think Lewis will forget that. Merc strategy needs to take a long hard look at their calls, and so does Lewis.
Just look at the last 4 races last year. His back was up against the wall, and he drove perfectly to put himself in the winning position. We all know what happened then, but Lewis is always like that, he drives his best when the stakes are highest. IMO, Max crumbled down the stretch last year.
This makes it sound like Hamilton's recent history has been filled with hard fought championships where he's constantly looking for the last 1% to take him over the edge but I feel like this was simply not the case. I could be wrong but I've never heard Lewis' stint at Mercedes being described as "difficult victories".
Its a bit harsh from Franz to already rule out Hamilton for the title, but you shouldnt count him out until your at the point in the season where he could be leading it with a lead or be facing being out of the title chances, this is him counting his chickens before they hatched
It's hard to read this stuff and not think people have either hit their heads or have an agenda. It doesn't matter what you think of Hamilton, he was QUANTIFIABLY faster in both race pace and quali pace.
Which doesn’t necessarily mean Lewis performed better. A huge part of driver performance is getting used to the team setup and working with the team’s development processes. George came in completely fresh and I’d say if he matched Lewis, then overall George was much stronger because Lewis did it with 8 years of familiarity with the team while George did it as a complete newcomer. You have to factor that in
As a team boss in a cost-cap era, why is he not convinced that his team would be competitive? His team has far more wind tunnel and CFD allocation than the teams of drivers he's tipped as WDC contenders.
It’s a bit of a 2021 Carlos and Leclerc situation where points don’t really reflect the reality. In practice, Lewis took the hit with more experimental setups to help develop the car from a shitbox competing with Haas to a solid 3rd best race car. George is a fantastic driver, don’t get me wrong, but he had some safety car luck for 3 or 4 races at the beginning of the season. Lewis also took a hit on bad strategy calls.
I don't think they fear anyone but themselves atm, to be honest. As a viewer, I really look forward to the HAM-RUS battle next year. Hamilton will really have someone within his own team going for his crown.
Russell had a great start to the season, but Hamilton bridged the gap about a third of the way through the season and they were pretty equal from them on.
Hard to judge based on this season, Hamilton was driving a car that was the worst thing he drove in a decade, and George was driving the best car he ever drove…The mental impact for each was totally different
I think from Redbulls standpoint it makes sense to make comments like this to hopefully sow dissent between the two Merc drivers. Ultimately, if Merc do make a good car, George is AT LEAST poised to steal some points from Hamilton (A lot more than Bottas for example) and that is only going to help Max. In this situation, Checo is not really going to be very helpful. George is literally going to be more beneficial to RedBull than Checo is. Crazy to think about. They are rooting for George basically.
My take on this is that Russell is certainly not clearly stronger than Hamilton. Over the whole of 2022, Russell didn't show clear superiority over his team mate..not even close.
Spicy. Alonso has proven that a driver can be competitive up to his early 40s if the mindset is there. Some already drop off in their early 30s, but I don't think Lewis is one of them.
Franz Tost has surprised all by taking Lewis Hamilton out of the equation for the title for next year. It is true that like AlphaTauri he always looks sideways at the mother team and helps somewhat in the psychological warfare, and likewise the Briton has had his worst season in F1, but it seems a risky prediction.
honestly, I'd be interested in seeing a Russell v/s Verstappen title battle only because I'm incredibly curious on how it would turn out when they're racing wheel to wheel because from what I've seen, they both have a very similar style of racing (i.e. park the car wherever they feel like it and expect the other person to leave space or move out of the way).
Russell clearly improved during season, he was on par with Lewis in last 5 weekends. Next season will be more fair comparision, as Geroge will have more experience and Lewis won't be experimenting as there are no big rules changes. I wouldn't be surprised if George came out on top.
Lewis beat him in the head to heads soooo. Have these people not learnt that antagonising Lewis only makes him faster and better? He’s proven it year after year.
LMAO he must have not watched this season. Russel had a great year, once the car they were each driving became equalized near mid season he was mostly dominated.
It is a sad reality that Toto somehow pushed through the board of directors Hamilton's salary when there is obviously a proven asset which can do a better job for less.
I do think George is more likely to win WDC than Hamilton but not because he is a better driver but simply because Hamilton and versteppen are unable to share the same tarmac so if merc have a quick car Russell will have a huge advantage due to the Hamilton and versteppen inevitable DNFs
Tost is talking absolute rubbish. Lewis is stronger than Russell; the fact that he has won 7 championships alone makes this true. Also, Lewis was faster than George in most of the races this season, even when George was ahead. George is going to get a shock next season if Mercedes resurge, that's all I'm going to say.
Posts to
Franz takes revenge on Hamilton for asking who is Franz Tost in an interview
Hamilton was unintentionally hilarious when he did that
I came here to ask who Tost is 😬
It would be amazing if at the first race when he gets asked about this he pretends he still doesn’t know who Tost is
MMM French Toast...Hungry now...
Who?
For a second I thought it said Toto instead of Tost
Toto would disown his children before he says this
Imagine that! 😂
Franz has been getting lessons from Helmut.
It's personal beef for forgetting who he is in that press conference.
Is Horner outsourcing his shit-stirring to Tost now?
You can definitely see RBR needs to cut costs and outsourcing it's shit stirring to Tost.
He must have had a day off so other guy stepped in
Who?
Franz Tost will remember that
Hahaha, it seems genuine but Lewis can get his shit-stirring game on when he wants to, I get the feeling he definitely knew who Tost was.
Lewis: "Who the f*ck is Nelson Piquet Franz Tost?"
Mike Jones!
lol I kinda expected Lewis to know F1's current team principals but I guess not
Who da fook is that guy?
Lewis Hamilton.
It's his opinion, and he's entitled to have it. Though I strongly disagree with him. I'd say Lewis and Max are the class of the field.
Way to piss off Lewis.
I agree but also there would be nothing wrong with HAM getting worse because whatever reason. He is doing this for such a long time that it's possible that at some point he will be passed by other drivers and people should not attack people who have such opinions or people in the paddock who see in their eyes signs of his worse performance.
Russell is incredibly close to Hamilton, but he's not better. Not yet. He could be for sure.
by a mile
💯
I get why you put Lewis in the same class as Max based on historical performances, but after last season… He showed plenty of mistakes and to be fair he already did in 2021
I strongly agree with Tost.
Verstappen has been better than Hamilton for the last few years. The only reason the championship went to the last race in 2021 was because Max got taken out twice by the Mercs(Silverstone, Hungary) and Baku tyre incident.
Crazy how lewis was out performed by his teammate in 2022.
Ruling out Lewis Hamilton would be a big mistake. I bet Horner doesn't.
Yeah agreed, even as a George fan it isnt a case of him beating Lewis (and therefore Max) it's that if Merc are on form then Checo is about get demolished by both Merc drivers.
Genuinely think Merc had the best lineup this year. Hope they have a good car next year to see what they can really do!
Neither Horner nor Marko would do that. Marko even said he expects to fight Hamilton next season when the car is there.
Marko. He of course has a silly belief that Max is eons ahead of everyone, but he did say if it’s anyone he fears it’s Hamilton and Leclerc, not Russell.
idk, I feel like if the merc will be a championship contending car hamilton will destroy russell
Agree, as soon as the car started being more competitive Hamilton improved massively. Excluding Brazil, I didn't see any race where Russell had a pace that could threaten the leaders, whereas Hamilton was often matching times with them. If mercedes builds a better car, Hamilton will definitely be far ahead
The gap between WDC contending Hamilton and Russell is would be as big as the gap between Sainz and Leclerc.
Considering the experiments stopped in Canada, Lewis did have the edge since then. However, destroy would be completely inaccurate. The difference between them was 0.150 in quali and 0.13 in the race. Hamilton would more likely beat Russell but this was Russell’s first year at Mercedes and also first time in a car that can actually compete on the grid. Seems like a Lewis nico situation where russell would need a bit of luck but would most definitely be able to challenge Hamilton.
Wouldn't go as far as destroy, but even Max cracked at the end of last year and he had a lot more experience with winning. I think George could win the title, but it would be a stressful experience for him
There is literally no logical reason to think this other than you hope it is true. Everything we look at says that Hamilton is slightly faster on average but they are very close; close enough that small changes in fortune can turn the battle largely.
Lewis was faster this year when the car was good, at least most of the time, but Russell still has room to improve imo. This was his first season in a decent car with a teammate good enough to learn from and the chance to do some proper racing. Just being able to compare data with Lewis should give him some clues on where he can improve. Things like tyre management for example is an area I feel like experience and seeing how Lewis does it will help. He also showed a tendency to try too hard in his final q3 laps trying to be the hero and often just failing them instead. If he learns from these things remains to be seen though but it's possible.
Tost must have a pre-season bet on Hamilton to win the title
Not sure I agree with the global statement that Russell is “stronger” than Hamilton. Strength can come in many forms in F1, and all walks of life. Let’s not forget that Hamilton was allowing a lot of development work and experimenting setup changes on his car early in the season - once he stopped that he matched or outperformed Russell.
Fully agreed! I wonder if Hamilton is used to trusting Mercedes strategy because it’s worked pretty well for him in the past. So then this season when Merc strategy is not so great (eg prioritizing track position in a season with much easier overtaking) that doesn’t go so well for him. Zandvoort was interesting because there was clearly a team intention there for Russell to act as a buffer. And George was right about pitting, but I’m surprised the team let him. Lewis was obviously holding position because he expected George to follow the plan (like Bottas would have in the past) and George hung him out to dry. George has a right to look out for his own race, but I don’t think Lewis will forget that. Merc strategy needs to take a long hard look at their calls, and so does Lewis.
He should focus on his own team after the shitbox he gave his drivers this season.
^ This
Bono my mind is done.
Tost-Hamilton rivalry its so underrated
Even if so, never underestimate the heart of a champion.
This. My favourite race win of his is Turkey 2020 for this reason.
Just look at the last 4 races last year. His back was up against the wall, and he drove perfectly to put himself in the winning position. We all know what happened then, but Lewis is always like that, he drives his best when the stakes are highest. IMO, Max crumbled down the stretch last year.
Yeah Hamilton is almost like an anime protagonist. Under threat he just goes next level
Sometimes, just a heart of a champion is not enough. Age catches up to everyone, and you lose a tenth or two for no fault of your own.
This makes it sound like Hamilton's recent history has been filled with hard fought championships where he's constantly looking for the last 1% to take him over the edge but I feel like this was simply not the case. I could be wrong but I've never heard Lewis' stint at Mercedes being described as "difficult victories".
Its a bit harsh from Franz to already rule out Hamilton for the title, but you shouldnt count him out until your at the point in the season where he could be leading it with a lead or be facing being out of the title chances, this is him counting his chickens before they hatched
In fairness we can rule out Tost ever being a TP of a WCC winning team.
Hey that's a bit rude, they done a proper job with ending in the top 3 of the World Clownstructors Championship (WCC) in F1 this year!
They must have watched a different season than me. Lewis was comfortably faster from the second half of the season after stopping experiments.
“Who’s that?” Haha
Do I think George is WDC material? Definitely.
Eh, hasnt george been insanely consistent this year? Its the reason he beat Hamilton
There is a distinct parallel between Max and Russell IMHO.
Not sure I would go that far, but he’s definitely good enough and ambitious enough to make life hard for him.
I’m sure Lewis will remember who he is now
Russell is a tiny step back. Incredible for the first season vs Ham.
Wasn't he there on the tracks after the break? Hamilton is clearly a winner after he stopped those experimental setups
Honestly Tost should focus on his own shit inside the team first instead of only come up in the media in cases like this.
George beat him head 2 head in races after the setups.
Clearly? Russell had him easily covered when it actually mattered in Brazil how is that clearly
It's hard to read this stuff and not think people have either hit their heads or have an agenda. It doesn't matter what you think of Hamilton, he was QUANTIFIABLY faster in both race pace and quali pace.
Hamilton was also faster than Rosberg tbf, just have to be close enough and luck can make up the difference
Russell did great and I do think he is WDC material. I was surprised how close the qual times were by the end of year averaged difference.
You cant say quantifiable and statement of fact, when the fact is the quali and points gap are in favour of Russel
Which doesn’t necessarily mean Lewis performed better. A huge part of driver performance is getting used to the team setup and working with the team’s development processes. George came in completely fresh and I’d say if he matched Lewis, then overall George was much stronger because Lewis did it with 8 years of familiarity with the team while George did it as a complete newcomer. You have to factor that in
Might be closer than some people think, especially race pace. Slim margins, though.
As a team boss in a cost-cap era, why is he not convinced that his team would be competitive? His team has far more wind tunnel and CFD allocation than the teams of drivers he's tipped as WDC contenders.
Because AT is one of the most inefficient and failing team this season, there is no reason to believe it would suddenly improve next year.
It’s a bit of a 2021 Carlos and Leclerc situation where points don’t really reflect the reality. In practice, Lewis took the hit with more experimental setups to help develop the car from a shitbox competing with Haas to a solid 3rd best race car. George is a fantastic driver, don’t get me wrong, but he had some safety car luck for 3 or 4 races at the beginning of the season. Lewis also took a hit on bad strategy calls.
Don't know about stronger but he looked good and still has a lot of room for improvement.
Lol. Hamilton has so much more grinta than Russell, apart from being a better driver.
Here they come
French toast
It would be funny if they bring this up in an interview with Hamilton and Hamilton forgets who Tost is again.
Lol.
Who's Franz Tost again?
The guy who feels F1 can have a 26 race calendar with a race every other weekend and those who feel that's too much can work elsewhere.
Team principal of Alpha Tauri, avid advocate for a salary cap ;)
I see what you did there ;)
Second longest running TP, even before Lewis joined
🧢
Lol
RB fear Hamilton so much. It’s wonderful.
I don't think they fear anyone but themselves atm, to be honest. As a viewer, I really look forward to the HAM-RUS battle next year. Hamilton will really have someone within his own team going for his crown.
Wonder why
You wish
Breaking News,.
It’s not talking shit if it’s true
Russell had a great start to the season, but Hamilton bridged the gap about a third of the way through the season and they were pretty equal from them on.
Hard to judge based on this season, Hamilton was driving a car that was the worst thing he drove in a decade, and George was driving the best car he ever drove…The mental impact for each was totally different
uhhhh
Who is that?
Omg he's not Obi Wan. Strike me down and i will become more powerful then you can possibly imagine"
Lmao Tost is still salty because of that one press conference where Lewis didn't know who he was.
Who is Tost?
Who’s that?
Who?
No lies detected.
I think from Redbulls standpoint it makes sense to make comments like this to hopefully sow dissent between the two Merc drivers. Ultimately, if Merc do make a good car, George is AT LEAST poised to steal some points from Hamilton (A lot more than Bottas for example) and that is only going to help Max. In this situation, Checo is not really going to be very helpful. George is literally going to be more beneficial to RedBull than Checo is. Crazy to think about. They are rooting for George basically.
My take on this is that Russell is certainly not clearly stronger than Hamilton. Over the whole of 2022, Russell didn't show clear superiority over his team mate..not even close.
Anyone who thinks George is stronger than Lewis will have a hard time coping up in 2023/24.
I kind of hope more people make these comments. Nothing pisses Lewis off more than people writing him off.
Spicy. Alonso has proven that a driver can be competitive up to his early 40s if the mindset is there. Some already drop off in their early 30s, but I don't think Lewis is one of them.
Then again, Lewis' mindset seems to have gone on and off during last season. Not sure where he is right now.
I've gone full-circle on Hamilton.
There's a good story from when F1 first started the mechanic curfews.
12 months from now, we will get Hamiltons response: ‘And I took that personally’
Franz Tost has surprised all by taking Lewis Hamilton out of the equation for the title for next year. It is true that like AlphaTauri he always looks sideways at the mother team and helps somewhat in the psychological warfare, and likewise the Briton has had his worst season in F1, but it seems a risky prediction.
It’s disappointing that Tost has ruled out Alpha Tauri for the championship. It’s seems is concentration is on Mercedes
Ham will Vandoorne George if a title is on the line.
I’m sorry, who?
Who?
Tost and Lewis having a prolonged beef is not something I've expected.
Lol this guy is just salty because Hamilton asked this: “Who is Franz Tost?”
Who? Who’s that?
honestly, I'd be interested in seeing a Russell v/s Verstappen title battle only because I'm incredibly curious on how it would turn out when they're racing wheel to wheel because from what I've seen, they both have a very similar style of racing (i.e. park the car wherever they feel like it and expect the other person to leave space or move out of the way).
Don’t get how people can think like this lol. How does he go from second in the cup last season to being worse then Russel?
Easily really, the cars are different and Russell switched team.
Lewis always weaker if no title is on the line. As soon as they are in the hunt, Hamilton will be up there.
Age catches up with everyone. Hamilton will start to slow down eventually. Maybe he already has.
Must be part of the Nelson Piquet support club.
His biggest strength is his qualifying and he got beat by Hamilton, and there were so many races he lucked out.
[удалено]
Russell
Russel was better at the start when the car wasn’t very competitive but once the car caught up to Ferrari, Lewis was the clearly better driver.
People forget that Mercedes was trying stuff in Lewis’ car this year to try and push development. His car was a turd the first 2/3 of the year.
I guess we'll find out if the 2023 car isn't a shitbox.
Hamilton was way better once they stopped experimenting with his car.
Russell in 2022
Ocon > Alonso
Nonsense
Who's that?
Why are you booing me I'm right!!
I think Russell is far closer to Lewis's standard than Bottas had been, but Lewis spent half the season wrecking his spine on the porpoising.
LOOOOOOL
Russell clearly improved during season, he was on par with Lewis in last 5 weekends. Next season will be more fair comparision, as Geroge will have more experience and Lewis won't be experimenting as there are no big rules changes. I wouldn't be surprised if George came out on top.
Lewis beat him in the head to heads soooo. Have these people not learnt that antagonising Lewis only makes him faster and better? He’s proven it year after year.
LMAO he must have not watched this season. Russel had a great year, once the car they were each driving became equalized near mid season he was mostly dominated.
Russell
One season of Lewis testing a lot of experimental parts and his career is over!
Except it has been revealed Lewis and George shared testing 50/50.
Redbull JR team boss dissing Lewis. Haha ok.
did he not watch the season?
Tost is fucking insane. Russell is still world's away from Hamilton.
give lewis a car he can be confident in and he can beat anyone on the grid on any given sunday
Bruh, why people talking nonsense like this ?
Hahahaha. Hahahaha. Hahahaha. Uff. Good one.
It is a sad reality that Toto somehow pushed through the board of directors Hamilton's salary when there is obviously a proven asset which can do a better job for less.
Who tf is Tost bruh
I do think George is more likely to win WDC than Hamilton but not because he is a better driver but simply because Hamilton and versteppen are unable to share the same tarmac so if merc have a quick car Russell will have a huge advantage due to the Hamilton and versteppen inevitable DNFs
Anything Helmut Marko, Tost or Horner says is guaranteed nonsense
Lewis : Who ? Journalist : Franz Tost Lewis : Who's that ? Journalist : euhhh team principal of alpha tauri... Lewis : Oooooh
Tost is talking absolute rubbish. Lewis is stronger than Russell; the fact that he has won 7 championships alone makes this true. Also, Lewis was faster than George in most of the races this season, even when George was ahead. George is going to get a shock next season if Mercedes resurge, that's all I'm going to say.
Franz doesn't "rule out" anything, he just mentioned that he thinks George is stronger than Lewis.
No shot he said this
Lol
Sure bud
Impressive, very nice. Now let's see next year.
Tost, the new contender for "shit stirrer of the year".
I love it when they count me out