Imagine thinking COTA is Lewis Hamilton’s best circuit when, historically, it’s arguably only his eighth to tenth strongest track. 😭 Five wins and three pole positions at COTA, and people genuinely think that’s his peak
Kind of a frustrating weekend, honestly. Lewis didn’t have the same pace as Charles today, who was absolutely rapid, but I wouldn’t necessarily call Lewis slow either. I think his race really suffered during that second stint. The first stint wasn’t great, but the second was particularly rough, which is why I wish Ferrari had boxed him earlier, especially knowing they were switching him to the hard tyre.
That said, Lewis seemed a little off his game all weekend, although I don’t know if that was entirely down to him. It could’ve been a combination of things, whether it was the upgrades, the car balance, or simply not finding the right setup. Either way, something just seemed off.
The VSC was frustrating too, especially considering he managed to get within overtake range of Max on the final lap. Without that interruption, I genuinely think P3 could’ve been within reach. Disappointing because there was potentially more on the table, but I’ll take P4 considering how the weekend went. We move on to Mexico next week and see what he can do.
JasonWhitaker retweeted
Jeremy Clarkson’s comments about Franco’s nationality were completely unacceptable. There is no place for remarks like this in Formula 1, regardless of who makes them or whether they are intended as a joke.
We have worked hard to promote respect and put an end to hostility and abuse. That respect must go both ways. We cannot ask anyone to behave responsibly while accepting comments like these from prominent figures visiting our sport.
Franco and his supporters deserve better than this. Let’s not allow this to undo the progress we’ve made and rise above malicious comments.
JasonWhitaker retweeted
Hello @fia are you going to condemn this? Our country has shown some idiotic fans and we’ve been warned enough for them. Now shift the focus to these people who also pronounce racist and xenophobic comments like this. We won’t tolerate them.
Then just watch the race. It really is that simple. It’s interesting how Kim Kardashian, who’s attended all of two races this year, becomes an issue, yet drivers’ girlfriends and wives are in the paddock practically every weekend. Nobody is forcing you to pay attention to Kim, and her presence has absolutely no effect on what happens on track. If you’re genuinely there for the racing, then focus on the racing
I genuinely think Santi gets more hate than he deserves sometimes, but come on. Lewis asked a very straightforward question: how much time did he lose in the final corner? And Santi responds by telling him he did the same lap time as Charles
POST-QUALI RADIO
🎧| Santi : We are P5.
🎧| Lewis : These guys must be turning up fro that last Q3, because where did that time go.
🎧| Santi : Antonelli P1 is 3 tenths faster than us (gives order down to Charles), 50 milliseconds between us and (Charles), and to Antonelli we lost basically 1 tenth first sector.
🎧| Lewis : So we're P6?
🎧| Santi : 5. Behind us Russell and two McLaren.
🎧| Lewis : How much did I lose last corner?
🎧| Santi : We did same lap time of Charles.
F1 2026 | USGP
Lewis has been off the pace all weekend. We saw that yesterday when he was six tenths behind Leclerc in practice. The team did a hell of a job getting Lewis back to where he needed to be today, and credit where it’s due. But even with that improvement, it was clear he still didn’t have the outright pace to be the quickest this weekend. Every time he put together a competitive lap, someone else would go out and find more time. It’s disappointing because I genuinely think P3 or P4 was achievable, but there’s no point dwelling on it now. The focus shifts to tomorrow. Pole was never realistically on the cards for Lewis this weekend anyway
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Here go Leclerc fans with the brakes gimmick again. When will they realize that Lewis changing his brakes or brake software didn’t affect Charles whatsoever. They’re driving two separate cars and can run completely different brake setups, configurations, and software without one affecting the other. The article specifically says the new Brembo discs were developed to suit Max’s braking preferences. Have you considered that they could’ve been fitted exclusively to his car? We don’t even know whether Hadjar received the same upgrade, yet they’re acting like both cars have to run identical equipment. Let’s remember Charles has nine race wins, while Max has four world championships. Is it really surprising that Red Bull would go out of their way to accommodate a driver who’s delivered four titles for them?
Well, let’s see. He won races in the 2009 McLaren, which was nowhere near the fastest car. He won races in 2010 and 2011 against dominant Red Bulls, won in 2012 despite McLaren’s reliability issues, won in 2013 before Mercedes became dominant, and won in 2024 in a Mercedes that wasn’t even consistently competitive. And let’s not forget 2023, when he finished third in the Drivers’ Championship, ahead of both Ferrari drivers, in a Mercedes that didn’t win a single race all season. He was also the only non-Red Bull driver to take pole position in the first half of that season. That’s before we even get into his 2008 championship. But here’s a better question: which multiple-time world champion won all their titles without a championship-caliber car? Schumacher? Vettel? Verstappen? Exactly. Funny how having a competitive car is only used to discredit Hamilton, as if that’s not how Formula 1 has always worked. Seven world championships, 105 wins, and somehow we’re still pretending the car was driving itself
I used to think the George Russell and Woody comparisons were a reach, but after seeing this video??? 😭
Off the top of my head, the FIA had to speak out about harassment against its own officials this year following backlash involving Colapinto fans. And let’s not forget 2022, when Silvia Bellot received death threats after Alonso’s penalty at the Austin GP. The harassment was so serious that it became a major catalyst for the FIA launching its United Against Online Abuse campaign in 2023. But yeah, sure, let’s keep pretending Lewis fans are the worst of the worst. As for the sabotage accusations, I’ll link a few tweets below
If you’re going to call out people for making distasteful jokes, then call out everyone doing it, not just one fanbase
“A teammate completely comfortable with the car.” I find that statement particularly interesting, considering the excuses now being made about Charles still adapting to the brakes.
Let’s imagine something for a second. Imagine spending over a decade with one team, getting comfortable with the people around you, the way they operate, the engineering relationships you’ve built, and the characteristics of the cars you’ve driven. Then imagine leaving all of that behind and joining a completely different team.
Suddenly, you’re working with a new race engineer, learning an entirely different way of communicating, adapting to unfamiliar systems, a different steering wheel, different brakes, and a car you had absolutely no input in developing. A car that wasn’t designed around your preferences or the things that made you comfortable and competitive for over a decade. You’re essentially starting from scratch while everyone around you expects immediate results.
That’s what Lewis had to deal with last year.
And what happened when he struggled? Did Charles fans extend him the same understanding they’re now asking everyone to extend to Charles? Absolutely fucking not. Instead, we heard endless criticism about how Lewis was washed, how he couldn’t adapt, how Charles was outperforming him, and how there were no excuses for his performances.
But now Charles is reportedly having difficulties adapting to the brakes, and suddenly we’re supposed to take that into consideration when evaluating his performances? Suddenly being uncomfortable with certain aspects of the car is a legitimate explanation?
I’m sorry, but the double standard is ridiculous. Lewis had to adapt to an entirely new environment, a new team, new equipment, and a car he had no say in developing. Charles is dealing with brake changes within a team he’s been part of for years, surrounded by people and systems he’s already familiar with
Charles probably was receiving death threats. Let’s be real, pretty much every driver on the grid has received them from another fanbase at some point and it’s not okay. But I think her point, and what she’s trying to get across, is that she brought forward evidence of Charles fans making racist comments about Lewis and literally wishing death on him. And instead of acknowledging how disgusting that behavior is, you immediately tried to dismiss it by saying, “Well, I’ve never seen those accounts in Charles’s fanbase before,” and claiming it was only one account when there were actually six different accounts.
And even if you’ve never personally seen those accounts before, who cares? You can literally look them up and see from their profiles and posts that they’re Charles fans. But even beyond that, why does matter? The point is that Lewis is still receiving racism and death threats, and you’re sitting here trying to downplay it while simultaneously expecting everyone to sympathize with Charles over the hate he’s receiving.
I’m sorry, but no
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