[morini]

I'm with you NeilP, we've seen this season, those of us paying attention, Leclerc pull some extremely slick and clinical moves on experienced drivers including the likes of Hulkenburg, Perez, Grosjean, Alonso and Ricciardo. He's clean, incisive and decisive. He seems cool and collected already, I'm half expecting him to match Vettel next year.

As you know, I think LeClerc is the real deal as well. However, before we all go overboard he hasn't been mistake free this year (but then again all of the greats have been fast but raw in their early years). Myself, I hope he goes into 2019 with a view to taking some risks and enjoying himself. I want to see what the lad can do and not be constrained by worries about making mistakes. Let him make mistakes, I still think he's potentially much better than Vettel.

[NeilP]

I can forgive Leclerc some errors because as much as everyone is falling over themselves to praise Verstappen and jump on the Bandwagon he is still making major mistakes now, after what 4 seasons??

Whats his excuse youth, anger, inexperience. He gets no slack from me he has been in F1 long enough and I have seen enough to tell me whilst he will quite probably a WDC of the future he has a lot of heartache coming his way too.

[forzaferrari]

On yer bike Danny!

Daniel Ricciardo said goodbye to the Red Bull Formula 1 team on Friday with his final official visit to the team’s factory in Milton Keynes.



Red Bull presented Ricciardo with his leaving gift – a KTM 350 SXF motorbike delivered by trials riding legend Dougie Lampkin

[Monster Hesh]

Dougie lampkin, legend title is very befitting. Wonder how many screens were Alt+Tab'ed as Danny was saying his farewells, no secrets for you or Renault, buddy.

[forzaferrari]

Reigning Formula 1 champion Lewis Hamilton took part in a Superbike test at Jerez on Saturday, escaping a crash uninjured.
As reported by Gazzetta dello Sport, Hamilton was riding a Yamaha YZF-R1, the same bike used in the World Superbike championship by the works-backed Crescent team this year.

The Mercedes F1 driver worked with Crescent during the test, which was organised by British track day firm No Limits, riding a completely black bike with stickers bearing his racing number 44.
His day was hampered by a small crash, but he escaped the incident without any injuries, and was able to continue riding afterwards.
Hamilton, a well-known fan of MotoGP, became an ambassador of famous motorcycling brand MV Agusta last year, and even put his name to a limited edition bike developed by the Italian firm, the F4 LH 44.
The five-time F1 champion also shared a track with LCR Honda's Cal Crutchlow, a fellow Monster-sponsored rider, earlier this year when the pair spent a day riding Superbikes at the Californian Chuckwalla Valley track.

[JDF_AW]

I can forgive Leclerc some errors because as much as everyone is falling over themselves to praise Verstappen and jump on the Bandwagon he is still making major mistakes now, after what 4 seasons??

Whats his excuse youth, anger, inexperience. He gets no slack from me he has been in F1 long enough and I have seen enough to tell me whilst he will quite probably a WDC of the future he has a lot of heartache coming his way too.

Name one experienced top driver who doesn't make major mistakes every now and than. Making mistakes is part of the game. We've seen Vettel making big mistakes this year (and previous year as well). It has happened to Hamilton (although way less compared to Vettel).

About Leclerc: we will have to wait and see. He will be in a different position next year. Being in a top car brings different/more pressure with it. Same goes e.g. for Verstappen. He showed aminzing things in his STR where there was much less expected.
Driving a top car means there are no excuses. You have to deliver. Being in an almost top car (RBR) means you will have to take more risks to deliver. This results every now and then in things going wrong (although Verstappens mistake in Monaco was kinda silly of course).

Imo: most incidents happend in the 1st half of the seison. This shows Verstappen has grown this year. But also: many incidents where just bad luck. We've seen Ricciardo make a risky move passing Bottas where Bottas wisely left enough room. We've seen a more or less similar pass from Verstappen of Hamilton and Vettel where they squeezed and it went wrong (for Verstappen). At this point in his career he seems to make more calculated risks. Still, crashes and incidents will happen. No one is flawless after all.

Back on Leclerc: I'm looking forward to next year. He is a promising driver (less spectacular compared to Verstappen though) so let's see how he delivers in a Ferrari against Vettel. I'm pretty sure it will be highly interesting.

[NeilP]

Well you are a fan of Verstappen, sadly I am on the opposite side of the race track to you. That said this site is about respecting others view points. I am on record as saying multiple times he will be a future WDC but to me he is arrogant, expects to be treated differently to others and has major anger issues. All of those traits have been pampered to by many commentators and in my opinion the FIA as well. He has had several moves in his career that have been highly questionable and if enacted by an older experienced driver would be called out for what they were but because its 'young Max' and that is the way he drives its been okay.

You say he has learned from his mistakes, yes in some ways he has but he remains foolishly hot headed at times. The most recent example in Brazil cost him a certain race win. Majority opinion is that Ocon was to blame and that may be so but why did he not just let him through it meant nothing to him, he placed himself in a position of needless risk and it cost him. You say he has learned this year well this is his FOURTH full season yet at the beginning of this season he was absolutely horrific. The crash into Vettel at China was absolutely a rookie mistake in his fourth season!!!

You are correct about drivers making mistakes but he makes far too many. When it comes to overtaking he expects others to give him space as indeed the rules require but when he is the one in front his defense is at times highly questionable (Go back and watch the Baku race all the way through look at the respect Ricciardo showed him and how little in return he showed his teammate) and personally I blame the FIA for letting him get away with too much at the beginning of his career

I wish him well as I do all drivers he is mega exciting and hugely talented and of course to you he is a fellow countryman I totally get your love and support for him.

As for your comments about Leclerc you are right. There will be no place to hide next season he is in a top car and will be expected to achieve almost immediately, no excuses but to me he has a great temperament and will be up to the job. A lot will depend on how Ferrari treat him if as many suspect he will be a distinct number 2 driver he may be held back somewhat but if Ferrari let both their drivers race I think he will push Vettel very hard.

There is much to look forward too next season including young Gasly up against Max, the only unexciting pairing in the top cars is Bottas and Hamilton sadly the team I follow. I so wanted Ricciardo in Mercedes for this coming season, oh well maybe in 2021!

[Jody Barton]

@ForzaFerrari I've heard that the times Lewis set (crashing aside) were considered highly respectable. I think he did a filming day with Cal Crutchlow earlier this year for Monster Energy and he said Lewis was a lot quicker than he expected. Maybe he'll did off to MotoGP eventually and destroy that for you as well...

?

On to the Verstappen thing... at times his defending is little league. I said as much when he came into the sport. The Verstappen "chop" is still there. He'll learn, or he'll eventually end up in a big accident. I still think he should have been penalised for multiple moves in breaking zones in Baku, and a number of other incidents. He's been let off lightly so far in his career, contrast that with how Lewis, and indeed Alonso were dealt with when they both entered the sport displaying similar traits and it's stark. I think the FIA forced Alonso and Lewis to mature, and it helped them. I think they're doing Max no favours in that respect. Still think he'll be a multiple WDC, and that he's bloody rapid though.

[Monster Hesh]

hehe, it's a good job you aren't invested in MotoGP. Nearly every weekend, every rider makes a mistake: some make multiple, some throw away podiums, wins, even championship contentions, some are heart braking, some are expected. It's just part of the sport, part of the show. Yet, no less is thought of them, respect remains, and everyone moves onto the next round.

Totally agree with the Mercedes unexciting pairing. Bottas just doesn't contend, unless the Mercedes isn't working like the start of this season and he was performing better. He needs some venom, Mercedes are a dull team when at harmony, inject some internal friction : P

I have a bit of fear that Ferrari wont handle or treat Charles ideally. Bold prediction, come 2021 we'll see Leclerc partnering Russel at Mercedes!

[Jody Barton]

Hesh, there's nothing wrong with making mistakes. No top athlete doesn't make mistakes, I think it was Jordan (the Michael variety, not the ex-glamour model) who said the job of a top athlete is to minimise the opportunities for mistakes to happen by engineering situations on the court (track) that are overwhelmingly in your favour. He was talking about working the angle for the easy shot, and taking it when the rebound was likely to be back in your team's hands, but it works equally in racing. Max is learning, you can see it, but there are still moments of quite frankly little league driving from him. They're really incongruous to me, because on the one hand I see this exceptional talent for whom the sky is quite clearly the limit, and then in the next moment I still see that raw F3 kid from 2014 who shoved people off track, and got warned about dangerous driving repeatedly. I'm kinda with NeilP on this, next season will be his fifth season, if RBR and Honda give him a car he can compete with (as paddock rumours strongly suggest they will) then he will need to mature quickly, because if he doesn't he'll potentially throw away an opportunity. I think he will mature, and I think he'll mature into one of the all time greats, I really do, the question is how long it'll take. He has age on his side though.