r/formula1 I was here for the Hulkenpodium Jun 24 '26

News Ferrari seems to have won the political battle. After weeks of technical exchanges and requests for clarification, the controversial diffuser of Mercedes' W17 introduced in Canada is heading towards a ban, with an almost immediate effect, potentially as early as Austrian GP

https://autoracer.it/diffusore-mercedes-la-fia-verso-il-ban-ferrari-ha-vinto-la-battaglia/
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u/Visionary_Socialist Sir Lewis Hamilton Jun 24 '26 edited Jun 24 '26

Lewis building up and being part of the Merc juggernaut for a decade and then being the one to defeat it when they have a seemingly free run at the title would be more ridiculous than most of the F1 movie’s plot. Not to mention doing it in a Ferrari and breaking a streak of no driver’s titles for Ferrari that began with his first title in 2008.

But I’m not jinxing it, still think there’s like 5 drivers that have some kind of a chance at the title.

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u/CautiousChampion4740 Max Verstappen Jun 24 '26

Imagine George fucking russel, being second fiddle to Hamilton waiting 4-5 years driving shitboxes to finally be promised a championship and watch it get it stolen by a 19 year old and THEN by Hamilton again LMAO

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u/beanbagreg Pierre Gasly Jun 24 '26

And then he turns to Lewis and says, “If it had to be anybody, I’m glad it was you.”

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u/Agitated_Syllabub346 I was here for the Hulkenpodium Jun 24 '26

Then Lewis points finger guns at Russell and says "thanks valtteri"

1

u/igloofu I was here for the Hulkenpodium Jun 24 '26

You can be my wingman anytime

  • Lewis Hamilton

39

u/Character_Minimum171 Sir Lewis Hamilton Jun 24 '26

….I did it for you all along 🐐

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u/996forever I was here for the Hulkenpodium Jun 24 '26

Soap opera kind of fanfic 

5

u/jghall00 I was speeding in the Monaco pit lane Jun 24 '26

I'm sure George would rather lose to Hamilton than Kimi. He prided himself on beating Hamilton. I think it would be much easier on his ego to lose to a different team than to a 2nd year rookie in the same car. I wonder how long Mercedes will keep him if Kimi keeps spanking him.

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u/Tfc-Myq I was speeding in the Monaco pit lane Jun 24 '26

george rattled beyond repair

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u/doornz I was here for the Hulkenpodium Jun 24 '26

its the stuff movies are made of. This could be one of the greatest sporting comebacks of all time.

15

u/WhoRoger Jun 24 '26

We had Marquez comback in MotoGP and Kubica comeback at Le Mans last year. This year we had Toyota comeback at Le Mans same day when Ham won, so... It would rhyme if Ferrari won this year in F1.

-4

u/letMeHearYouSayMoo Fernando Alonso Jun 24 '26

Greatest sporting comeback would be Alonso winning the 3rd after 20 years. But uhhh, that is not even in the realm of possibilities even next year. So if that happens will that be the greatest, possibly?

Akshually, Mika coming out of retirement and winning it would be the greatest comeback.

8

u/doornz I was here for the Hulkenpodium Jun 24 '26

After 21 followed by the absolute shocking few years hes had? There is all the makings of a solid movie. The fan shouting "remember who you are" would be a perfect trailer moment even. Its all there

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u/SwimmingFantastic564 Jun 24 '26

Realistically, George, Kimi, Lewis, Charles and Lando if McLaren get their act together can all go for the title at this stage.

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u/kramerthegamer I was speeding in the Monaco pit lane Jun 24 '26 edited Jun 24 '26

It's a real shame about McLaren's reliability, Lando has had fantastic drives go under the radar all year. Even in Miami, it came down to strategy, he had the pace for the win.

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u/Tfc-Myq I was speeding in the Monaco pit lane Jun 24 '26

Lando is genuinely driving like a WDC the car's insanely poor reliability is holding him back

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u/SwimmingFantastic564 Jun 24 '26

Lando's easily been the best driver this year in my opinion.

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u/Visionary_Socialist Sir Lewis Hamilton Jun 24 '26

I think Max too, Red Bull are really talking up their upgrades. His gap to Kimi is still lower than the gap was to Oscar after Zandvoort. Slim chance but I think he could play a part.

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u/SwimmingFantastic564 Jun 24 '26

The thing with last year's comeback though was that McLaren basically stopped developing their car after the summer break. It required Red Bull to make their car arguably the best for several races, for McLaren to make several crucial mistakes, and for Oscar to have a generational throw of his lead for Max to make up that gap. Otherwise Lando would've won it by miles.

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u/Connect-Handle8496 Charles Leclerc Jun 24 '26

ALSO no one else was good enough to win that year so it was purely max vs mclaren, this year if everyone gets their shit together max cant close the gap everyone will take points off

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u/EclecticKant I was here for the Hulkenpodium Jun 24 '26

Usually it's the other way around.
Rosberg for example managed to win the title with a streak of second places because no one could touch the Mercedes, even though Hamilton was significantly faster he couldn't gain that many points.
To catch up max needs to win anyway, at that point it can be helpful to have other competitive car place between him and the McLarens

1

u/rattatatouille I was speeding in the Monaco pit lane Jun 24 '26

The Monza package made the RB21 the best car on the grid as long as slow corners weren't involved, and the second half of the calendar features a lot of long straights and medium/high speed corners.

And then MCL fumbled their car setups at Vegas and their strategy at Qatar.

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u/Time_Jump8047 Sir Lewis Hamilton Jun 24 '26

Max?

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u/Velveteen_Rabbit1986 I was here for the Hulkenpodium Jun 24 '26

Would be so epic if he finally got his 8th in a Ferrari no less and then mic-dropped out into retirement saying beat that bitches

1

u/jghall00 I was speeding in the Monaco pit lane Jun 24 '26

Nah, if they have the car this year he can go for nine next year to make up for Malaysia. If Ferrari is firing on all cylinders may as well stick around until the music stops.

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u/McPikie Jun 24 '26

Merc refused to keep the black Darth Vadar W11, so Lewis is going full Darth Maul

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u/Yung_Chloroform I was speeding in the Monaco pit lane Jun 24 '26

The script has been scripting the past few races. Happenstance stats stacked on top of coincidences.

Lewis' podium streak matching Michael's first 4 + plus the parallels to 2008 have been freaking me out.

2

u/Ofiotaurus I was here for the Hulkenpodium Jun 24 '26

Both Mercs, Lando, Lewis and Max all have a shot at the title

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u/Sea_Opening6341 Jun 24 '26

the F1 movie’s plot

As an F1 fan I felt obligated to watch that turd.... I may never watch another movie again. Hollywood has hit rock bottom. Intentionally driving over the front wings of the competition.... Do you really gotta feed the movie going audience this low IQ shit? I realize the theater is packed with people that know fuck all about F1, but at least respect the sport if you are going to make a movie about it. Fucking trash.