No not really. Optional type annotations are not the same thing as optional typing. F# is strongly and statically typed and if you expect it to be something else you will be frustrated.

You are correct, but I would claim that the type hinting in F# combined with pattern matching over algebraic datatypes makes dealing with a static type zoo much more enjoyable than in some other languages.

Both languages are very similar in way that they support lists, arrays and maps as first class citizens as fundamental types and provide expressive algorithms to operate over them 'out of the box' with more or less uniform syntax.

To me, as a novice, the main apparent practical difference between the two languages are the domains for which there is strong support and which have discoverable solutions. I.e. the platform and the community.

This is true. F# is pretty close to Python.

I don't think F# is close to Python, quite the opposite, actually. What does F# have in common with Python except for 'tabs instead of braces'?

F# doesn't allow tabs, you have to use spaces.