Probably not the place for this rant,
So i won’t
If it’s about the result, this would be the best place.
If it’s about the grid penalties, still the best place.
If it’s about the tyres, even more so.
If it’s about Horner being forced to publicly eat crow, I guess here or the Pit, depending on how strongly you feel about it.
I’m a bit confused at Mercedes’ tyre strategy for Bottas. I don’t see what advantage would be gained by delaying his pit stop to well past half distance. Given that fresh hard tires should be better than his worn mediums, and should degrade more slowly with a lighter fuel load, wouldn’t it make sense to change them earlier to minimise time spent on worn rubber?
If they could make a one-stop work then it would be worth it, but remember, this was a new track with multiple unknowns. Tyre degredation, stresses and track evolution would not become apparent until mid-race. For such as Hamilton, cruising at the front, you have the luxury of just covering your immediate undercut/overcut options but further down the field there is a requirement to try something different and indeed they may be a shot in the dark.
The clearest example of this uncertainty would be the multiple punctures. Several teams with some of the greatest technical brains just did not see that coming.
I do like a mixed up grid. And I’ve enjoyed the sprint races. I would like to see a sprint race with a few more points followed by a Sunday race with the top 10 from the sprint starting in reverse order.
The tire situation was strange all around. They didn’t seem to fade in performance, nor was there any “undercut” benefit. The tires just seemed to grip and grip and grip until they suddenly exploded. Lewis wanted to extend his first stint as well.
Interesting because Jensen Button drove a road car round and said it was extremely slippery so all the F1 cars must have been generating grip via downforce rather than through the tyres’ mechanical grip. So perhaps the grip was reasonably steady as long as there was any sort of rubber on the tarmac, until there wasn’t.
My point was that, given they needed to stop at least once, what was to be gained from staying out longer? Bottas could have easily managed a 1 stop strategy by pitting at around half distance. As it was they went past Pirelli’s recommended 30 laps for little apparent gain and paid the price.
The strategists work out things like where would the car be placed after the pit stop etc so they were probably working out the most optimum strategy. It took Bottas quite a while to overtake the cars in front of him after his poor start and he had finally managed to get some space to pump some good lap times in and build a gap to a gaggle of cars behind him. I assume they were hoping he would get enough of a lead so a pit stop wouldn’t put him back out behind those midfield runners.
They do monitor the tyre wear but obviously there were too many unknowns with this track and they probably should have taken that into account.
I think it was product development.
New Mercedes System Deflates Tires In Emergency Situations
Alpine vs AlphaTauri was pretty lopsided, but good job for Alonso.
This makes sad…
I hope to see Williams at the front competing for World Championships again.
Re: Saudi Arabia Track
Goddamn! Somebody’s gonna die! I predict a near certainty of a Red Flag in Qualy and the Race. That is Madness!
Second longest track of the season, second fastest average speed of the season, concrete walls almost all the way round, at night. Nothing can go wrong here!
Just watched the replay of Practice 2.
Really fun to watch a car go all out on that track. But man, that looks narrow.
I haven’t done the math, but if Max or Lewis DNF this race, does that mean the other automatically wins the driver’s championship?
My wishes are futile, but I’m actually hoping that they aren’t within a place of each other the entire race. I don’t see that going well.
If lewis gets no points, max needs to get 2nd to wrap it up.
Holy crap, that qualifying was intense! Im loving the onboard view of this track. Let’s just hope it makes for good racing.
This track is insane. And this season keeps on giving the drama.
If it’s a typical street circuit then race day is usually an anti-climax, however there is so much jeopardy within those 27 corners there could well be more drama to come.
There were three safety cars in the 20 lap F2 sprint race just now. I think the tacticians will be earning their money tomorrow.
Jesus, I’d say i needed a drink after that race iff’un i wasn’t already drinking.
Penalties or not, i don’t think max’s tires would have lasted until the end.