Formula E might be after Vettel as well.
Formula E might be after Vettel as well.
All the teams only have 2 sets of hards for the whole weekend, which is the preferred tire. If they go medium-hard-hard then they a) are running used hards at some point or b) didn't do any testing of the hards on Friday or Saturday. It will be an interesting day for the strategists tomorrow and I can't wait
All through practice, there were not many hard tires out on the track.
Other options for Vettel -- DTM?
Streetwiseguy said:All through practice, there were not many hard tires out on the track.
I think I heard that the teams only got 2 sets so they're saving them for the race.
I am sooo confused on some of the strategy calls.
Why did they pit hulkenburg at the end?
How did leclerc get up the field so high? What happened that Norris didn't stick with leclerc and albon?
The softer tires made for a very different race than last week. It's going to take some analysis to figure out what happened
Add a bit of heat, and all that Merc downforce and horsepower is hard on tires. Max's tires looked way better than Lewis with twice the laps. Remarkable.
Well done to the RB strategy team. I've always wondered why teams don't do more to manage the starting tire, especially the top three (when it was a top three instead of a top 1.5). Is it fear of a red flagged Q3 and thus a loss of starting postion? Anyhow, good job by to Max to make it work. Lewis is usually very good at tire management but just couldn't keep them together today.
I do wonder how long Max has to be in F1 before they stop referring to him as a future superstar :) He's in his sixth season!
The difference between the two Ferrari drivers could not be more stark. If Vettel was still at RB, he wouldn't last the season.
Very smart for Red Bull to play the opposite game- and to be honest, I was kind of confused Mercedes didn't do the same thing- considering the tires last week. They have a lot of work to do to figure out the tire management better.
Bummed that Hulk didn't get a better start, but that would not have lasted long anyway.
Albon continues to do well on Sunday when struggling on Saturday.
And LeClerc continues to slavage a terrible Ferrari.
And Racing Point shows that making a photo copy is does not have enough resolution to make a great racing car. Good. Better than before. But not great.
In reply to Keith Tanner :
I think Lewis managed his tires as well as the car allowed him to. Way less driver and strategy, way more car today.
Streetwiseguy said:In reply to Keith Tanner :
I think Lewis managed his tires as well as the car allowed him to. Way less driver and strategy, way more car today.
The commentators made a bunch of hay at the end of the race about why Mercedes didn't start on the hard tire, but I agree, I don't think it would have made much difference. All cars are compromises and running in hot conditions appears to be the area that Mercedes is most compromised at.
I suspect the choice of starting tire may just have been Red Bull trying something different just to be different. They know that in general the Mercdes is enough faster that in a straight race they'll come second, but that they're enough faster than RP to not be too worried about that. They don't have much to lose by trying something different and who knows, maybe it'll pay off.
wvumtnbkr said:Why did they pit hulkenburg at the end?
My gut told me they did it to give Stroll the extra drivers points with them counting on Hulk to make the pass to get back behind him. That didn't happen though so if that was the case it was a poor call as it cost them manufacturers points.
The Mercedes just didn't have a good setup and maybe just didn't have what it took to handle the pirelli required specs. No tire or pit strategy would have won the race for them.
I thought they made a mistake with pitting Albon so early but the RedBull just didn't perform on the Yellow tires so they used them for the start and moved on to the Hards. Verstappen did the same. Used the Mediums a little as possible and then back to the Hards. RB just had the hard tire figured out from last week.
Amazing how they and LeClerc just made the tires work.
I liked the impact of the temps and tires being "too soft"
Hulkenberg just couldn't do much better than that. Beat the team regular in qualifying and the race.
Albon! Very very nice work. Just need to qualify at the front and for Lewis to not hit him!
Ocon did a great job as well even though I don't remember getting many replays if his climb up to the points.
adam525i (Forum Supporter) said:wvumtnbkr said:Why did they pit hulkenburg at the end?
My gut told me they did it to give Stroll the extra drivers points with them counting on Hulk to make the pass to get back behind him. That didn't happen though so if that was the case it was a poor call as it cost them manufacturers points.
Stroll needs the points, Hulk does not. They got the manuf points they needed out of him.
alfadriver (Forum Supporter) said:adam525i (Forum Supporter) said:wvumtnbkr said:Why did they pit hulkenburg at the end?
My gut told me they did it to give Stroll the extra drivers points with them counting on Hulk to make the pass to get back behind him. That didn't happen though so if that was the case it was a poor call as it cost them manufacturers points.
Stroll needs the points, Hulk does not. They got the manuf points they needed out of him.
They would have had more. He finished behind albon too...
In reply to wvumtnbkr :
The commentators were thinking that Albon would pass him anyway.
In reply to Advan046 :
For years the Mercedes have worked the tires harder to "turn them on" for qualifying. This isn't the first hot race they've struggled with.
Last year's Austrian GP for example.
https://www.racefans.net/2019/07/04/the-next-step-was-removing-the-bodywork-mercedes-extreme-cooling-problems-explained/
What happened to those fancy wheels from a couple of years ago that had the bumps for radiating heat? Mercedes used them quite effectively but now we don't hear about them anymore
wvumtnbkr said:alfadriver (Forum Supporter) said:adam525i (Forum Supporter) said:wvumtnbkr said:Why did they pit hulkenburg at the end?
My gut told me they did it to give Stroll the extra drivers points with them counting on Hulk to make the pass to get back behind him. That didn't happen though so if that was the case it was a poor call as it cost them manufacturers points.
Stroll needs the points, Hulk does not. They got the manuf points they needed out of him.
They would have had more. He finished behind albon too...
Hulk said he had a terrifying vibration. I see no reason to doubt him.
Streetwiseguy said:wvumtnbkr said:alfadriver (Forum Supporter) said:adam525i (Forum Supporter) said:wvumtnbkr said:Why did they pit hulkenburg at the end?
My gut told me they did it to give Stroll the extra drivers points with them counting on Hulk to make the pass to get back behind him. That didn't happen though so if that was the case it was a poor call as it cost them manufacturers points.
Stroll needs the points, Hulk does not. They got the manuf points they needed out of him.
They would have had more. He finished behind albon too...
Hulk said he had a terrifying vibration. I see no reason to doubt him.
Fair enough, after the tire failures the week before you wouldn't risk leaving him out then.
Agreed! I didn't know that!
Streetwiseguy said:wvumtnbkr said:alfadriver (Forum Supporter) said:adam525i (Forum Supporter) said:wvumtnbkr said:Why did they pit hulkenburg at the end?
My gut told me they did it to give Stroll the extra drivers points with them counting on Hulk to make the pass to get back behind him. That didn't happen though so if that was the case it was a poor call as it cost them manufacturers points.
Stroll needs the points, Hulk does not. They got the manuf points they needed out of him.
They would have had more. He finished behind albon too...
Hulk said he had a terrifying vibration. I see no reason to doubt him.
Tinfoil hat counterpoint: If he wants to find a new seat in the big show, it would be a big resume booster for him to show that he can tow the company line and not make a big stink when the team takes actions to favor their #1 driver.
Not sure that I really believe that, but I can't help but wonder....
In reply to wae :
If that was the reason they pulled him in (and it most likely wasn't based on comments above) I'd say it would be more to save face for the team and Lance rather than doubting the Hulk would obey the orders. There was so much positive press about him driving and the chance of a podium that it would have looked poor for the team to do that, add on top of that all of the Daddy bought me an F1 team bad wrap that Lance gets and the optics of telling the Hulk to pull over just gets worse all around (even if it does make perfect sense for the team).
https://www.motorsport.com/f1/news/vettel-new-ferrari-chassis-barcelona/4854770/
Ferrari found a fault in Seb's chassis. Hm.
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