My guess, first place into turn 1 leads a procession, other than the guys that crash. Safety car is inevitable. I think if that falls at the right time for somebody to get a free pit stop, the order might shift, but that's it.
My guess, first place into turn 1 leads a procession, other than the guys that crash. Safety car is inevitable. I think if that falls at the right time for somebody to get a free pit stop, the order might shift, but that's it.
In reply to Streetwiseguy :
Well like Monaco a good pit mistake or strategy win can make the race. I think Perez will get up to the points with Norris and maybe or for sure there will be at least a SC and VSC.
It's too bad that the major banked turns don't have multiple lines- it would have been fun seeing some attempted passes like on an oval.
In reply to alfadriver :
I think we will see those passes if a Merc or Red Bull find themselves at the back of the pack for some reason. Checo could be a source early. I'd think you would need a pretty good pace difference to make it happen.
Time to strap in. This looks to be a good one. What a crowd they have.
The Merc fanboy I am wants Hamilton but I think Ferrari has a real chance here.
In reply to alfadriver :
Turn 3 is tempting down the inside which was working in the F3 race, not sure an F1 car will have that same opportunity though.
Back to wanting to punch Nico in the face, he's so obnoxious in that role.
So will Botas hold up Max
In reply to dean1484 :
Another lap of that would have made things more interesting
I'm furiously doing mental arithmetic to decide whether Valteri can win this race.
Edit: No, I don't think so.
Max on the radio, solid gold.
Mercedes totally botched the strategy on this one.
What were they thinking putting Bottas at the end. I can feel for Bottas as a driver you drive to feel and when you are smooth and "slow" you will be faster. You don't do it on purpose.
Back at lap 53 if they pitted and went to softs they are four seconds a lap faster than the hards. That is a potential 40 second gain on Valtery. He would have come out about 26 seconds behind. I know it is a big gamble but I was so hoping that they would do that.
dean1484 said:Mercedes totally botched the strategy on this one.
I'd say their strategy was the only thing that kept that race interesting at the front. I think the thing they could've done better was having Valteri hold back slightly more at the beginning to try for the 1 stop but also have him on fresher tires for when Max came at him. The end was a bit messy though but they got the best result they could with the car I think.
No botching, I think. I presume they really did sense a problem with Valteris tires, because there was no reason to give him a new set otherwise.
As to the race, there was zero chance for Merc after Max made it through turn one ahead.
I know you are right but dam I wanted to see Hamilton be turned loose on low fuel and strickey new tires.
dean1484 said:I know you are right but dam I wanted to see Hamilton be turned loose on low fuel and sticky new tires.
You can't argue with that!
If the first Lewis pit stop had been up to speed instead of ~1s slow, he would have been within DRS range of Max after the undercut. That's the closest it came to working.
Bottas getting spicy with the fastest lap - but Lewis was more than 1s faster, yowza.
Oh god, shut up Nico
Lewis is either the best faker in the universe, the best shmoozer in the world, or he is a genuine nice guy, who appeared perfectly happy to get second to the superior car, and felt happy for Max winning at home.
He looked genuinely pleased with the race.
Meh of a race. Some interesting midfield racing, but the front was pretty boring. Like Keith said, once the undercut didn't work, well....
remembering how Lewis reacted yesterday, he must have been genuine. But I turned off the race after the flag to have breakfast outside our camper.
adam525i said:Oh god, shut up Nico
I think Toto feels the same way.
The race was more interesting than Monaco and I like the track but it really is not big enough for F1 cars. A shame, because the use of the landscape and banking is really cool.
I thought it was funny when Max was given a time gap and Max goes, "Is he complaining about anything?". Obviously, Max was curious if Lewis was having car issues, but the timing after Lewis' nonstop complaints about tires and strat made it sound like Max was listening to Merc radio and making a little joke.
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