I think they turned their attention to the 2022 regs as soon as they were announced tbh, that reduced budget, coupled with the tweaked aero rules for this season, has really hurt them. conversely, with RBR turning up first race with a competitive car and improving it, shows where their priorities lie.
I do wonder if red bull have gone all in to win this season at the expense of next year? Maybe it was to keep max?
Fantastic podium from Lando. Really good race pace. Right now the cars look like they did in that Bahrain pre season test- Red Bull look smooth and fast, Mercedes looks a bit rigid and they can’t push it past the limits. It feels hard to see past a Max WDC but Silverstone will be a really good indicator of what performance there can be extracted from the Mercedes. They bounced back well in the early part of season and there’s plenty of racing left if they find the key. Remember we have harder/more durable rear tyres coming - I think it could flip the balance.
Russell summoned to the stewards now for moving under braking. Stewards at Austria be like "No racing allowed!!!"
F1 needs to have a clear ruling on how much space a car on the outside is entitled to. I can see both arguments. Some people like watching drivers get their elbows out, whilst forcing drivers to leave space allows for battles that last multiple corners. What bothers me most is the we tend to flip flip on the issue. We get periods where the stewards are very lenient and then sudden crackdowns which just leaves things unclear for all involved.
It's pretty much every driver behind the top 4 who finished the race under investigation I think? Perhaps a record?
The problem for me is that if you're going to try make a move on the outside, you should be expecting that the car your passing is going to be taking the line unless you're ahead. You can't be expecting the car you're passing to yield because you can't complete the pass.
Exactamundo, all 3 penalties involving Perez were bullshit imo, all caused by the car that went off trying something speculative around the outside, risking the gravel, and not backing off when it was clear there was no room. Is it circumstance that they all favoured Ferrari?
Yeah..that hadn't crossed my mind untill you mentioned it. The length of time between the Lando/Perez incident and it then going under investigation was a little suspect. It would suggest that they complained about it, then after that they had no option but to penalize similar incidents. It really pisses me off when they give people penalties for racing.. then top it off with penalty points. McLaren should really fight that one.
There is an element of personal preference, but I would say there should be such a thing as being far enough alongside to be entitled to space. There was a moment during the Alonso-Russell battle where Fernando tried it around the outside of turn 6, George left space and they battled into turn 7. That to me is more entertaining racing than watching the door get slammed shut on the exit every time somebody tries a move around the outside. The Leclerc one was the worst today. He did have the move completed when Perez made contact, so I'm surprised to see people thinking that was good racing. What I find odd is the precedent that this is OK was established when Max did it to Leclerc to take the win in 2019 and its happened regularly since. I don't like it when things start getting penalised with no announcement of any change. It makes me think the stewards only cared because of the gravel traps.
The problem there is that it's too easy to throw the car in there, knowing that you can't execute the move cleanly and the defending driver has to yield. If you can scare the pants of your opponent and make it stick, forcing them to give up the position, then I'm all for it...but don't expect the position to be yours when another driver had the right to the line. I get how they want to increase safety and reduce the risk of crashes, but the art of defending and being hard to overtake is something that's just being killed for me. If you're willing to make a move like that, be prepared to be taking a run through the kitty litter if you can't get it done.
I'm a big Charles fan, but all the penalties today were a nonsense really. They had to give Perez his two, because both his moves were worse than the one Lando pulled, but they were all just hard racing. It is worth noting though, that Russell and Alonso did show that you don't actually have to push the car on the outside off the track... I don't think all three favoured Ferrari at all. If Ferrari had anything done against them, it was by themselves, for not bringing in CLC on the same lap as Red Bull brought Perez in. He'd have retained his lead over him then, and all this stuff would be moot...
Using the Russel v Alonso as an example. Yep...I get it, but if I'm remembering this correctly, and please correct me if I'm wrong...Alonso ultimately got the run on Russell out of that same corner. So if I am remembering this correctly, a little tougher on Alonso would have pushed him back. Going to have to go back and check if I'm correct there as I spent most of it just willing him to keep the spot.
Just imagine if George moves to Merc, McLaren and Ferrari pull out a good car next year as well. Man, it's going to be fun.