tbh I don't think it should matter which track limits they're policing, if you go off track at all it shouldn't be counted if it's the fastest lap.
Very true. How can it be ok to have to have a wheel within white line on one corner and others as long as you have a wheel on red and white curbs you are fine? Needs to be consistent - all corners treated same, 1 wheel within white line.
Perez for me had a rather forgettable race but he got driver of the day :S did he do some good stuff I'm forgetting?
Need more F1.. not enough talking points from today's race vs the last two. Have the second Indy race of the weekend coming up though, so hopefully that will satisfy my itch.
Norris for me has been the driver of the season. In the 3rd best car this season so far he's come 4th, 3rd and 5th. If any of the Mercedes and Red Bulls mess up he's right there ready to take advantage.
Has anyone else noted that Race 1 and this race Lewis has been showing signs of being exhausted at the end of the race. One of two things are going on I think, 1. he still hasn'r fully recovered from COVID. My daughter has long COVID. I wonder if Lewis is struggling with the stamina because of COVID. Or 2. He won both those two races but did he find the winning extra stressful this season. I am dismissing a third reason, he is gelling old
Norris has stepped up and really been finding the limit of his McLaren. McLaren have an excellent foundation for 3rd in the Constructors knowing a Ricciardo will only get stronger too- I guess much depends on what resources people throw at development as we reach roughly half way into the season. Ultimately, the resource is better spent for the new regulations. A noteworthy mention for Ocon, Alonso and Alpine as a whole today - they seemingly discovering some race pace and got their tyres in the sweet spot. - Interesting theory- Merc and Alpine both were killing their rear tyres in Bahrain and Imola- where the cars are subject to rear limiting- whereas in cooler conditions and more front end in Portimao, these two teams flourished in the race on the harder compounds. I believe both Merc and Alpine are pushing more energy through those rear tyres and that’s why they got the C1 fired up so well. Be interesting to see how they both fair in somewhere like Singapore. Alpine are the fascinating team for next season in my opinion - a new split turbo power unit design, Alonso and Ocon fully up to speed- and brand new regulations.
Well there's been a lot or races where he's not had to work so much. Just manage the car to the end. Now he's having to work for it again...
It will be interesting to see how he copes when the temps!!! It's great to see that there is actually a fight going on. Then again it's last year of regs and as normal most teams are converging. It was quite a lot of laps before the field were strung out - ok so had safety car for too many laps at start.
Really hope Lewis isn’t suffering any long term effects of COVID. I noticed it too but it also dawned on me that he was doing it at the interview and he’s a shrewdy when it comes to giving a message or choosing to make something look harder than it was. He was playing his tyre tricks again yesterday- early in stint 1 he was on the radio “tyres don’t feel great” but was rebuked by the team yet by about lap 30+ he came on and said “tyres still feel good” to which the team immediately pitted him. Clearly they are coded messages and they’re messing with other teams lol. That said, Portimao is a rollercoaster of a track and therefore it would definitely find you out if you had any physical issues. On a different note- I hope Carlos Sainz doesn’t find himself under too much pressure too soon- his team strategy destroyed his race yesterday and his tyres gave up too soon to get any points despite him showing excellent pace all weekend.
I was thinking the same think that they have coded messages for tyre condition. Next week he will be saying 'Simon says the tyres are great' I am surprised they don't have a setting on the steering wheel to indicate tyre condition as felt by driver - think that coms that way are against rules but not sure?
The thing is with tyres is that they can come in, go off, then come back in again. It's not always an even level performance loss/gain. So relaying that info back to the pits makes perfect sense. I don't know if there are coded messages, or attempts to lure in the opposition, but in general the driver is going to know when the tyres aren't at their best and the only person they have to relay that info to is the team.
The commentary yesterday suggested the loss of grip is more to do with graining than wear. So you can drive yourself through a graining phase and then the tyre cleans itself up. So a driver may well feel their tyres are going and then find the performance coming back to them.
Not sure it was the strategy as much as the fact the Ferrari clearly eats its tyres quickly. CLC had the same issue where the mediums he started on went off waaaaay earlier than most of the other front running teams. Sainz's strategy was comparatively compromised more because he didn't have the pace to get through Q2 on the mediums.