ultimate le clerc lap in q2 faster than pole. in q3. track cooling. the middle wasn't very good for red bull which is where they should have been best by miles. that says something.
Agree that’s really surprised me, I thought they might crush everyone there from testing. Gaps are small, chasing packs got their development trail sorted- maybe we can have a little battle after all. I do fear that RBR have taken a pole today despite compromises - they might sail away tomorrow.
Red Bull were never that far ahead over 1 lap anyway. 2.5 tenths feels in line with the 2023 average. I'm still expecting a cruise for Max tomorrow
Don't think Charlie did a great lap in Q3 actually. He could have got pole, but I suspect Max is going to run away in the race, sadly. Be interesting to see how the Ferrari, Merc and Aston compare on race pace.
He's blamed losing a set of softs in q3 which would disappoint me if I were his team principal. Tough tits you ran on used and couldn't re-adjust to new soft running?? That's bullshit imo. Verstappen ran 1 stint in each of q1 and 2 and aborted and improved in q3. The fact that verstappen couldn't sail round s2 and have best time there is telling imo. I don't see that merc being great. It was so so stiff. It felt like it was back a season and a half forcing it to play catch up.
He didn't want to run those second new set in Q1, which is the point. Hardly blaming it, just mentioning that it happened. He was P2, so it's not like he did badly. If I was the team principal I'd be more disappointed in Sainz being behind Russell...
He didn't. Not sure why you're criticising CLC there. Weird. He didn't absolutely nail his Q3 lap, but why would Vasseur be upset with him for getting P2? He questioned why Ferrari sent him out again on new softs in Q1 (when it was pretty clear they didn't need to). Makes no odds though, Max wins at a canter tomorrow.
verstappen aborted two laps after outlap. le clerc aborted one. there's no excuse to be made based on running that used set. he was well off hos best time and yellow in s3 so thst says he just didn't do well well..
Verstappen had two new sets for Q3. Leclerc was 0.2 outside his best. Pretty much everyone was yellow on S3 on final run. Sainz had two new sets in Q3 but didn’t get near. Perez qualified fifth in the quickest car. But yeah, let’s have a go at the guy who qualified second instead like he did something terribly wrong. Weird.
Its still an exuse thats rattling round in his head rather than playing the cards he has and maximising his return. No excuses. As for perez? I'm not talking about that lad. Hes nowhere and has been no whre for more than 12 months. He's the era's bottas. I didn't hear perez making an excuse as to why his runs were off the pace as normal but i did hear an excuse i didn't like out of le clerc.
The Merc is really intriguing. They’ve really gone low to the ground haven’t they- nowhere near the same as anyone else, yet their car is very different to the launch of 2022. There is still a little bit of bouncing to tame, but il be really interested watching them on the smooth tracks this year and high power (Bahrains for a few kinks nowadays after 20 years of racing hasn’t it I believe)- I think Saudi will be a fun watch next week with Ferrari and Merc looking like they both have some grunt, and Saudi shouldn’t punish the low running. The real eye catcher of the weekend so far is McLaren. They’ve qualified round about where people predicted, but Norris could probably be P2/3, their sector 2 bodes well for high speed cornering again, but interestingly Norris said it was a great car to drive today - at a track that usually shows them their big weakness. I’m intrigued by the rest of their season and whether they are correct in saying they see a continued development curve and impact to last season. Alonso once again looking world class in the Aston. They are pretty good again- they just seem to lack a bit of top speed compared to the rivals. How Daddy Stroll can continue with Lance though is beyond me.
It'll be interesting to see who can go forward and who can't tomorrow. The other aspect is how close anyone can follow any more
Sure. I mean all he was saying (and he was mainly disappointed in himself, you could see) was that all his direct competitors had two sets of new tyres for Q3, whereas he had one. Which is...y'know...true, and any driver would say it puts you at a slight disadvantage. So it just feels like an odd thing to be having a pop at him about, when he still managed to qualify second.
We've often said that CLC isn't strong enough with the team - they overruled him today, so he's making the point that that might have impacted on P1 to P2 as a result. That's a good thing if he's finally beginning to throw a bit more weight around (not that starting P1 or P2 is going to make a sod of difference tomorrow. The only thing is that P2 side of the grid is far dirtier, as evidenced by the F2 race starts today, which might push him back into the field a bit, or might have pushed Max back equally had Ferrari not overruled the soft tyre thing).
