It 's becoming even more obvious, over races this season, that ending up on pole is not the main target. Starting off on tyres of their own choice and maintaining extra sets of tyres seems the main priority because of the extreme tyre degradation. Most drivers that qualified and stuck to their Q2 positions made the most out of their race, whereas drivers like Alguersuari that had an impressive session in Quali ended up back down the field at the end of the race. Would you agree that hitting the top spot is not on the minds of the drivers/team and but strategy and tyre degradation is the top priority?
Not yet, I wouldn't say. Christian Horner recently said he thought Pole Position was less important than in the past, and I reckon the teams will approach Turkey with the intention of saving an extra set of tyres for the race but I doubt the same approach will apply in Monaco. If the situation we saw in China (Hamilton winning because he saved a set of options) recurs then I think we will see that approach adopted more widely. In China, however, we didn't have Webber contending for pole, which we normally would, so Hamilton's risk (of starting further back than 3rd place) wasn't so great. I think Vettel and Red Bull will probably still be geared up for starting from pole but we'll see, won't we? I suspect the pole position shootout (i.e. all the top drivers on track in the dying moments of Q3) would still continue, though - they'd just leave their single runs until the end.
You'll probably only see the Red Bulls do 1 run or wait what everybody else does and then try to beat it with the same tyre. Most likely be who blinks first, McLaren or Red Bull
It will vary track by track. Take Monaco - pitstops for tyres will depend on where the leaders are re-track position. Else you put on new rubber and find you can't get passed a backmarker. Ideally you want out 2 seconds before the leader.? OR - after the longest gap so as to make up the distance?
I can't see Vettel not going for it, he has the machinery and an obsession with collecting statistics. Also, if Red Bull keep their pace advantage they could get pole using just the two sets of options (prime in Q1, and then just going out once in Q2 and Q3) McLaren could probably manage this as well and at some venues, depending on development, Renault, Mercedes and Ferrari could. The problem with saving sets is that you could be heavily compromised by traffic. Webber was only able to carve through the field so emphatically because the car was so quick, if McLaren had done that they'd have been scraping into the points at best, and if Vettel had three stopped Webber wouldn't have been anywhere near. Track position is still vital, along with being on the right strategy. Sacrificing ten grid places to save a lap on a set of options is pointless.
True, they do look like the only team that can get pole almost whatever the cost and nearly get away with the consequences. But all it takes is a safety car towards the end and I reckon it would be a ****storm with the midfield fighting with the front runners for podium places.
Haha true. Guys are right when you're on about Monaco, 1st would be better than anywhere else, but it is true p-position is less important that it was in past seasons.
