Grand Prix thread Formula 1 Heineken Dutch Grand Prix 2021

Maybe this is me writing in hope rather than anything else, but is the Merc being so close to the RB on a track like this a really good sign for Ham?

Despite missing FP2 he was a few tenths (accounting for Max's DRS issue) off Max in qualy, and had the race pace to keep up with Max. We'll see but I came away from the race with more hope for Ham, not less.

Still not sure why they didn't pit Hamilton with 12 or so laps to go and give him a go on the softs. Unlikely to have won, but he'd still have banked fastest lap and would have had more of a chance than being on those mediums.

 

Max managed the gap. I don't think Hamilton had a chance. And Red Bull have to protect those engines so wasn't going to push away to much

 

Party pooper

 

I'm going to disagree, race could've been won by Hamilton, just after the first change he was catching Max, but then got unlucky with back-marker pit-stops just as he was getting into DRS range and lost 2 1/2 seconds in T1 & T2. Then Merc ****ed the strategy, RBR only had softs & hards, the 2nd pit stop should've been a lap or 2 before it was borderline for softs to make it to the end and give RBR the risky choice to make, instead they made the worst call possible imo, traffic and an obvious tyre choice for RBR

 

I am inclined to agree with you and El Bando. Normally managing the gap at the front is a tactic but many times it was down below 1.5 secs. Usually a managed gap would be bigger. I was surprised Merc didn't go to softs on the second change but then they did drop off a cliff on the first soft tyre. However it was the overtake that was necessary and softs would have given the best chance for that. We didn't have a benchmark but they might have been 1 sec quicker than the hard so within 3 laps Lewis could have been able to do a DRS overtake.
Mercedes have never been the best strategists, which makes RBR look like they are, when they are only average. But for Max's aggression and Bottas's whoopsee RBR would have had this championship within their grasp. Thankfully there is more to play out. I still want Lewis to get his 8th. I am more confident of Merc getting the Constructors given the inconsistency of Perez.
Roll on Monza.

 

The gap changed because merc changed the strategy so Lewis all of a sudden started pushing.

Anyway Lewis would never of got past even with DRS. Their only real hope was Bottas holding him back and that didn't last very long at all.

Mercedes threw everything at it but nothing worked. Red Bull had it covered every time.

 

They had it covered, but not quite as comfortably as they hoped. Traffic was a massive factor in this race. Only 3 cars finished on the same lap, some being lapped a couple of times and the field being fairly spread out. No safety cars kept everything spread out and tricky in traffic too.

But... Despite all that, I'm not sure Hamilton could have passed and won, but it might have been a lot more of a concern for RBR. The only real chance Merc had was coming off the line first, but Max seems to be nailing those starts.