Did they play a blinder? I think they've played a blinder all season, but rode their luck a little today*. Checo really should have come out of his pit stop third, on fresh mediums ready to chase down LH. Max pitted far too early, limiting his potential to finish higher than 7th before the rain. They made a good call to put Max on inters early, but that was a very easy call given he had absolutely nothing to lose by doing that. *Yesterday. It was a long night!
One positive I have about this is Lewis seems not to have suffered any Long Covid symptoms. Was it physically less demanding than others races? The circuit was cooler than normal, maybe that was the reason.
It's amazing how much time Lando lost by not pitting. He had a 40 second lead over Perez and after stopping late was only 2 seconds ahead! Great graphic, thanks. So sad for Lando but he took a gamble on info he had and chose the wrong strat. That said Lewis had nothing to lose. He was in P2 with Perez 40 seconds behind so had a free pit stop. Worst case he was still 2nd (OK so could have had major problem in pit stop) Lando was in more difficult position as had he pitted Lewis might have stayed out! It was a good race before the rain which was great, quite a few battles going on and everyone giving each other space, well apart from Stroll's little mistake in trying to kill his team mate by pushing him into the wall only joking.
It's actually worse than that because Perez also stayed out a lap too long. Norris's time loss to Sainz is over a minute!
How did he not know what he was doing? either he wasn't looking (hard to believe) or early signs of dementia or it was deliberate, which one does not associate with Stroll. I suspect there were some harsh words in the garage.
Managed the engine swap to nullify the penalty, pit at exactly the right time, came second. They came out of that amazingly well. A bit of luck involved, but luck is one of the ingredients to win a title.
Agree on the last sentence. I guess for me a 'blinder' is when a team/driver archives something brilliant and it is predominantly down to them, with luck playing a smaller role. Where luck plays a larger role I'd think of it less as a blinder but probably splitting hairs.
For me, they just got everything right, walked away with what really was the best result possible, and left themselves in a great position to win the title. That deserves a pat on the back.
If you look back at this year Max has some bad luck! His tyre blew (maybe they were bending rules but not caught), then he was had 2 tangles with Mercs where he came away with virtually zero points.
Like I say, luck is one of the ingredients for a title. Good and bad luck can make all the difference. Even with things like the tyre blowout, which alone has cost Max a fairly good cushion, I think he'll still ultimately go on to win fairly comfortably. It's helped keep things tight though, which is good for the sport at least.
I think Lewis is positioning expectations to be low for this season, this contract, till end 2023, must be his last stint. He is seeming calm about the outcome, expecting Max to take the title but will put up a good fight, if he can.