Tech talk interview with AN is a great one too.
http://www.redbull.com/cs/Satellite/en_ ... 3104713463
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Sebastian Vettel took the lead on lap one of the Korean GP and never gave away again. Pole sitter Lewis Hamilton finished second after a race long defence against third placed man Mark Webber. Red Bull has hereby also secured their second consecutive constructors' championship.
My report on the data shows that Webber was faster on the primes than on the options, but that the McLarens were slower. However, the pace of Hamilton after his stop was fast enough that Webber staying out would not have got him ahead. The tactic then would be to stay out long enough that Webber's tyres would be much younger in the last stint giving a bigger pace advantage. The problem here is that Jenson would have undercut him if he was not careful. I'll do the analysis of the different scenarios in the coming days.Frankly, as I was watching the pitstop, I couldn't help but think that the team made the absolutely wrong decision. Everything made sense for him to stay out and keep out. The more Hamilton stayed out, the more his tires would've degraded and Webber could've had a chance on passing him on the track. If Hamilton pitted, Mark could've made a larger gap to Hamilton which would've defended his position through a final pit on the surprisingly resilient options. Confusing choice by the team and Mark and one that didn't suit the situation.
I thought during the race that RB were sacrificing Webber to help Vettel. By keeping Webber fighting with Hamilton it made both of them slower, and Vettel disappeared down the road. Hamilton was using all his kers on the DRS straight to keep Webber at bay (and allowing Button and Alonso to catch them) while Mark's strategy was ruined being held behind Hamilton.RB7ate9 wrote: ---Begin Rant---
I think the team made the strategic move to maintain Vettel at the front of the grid. Webber, on the options, had the chance to make great gains which would've meant that Vettel, still on the primes, would've ended up either behind Webber or Hamilton in a pit stop. While the argument could be made that if the pit-stop strategy were wrong, Hamilton could've regained the lead after Webber's second pit if Vettel were behind Hamilton, Vettel was ahead enough that, at worst, he would've been between Webber and Hamilton. The strategic decision to keep Vettel in front and have Webber around Hamilton was to keep the pressure on Hamilton since the Mclarens were awfully fast on the DRS straight (as Hamilton demonstrated on Webber). So, knowing that, the team went with keeping Webber close to Hamilton and give Vettel a more comfortable lead to win the GP. As a Webber fan, it was incredibly frustrating to see him on a good set of options pit at the same time as a car with the super-softs, but from a team perspective, it was the call to make and they safely secured their WCC.
---End Rant---
I've heard folks talk about undercutting through the pits from both teams. So unless we can see some definitive footage of either the RBR or Mcl mechanics scrambling first, or some radio messages, this remains a theory.BigLan wrote: I thought during the race that RB were sacrificing Webber to help Vettel. By keeping Webber fighting with Hamilton it made both of them slower, and Vettel disappeared down the road. Hamilton was using all his kers on the DRS straight to keep Webber at bay (and allowing Button and Alonso to catch them) while Mark's strategy was ruined being held behind Hamilton.
