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George doesn't seem too phased, so I'm not sure it's the psychological knockout you think it is. Russell's pace wasn't good on the hards, but he had plenty of speed on the mediums. Clearly, he's struggling with some balance and setup concerns, but nothing that can't be ironed out.venkyhere wrote: ↑14 Jun 2026, 19:32Today is the day Antonelli has delivered the psychological knockout punch to Russel, even if he DNF-ed due to PU trouble. Antonelli is the faster driver, whatever be the nature of the track, whatever be the grip/life of the tyres, as we have seen in these 6 races. We saw glimpses of this in 2025 itself - Brazil, Vegas etc, where the learning curve in his first year was super steep. Now, in his second year, it's beyond doubt. The kid has improved by leaps and bounds, not just in terms of driving technique, but mentally as well. Russel simply has to accept that Antonelli is more talented.
Andrew Shovlin: Despite getting a car on the podium, we leave Barcelona with a feeling of disappointment. We were not fast enough today and know that we can't afford to be retiring with a reliability issue.
Both cars got off the line well despite being on the Medium compound and the first stint ran broadly to plan. Lewis (Hamilton) triggered the stops early and as we had to cover, that made a three-stop a little more attractive. Our simulations were still showing that a two-stop was the optimum strategy though.
Through the second stint, we didn't have the pace to build a sufficient gap to Lewis to be able to cover his three-stop with George, so we elected to commit to the two-stop to keep track position. Lewis' pace on that third stint was strong, and we were losing a bit with backmarkers, then more time with our two cars interacting. When Lando (Norris) stopped on lap 35, we had to cover with both shortly after, which ultimately created the situation where Lewis was able to benefit from the Virtual Safety Car and come out in front rather than having to overtake on track.
We'll be working hard to understand why Kimi's car stopped and similarly working out where we can find a bit more pace, as ultimately, we lacked the speed to control the race and that's what cost us the win.
You think the root cause is setup or driving style? I think it's largely due to driving style. I don't have screenshots but to my eyes, George tends to shorten corners, which induces understeer and results in higher peak forces on the fronts.PlatinumZealot wrote: ↑14 Jun 2026, 16:54This is serious. Kimi has the race pace on George. I think George is using the same tactic he did against Lewis, which is to set the car for qualifying and try to hold on in the race.. But it not necessary to be 3 tenths up in Q and then fade in the race!
This is ominous. I don't see him getting on top of Kimi for a whole season without some luck. In fact Kimi seems to be Verstappen style driver using every bit of track and is somehow able to push and preserve tyres at the same time!
I doubt it because in Canada George was in touching distance from Antonelli no matter the tyre, even if he didn't DNF, It really wouldn't have been plain sailing for him regardless of his "setup" direction. What's damning is that Kimi was actually stronger in the race vs George in a weekend where it looked liked he was really on the back foot.Matt2725 wrote: ↑14 Jun 2026, 22:33George doesn't seem too phased, so I'm not sure it's the psychological knockout you think it is. Russell's pace wasn't good on the hards, but he had plenty of speed on the mediums. Clearly, he's struggling with some balance and setup concerns, but nothing that can't be ironed out.venkyhere wrote: ↑14 Jun 2026, 19:32Today is the day Antonelli has delivered the psychological knockout punch to Russel, even if he DNF-ed due to PU trouble. Antonelli is the faster driver, whatever be the nature of the track, whatever be the grip/life of the tyres, as we have seen in these 6 races. We saw glimpses of this in 2025 itself - Brazil, Vegas etc, where the learning curve in his first year was super steep. Now, in his second year, it's beyond doubt. The kid has improved by leaps and bounds, not just in terms of driving technique, but mentally as well. Russel simply has to accept that Antonelli is more talented.
It's not where you start, it's where you finish!zibby43 wrote: ↑14 Jun 2026, 19:59Kimi needs to start consistently qualifying better at circuits where you can’t pummel the tires into submission and force the issue of getting lead driver treatment.venkyhere wrote: ↑14 Jun 2026, 19:32Today is the day Antonelli has delivered the psychological knockout punch to Russel, even if he DNF-ed due to PU trouble. Antonelli is the faster driver, whatever be the nature of the track, whatever be the grip/life of the tyres, as we have seen in these 6 races. We saw glimpses of this in 2025 itself - Brazil, Vegas etc, where the learning curve in his first year was super steep. Now, in his second year, it's beyond doubt. The kid has improved by leaps and bounds, not just in terms of driving technique, but mentally as well. Russel simply has to accept that Antonelli is more talented.
Trusting "simulations" rather than what's happening on track is the achilles heel for all teams.Lasssept wrote: ↑14 Jun 2026, 22:49Andrew Shovlin: Despite getting a car on the podium, we leave Barcelona with a feeling of disappointment. We were not fast enough today and know that we can't afford to be retiring with a reliability issue.
Both cars got off the line well despite being on the Medium compound and the first stint ran broadly to plan. Lewis (Hamilton) triggered the stops early and as we had to cover, that made a three-stop a little more attractive. Our simulations were still showing that a two-stop was the optimum strategy though.
Through the second stint, we didn't have the pace to build a sufficient gap to Lewis to be able to cover his three-stop with George, so we elected to commit to the two-stop to keep track position. Lewis' pace on that third stint was strong, and we were losing a bit with backmarkers, then more time with our two cars interacting. When Lando (Norris) stopped on lap 35, we had to cover with both shortly after, which ultimately created the situation where Lewis was able to benefit from the Virtual Safety Car and come out in front rather than having to overtake on track.
We'll be working hard to understand why Kimi's car stopped and similarly working out where we can find a bit more pace, as ultimately, we lacked the speed to control the race and that's what cost us the win.
Yeah. The team needs to get on top of the reliability and I'm sure they will.zibby43 wrote: ↑15 Jun 2026, 05:47
Tough one this weekend. Can’t win ‘em all and I think Merc stole one in Monaco but the Kimi DNF and subsequent loss of points was tough to swallow. Battery reliability is a real concern.
