I was just taking Lewis’ words at face value, as he said he didn’t get a good start in the post-race press conference.
I was just taking Lewis’ words at face value, as he said he didn’t get a good start in the post-race press conference.
He probably underestimated the space on the inside. He packed his car in the middle to cover off the two Red bulls but yeah, he should've just focused on Max.
this is same that i think.AMG.Tzan wrote: ↑18 Apr 2021, 23:26Wolff instead of thinking why Russell attempted a pass on Bottas, he should start thinking why a Mercedes ended up being challenged by a Williams while the other Mercedes was challenging for the lead!
What i'm saying is that the time has come for Mercedes to get rid of Bottas! He is a nice guy and he has performed better than Gasly, Albon, Perez when in the same car with a champion or a potential champion! But Russell is way faster and is the future of the team...so no need to wait for it any longer now! I don't see Verstapen jumping ship to Mercedes...
Russell would have been challenging Verstapen today if he was in Bottas's Mercedes...
To be clear, I didn't mean it as an inherent weakness of the car, but in today's conditions - which are by no means representative (how often are we going to get sub-10C air temps and sub-20C track temps?) - it was definitely hampered by the slow warm-up.dans79 wrote: ↑18 Apr 2021, 22:18I'm not sure if it's a weakness, as much as a different philosophy on how the tires should be warmed up.
It was telling, that even with dirty air and a damaged front wing, Lewis was right on Max even though the tires were heavily worn.
Warming the tires up slowly might have a positive impact on their longevity.
Portimao was a weird one, though I chalk it up to the track being unknown to most teams and Pirelli at the time.
it didn't hinder lewis taking pole. it's more bottas not understanding how to get the best out of the car than problem being the car.mkay wrote: ↑19 Apr 2021, 01:39To be clear, I didn't mean it as an inherent weakness of the car, but in today's conditions - which are by no means representative (how often are we going to get sub-10C air temps and sub-20C track temps?) - it was definitely hampered by the slow warm-up.dans79 wrote: ↑18 Apr 2021, 22:18I'm not sure if it's a weakness, as much as a different philosophy on how the tires should be warmed up.
It was telling, that even with dirty air and a damaged front wing, Lewis was right on Max even though the tires were heavily worn.
Warming the tires up slowly might have a positive impact on their longevity.
And don't forget that this same warm-up issue contributed to BOT's poor qualifying yesterday as well.
It didn't, but at the same time HAM's worst sector on his final Q3 lap was Sector 1 (only sector where he lost time against his prior lap), so it could have been damaging had VER and PER not made any mistakes on their final laps.MKlaus wrote: ↑19 Apr 2021, 01:48it didn't hinder lewis taking pole. it's more bottas not understanding how to get the best out of the car than problem being the car.mkay wrote: ↑19 Apr 2021, 01:39To be clear, I didn't mean it as an inherent weakness of the car, but in today's conditions - which are by no means representative (how often are we going to get sub-10C air temps and sub-20C track temps?) - it was definitely hampered by the slow warm-up.dans79 wrote: ↑18 Apr 2021, 22:18
I'm not sure if it's a weakness, as much as a different philosophy on how the tires should be warmed up.
It was telling, that even with dirty air and a damaged front wing, Lewis was right on Max even though the tires were heavily worn.
Warming the tires up slowly might have a positive impact on their longevity.
And don't forget that this same warm-up issue contributed to BOT's poor qualifying yesterday as well.
Good recap that helps match the timing sheets with how the weekend unfolded. Thanks.mkay wrote: ↑19 Apr 2021, 01:39To be clear, I didn't mean it as an inherent weakness of the car, but in today's conditions - which are by no means representative (how often are we going to get sub-10C air temps and sub-20C track temps?) - it was definitely hampered by the slow warm-up.dans79 wrote: ↑18 Apr 2021, 22:18I'm not sure if it's a weakness, as much as a different philosophy on how the tires should be warmed up.
It was telling, that even with dirty air and a damaged front wing, Lewis was right on Max even though the tires were heavily worn.
Warming the tires up slowly might have a positive impact on their longevity.
And don't forget that this same warm-up issue contributed to BOT's poor qualifying yesterday as well.
Portimao was a weird one, though I chalk it up to the track being unknown to most teams and Pirelli at the time.
Qualifying was tight by 2020 standards, with VER 3 tenths off pole, LEC 4 tenths off (with a monster lap) and Racing Points 6 tenths off. That said, Merc got pole on mediums (as it couldn't get the softs going) whilst everybody else used softs.
That said, Merc utterly dominated the race after the chaos of the first few laps. HAM lapped everyone bar VER, LEC and the former finished 35 seconds off.
Depending on the upgrades RB and Merc could be bringing to Portimao, I suspect it will be another close affair for pole. Portimao doesn't have the kind of fast corners where Merc is currently struggling as most of the fast corners are rather power-limited which is good news, but they absolutely need to get the softs working in Q3 this year.
I’ll have to rewatch again but I thought ham set the fastest lap the lap after he passed lando and then cruised to the end...there’s no way he set the fastest lap in dirty air behind lando..dans79 wrote: ↑18 Apr 2021, 18:39Lewis definitely looked faster on warn inters even with damage. I'm unsure how much faster he was on the mediums, as max was in heavy traffic right after the pit stop, and then Lewis had his off.
Honestly, I think if Lewis hadn't had the off they would be tied on points as I don't think Lewis would have scored fastest lap because of the drs benefit he got from Lando.
Was it though, Lewis had damage at turn 1 and it’s hard saying since Bottas was out for a Sunday drive in 9th spot all day...e30ernest wrote: ↑19 Apr 2021, 05:19Prior to Lewis crashing into the barrier, he and Max were trading fastest laps. I think at the worst, the Merc was an equal to the Red Bulls in this race. Realistically, I think the Mercs had the edge in raw pace. So last race, Lewis won in the inferior car, this race, it was Max's turn.
When the inters on the Merc warmed up he was keeping pace with Max, sometimes taking fastest laps too. Towards the end of the stint Lewis had whittled down Max' 5-6 sec advantage to just a little under 2. When the mediums warmed up too Lewis was quickly catching up to Max (although backmarkers were likely a factor too).holeindalip wrote: ↑19 Apr 2021, 05:40Was it though, Lewis had damage at turn 1 and it’s hard saying since Bottas was out for a Sunday drive in 9th spot all day...e30ernest wrote: ↑19 Apr 2021, 05:19Prior to Lewis crashing into the barrier, he and Max were trading fastest laps. I think at the worst, the Merc was an equal to the Red Bulls in this race. Realistically, I think the Mercs had the edge in raw pace. So last race, Lewis won in the inferior car, this race, it was Max's turn.
Post-race, Horner confirmed it was mostly down to tyre wear. VER's inters were nearly gone whilst HAM's weren't. Both were negotiating traffic at the time, so traffic isn't entirely to blame for the gap going down so quickly (actually had gone down to as little as 1.2s).e30ernest wrote: ↑19 Apr 2021, 06:03When the inters on the Merc warmed up he was keeping pace with Max, sometimes taking fastest laps too. Towards the end of the stint Lewis had whittled down Max' 5-6 sec advantage to just a little under 2. When the mediums warmed up too Lewis was quickly catching up to Max (although backmarkers were likely a factor too).holeindalip wrote: ↑19 Apr 2021, 05:40Was it though, Lewis had damage at turn 1 and it’s hard saying since Bottas was out for a Sunday drive in 9th spot all day...e30ernest wrote: ↑19 Apr 2021, 05:19Prior to Lewis crashing into the barrier, he and Max were trading fastest laps. I think at the worst, the Merc was an equal to the Red Bulls in this race. Realistically, I think the Mercs had the edge in raw pace. So last race, Lewis won in the inferior car, this race, it was Max's turn.