I think it is an oversimplification to simply say someone had deg because they "pushed too hard". The car itself influences the degradation. If everyone would have Mclaren degradation by just "pushing less", then Mclaren wouldn't have the advantage that they have. Also what good is "pushing less", when you are going so slow that you are not competing for anything? Leclerc was trying to beat Verstappen to the final podium position, that's why he pushed. The degradation doesn't matter as much as the average laptime over the stint. Russell "didn't push". What did he do in the stint? He lost another 5 seconds to Leclerc.What good is not pushing?Vanja #66 wrote: ↑02 Jun 2025, 14:08LEC definitely pushed too hard in early 2nd stint
https://pbs.twimg.com/media/Gsbyk1KWEAE ... ame=medium
https://pbs.twimg.com/media/GsbymdJWwAA ... ame=medium
In any case, Russell's out lap in the 2nd stint was 2 seconds faster than Leclerc's outlap. Russell's 2nd lap of the medium stint was 1 second faster than Leclerc's 2nd lap of the same stint. It cannot be accounted for by fuel load. Leclerc did not "push too hard" in the introduction of the tire. He was slower and his overall stint time was faster since he grew the gap to Russell. Pushing was not a bad thing.
You also criticized Verstappen for "pushing too hard"... He made 3 pitstops. Was he supposed to sit back and manage? Because of his "push", he nearly undercut Lando Norris. What purpose would it have been to save the tires? So he can wait for Lando Norris to pit, get fresher tires, and have a gap before VER attempts to mount a miracle challenge from behind on 7 lap older tires in a slower car? Rubbish.

