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Yeah, we won that one on pure merit. I think it was helped by strategy as well. I think the gap would have been ~10s normally without the McLaren strategy memes and going way too long on the mediums.
AR3-GP wrote: ↑06 Sep 2025, 23:34This kind of insight to how a driver works with the team is rare.
https://www.autosport.com/f1/news/the-s ... /10757266/Verstappen’s set-up choices key to Monza pole?
Beyond the lessons from Zandvoort, there has been another key factor in Monza: Verstappen himself pushed through on the final set-up choices ahead of qualifying. It’s exactly what his radio message after qualifying – “It worked! Relax there, it’s all good” – referred to.
“Before qualifying, some people within the team wanted to try something else with the set-up, but I said: ‘No, we shouldn’t do that.’” Verstappen said. “When I walked back to my room, I could still see some faces and a few people doubting that set-up direction. But I just felt, ‘this is what we need to do,’ and luckily it worked out.”
When pointed out that the final call was more his than the team’s, Verstappen elaborated in the Dutch media session: “Well, in the end you make these decisions with multiple people, also with GP [Gianpiero Lambiase] and some other people around me.
“Of course, I also understand why certain questions were asked and why some people might have preferred a different direction. But in the end, I’m the one sitting in the car and feeling certain things. I felt that we had to make just a few small changes and that it would be better then.”
venkyhere wrote: ↑07 Sep 2025, 11:21Bingo. With heavy fuel and 'averaged out' battery levels, braking into a corner and acceleration out of a corner will happen further away from the corner apex. Which means downforce becomes key. That's why we shouldn't keep the Friday long run pace as reference, because the downforce and balance has changed from Friday. Not being F1 engineers, we can only conjecture whether the race pace (averaged over a tyre stint where tyres go through deg/graining) becomes better or worse.
Great analysis as usually buddy. I also have a feeling yes Baku could be quite good. Because Red Bull has amazing top speed with a low-drag setup, Mclaren will probably need to compromise the car more. And will add more wing/downforce on the car for S2, and with that they would probably lost at least 5-7 km/h on the very long main straight in comparision with Red Bull. But also we have to take another factor into play, Monza is a track with very little tyre deg, Baku is quite different. This could mean Mclaren will probably have its tyre advantage again.venkyhere wrote: ↑07 Sep 2025, 17:34Thank god he gave the place back in lap2 itself (it was a bit notty from Norris on Lap1turn1, letting the brakes go and force Max off track, but it's not a crime) and won it back on pure merit.
The medium stint knocked the stuffing out of the McLarens.
The hard stint was even better, matching the pace of the Mclarens on softs.
As I posted in my analysis (a few hrs before the race start) with the lap plots, somehow, pitlane DIY to remove flap area on the already lowDF rear wing has helped improve pace in all the four key corners - that is proof that the new floor is working superbly. They tried this DIY job last year and failed miserably, most probably because the floor wasn't good enough.
This gives me hope for tracks like Baku and Vegas. Another thing I noticed is the traction on the exit from the first two chicanes (T1-2 and T4-5) - it seemed better than the McLarens.
