turbof1 wrote: ↑Mon Oct 08, 2018 12:09 pm
I do hear the question than coming: "if he was going to have to scrub off more speed anyhow, than why commit to this move at all". Good question! Well, you can't predict always the outcome of your move. Vettel committed to it when he dove inside, which was even before the braking point. Where he would up in relation to Verstappen was not clear at that point. If he got his nose ahead, it would have been Vettel dictating the line and pushing wide.
I feel we are more or less in agreement, then. This paragraph is indeed a question I'd have asked - and in my opinion, is the conclusion on that this was an opportunistic move that never would have worked.
If Verstappen had left a bit more room, Vettel would have to have reduce his speed more than Max in order to make the corner. This would have put him behind Max anyway in a compromised position.
Even if Verstappen had left more room, I am to some point legitimately thinking that contact would have been very probably given the trajectories, the momentum and the speed of Vettel. There'a s high probability he would have understeered into Verstappen anyway.
Ergo, my conclusion is that Vettels move was doomed to fail and the collision more or less inevitable. I don't think Max had any moral responsibility to take that corner any other way he did.
To be also fair to Vettel though - I think the margin between pulling off that move and it being the way it turned out was perhaps extremely small. Had he been able to place his car 5 meters further up ahead and put himself completely alogside Max or even slightly ahead before his space ran out, the dynamics of the move would have completely changed. By being equally alongside or even slightly ahead means he could have pushed Max wide and the fact that he would have to significantly reduce the speed to make the corner would have meant he would have forced Max to do the same (being on the outside).
It didn't work out this way and in the end, he miscalculated it slightly, he never got far enough alongside and thus Max closed the door on him. Arguably, a more observant driver [than Max] would have seen this unfolding and made more effort to avoid a collision.
One last point:
"Verstappen was really down on power, you know that."
Relative to Vettel, yes, relative to any other driver taking that corner, I'm not convinced. Vettel was deploying - that was his choice. I don't think that's the 'normal' part on where you'd be deploying. Most drivers would be doing that on the long straight, where the DRS zone is. Max was harvesting, as he should have been, because that area is not one where his position is that vulnerable. It's rather narrow there to attempt any overtakes so your position is usually rather safe. So in my opinion, Vettel was deploying there because (and he confirmed this in the post-race interviews) that he felt it was the best chance he had on getting past Max, because he wouldn't be suspecting an attempt there.