2022 French Grand Prix - Le Castellet, July 22 - 24

[Sieper]

Perhaps also these tyres were just leaving a lot of marks anyway - as Max took the last corner of the race he left a very definite pair of tyre marks as the rear was only just holding on with the throttle coming open. Perhaps it was intentional but I don't think Max would have been trying to slide and he had a big enough gap behind not to worry about needing to be quick off the last corner. So perhaps the tyres were just leaving a lot of marks.

That is what they call "leaving your signature" pulling a powerslide on the last corner, he did it in a few other races as well. Notably his first win in Monaco which totally freaked me out. Thats exuberant Max, not needed imho but OK.

Ah, fair enough. I'd have thought that he'd want to be safely over the line before doing that, but he's a young man and I'm not.

Me neither the one time I had a “power”slide I put my car in the guardrail.

[Wouter]

Anyone else think it’d going to be another boring French gp, wanted to see if others are agreeing for F. Alonso
claiming F1 is boring with the same winners Ves, Lec, Perez and Sainz.

Franceb gp prediction:
1) leclerc
2) vesper or vice versa
3) the rest of the teammates
.75 secs back per lap
4) Mercedes
then
Alpine

.

Boring race, one overtake on a virtual s/c, how lame. Perez is the dirtiest driver in the field.

Look forward to Spa with the new rules.

.

Going to be hard watching this season when the leader has a 63 point lead.

You can tell by Vest. voice he didn’t care that Charles is okay after the crash

or if Perez got 3rd or 4th,

he has secret evil smile on his face since he knew the championship is in the bag,
the new rules appear to have made things worse.

.
.
May I ask what your intent/goal is for posting things like this here?

[dialtone]

Putting here a bit of retrospective:

Ferrari had the best tire management in the race. After FP2 many were afraid Ferrari was going to lose by tire degradation, even though telemetry showed Ferrari just had traffic and engine turned down.



Lap times by lap in the race for VER, HAM and LEC. From this image it's clear that starting lap 12, Max didn't just decide to hang behind (implying that he was going to slow down his times to create a gap in front), but Charles kicked the pace into another gear, he had stabilized to a pace around 0.3s faster per lap than Max, who had remained constant in his pace, trending close to 1s faster than Hamilton per lap, whose tires were degrading fast instead.

And this is with the engine turned down to avoid blow ups on a track that is very engine dependent.

So this is 2 races in a row where Ferrari had better life out of tires, specifically the fronts, and now even better than the Merc who had the best tire management in Silverstone. This is a big improvement in the car, that new floor is a big step forward.

[yamahasho]

Putting here a bit of retrospective:

Ferrari had the best tire management in the race. After FP2 many were afraid Ferrari was going to lose by tire degradation, even though telemetry showed Ferrari just had traffic and engine turned down.

https://i.imgur.com/3KLCebh.png

Lap times by lap in the race for VER, HAM and LEC. From this image it's clear that starting lap 12, Max didn't just decide to hang behind (implying that he was going to slow down his times to create a gap in front), but Charles kicked the pace into another gear, he had stabilized to a pace around 0.3s faster per lap than Max, who had remained constant in his pace, trending close to 1s faster than Hamilton per lap, whose tires were degrading fast instead.

And this is with the engine turned down to avoid blow ups on a track that is very engine dependent.

So this is 2 races in a row where Ferrari had better life out of tires, specifically the fronts, and now even better than the Merc who had the best tire management in Silverstone. This is a big improvement in the car, that new floor is a big step forward.

All be it obvious but what role will Mercedes play for the remainder of the season, keep nagging Ferrari and RB or get out of the way, run their own race and hope someone retires.

Repeat of Brawn racing and double diffuser, by the time McLaren and others caught up Jenson had run away with it. Easy championship for Button.

F1 needs a mid season rule change.

[ringo]

Charles not ready to be champion. You cannot be making unforced errors like these.
He needs to be in full control of his car at all times if he wants to be considered a great contender.
Now he's just bleeding points and Max is having the easiest season of his career. Max is not bothered at all by Ferrari, he is just driving around in circles and collecting trophies.
Hamilton in P-2 in a slow mercedes looks more ominous than Charles right now. Max managed his gap carefully at 10 seconds to Hamilton. You could see redbull feels more threatened by mercedes and hamilton. Sad.

Charle did make an unforced error but his mistake was not as embarrassing as Hamilton’s last year in Baku. Given his age and lack of experience fighting for the championship, he will learn and come back stronger. If a 7 time WDC can make silly mistakes then so can Charles.

Not controlling your car's grip level is a completely different thing from flicking a wrong switch and brakes locking outside of your control.
Let's call a spade a spade. Crashing out during the race, while cruising at the front, without any external influence is as unforced as it can get.
Hamilton has never done this to my memory. It's excusable if you are chasing another car and at the limits of the machinery, or if you are in the middle of a fight.
But this was a huge own goal, and Charles has made a bunch of them.

His mistake was embarassing, because Max won this race without even having to worry about a competitor. Yes redbull were pressuring Leclerc, and the redbull was the fastest car here. Max was in Leclerc gearbox up until the first stop, but the crash just knocked the wind out of any kind of real rivalry.
Last year was a rivalry, we have yet to see Max sweat this year.

[ringo]

Good video, Charles pushed too much and ran out of talent. I do notice that he tends to brake and throttle more often than the other drivers. I think with experience he should know hot to drive within himself and adjust better to the changing track conditions. This is basically a rookie error, just at a higher level.

[dialtone]

Charles not ready to be champion. You cannot be making unforced errors like these.
He needs to be in full control of his car at all times if he wants to be considered a great contender.
Now he's just bleeding points and Max is having the easiest season of his career. Max is not bothered at all by Ferrari, he is just driving around in circles and collecting trophies.
Hamilton in P-2 in a slow mercedes looks more ominous than Charles right now. Max managed his gap carefully at 10 seconds to Hamilton. You could see redbull feels more threatened by mercedes and hamilton. Sad.

Charle did make an unforced error but his mistake was not as embarrassing as Hamilton’s last year in Baku. Given his age and lack of experience fighting for the championship, he will learn and come back stronger. If a 7 time WDC can make silly mistakes then so can Charles.

Not controlling your car's grip level is a completely different thing from flicking a wrong switch and brakes locking outside of your control.
Let's call a spade a spade. Crashing out during the race, while cruising at the front, without any external influence is as unforced as it can get.
Hamilton has never done this to my memory. It's excusable if you are chasing another car and at the limits of the machinery, or if you are in the middle of a fight.
But this was a huge own goal, and Charles has made a bunch of them.

His mistake was embarassing, because Max won this race without even having to worry about a competitor. Yes redbull were pressuring Leclerc, and the redbull was the fastest car here. Max was in Leclerc gearbox up until the first stop, but the crash just knocked the wind out of any kind of real rivalry.
Last year was a rivalry, we have yet to see Max sweat this year.

You maybe mean max was fast (although you know... no pole, no fast lap, not even better tire management), not Red Bull, because Checo was getting passed by Russell too.

EDIT: it has also been 1 race (literally) since Hamilton and Russell made the exact same mistake that Charles did in France... I can't even...

[ringo]

Charle did make an unforced error but his mistake was not as embarrassing as Hamilton’s last year in Baku. Given his age and lack of experience fighting for the championship, he will learn and come back stronger. If a 7 time WDC can make silly mistakes then so can Charles.

Not controlling your car's grip level is a completely different thing from flicking a wrong switch and brakes locking outside of your control.
Let's call a spade a spade. Crashing out during the race, while cruising at the front, without any external influence is as unforced as it can get.
Hamilton has never done this to my memory. It's excusable if you are chasing another car and at the limits of the machinery, or if you are in the middle of a fight.
But this was a huge own goal, and Charles has made a bunch of them.

His mistake was embarassing, because Max won this race without even having to worry about a competitor. Yes redbull were pressuring Leclerc, and the redbull was the fastest car here. Max was in Leclerc gearbox up until the first stop, but the crash just knocked the wind out of any kind of real rivalry.
Last year was a rivalry, we have yet to see Max sweat this year.

You maybe mean max was fast (although you know... no pole, no fast lap, not even better tire management), not Red Bull, because Checo was getting passed by Russell too.

EDIT: it has also been 1 race (literally) since Hamilton and Russell made the exact same mistake that Charles did in French... I can't even...

Max + Redbull.

Perez didn't seem to start off on the right foot at all.
Remember Max completely managed his pace and saved his engine and tyres once leclerc crashed. So i don't think we really saw what he could do outside of him hunting down Charles. But the car did look superior for that time he was pestering Charles.

Oh you mean qualifying in a bouncing mercedes on an Off camber turn? Hamilton and George are excused for their crash in most people's eyes.
Crashing in the lead of the race is a whole different thing. Let's face it.
Leclerc going off in Silverston qualifying is also excused. It's qualy. But doing that in the race...

[dialtone]

Not controlling your car's grip level is a completely different thing from flicking a wrong switch and brakes locking outside of your control.
Let's call a spade a spade. Crashing out during the race, while cruising at the front, without any external influence is as unforced as it can get.
Hamilton has never done this to my memory. It's excusable if you are chasing another car and at the limits of the machinery, or if you are in the middle of a fight.
But this was a huge own goal, and Charles has made a bunch of them.

His mistake was embarassing, because Max won this race without even having to worry about a competitor. Yes redbull were pressuring Leclerc, and the redbull was the fastest car here. Max was in Leclerc gearbox up until the first stop, but the crash just knocked the wind out of any kind of real rivalry.
Last year was a rivalry, we have yet to see Max sweat this year.

You maybe mean max was fast (although you know... no pole, no fast lap, not even better tire management), not Red Bull, because Checo was getting passed by Russell too.

EDIT: it has also been 1 race (literally) since Hamilton and Russell made the exact same mistake that Charles did in French... I can't even...

Max + Redbull.

Perez didn't seem to start off on the right foot at all.
Remember Max completely managed his pace and saved his engine and tyres once leclerc crashed. So i don't think we really saw what he could do outside of him hunting down Charles. But the car did look superior for that time he was pestering Charles.

What a troll you are...

[LM10]

You maybe mean max was fast (although you know... no pole, no fast lap, not even better tire management), not Red Bull, because Checo was getting passed by Russell too.

EDIT: it has also been 1 race (literally) since Hamilton and Russell made the exact same mistake that Charles did in French... I can't even...

Max + Redbull.

Perez didn't seem to start off on the right foot at all.
Remember Max completely managed his pace and saved his engine and tyres once leclerc crashed. So i don't think we really saw what he could do outside of him hunting down Charles. But the car did look superior for that time he was pestering Charles.

What a troll you are...

He seems to have lost a bet or something and now can’t accept Ferrari being the better car even for a single time or a single GP. I’ve not read him say that.

Instead he keeps on insisting various delusional stuff. Like in the beginning of the season when he claimed Ferrari being a draggy car because of it looking draggy and completely ignoring Vanja’s CFD work. Just a simple example of many.

[Swifty]

Ferrari did Charlie boy wrong yet again. They told the young lad to use 8 where he was using 7.


What can I say?

[dialtone]

What does this have to do with Charles taking T10 20kph faster than the lap before?

[ENGINE TUNER]

This is the problem. He needed the whole width of the track to make the corner and although he was significantly alongside, he wasn’t the leading driver, so he wasn’t entitled to take all this space and push Checo off. He was lucky he didn’t get a penalty.

Yes, he is required to leave the white line for PER to be able to stay on track, but before that PER crowded him at the apex and pushed him towards the launch ramp placed by the race director. These sausage kerbs must be removed. If people cut the corners then properly penalize them, but placing highly dangerous launch ramps is not the answer.

Quite a few incidents recently appear to have started because of someone squeezing another car to the inside of a corner. I'd bet Perez wouldn't have made the corner either with the speed he took in and the very shallow angle he came in at.

I'm starting to think that Red Bull drivers have very specific coaching around these types of battles because they are fairly consistent in what they appear to do, and clearly get away with a lot (at least previously).

Verstappen, Vettel and Rosberg all had that same "training/coaching/guidance" as well with the "own the corner" nonsense. But Kimi, Alonso and Hamilton were trained otherwise it seems, they regularly give proper racing room. The FIA guidelines determining who is required to do what based on positioning at the apex is complete bunk, trajectory thru a corner is determined by speed at the braking point and the turn in point. The FIA is foolishly encouraging divebombs and pushing off drivers on exit while putting hazardous obstacles just outside the white lines which is technically still the racing surface. Who is going to talk sense into them? Certainly not the drivers. It will take a major injury at least for someone to recognize the foolishness.

[ringo]

You maybe mean max was fast (although you know... no pole, no fast lap, not even better tire management), not Red Bull, because Checo was getting passed by Russell too.

EDIT: it has also been 1 race (literally) since Hamilton and Russell made the exact same mistake that Charles did in French... I can't even...

Max + Redbull.

Perez didn't seem to start off on the right foot at all.
Remember Max completely managed his pace and saved his engine and tyres once leclerc crashed. So i don't think we really saw what he could do outside of him hunting down Charles. But the car did look superior for that time he was pestering Charles.

What a troll you are...

Did you not watch the race?
Was max in charles gearbox or not?
Answer that question.

[dialtone]

Max + Redbull.

Perez didn't seem to start off on the right foot at all.
Remember Max completely managed his pace and saved his engine and tyres once leclerc crashed. So i don't think we really saw what he could do outside of him hunting down Charles. But the car did look superior for that time he was pestering Charles.

What a troll you are...

Did you not watch the race?
Was max in charles gearbox or not?
Answer that question.

What I saw is a Charles Leclerc, with a turned down engine, luring Max into the hope of being able to pass for 11 laps. Then lap 12 kicked in, and Charles decided to be serious, put in a 1.38.6 while Max could only manage the same boring lap time of 1.39.1 that he kept for 11 previous laps, and start to lap 0.3s faster per lap and under 1.39 by a margin, while Max was still lapping in the same old 1.39+, who was limited by his tires that were falling off, and a car that can only work relying on DRS and low DF setups, hoping for Ferrari to make a mistake.

Not once Charles defended in the entry to the Mistral straight chicane, he knew perfectly well Max was never going to pass. Plenty of others in the same situation (sometimes only 0.3s ahead) left the racing line to defend and compromised traction out of the chicane, Perez did for example, both against Carlos and against Russell. But Charles wasn't really fighting, he was playing with his food.

The clear and obvious tire fall off forced Max to pit to try and avoid a worse embarrassment than in Austria. Even forced RedBull to change strategy to a 1 stopper because they realized they were never going to do much without track position, except Carlos Ferrari was so superior he literally looped around the other RedBull around T14, a move no one else was able to pull on supposedly equivalent cars.

Max was ultimately saved only by a driver error, who was putting in purple mini sectors on 18 lap old Mediums and for the past 2 laps was just 0.4s slower than the brand new hards on Max's car, exactly like in Austria. This was going to be another embarrassment.

No question that Max makes fewer mistakes than Charles, but Ferrari is superior six ways from Sunday.

Enjoy the WCC perhaps, but too bad it's a slower car: Max knows it, Horner knows it, Newey knows it. And this is all that matters in the end.