Is the RB19 Dominant?

[mendis]

No, you said Checo has been ordered aside last season. Which hasn’t happened. Only thing was clearly no fight when they were on different strategies. Happened twice or so and in any of these cases Max would have come through on fresher tires if they would have fought. Which would have made zero sense.

Nope. I said if it comes down to the wire with a rival Perez will be ordered aside to give Max the best haul of points. There was no
one challenging Max down to the wire last year and the same for this year. So Checo will not be ordered aside. He won't be allowed to clash with Max early on, but if he plays his cards right... Just hanging in there to be close enough near season's end where reliabilty can come into play he can "show his true colours" and hope that reliabilty comes into play as well

Reliability issues for Checo? Yeah one DNF will throw him out of any distant possibility of a fight.

[Sieper]

No, you said Checo has been ordered aside last season. Which hasn’t happened. Only thing was clearly no fight when they were on different strategies. Happened twice or so and in any of these cases Max would have come through on fresher tires if they would have fought. Which would have made zero sense.

Nope. I said if it comes down to the wire with a rival Perez will be ordered aside to give Max the best haul of points. There was no
one challenging Max down to the wire last year and the same for this year. So Checo will not be ordered aside. He won't be allowed to clash with Max early on, but if he plays his cards right... Just hanging in there to be close enough near season's end where reliabilty can come into play he can "show his true colours" and hope that reliabilty comes into play as well

Then I misunderstood your post, sorry, and thanks for the clarification. Yes in such a scenario it might happen. I don’t think there will be such a need but for sure Perez will try to hang on. Imho he already got very lucky with the last restart in Australia as he was in to the gravel and out of the points.

[JordanMugen]

What should they do to make Perez faster?

Replace Mr. Perez with Mr. Leclerc.

Tuning the car for more understeer is just crazy IMO. The notion that is desirable for Red Bull Racing for Verstappen to be slower and Perez to be faster by changing the balance of the car is only logical for Perez fans (or people who don't like Verstappen).

It is just as illogical as Ferrari shifting the car balance away from Leclerc and towards Sainz during the 2022 season.

Charles Leclerc:

You have more control with an oversteering car. At least that’s how I see it. You steer and the car does exactly what you tell it to do. In an understeering car, I feel like a passenger who doesn’t have much to do. The car simply doesn’t steer in the middle of the corner. Idk what to do. I prefer to be in control at all times. Even if that means the car is sometimes a bit more difficult to drive. Yes, sometimes you use the rear tyres more. But for me, it’s the fastest way around a track.

https://scuderiafans.com/charles-lecler ... 23-f1-car/

Charles Leclerc:

Personally, the aspect I liked most is having a strong front end. At the beginning of the [2022] season the insertion [at the front end] was just what I like.

https://scuderiafans.com/charles-lecler ... r-in-2022/

If I am not mistaken, Verstappen's preferences are similar to Leclerc:

Max Verstappen:

Being really overweight created an understeering balance and once we started to get rid of that, it started to be more agile again. Not just twitchy but more agile. You could really use the front end. At the end of the day, that’s also how you really drive a fast car. A car cannot be fast with understeer. It’s impossible. Especially with the tyres we had this year being a bit more understeer limited as well. You cannot have a car like that.

https://www.motorsport.com/f1/news/vers ... /10419462/

Of course RBR could ignore Verstappen's preferences and tune the aerodynamic balance rearwards as Perez prefers (obviously springs, dampers and wing angles can be changed, but not so much the centre of pressure of the floor) -- but why would you do that?!

[AR3-GP]

Of course RBR could ignore Verstappen's preferences and tune the aerodynamic balance rearwards as Perez prefers (obviously springs, dampers and wing angles can be changed, but not so much the centre of pressure of the floor) -- but why would you do that?!

We don't want evil Max to win another championship. Haven't you been paying attention?

[TimW]

Max Verstappen:

A car cannot be fast with understeer. It’s impossible. Especially with the tyres we had this year being a bit more understeer limited as well.

A relevant thing is that the 2022 fronts were weak and needed to be protected relatively to the rears. This rewards a setup with no understeer while the rears could handle relative abuse.

This year's fronts being stronger, although it seems contradictory at first glance, could thus help Perez(or not disadvantage him, whichever way you want to see it), by allowing a bit of understeer in the setup

[mendis]

Of course RBR could ignore Verstappen's preferences and tune the aerodynamic balance rearwards as Perez prefers (obviously springs, dampers and wing angles can be changed, but not so much the centre of pressure of the floor) -- but why would you do that?!

Both drivers are free to do their setups. Are you saying put Max on Perez's preferred setup to compromise his speed? That would be a good start.

[ringo]

I dont think Perez likes understeer. He just doesnt want too much oversteer. Max is more comfortable with the rear end moving more.
From the races so far, their pace is very similar in the race. In qualifying Max has the edge by far because he will turn the car in more than Perez can by virture of the confidence he has in how much grip the rear can give without breaking traction.
Perez though could possibly challenge Max if left on the same strategy and keeps p2 after a few laps. We just havent seen this situation often enough. Ie the head to head.
We saw a little head to h head in saudi arabia and perez could respond to max's lap times.

[Sieper]

He hasn’t been able to in any prior year. When the tire deg starts taking its toll it is Max that keeps the pace up much longer. Imho he hasn’t kept up this year as well. Only in Jeddah, where the deg is low and due to the SC everyone was on the same tire. Plus Max ofc had the big disadvantage that due to no fault of his own he had to come through the field.

[mendis]

We saw a little head to h head in saudi arabia and perez could respond to max's lap times.

Saudi was a unique track with high grip, low degradation tarmac that allowed Perez to keep pace. I don't think he can keep Max behind or match his lap times on other traditional circuits. Even more of problems if the races are wet.

[JordanMugen]

Saudi was a unique track with high grip, low degradation tarmac that allowed Perez to keep pace.

Perez is very good at street circuits with lots of low-speed traction zones.

[mendis]

Saudi was a unique track with high grip, low degradation tarmac that allowed Perez to keep pace.

Perez is very good at street circuits with lots of low-speed traction zones.

True, the only caveat is when Max has had issues in qualifying.

[AR3-GP]

We saw a little head to h head in saudi arabia and perez could respond to max's lap times.

Saudi was a unique track with high grip, low degradation tarmac that allowed Perez to keep pace. I don't think he can keep Max behind or match his lap times on other traditional circuits. Even more of problems if the races are wet.

Choose your battles

[napoleon1981]

Saudi was a bit of a surprise. Usually Max keeps his tires alive alot longer than Checo, dispite the latter having the tire whisperer nickname. Checo has been quick in Saudi and i think the low deg nature and the fact that max had to do overtakes and take life out of his tires made it look like Checo is on pace with max. I highly doubt when there is a real like for like situation Checo will keep up with Max in the race. It feel like 2022 again, one or 2 good races from Checo (but nothing spectacular) and suddenly people get excited and think he has a chance.

[AR3-GP]

Saudi was a bit of a surprise. Usually Max keeps his tires alive alot longer than Checo, dispite the latter having the tire whisperer nickname. Checo has been quick in Saudi and i think the low deg nature and the fact that max had to do overtakes and take life out of his tires made it look like Checo is on pace with max. I highly doubt when there is a real like for like situation Checo will keep up with Max in the race. It feel like 2022 again, one or 2 good races from Checo (but nothing spectacular) and suddenly people get excited and think he has a chance.

One could argue Max wasn't in great shape either after his illness in the run up to that GP. Particularly in his endurance. He said he could put together a quick lap, but was out of breath after

https://the-race.com/formula-1/verstapp ... d-illness/

“But then when I jumped in the car in FP1, even with just one performance lap I felt like I had to recover for two laps to be able to breathe normally.

“So it definitely did affect me throughout the weekend, which I didn’t like.

“It was one of the first races where I felt I was physically limited, and that’s really frustrating when you’re in the car.”

I seem to recall a lot of people pointing out Hamilton's struggle to return to fitness after he had COVID in late 2020. Being out of shape really does affect you. You don't brake as hard or carve the corner as hard as possible because you can't, it cost more energy and you're just managing your body to the end of the race without passing out. Max went straight to the toilet after the race.

Saudi Arabia flattered Perez in many ways and really it's only some wanting to create a narrative where there isn't one. If Saudi Arabia is what some want to use to put Perez up on a pedestal and claim he is capable of beating Max (when the guy was at his weakest), then Max has a very nasty surprise for you

[Mattchu]

Of course it`s dominant, you have one of the top tier drivers in a top tier team who have designed a much faster car compared to everyone else!

It`s pretty much the same as the Merc/Hamilton era, and in many ways Verstappen and Hamilton are very similar. They both don`t mind the rear moving a bit and understand this is the fastest way round most circuits. They both have mostly had #2 drivers who could live with them on the odd weekend but not for the majority of a season.
The pair of them have a pretty much much win at all costs mantra, but both become whiny little so and so`s when things don`t go their way, this is probably why they don`t exactly like each other.

Best car and a top tier driver (Ver, Alo, Lec, Ham), normally = domination...