2023 Spanish Grand Prix - Catalunya, June 02 - 04

[AR3-GP]

As a fan I have much confidence, but you (well, I then) are also always looking at potential threads. I almost always worry. I too thought they would do a one stopper, thought wear was high here, and then Lec’s whites just crumbled away under him, so maybe Max was stuck. But luckily not. I also feared rain would flip everything around potentially, but it never came.

RBR was quite conservative and it worked out in the end. Merc had the right strategy imho.

Rain in the last 15-20 laps would have been epic from an entertainment point of view but I too didn’t want it as it could have changed things dramatically…and you never know if you’re going to benefit or not from it!

Mercedes's strategy truly was great but they had good tire degradation! Otherwise it wouldn’t have been possible to go to lap 25 on the softs and then do the same at the end!

So either temperatures played to Mercedes's hands or the updates really helped with tire conservation (probably the former)! Canada will show us what it really was though!

Low temperatures indeed. Then the Mercedes works better, like in Australia indeed. In any case, Mercedes in this race was the clear second team, let’s see what happens in Montreal.

I think Aston Martin will return to a similar level to Mercedes in Canada. It's Ferrari that is more concerning. Leclerc already had a terrible race here last year.

[Just_a_fan]

I remember hearing an engineer say that the cars have a fail safe such that if the throttle and brake are pressed together, the throttle is overridden and the brakes "win". Maybe there is a threshold for that to allow for some use of the brake against throttle mid corner.

probably related to this in some way.

I think it's just an obvious thing to do when you have throttle by wire and, to an extent, brake by wire. It's a simple way for the driver to override a misbehaving throttle system - stamp on both pedals and the system will cut the throttle. Back when that crash happened, the throttle and brake were entirely mechanically controlled by the driver.

[Just_a_fan]

Rain in the last 15-20 laps would have been epic from an entertainment point of view but I too didn’t want it as it could have changed things dramatically…and you never know if you’re going to benefit or not from it!

Mercedes's strategy truly was great but they had good tire degradation! Otherwise it wouldn’t have been possible to go to lap 25 on the softs and then do the same at the end!

So either temperatures played to Mercedes's hands or the updates really helped with tire conservation (probably the former)! Canada will show us what it really was though!

Low temperatures indeed. Then the Mercedes works better, like in Australia indeed. In any case, Mercedes in this race was the clear second team, let’s see what happens in Montreal.

I think Aston Martin will return to a similar level to Mercedes in Canada. It's Ferrari that is more concerning. Leclerc already had a terrible race here last year.

It feels as if Leclerc has had enough of Ferrari. Mojo is dying for him at the moment. No spark.

[Evo2racer]

As a fan I have much confidence, but you (well, I then) are also always looking at potential threads. I almost always worry. I too thought they would do a one stopper, thought wear was high here, and then Lec’s whites just crumbled away under him, so maybe Max was stuck. But luckily not. I also feared rain would flip everything around potentially, but it never came.

RBR was quite conservative and it worked out in the end. Merc had the right strategy imho.

Rain in the last 15-20 laps would have been epic from an entertainment point of view but I too didn’t want it as it could have changed things dramatically…and you never know if you’re going to benefit or not from it!

Mercedes's strategy truly was great but they had good tire degradation! Otherwise it wouldn’t have been possible to go to lap 25 on the softs and then do the same at the end!

So either temperatures played to Mercedes's hands or the updates really helped with tire conservation (probably the former)! Canada will show us what it really was though!

Low temperatures indeed. Then the Mercedes works better, like in Australia indeed. In any case, Mercedes in this race was the clear second team, let’s see what happens in Montreal.

No low temperature on Sunday !
It was warm on the track.

You are confusing with Saturday and qualy weather

[dans79]

No low temperature on Sunday !
It was warm on the track.

You are confusing with Saturday and qualy weather

yep, and only a few things can account for the performance shift we saw.

1) AMR & Ferrari bet the farm on a wet race and skewed the set-up towards that.
2) AMR & Ferrari don't do well with the harder compounds.
3) AMR & Ferrari don't have a wide enough setup window to deal with the climate shifts
4) Mercs upgrades worked
5) The track suited Merc more than AMR & Ferrari (not a good sign if true)

Some combination of multiple of the above. I'd personally go with #3 & #4.

[maxxer]

Should take the point away for fastest lap as he was shown black and white flag 3 times penalize that behaviour harder and harder

.
HUH? "... he was shown black and white flag 3 times ..." What race did you watch?

In the race, you get three chances to go outside of the track. After your three violations, you receive a black and white flag = a warning.

After this, the stewards will award a driver a five-second time penalty.

Adjusted my spelling happy now ? Even his team was telling him to keep his car between the lines so i dont know what race you have watched

[chrisc90]

Literally makes no sense. Why does a point need to be took away for a fastest lap that stayed within the lines?

GP told max to keep within the lines to avoid getting +5secs penalty. Max could have got 4 penalties and still won, however if there was a late SC, it drops him well down the order depending on when it comes out/finishes. Therefore it was important to not get another track limit violation

[langedweil]

Literally makes no sense. Why does a point need to be took away for a fastest lap that stayed within the lines?

GP told max to keep within the lines to avoid getting +5secs penalty. Max could have got 4 penalties and still won, however if there was a late SC, it drops him well down the order depending on when it comes out/finishes. Therefore it was important to not get another track limit violation

<personal stuff removed>

This fittie is a bit silly really, as rules were applied perfectly.
What wás insane was George's start .. almost looked like a F18-carrier-catapult-slingshot. Nothing wrong with traction there ...

[Big Tea]

Literally makes no sense. Why does a point need to be took away for a fastest lap that stayed within the lines?

GP told max to keep within the lines to avoid getting +5secs penalty. Max could have got 4 penalties and still won, however if there was a late SC, it drops him well down the order depending on when it comes out/finishes. Therefore it was important to not get another track limit violation

<personal stuff removed>

I am not a Max fan, but whoever it would be, if the penalty is not in the rules then it cannot be pulled out of a hat and pinned on a (any) driver without the 'rule' being made public before the event. Rules are rules and this rule is not in existence, but could be worth looking at for future use with other offenses.

[bosyber]

No low temperature on Sunday !
It was warm on the track.

You are confusing with Saturday and qualy weather

yep, and only a few things can account for the performance shift we saw.

1) AMR & Ferrari bet the farm on a wet race and skewed the set-up towards that.
2) AMR & Ferrari don't do well with the harder compounds.
3) AMR & Ferrari don't have a wide enough setup window to deal with the climate shifts
4) Mercs upgrades worked
5) The track suited Merc more than AMR & Ferrari (not a good sign if true)

Some combination of multiple of the above. I'd personally go with #3 & #4.

Didn't Red Bull too mention that for them the hard was effectively just a slower medium; I do think 2) has merit in that Merc was on the better tyre, most likely (and it also explains some of the Merc pace compared to RBR); also, 5) has probably some truth, as we also saw in previous seasons, and certainly last year, that this track showed Merc off better than other tracks.

I also think that 4) plays a role, perhaps Ferrari only bringing their updates last weekend means we might still see a positive trend emerge there, same w. AM planning upgrades from Canada onward, which is something that can be monitored.

[dans79]

also, 5) has probably some truth, as we also saw in previous seasons, and certainly last year, that this track showed Merc off better than other tracks.

Ferrari did so well here last year. They qualified 1st and 3rd, And Charles had a good lead till the turbo let go.

[organic]

Rain in the last 15-20 laps would have been epic from an entertainment point of view but I too didn’t want it as it could have changed things dramatically…and you never know if you’re going to benefit or not from it!

Mercedes's strategy truly was great but they had good tire degradation! Otherwise it wouldn’t have been possible to go to lap 25 on the softs and then do the same at the end!

So either temperatures played to Mercedes's hands or the updates really helped with tire conservation (probably the former)! Canada will show us what it really was though!

Low temperatures indeed. Then the Mercedes works better, like in Australia indeed. In any case, Mercedes in this race was the clear second team, let’s see what happens in Montreal.

No low temperature on Sunday !
It was warm on the track.

You are confusing with Saturday and qualy weather

I think the track temp was low both days

[Sieper]

also, 5) has probably some truth, as we also saw in previous seasons, and certainlyre last year, that this track showed Merc off better than other tracks.

Ferrari did so well here last year. They qualified 1st and 3rd, And Charles had a good lead till the turbo let go.

Yes, Ferrari is in real trouble. Still, Sainz did what he could. Leclerc is really having it tough now. Ofcourse he is also the guy that can fight for a title, if he has the car. But right now it is falling apart as someone else also stated a few posts up.

I mean, not that they were in it this year, but this is really horrible, especially compared to last year.

[Sieper]

Low temperatures indeed. Then the Mercedes works better, like in Australia indeed. In any case, Mercedes in this race was the clear second team, let’s see what happens in Montreal.

No low temperature on Sunday !
It was warm on the track.

You are confusing with Saturday and qualy weather

I think the track temp was low both days

I think so too, no sun, the constant threat of rain, but to be fair, I don’t know the actual track temps.

[dans79]

I mean, not that they were in it this year, but this is really horrible, especially compared to last year.

Going into Spain last year Charles was leading the wdc 104 to 85. Even with his dnf from the lead and Max winning he was only behind by 6 points when they left Spain.