2022 Dutch Grand Prix - Zandvoort, Sep 02 - 04

[ringo]

This is one ot the most dominant seasons for any car. We are back to the vettel redbull days.

I'd rather say 2014-2020 ..

For that to happen we need two redbulls qualifying over a second away from the rest of the field at many occasions and both redbulls qualifying in the top 3 every race. I’d rather not.

I think Leclerc is still leading the pole count and Sainz was in the starting top 3 much more often than Perez.

To me this is another kind of domination, certainly helped by Merc not having the car and Ferrari not up to the job as a team, but it is more the sum of the parts than a car that much faster.

Not really. Remembere there are a million ways to skin a cat. Dominance in poles is not required to have a dominant car. As ive said this car was designed to race peerlessly. Poles dont win points. The ferrari f175 is just the Jarno Truli of race cars. Its a one trick pony that has been beaten by mercedes in the race many times now.

[AMG.Tzan]

Can’t really understand why pit Russel!

Because he got a free pit stop?

They should have let him defend from Verstapen and maybe Lewis could escape a bit! At least they would have got away with a 2-3!

No way. With Rus not pitting they would have lost even more.
The simple strategy error was not to pit one of them at the SC deployment. I am not sure why the Merc strategy was not prepared, of course you need to prepare for SC all the time and ask the question if you pit or not. At this time the strategy team has nothing else to do...
If we listen to the team radio the team told Russel at the safety car deployment that they split the strategy and he should stay out. He questioned this several times and wanted the Soft already at the deployment.

With Ham they could have pitted him without loosing to Verstappen due to the gap with Russel. Not sure why they did not do this with Latifi in the middle that would have been easy, but Ham himself wanted to have track position...

he’s never been truly faster than Lewis!

He was.

Russel got a free pit stop true but they could have double stacked right when Verstapen pitted! Instead Verstapen pitted, Hamilton and Russel passed him and then they decided to only pit Russel!

This didn't make much sense and I would call it a mistake by Mercedes! Otherwise they could have pitted Lewis right when Verstapen pitted and Russel the next lap just like they did! So there was space for both drivers to do a free pit stop!

I wouldn't call Mercdes's strategy team bad though! Remember Hungary 2019 and Spain 2021...when you have a fast car you have a lot more options I think and at the end of the day a fast driver with a fast car can make up for a bad strategy decision!

I don't want to eχpand too much on "Russel was faster than Lewis" but the results after Baku (when Mercedes stopped experimenting on Lewis's setup) speak for themselves!
Don't get me wrong though, the guy has been a match for Hamilton and is way better than Bottas specially in terms of racecraft! Should have been in Bottas's seat from 2021 already...

[ringo]

What's interesting is from the begining of the season the redbull fans have said i was trolling for calling the rb18 the best race car.. I have withstood those attacks long enough now to say I told you so. The car was always the best race car. The main reason.. the ability to overtake. That straightline speed is the most important factor that makes the strategies work. And redbull know this and exploit it.
Ferrari looks flashy and nice in qualifying and would sometimes be able to get a rabbit start and steal a win here or there. But at no point beside the first few races they were cruising to wins. Even when we think they had the win in the bag and stuffed it, they stuffed it pretty early out in the race.
The RB18 is the car to have this season and it is a dominant car. When you know you can win from anywhere on track and there is no car that can chase you down on the same strategy you have a dominant cat. Even Perez is enjoying these gifts. He has not been the second best driver this season, but by brute force he will be second when the season is done.
Not to say Max isnt doing a good job. But he has not rival from earlier than we think. And his teammate is his foot stool.
I willl still try to enjoy the racing however. The race was good. And the merc steategies and redbull's were good up to that last point. Ferrari have fizzled and were slower than mercedes.

I think the issue is calling it the dominate car. But and large I think the RB has had the best race car this season but had Ferarri not had its stratagy blunders the gap would likely be quite small. The latest TD seems to have hurt Ferarri which probably has shown up in the last few races.

Had Ferarri had RB or Mercs strategy teams the season would still be very much alive I think RB would still run away with it but not without some pressure, a point where maybe a RB/Max DNF and the pressure would have well and truly been on.

Agreed. The strategy and pit crew added quite a few points to the gap. Ferrari is just nowhere ready. Even with Sainz rear left tyre coming out late was a face palm momemt.

[epo]

What's interesting is from the begining of the season the redbull fans have said i was trolling for calling the rb18 the best race car.. I have withstood those attacks long enough now to say I told you so. The car was always the best race car. The main reason.. the ability to overtake. That straightline speed is the most important factor that makes the strategies work. And redbull know this and exploit it.
Ferrari looks flashy and nice in qualifying and would sometimes be able to get a rabbit start and steal a win here or there. But at no point beside the first few races they were cruising to wins. Even when we think they had the win in the bag and stuffed it, they stuffed it pretty early out in the race.
The RB18 is the car to have this season and it is a dominant car. When you know you can win from anywhere on track and there is no car that can chase you down on the same strategy you have a dominant cat. Even Perez is enjoying these gifts. He has not been the second best driver this season, but by brute force he will be second when the season is done.
Not to say Max isnt doing a good job. But he has not rival from earlier than we think. And his teammate is his foot stool.
I willl still try to enjoy the racing however. The race was good. And the merc steategies and redbull's were good up to that last point. Ferrari have fizzled and were slower than mercedes.

I think the issue is calling it the dominate car. But and large I think the RB has had the best race car this season but had Ferarri not had its stratagy blunders the gap would likely be quite small. The latest TD seems to have hurt Ferarri which probably has shown up in the last few races.

Had Ferarri had RB or Mercs strategy teams the season would still be very much alive I think RB would still run away with it but not without some pressure, a point where maybe a RB/Max DNF and the pressure would have well and truly been on.

Agreed. The strategy and pit crew added quite a few points to the gap. Ferrari is just nowhere ready. Even with Sainz rear left tyre coming out late was a face palm momemt.

Your reasoning is just terrible, I mentioned this before you always have to tell people if Max wins it is because of the car not his talent. Basically always playing him down if there is an opportunity, I can remember when Perez was doing awesome in Qualifying and you here shouting Perez should be nr1 driver and that stuff. Or I can even remember last year you wouldn't mind to see Max crash.
Anyways if your Hamilton wins it is because of his vision, his race craft and not the car.
You remind me of Sam Collins, he is always trying to find something to play things down when Max wins.

[Big Tea]

These cars never had so much clownery for competition.
Barichello, Bottas, Rosberg were better teamates too

True!

Verstapen has got Ferrari, Mercedes and Perez all either being not fast enough or doing strategic mistakes! Look at Spa…Perez started at the front and Max got him by lap 10 with exactly the same car! This never happened with Hamilton and Bottas or Rozberg or even Schumacher and Barrichello!

The Vettel - Red Bull days were by far the worst domination period for F1! A team so arrogant while winning, always having a beloved child and a number 2 driver who always looked not fast enough for the team!

Don’t get me wrong, Verstapen is a much better driver than Vettel was back then but the absence of any competition makes it way more boring…

Perez doesnt have the same car at this point.
They team gave him a little dignity at the begining to see what he could do. They have moved past the honeymoon stage now and thrown their weight fully behind Max. Perez services are no longer required. He is only needed to test the waters on the track with hard tyres. Max will have all the cars upgrades fitting him like an orange bikini.

One would have to ask though why the team would not give him the best possible car?
In a head to head with Max, we all know who would win 99 times out of 100, so why deprive Checo of armament against the other competitors?

Surely Red Bull would be happier with their drivers 1&2 than 1&4 or 5? What could they loose by giving him equal against what they could gain?

(edit) By the same token though, if Checo was happier with the car earlier in the season why would he have to drive a later version of it if was still competitive, which judging by his performance at the time, it would be.

[SirBastianVettel]

No race thread for Monza yet? Is the triple header taking its toll on @MtthsMlw?

[Wouter]

Here's the person who launched the conspiracy theory about AlphaTauri and RBR into the world. He is a huge Lewis fan.

Yesterday .....

Today .....

[Juzh]

You remind me of Sam Collins, he is always trying to find something to play things down when Max wins.

That dude is unbearable, but he's not only against max, anything to do with RB that isn't about Perez is a no-go for him. I remember this one specific case when he was telling everyone RB screwed Perez back in France 2021, saying over and over how they "sold him down the river" with the strategy. Lo and behold the strategy chosen for Perez turned out to be the best one, allowing him to overtake bottas towards the end and he completely forgot Verstappen had to pit to prevent bottas undercut, and undercut hamilton himself as it turned out. But no, because Perez was left out they sold him out.

Just a week ago in belgium he said Verstappen himself chose "not to help" Perez with slipstream because top drivers are selfish in nature lol
Peak comedy from the guy. This year must be hard for him.

[Watto]

I think the issue is calling it the dominate car. But and large I think the RB has had the best race car this season but had Ferarri not had its stratagy blunders the gap would likely be quite small. The latest TD seems to have hurt Ferarri which probably has shown up in the last few races.

Had Ferarri had RB or Mercs strategy teams the season would still be very much alive I think RB would still run away with it but not without some pressure, a point where maybe a RB/Max DNF and the pressure would have well and truly been on.

Agreed. The strategy and pit crew added quite a few points to the gap. Ferrari is just nowhere ready. Even with Sainz rear left tyre coming out late was a face palm momemt.

Your reasoning is just terrible, I mentioned this before you always have to tell people if Max wins it is because of the car not his talent. Basically always playing him down if there is an opportunity, I can remember when Perez was doing awesome in Qualifying and you here shouting Perez should be nr1 driver and that stuff. Or I can even remember last year you wouldn't mind to see Max crash.
Anyways if your Hamilton wins it is because of his vision, his race craft and not the car.
You remind me of Sam Collins, he is always trying to find something to play things down when Max wins.

I think Max and Lewis are simular in that while they have each had the best cars. They make so few mistakes.

Max detractors look at his crashes etc and early in his career he made a lot of them the last few though he has been super consistent. Much like Lewis. They've both pretty convincingly out performed their team mates. Had some races where that was not the case but overall...

They are different style drivers, but both a ton of talent.

[GrizzleBoy]

Here's the person who launched the conspiracy theory about AlphaTauri and RBR into the world. He is a huge Lewis fan.

Yesterday .....

Today .....

In the end of the second video, you can hear that Tsunoda tells the garage that the diff is broken before he gets back to the pits after he stopped the first time.

[101FlyingDutchman]

What's interesting is from the begining of the season the redbull fans have said i was trolling for calling the rb18 the best race car.. I have withstood those attacks long enough now to say I told you so. The car was always the best race car. The main reason.. the ability to overtake. That straightline speed is the most important factor that makes the strategies work. And redbull know this and exploit it.
Ferrari looks flashy and nice in qualifying and would sometimes be able to get a rabbit start and steal a win here or there. But at no point beside the first few races they were cruising to wins. Even when we think they had the win in the bag and stuffed it, they stuffed it pretty early out in the race.
The RB18 is the car to have this season and it is a dominant car. When you know you can win from anywhere on track and there is no car that can chase you down on the same strategy you have a dominant cat. Even Perez is enjoying these gifts. He has not been the second best driver this season, but by brute force he will be second when the season is done.
Not to say Max isnt doing a good job. But he has not rival from earlier than we think. And his teammate is his foot stool.
I willl still try to enjoy the racing however. The race was good. And the merc steategies and redbull's were good up to that last point. Ferrari have fizzled and were slower than mercedes.

I think the issue is calling it the dominate car. But and large I think the RB has had the best race car this season but had Ferarri not had its stratagy blunders the gap would likely be quite small. The latest TD seems to have hurt Ferarri which probably has shown up in the last few races.

Had Ferarri had RB or Mercs strategy teams the season would still be very much alive I think RB would still run away with it but not without some pressure, a point where maybe a RB/Max DNF and the pressure would have well and truly been on.

Great reply. And it’s exactly what has been happening. To call the RB18 Pre summer break “dominant” really is stretching what that word actually means. Realistically Mercedes should have won Zandvoort, if it wasn’t for the VSC/SC and tyre strat & restart error. So many races with LEC in the lead Pre summer break.

The only dominant display I’ve seen has been Spa. At all other circuits it’s been close and often the RB18 hasn’t been the fastest. What Red Bull and Max really HAVE done well is optimising every single race. Either by quick overtakes / other team errors etc. They’ve outshone the competition with pure racing savvy. You’re seeing a DOMINANT team performance but the car really hasn’t been that dominant.

[Big Tea]

Dont click vids like this, it is why they are there.

[saviour stivala]

Yes. I read that 'wrong motor mode selection chosen' news this morning, but not at AMuS.

[wogx]

[organic]

Twitter was a mistake