I take it all those fast laps were without drs? I'm impressed with Max's top speed.mwillems wrote: ↑08 Oct 2023, 22:04In the fastest laps for Max, Lando and Oscar, the difference was only in top speed, over the rest of the lap it was comparable.
https://i.ibb.co/j84ZZ3M/Fastest-Lap-Qatar.png
I'll tell you more, for the most part I only followed Leclerc for the first half of the race, then switched my attention to Lando and Oscar. Then I look at the final minutes and I don't understand how Lando and Charles got 30 seconds between them. That's impressive, too.Emag wrote: ↑08 Oct 2023, 21:40Looking at post race interviews, Leclerc acknowledged that they did not expect McLaren to be as strong as they were here. With kind of a shocked face when prompted by the interviewer regarding McLaren's pace he said "McLaren is very strong".
Post race, even though he finished behind Russell, he asked for the gap to McLaren. When his engineer told him it was over 30s, his response was "Oh my god".
Ferrari is a bit too far to catch at this point, but still, it feels good to be acknowledged by a team which started last year as the favorite for the championship, and also this year, has been completely out of reach for the better part of the season for McLaren.
I didn't look, certainly we were comparable in all the corners, Max probably had DRS on the straight, he was so much faster than us.LionsHeart wrote: ↑08 Oct 2023, 22:07I take it all those fast laps were without drs? I'm impressed with Max's top speed.mwillems wrote: ↑08 Oct 2023, 22:04In the fastest laps for Max, Lando and Oscar, the difference was only in top speed, over the rest of the lap it was comparable.
https://i.ibb.co/j84ZZ3M/Fastest-Lap-Qatar.png
Makes you wonder if Mclaren will bring the end to Checo's RB career.
Remember that Leclerc/Sainz were saying after Japan that they will be worried if McLaren is as fast in Qatar as it was in Japan. They felt it was track specific and that Ferrari will bounce back. I guess they are worried now.Emag wrote: ↑08 Oct 2023, 21:40Looking at post race interviews, Leclerc acknowledged that they did not expect McLaren to be as strong as they were here. With kind of a shocked face when prompted by the interviewer regarding McLaren's pace he said "McLaren is very strong".
Post race, even though he finished behind Russell, he asked for the gap to McLaren. When his engineer told him it was over 30s, his response was "Oh my god".
Ferrari is a bit too far to catch at this point, but still, it feels good to be acknowledged by a team which started last year as the favorite for the championship, and also this year, has been completely out of reach for the better part of the season for McLaren.
This is what I was thinking earlier this season. Red Bull had such a dominant season that Perez being weak did not put Verstappen under pressure - he had such a gap each race he could easily win alone. If McLaren or other team can be in the ballpark at the start of next season, they could put Verstappen under pressure by being able to run two different strategies. Red Bull may need to do some hard thinking whether to replace Perez after the season or maybe have a backup plan if the season starts without a big advantage for them.
We have gained 40% or 30 points more than RB since and including Singapore. If it stays like this then next year we would win the constructors.FittingMechanics wrote: ↑08 Oct 2023, 22:19Remember that Leclerc/Sainz were saying after Japan that they will be worried if McLaren is as fast in Qatar as it was in Japan. They felt it was track specific and that Ferrari will bounce back. I guess they are worried now.Emag wrote: ↑08 Oct 2023, 21:40Looking at post race interviews, Leclerc acknowledged that they did not expect McLaren to be as strong as they were here. With kind of a shocked face when prompted by the interviewer regarding McLaren's pace he said "McLaren is very strong".
Post race, even though he finished behind Russell, he asked for the gap to McLaren. When his engineer told him it was over 30s, his response was "Oh my god".
Ferrari is a bit too far to catch at this point, but still, it feels good to be acknowledged by a team which started last year as the favorite for the championship, and also this year, has been completely out of reach for the better part of the season for McLaren.
I think the car made a big jump in Singapore - they probably have second best car on all tracks now.
How can they keep him when on the basis of these three races they will struggle to retain the constructors? Some tough choices at the end of the year, good job we have both our guys tied down. We need to get Lando tied down now if he's happy to sign a new deal.FittingMechanics wrote: ↑08 Oct 2023, 22:19Remember that Leclerc/Sainz were saying after Japan that they will be worried if McLaren is as fast in Qatar as it was in Japan. They felt it was track specific and that Ferrari will bounce back. I guess they are worried now.Emag wrote: ↑08 Oct 2023, 21:40Looking at post race interviews, Leclerc acknowledged that they did not expect McLaren to be as strong as they were here. With kind of a shocked face when prompted by the interviewer regarding McLaren's pace he said "McLaren is very strong".
Post race, even though he finished behind Russell, he asked for the gap to McLaren. When his engineer told him it was over 30s, his response was "Oh my god".
Ferrari is a bit too far to catch at this point, but still, it feels good to be acknowledged by a team which started last year as the favorite for the championship, and also this year, has been completely out of reach for the better part of the season for McLaren.
I think the car made a big jump in Singapore - they probably have second best car on all tracks now.
This is what I was thinking earlier this season. Red Bull had such a dominant season that Perez being weak did not put Verstappen under pressure - he had such a gap each race he could easily win alone. If McLaren or other team can be in the ballpark at the start of next season, they could put Verstappen under pressure by being able to run two different strategies. Red Bull may need to do some hard thinking whether to replace Perez after the season or maybe have a backup plan if the season starts without a big advantage for them.
They probably started development on 2024 car earlier than McLaren.
Ver had drs off of tsunodaLionsHeart wrote: ↑08 Oct 2023, 22:07I take it all those fast laps were without drs? I'm impressed with Max's top speed.mwillems wrote: ↑08 Oct 2023, 22:04In the fastest laps for Max, Lando and Oscar, the difference was only in top speed, over the rest of the lap it was comparable.
https://i.ibb.co/j84ZZ3M/Fastest-Lap-Qatar.png
