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yep agreed, just unsure why this has become an issue this weekend
The height of the bumps, high speeds, making the car pressed hard against the roadway. I can't think of any other reason. I daresay a very low tuned car helped Lewis to have more downforce.
Regardless of the stewards decision on the Hamilton and Leclerc cars' eligibility, this was an excellent race for McLaren, notwithstanding Oscar's battles. The tyre deg was pushed to the maximum - as usual - but there were less linear matters to this. The hards lost pace more rapidly on most cars, including McLaren, than the mediums which were able to stay in a reasonable window on full tanks for nearly 20 laps. This kind of mirrored Sainz's sprint race yesterday on softs which held up better than everyone expected. In retrospect, McLaren will probably wish they had tried to, not save two new sets of hards, but at minimum, have a near new set of mediums for the final stint as Lewis had. However I still think the Mercedes had slightly better deg overall, including over RedBull which really didn't show the dominance that we expect.
The result must be very encouraging on this circuit in these temperatures as McLaren could easily been off the podium despite the brilliant start to the race. To be leading at the halfway point and then shadowing Max for several laps after he got past is commendable. Lots to be excited about for McLaren fans! Oscar's start (which the incompetent director never showed) took him from P10 into P6 on the first lap and for a few laps it looked like he might tag onto the top 5. Sadly Occon had a rush of blood to the head and an over-exuberant pass with a car which he had no real fight with resulted in a double retirement - a bit of a Gasly-like aggressive lunge. I offer a retraction if I have judged this wrong as I haven't seen enough coverage (also see above) of the incident to be 100% sure.
For the stats people out there, we now have nailed 4th in the WCC but the above incident has all but ensured that's it in respect of overhauling Ferrari. However Lando, if he keeps scoring podiums every week can realistically get past Leclerc and Sainz and grab 4th in the WCC - but I'm sure he will say that winning is the only one to count.
Without resorting to Mariachi bands and tequila jokes, who has a read on the Hermanos Rodriguez tarmac nest week? High altitude. Temperatures? Pirelli compounds available? Corner characteristics? And any thoughts on our best chance of a win over the next four races? I thought with the cold temperatures on the Nevada Desert at night that Las Vegas may give McLaren the chance to show their tyre warmup advantage, though a lot of development has happened since we got the chance to exhibit that.
Without resorting to Mariachi bands and tequila jokes, who has a read on the Hermanos Rodriguez tarmac nest week? High altitude. Temperatures? Pirelli compounds available? Corner characteristics? And any thoughts on our best chance of a win over the next four races? I thought with the cold temperatures on the Nevada Desert at night that Las Vegas may give McLaren the chance to show their tyre warmup advantage, though a lot of development has happened since we got the chance to exhibit that.
A lot of slow speed corners. It's also one of Lando's worse tracks and he might have to take the engine penalty.
I think our best chances are Interlagos and Abu Dhabi.
We finished where we did based on two big factors (IMHO)
1. Norris' lack of track affinity with COTA.
2. Using two Hards instead of using two mediums.
We needed a longer second stint to go on Mediums on the last stint. P1 was gone the minute we took hards.
Max was clinical and didn't make any glaring errors. Norris' could improve here and there, but he doesn't seem to have a strong affinity for the track either.
Piastri was just unlucky. He had a good start and hounded Max initially. One could only guess how the race could have been different if Piastri had not retired.
I am not surprised to see Ferrari fall off. They seem to focus everything on qualifying.
<-Pike---- Expat American in Guangzhou Native New Orleans
According to the data, the slow corners are what really killed Lando’s chance to get his first win.
Still, P2 after Lewis got DSQ’d is a very nice upgrade for a well fought race.
Dam bad luck for Oscar tho, once again an Alpine clown runs into someone and ruins their race. I don’t care if it’s into their own team mate (cause putting those two hot heads into the same team was plain stupid), but wrecking someone else’s race through careless driving is beyond the pale!
Last edited by djos on 23 Oct 2023, 06:43, edited 1 time in total.
Considering I think Leclerc could've finished ahead of Norris if they had chosen not to attempt a 1-stop, a P2 result and points gained to Merc, Ferrari, and a place in wdc for Norris is exceptional. Bad luck with oscar.
The sprint weekend meant a suboptimal setup. And Ferrari/Merc were not necessarily legal, so the gaps shouldn't be looked at too closely
I think it does indicate that the car prefers smoother tracks however
So, Lando is P6 in the standings, 12 away from Carlos is P5 and 24 away from Fernando in P4, 8 points ahead of Leclerc in P7. A fruitful weekend. Are we certain he needs to take a penalty?
Q: (Stefano Mancini – La Stampa) Kimi, will you help Vettel to win his championship this year?
Kimi Raikkonen: I can only drive one car, obviously.
@2018 Singapore Grand Prix drivers press conference.
So, Lando is P6 in the standings, 12 away from Carlos is P5 and 24 away from Fernando in P4, 8 points ahead of Leclerc in P7. A fruitful weekend. Are we certain he needs to take a penalty?
Fairly certain. He lost an engine at Bahrain and there are 6 sprints this year as well as 22 races so 3 engines to cover that much mileage is a lot
