Cs98 wrote: ↑02 Mar 2024, 21:16
organic wrote: ↑02 Mar 2024, 21:11
Cs98 wrote: ↑02 Mar 2024, 21:10
Actually I don't think it was/is. Don't get me wrong, any time you win by 40s it's illustrative that you have the best car. But Bahrain exaggerated the real gap due to its extreme high deg nature and RB being incredible on tyres. 2023 was a 40s gap with a de-tuned engine and Max driving to a delta. This year the gap is probably half that.
Lec DNFed in 2023 but would've finished around 20-25s back from Max
He was 25s behind when he DNFd and there were 17 laps to go IIRC. So we're definitely talking 30-35 seconds behind Max that race. And that was with Leclerc driving relatively unimpeded for most of the race. Now imagine you had let Leclerc run unimpeded this race behind Max (without brake issues), we're probably talking half the gap we saw in 2023.
I mean Leclerc was also driving the SF23 which if we are being fair was barely run properly early in the season. I think Ferrari have made a step, RB have made a step but slightly smaller.
All in all, I think RB have a solid enough advantage that they can be happy with going forward. I think multiple teams will be fighting for wins here and there but getting better results than what the team achieved in 2023, is too high of an ask even for a team as good as RB.
Most important thing is to have a car to win the championships. I think the RB20 with regular bits and pieces is good enough to accomplish that goal.