deadhead wrote: ↑03 Mar 2024, 22:58
f1316 wrote: ↑03 Mar 2024, 20:48
CHT wrote: ↑03 Mar 2024, 14:42
I am comparing to Charles. As for LH what we have been hearing very regularly these days is him talking about chosing the wrong setup while GR got it right. Coming from a 7WDC, I sometimes question if LH can contribute much to Ferrari on setup and development.
I’m loathe to get drawn into any Sainz vs Leclerc debates - really all I care about is Ferrari - but I don’t agree that Sainz has better racecraft. I think he’s a smart, thinking driver but lacks an edge in pace and is usually slower over a stint and not quite as good with measured aggression in overtakes/defence as Charles (although he’s certainly not at all bad on the offensive side, as he showed yesterday).
If I could use an analogy: Max for me is like Michael, Charles is like Hakkinen and Carlos is like Coulthard. It’s possible that Mika was a slightly better qualifier than Michael (possible not clear - same with Max/Charles) but Michael could do those quali laps throughout an entire race and with rarely an error. Mika, on the other hand, was massively fast and could fly in a fast car that he liked, but almost through away a title to Irvine due to mistakes (I feel this way about Charles - give him the right car and he could beat Max to a title but Max will almost maximise more and make fewer mistake). Coulthard had his days when he beat Mika and was a genuinely top racing driver; he wasn’t *quite* in the elite group though and it showed over time against first Mika and then Kimi.
Obviously these analogies only go so far - they’re all different people - but it’s how I see the basics of this conversation fwiw.
VER made plenty of mistakes with slow cars tho.. I'm yet to see how LEC does in a championship winning machinery. I saw a small glimpse at the beggining of 2022, and that wasn't bad at all, besides that one mistake in the wet at Imola.
If LEC continous to be mistake prone in a championship winning car, then yes, I would agree with you..
I am not here to compare Charles Vs Sainz, just highlighting a potential problem Vasseur may have in 2025 if Sainz has a great year in 2024 while LH can't live up to all the hype and expectations in 2025. I think Sainz as a driver has improved a lot while driving for Ferrari and he is still improving.
The LH / Ferrari package does look great on paper, but I think the timing may be 1 year too late. 2025 is the penultimate year for current technical regulation and both Ferrari and LH will likely have to spend a fair bit of time in 2025 on media, commercial, and sponsor engagement, and also allocating a fair bit of time for engineers and LH to learn and adjust to each other while focusing on their 2026 campaign.
LH has been driving "LH's spec" car in Merc for over a decade, hence it's likely he may face some difficulties adjusting to Charles's spec Ferrari although some may say they both have similar driving styles. For this reason, LH could turn out to be a distraction since he will likely request to have a 2026 car designed to be closer to Merc and his preference. Ferrari will then face a dilemma to decide if they should adopt LH's input or focus on Ferrari's DNA and concept.
2025 is an important year for Ferrari, if Vasseur can't turn things around in 2026, the axe will certainly fall on him.
As for LH, driving for Ferrari will put him under tremendous pressure to deliver, and I fear that if RB20's zeropod design upgrade turns out to be a winner, LH's confidence will be rattled and he may end up retiring earlier than expected.