Vinlarr89 wrote: ↑07 Apr 2024, 09:24
Xyz22 wrote: ↑07 Apr 2024, 09:16
Vinlarr89 wrote: ↑07 Apr 2024, 09:11
Why!?! They extracted the absolute maximum result vs the RBR team! And proved that despite a poor quali the team can regain places through maximising the strengths of the car (tyre wear)
Indeed. We need to improve quali, we can’t start that much behind.
Leclerc especially needs to get on top of it.
The race was really good but frustrating due to the bad performance yesterday
I see it as a massive positive. Last year we started on pole or second most weekends, waiting for the inevitable slip down the order because there was no race pace in the car. On top of this we were only .4 secs off RBR and they’ve had their first upgrades. But that being said, .4 is still a significant gap to close. Charles first stint though
I don’t even think 4 tenths is accurate on pure race pace because the nature of the grid positions amplified that. For Carlos, he lost time to Perez at every pit stop because he came out behind more cars he had to overtake - he also had a harder time overtaking (I still think RB has a bigger DRS effect but different conversation). In clear air there was almost nothing to choose between him and Checo in actual pace, which is insane for a track like this.
I’d argue Charles’ gap could potentially have been even less. By the time he got free air at the start of the race, he was 17 seconds behind Max; he lost another 9 seconds in the remainder of the race. Yes, he stopped one fewer time but that’s part of the picture - it doesn’t negate the overall race time delta. That’s about 0.2 seconds per lap vs Max. And while the one stopper was the right strategy from where Charles was, it wasn’t the optimal strategy for total race time. I honestly think his genuine pace would have pushed Max close in a straight fight.
They know they still need a step to put it all together but I’m now feeling quite bullish about China - this may not be ferrari’s ideal track either but it’s not a bogey track like Suzuka. If they can do this kind of pace in Suzuka I think they can fight for the win elsewhere.