FittingMechanics wrote: ↑20 Oct 2024, 23:56
mwillems wrote: ↑20 Oct 2024, 23:14
It was his corner, it wasn't even close, he was half a car length ahead at the apex and owned the line.
Max is just brilliant, that's all that happened today. The better driver won.
But he was "half a car length ahead" because he let his brakes off. Anyone can be ahead at the apex if they don't need to make the corner. Imagine if Norris divebombs from far and doesn't brake well enough and forces both of them to go wide. Would that be Lando's corner and Verstappen needs to yield? Surely not.
Max is able to utilize this method when defending. He senses that the other driver is close to taking the corner first, instead of braking and giving the other driver space on the outside as it would be required, Max brakes less so that he gets to the apex first and then forces the other driver off. It doesn't really matter if Max makes the corner or not (at least so far) because a) he is first at the apex because he braked less b) other driver goes off as well.
Yep, poor rules, they allow you to go off when you are fighting and not get a track limits.
Totally agree with the fact the rules have the change (Although there would still be grey areas), but as they stand, the job of the driver is to use those rules to their advantage and Max does that better time and again, whilst sometimes going over the limit. Norris doesn't seem to drive in that same way. But you can drive on the edge and be in the rules, something Hamilton would do.