GP mentioned about 1. in the radio I think. Ah, and 2. explains the slowish pitstop.
GP mentioned about 1. in the radio I think. Ah, and 2. explains the slowish pitstop.
What indicates that the Red Bull wasn't at least comparable to Mclaren. It was very close on best sector in qualifying. And the race was comfortably managed.f1isgood wrote: ↑06 Apr 2025, 09:01Ok Ben.Ben1980 wrote: ↑06 Apr 2025, 08:56Red Bull qualified 1st and finished the race 1st. Nothing out of the ordinary happened. They were not 3rd quickest.f1isgood wrote: ↑06 Apr 2025, 08:49
I would say Red Bull was third quickest if you went by qualifying. Russell bottled qualifying, and track position was king.
This race was just a repeat of Qatar last year. McLaren's marginally quicker but Max won it by first outqualifying them and by keeping it clean for the entire race.
Lando had a pretty scrappy race. Expected more from him but it's good if they keep fighting with themselves as far as the driver's title goes.
McLaren was over 2 tenths faster on best sectors in quali, and looked to have that advantage in the race as well judging by how close they could drive to Max.
The difference is Lando wasn't driving in clean air, so it was probably easier for Oscar to close on him than it was for Lando to close on Max.euv2 wrote: ↑06 Apr 2025, 09:27The MCL(Piastri) was probably only 0.100 or so faster than Max in the race but Lando definitely didn't have the pace to get into Max's DRS range whereas Piastri was leaving in Lando's DRS range for the 2nd stint of the race, showing that it was clearly possible to follow close just not enough to overtake.
This race was a huge improvement overall by RBR both in qualy and race pace, we'll see if they have finally understood the car and the setup a bit better in the next 2 races.
Cs98 wrote: ↑06 Apr 2025, 09:35The difference is Lando wasn't driving in clean air, so it was probably easier for Oscar to close on him than it was for Lando to close on Max.euv2 wrote: ↑06 Apr 2025, 09:27The MCL(Piastri) was probably only 0.100 or so faster than Max in the race but Lando definitely didn't have the pace to get into Max's DRS range whereas Piastri was leaving in Lando's DRS range for the 2nd stint of the race, showing that it was clearly possible to follow close just not enough to overtake.
This race was a huge improvement overall by RBR both in qualy and race pace, we'll see if they have finally understood the car and the setup a bit better in the next 2 races.
Wasn't Oscar driving in dirty air too ? did that make it easy for Oscar to close the gap into DRS window behind Lando ?Cs98 wrote: ↑06 Apr 2025, 09:35The difference is Lando wasn't driving in clean air, so it was probably easier for Oscar to close on him than it was for Lando to close on Max.euv2 wrote: ↑06 Apr 2025, 09:27The MCL(Piastri) was probably only 0.100 or so faster than Max in the race but Lando definitely didn't have the pace to get into Max's DRS range whereas Piastri was leaving in Lando's DRS range for the 2nd stint of the race, showing that it was clearly possible to follow close just not enough to overtake.
This race was a huge improvement overall by RBR both in qualy and race pace, we'll see if they have finally understood the car and the setup a bit better in the next 2 races.
Dirty air doesn't increase that much further back in the queue, the difference is biggest between the first and second car.AR3-GP wrote: ↑06 Apr 2025, 09:43Cs98 wrote: ↑06 Apr 2025, 09:35The difference is Lando wasn't driving in clean air, so it was probably easier for Oscar to close on him than it was for Lando to close on Max.euv2 wrote: ↑06 Apr 2025, 09:27The MCL(Piastri) was probably only 0.100 or so faster than Max in the race but Lando definitely didn't have the pace to get into Max's DRS range whereas Piastri was leaving in Lando's DRS range for the 2nd stint of the race, showing that it was clearly possible to follow close just not enough to overtake.
This race was a huge improvement overall by RBR both in qualy and race pace, we'll see if they have finally understood the car and the setup a bit better in the next 2 races.
Oscar was driving in the dirty air of 2 cars. There's no reason that it would have been easier for him than it would have been for Norris. Oscar was definitely the faster Mclaren today. Norris was also able to bring the gap down from 2 seconds to 1.1 a few times before he hit the dirty air wall. That Oscar could break into the DRS of Norris just shows how much pace Oscar had in excess compared to Norris.
It's difficult because Russell was stuck behind Leclerc for the entire race, my feeling is that Mclaren had 2-3 tenths. Oscar closer to 3 tenths. Considering the pace overlap with the Ferrari and Russell's inability to pas the Ferrari, I don't think Mercedes had the pace of the Mclaren so they were closer to Max as well. It's tight between Red Bull and Mercedes on pure performance.
agreeAR3-GP wrote: ↑06 Apr 2025, 09:43It's difficult because Russell was stuck behind Leclerc for the entire race, my feeling is that Mclaren had 2-3 tenths. Oscar closer to 3 tenths. Considering the pace overlap with the Ferrari and Russell's inability to pas the Ferrari, I don't think Mercedes had the pace of the Mclaren so they were closer to Max as well. It's tight between Red Bull and Mercedes on pure performance.Cs98 wrote: ↑06 Apr 2025, 09:35The difference is Lando wasn't driving in clean air, so it was probably easier for Oscar to close on him than it was for Lando to close on Max.euv2 wrote: ↑06 Apr 2025, 09:27The MCL(Piastri) was probably only 0.100 or so faster than Max in the race but Lando definitely didn't have the pace to get into Max's DRS range whereas Piastri was leaving in Lando's DRS range for the 2nd stint of the race, showing that it was clearly possible to follow close just not enough to overtake.
This race was a huge improvement overall by RBR both in qualy and race pace, we'll see if they have finally understood the car and the setup a bit better in the next 2 races.
Max had good pace at the end of the race in China too.euv2 wrote: ↑06 Apr 2025, 09:27The MCL(Piastri) was probably only 0.100 or so faster than Max in the race but Lando definitely didn't have the pace to get into Max's DRS range whereas Piastri was leaving in Lando's DRS range for the 2nd stint of the race, showing that it was clearly possible to follow close just not enough to overtake.
This race was a huge improvement overall by RBR both in qualy and race pace, we'll see if they have finally understood the car and the setup a bit better in the next 2 races.
I think difficulty to pass, very few DRS zones and generally not a race-able circuit all made it possible for Max to win today. There is maybe an outside chance of podium at Jeddah but I wouldn't count on it given that the others have much more efficient cars and flexi-rear wings compared to Red Bull. Re Bahrain, Max might get a podium or end up outside the top 4 anything can happen. McLaren could be relatively weak at Jeddah but they should absolutely dominate Bahrain if we go with what we saw in testing.CjC wrote: ↑06 Apr 2025, 10:27Max had good pace at the end of the race in China too.euv2 wrote: ↑06 Apr 2025, 09:27The MCL(Piastri) was probably only 0.100 or so faster than Max in the race but Lando definitely didn't have the pace to get into Max's DRS range whereas Piastri was leaving in Lando's DRS range for the 2nd stint of the race, showing that it was clearly possible to follow close just not enough to overtake.
This race was a huge improvement overall by RBR both in qualy and race pace, we'll see if they have finally understood the car and the setup a bit better in the next 2 races.
I’ll be surprised if Verstappen isn’t leading the championship at some point over the next 2 weeks
Game recognises game.‘Max reminds me of 2012, he is keeping the championship alive with the 3rd or 4th car’
‘I have fought for titles with the third or fourth car and in the end it is difficult, as it was for me. I hope he can fight until the end, but they need to improve the car a bit more. He won four titles so he can fight with a slightly less competitive car.
‘People are not aware of how difficult it is to do perfect grands prix. It reminds me of my 2012, with a car that wasn't that good and we fought for the title, although we didn't win in the end.