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After watching Palmer analyze turn 1 situation with Oscar and Max I have to say I'm convinced the ruling was fair.
Contrary to my initial feeling that Max could make the corner without Oscar there, it now seems obvious he could not as he carried more speed than on his pole lap.
I didn't wait Palmer or anyone to show that Max released the brakes just to try to be ahead for the rules to be in his favor. It's classic Max move but all the rest drivers learned that and anticipate it so Kudos to Oscar for the perfect execution.
The only thing that is missing is that FIA needs to be swift by telling the offensive driver to give the place back or else the penalty will be more than 5 sec. The current 5 sec is a joke really and we saw that in Sunday where RB simply didn't care for this small penalty in the grand scheme to run in free air and make Piastri tyres overheat.
Lamenting about not being much in it doesn’t take away that they should have dominated everything. James Allison said 2 tenths is all you need to have an easy season.
Conflating Mclarens dominance with the driver sensitivities is a mistake imo.
Anyway it’s an old discussion because teams don’t stand still in F1. The gap to Mclaren could grow or it could shrink. The future may be different to the past.
But I'm.only taling about the past. Nor was i conflating dominance with the driver. Simply pointing out that the peak speed that gets people's knickers wet came at a cost. It is all part of the cars traits. You can't look at the peak and ignore what it might do when you chase it.
I think this suggest that you think Oscar doesn't drive at the peak so doesn't have issues? Maybe Oscar drives at the peak, and Lando drives over it (and falls off).
I did write this earlier, yeah. I said I didn't know if it was good management, driving style or that he's slower. Likely a mix.
But whatever the reason, his speed and approach appears to be the way to consistently get near the peak.
So much bouncing round on the Max penalty. I'm struggling to see how he didn't gain any advantage. He wasn't forced off either. He could have slowed down, and maybe lost a place or 2. But didn't.
So much bouncing round on the Max penalty. I'm struggling to see how he didn't gain any advantage. He wasn't forced off either. He could have slowed down, and maybe lost a place or 2. But didn't.
Yeah, it's not like Piastri wasn't already alongside. If he came from a long way back and then forced Max off, ok, but he didn't.
Max is just moaning after being on the receiving end of moves he has pulled countless times and not been reprimanded for. This type of thing should have been stamped out quick in 2021 and it wasn't.
Horner hails ‘most competitive race to date’ for Red Bull as he insists 'we were quicker' than McLaren in Jeddah.
“We’ll take encouragement from this race that on both the medium and hard tyres, I’m sure the analysis will show that we were quicker than them.”
Horner hails ‘most competitive race to date’ for Red Bull as he insists 'we were quicker' than McLaren in Jeddah.
“We’ll take encouragement from this race that on both the medium and hard tyres, I’m sure the analysis will show that we were quicker than them.”
And yet when they asked Oscar in the official press conference he said that Mclaren was still quicker….
I hope for Horners sake he takes into account the back makers- Stroll in particular who had just pitted for Mediums which allowed him to lap a few tenths of Oscar effectively making Oscar case down a car doing front running pace in dirty air for 10 laps (Stroll pitted on lap 40)
After watching Palmer analyze turn 1 situation with Oscar and Max I have to say I'm convinced the ruling was fair.
Contrary to my initial feeling that Max could make the corner without Oscar there, it now seems obvious he could not as he carried more speed than on his pole lap.
I didn't wait Palmer or anyone to show that Max released the brakes just to try to be ahead for the rules to be in his favor. It's classic Max move but all the rest drivers learned that and anticipate it so Kudos to Oscar for the perfect execution.
The only thing that is missing is that FIA needs to be swift by telling the offensive driver to give the place back or else the penalty will be more than 5 sec. The current 5 sec is a joke really and we saw that in Sunday where RB simply didn't care for this small penalty in the grand scheme to run in free air and make Piastri tyres overheat.
If you base it on telemetry data alone, then Max would have made the corner. The speed wasn't unreasonable, but only if you assume Max had the ideal line available to him. And he didn't because Oscar was on the inside. Just because of the compromised line, I don't believe Max would have made that corner. I don't think he had any intention in making the corner after the apex anyway. Once he realized Oscar had a better start and was heading to the corner first, his entire intention was to stay alongside / ahead Oscar to make his case.
I also think the new driver's guidelines this year have been tweaked in a way that gives the overtaking car an advantage and these changes were discussed last year after what happened at Texas and Mexico. So it's not exactly surprising. The problem was that the defending car could maintain the position just by braking late enough to make it ahead at the apex with no care whether they made the corner at the exit or not.
It will not be like that going forward and it seems for the overtaking car, having the front axle at the very least alongside the wingmirror, entitles that car to the corner. I suppose another course of action was available for Max, and that was to try and make the corner ignoring Oscar and leave it up to him to either understeer and crash into Max, or back off slightly to not crash. A dnf is not good for Max at this stage of the season though, so obviously he wouldn't go for that. I am pretty sure they would have ended up like Gasly and Tsunoda if that happened.
What was super crucial in this instance was that Oscar got to the inside. As we know from Lando's battles last year, going round the outside of Max tends not to end well.
Lando suggesting he is putting pressure on himself to be perfect and suggests he needs to take it down a level. Precisely what I've been saying. He's faster than Oscar, but as long as he tries to take this car to.its bleeding edge, he'll have issues. Hopefully he'll trust that he can balance the risk and still be faster than Oscar.
I’m probably putting a bit too much pressure on myself at the minute, not because of any [particular] reason, and not because of the championship and all these things. I just put too much pressure on myself because I want to do well, like I want to do so well.
“I want to be pole, I want to win, I want to be perfect, and I think I need to accept a little bit more that I’m not going to be perfect, and I’m making mistakes because I’m trying to be perfect, rather than the other way around.”
Lando suggesting he is putting pressure on himself to be perfect and suggests he needs to take it down a level. Precisely what I've been saying. He's faster than Oscar, but as long as he tries to take this car to.its bleeding edge, he'll have issues. Hopefully he'll trust that he can balance the risk and still be faster than Oscar.
I’m probably putting a bit too much pressure on myself at the minute, not because of any [particular] reason, and not because of the championship and all these things. I just put too much pressure on myself because I want to do well, like I want to do so well.
“I want to be pole, I want to win, I want to be perfect, and I think I need to accept a little bit more that I’m not going to be perfect, and I’m making mistakes because I’m trying to be perfect, rather than the other way around.”
All that we can rely on are the performances on the track and the points. Anything else is "if my mom had...." Lando can say whatever he wants, but I think we should also respect Oscar. He is the one with 3 wins and the championship lead and there's plenty of evidence to say he is the faster one right now. Lando's coulda,shoulda,woulda laps don't count. How long will we hold over Oscar's head that Lando is the faster one. I think it's not a question that needs an answer. We should let the championship speak for itself.
I respect Oscar, he's probably the Mclaren driver I'd keep, if forced to choose. But Lando is faster, and if he could sort out his mental approach then he'd be golden.
I also respect than Lando appears to still have half a tenth to a tenth gap to Oscar when not overdriving, this has been evident on track, in races, FPs... Q1 and Q2 for the main part. It's not without significance that Q3 can be more problematic.
I respect Oscar, he's probably the Mclaren driver I'd keep, if forced to choose. But Lando is faster, and if he could sort out his mental approach then he'd be golden.
I also respect than Lando appears to still have half a tenth to a tenth gap to Oscar when not overdriving, this has been evident on track, in races, FPs... Q1 and Q2 for the main part. It's not without significance that Q3 can be more problematic.
Is he really faster though, or just taking bigger risks? I’d take a driver who can drive at 100% for 100% of the time, than a driver who can push themselves to 110% for 90% of the time. Because consistency and being there when it counts is what wins championships.
I think so. In general he seems able to get a little more from the car, he just seems to struggle when it counts . The better drivers can be on the edge, consistently without going over the wrong side of the line. It feels like it's more common for him to go over the line this year. The car doesn't help because it has a lot of speed if you'll take a risk, but the risk is a gamble that sometimes causes big losses with this car, I think. Certainly you don't go way beyond your previous limits at T4 on your first Q3 lap. If you're going to push it, tease it out over the laps, not go all or nothing before you've got a banker in, knowing that it is hard to sense the edge when driving this car.
