Manoah2u wrote: ↑25 Jul 2017, 21:06
Ferrari is undoubtedly closing in on grid penalties with their engine and gearbox lifespans. The question will be, when are they going to go and risk getting penalties? The season is just half done, and in the WDC they're more or less tied with Mercedes [Ham], so there's room for a few blows still. But in the WCC they're slipping behind fast, so it's actually becoming a neccesity to get potential worries out of the way so you can benefit when it matters.
That means if during Hungary, RB is looking to be very strong, and Mercedes too, then perhaps you should concede with getting some grid penalties. If the chances are you're going to finish 4th or 5th either way, then better get that out of the way, as they're still fast enough in any case to reach between p4-p6 anyway after taking penalties. Perhaps they'll even get lucky and something happens in front.
The other option is to keep pushing at the limit, and still ending up p4, p5, the same growing difference in the WCC standings, and Hamilton slowly stepping in front of Vettel in the WDC in Hungary and Spa, and then reaching home soil in Italy and needing a grid penalty either way and starting from at best p8 at the start, with little possibility to somehow even end up on the podium.
It would thus be better to serve some penalties in a tactical manner, take it on the chest, manage to get the most out of Hungary and SPA, and then when reaching Italy, you'll have fresh engine to use and perhaps even 'up the wick' alittle and start from P3 the least - perhaps even a P2 or Pole is possible - and then give it all to grab a guaranteed podium or hopefully even beat the Mercs and get P1 [and P2!].
The way Ferrari are doing things now won't get them there. so something must happen, and it must happen fast.
You don't want to have grid penalties in Monza [home crowd], Singapore [risky track], COTA [ i think Favours Ferrari this year] and Mexico [even last year they did rather well there], and then slap yourself in the face when your competitors make errors or get problems which gets you close instead of way ahead in the race.