2017 Hungarian Grand Prix - Hungaroring, 28-30 July

[Edax]

So what if you say this before a race:

https://www.motorsport.com/f1/news/ricc ... 36107/?s=1

End up saying this after a race:

https://www.motorsport.com/f1/news/ricc ... sh-936544/

Sorry , you never planned to give anyone space as well not even your team mate who qualified before you
Typical Red Bull drivers , trying to safe their seat or get replaced.

I wont miss that disgusting shoe drinking stuff anyway , so immature

There is a difference between aggressive driving, and making a silly mistake due to being unwilling to see when you lost a position.

And the shoe is irrelevant here.

A mistake certainly, but silly?

I think ves actually had a reasonable chance of holding his position. He was still alongside Ric with an inside line, and Ric keeping the gap open. It is not like he divebombed in a closing wedge from three car lengths back, there was an opportunity and a gap. And there was also a need since this place is horrible to pass.

That he couldn't make it work and washed out is his mistake, and the penalty is IMO justified. But I don't think many drivers would have simply yielded that position, even to a teammate.

[ferkan]

So Ferrari should have maximized result of driver that is only in champ battle on mathematical level instead of safe 1-2? Lol

[NathanOlder]

No arguments against Max's action being a mistake, but Bottas did take Max and Kimi out in Barcelona without penalties?

people keep saying Bottas took people out in Barcelona, he didn't, if anyone did Kimi did. Rewatch it, Bottas is ahead of Kimi then alongside, he's on the inside yet Kimi moves his tires extremely close to the curb and Bottas is forced across the curb and pretty much off track. But he was on the inside, he had every right to be there and also couldn't magically disappear. If Kimi didn't crowd him and dive for the apex they'd have all made it through the corner just fine.

The contact happened because of Kimi, not Bottas. Max was close to Kimi but again if you watch it he didn't push Kimi, he just followed Kimi's turn in, so if Kimi turned in leaving a car's width on the inside, Verstappen wouldn't have turned in as far either. Verstappen had no idea Bottas was on Kimi's inside but Kimi 100% knew, he was behind him going into the braking zone and there was no chance Bottas wouldn't be inside him.

For months I've seen Bottas be accused of taking Kimi out multiple times this year and it's just crazy. Bottas on the inside and Kimi cuts towards the apex. Frankly Kimi and Vettel have made numerous horrible turn ins for the first corner of a race in the past couple of years and hit multiple people as a result, Kvyat in Hungary when Kimi turned into Seb who turned into Kvyat. Verstappen on the inside of Kimi in Spa and Vettel turned in on a tight line needlessly.

If you enter the corner with a guy on the inside, stay on the middle of the track, don't change lines. Each incident is a case of that, Hungary Kimi went way wide, plenty of space for Kvyat and Vettel, Kimi cuts in to a tight line for no reason. Spa, Vettel was way wide, space for Kimi and Verstappen, Vettel decides to move to the middle of the track rather than stay outside, Spain this year, Kimi starts in the middle and decides to cut towards the apex.

This is one thing I want to see penalised heavily despite being turn one incidents, if you start on a line into the first corner stay on that line. Think back to Massa in Germany in 2014, Mag was it and Massa alongside each other, Bottas ahead, Massa starts outside but cuts to the apex and ends up flipping himself over. Yet about 5 other pairs of cars followed through that corner, when the guy on the outside decides if he can see a guy alongside him or not, to stay on the outside through the corner, no incident.

Bottas was definitely much more to blame in Baku though it's just a tough corner and that inner curb really shouldn't be there but it is so Bottas should have slowed more. But Barcelona was entirely Kimi's fault. Today going through t1, Verstappen went wide and then due to a slight brake by Vettel had to go a little wider to avoid Kimi, but Vettel, Kimi, Bottas and Hamilton all basically stayed on the same line following each other, Ricciardo went for the inside, no one changed line midcorner and there were no accidents, that isn't a coincidence. There should be a rule that whatever line you pick you stick to in the first corner.

EDIT:- https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=KS2BUVrDNTI

change the speed so you can see but, if you look behind Kimi you see several other pairs of cars enter the corner together and the key reason there was no other contact is those who entered the corner with a guy on the inside stayed in the middle of the track through the corner. Kimi was the sole driver who entered the corner with a guy on the inside, started in the middle of the track but switched lines during the corner and that was the sole accident in that corner at the start of the race.

+1

And Bottas didnt get penalties because no ones race was ended there and then. Yesterday saw Max Smash into a competitor in a desperately late braking move and ended the other guys race instantly. You MUST 100% be penalised for this!

Bottas didn't do that in Spain or Baku.

[sosic2121]

A mistake certainly, but silly?

I think ves actually had a reasonable chance of holding his position. He was still alongside Ric with an inside line, and Ric keeping the gap open. It is not like he divebombed in a closing wedge from three car lengths back, there was an opportunity and a gap. And there was also a need since this place is horrible to pass.

That he couldn't make it work and washed out is his mistake, and the penalty is IMO justified. But I don't think many drivers would have simply yielded that position, even to a teammate.

He was behind. that's it.
Only reason he he was next to ric in the corner was because he braked late, obviously too late.
He went in too aggressive and ran out of talent.
IMO it wasn't silly, it was stupid.

[Phil]

Finally, well said. I was sitting back, flabbergasted, thinking "wait a minute, are people actually complaining about ferrari not issuing team orders, but happy with mercs doing so?

So it's a team-order when a team openly tells both their drivers to swap positions, but it's not a "team-order" when a team is doing everything possible to protect their one driver in the lead from their 2nd driver who is evidently faster from passing him?



AMuS already has the analysis that to pit Kimi a lap after Vettel was bad, as Kimi had a lot of pace on that tire and had he stayed out just a lap longer, might have actually gotten ahead of Vettel. Kimi even came on the radio after the pitstop questioning the timing of that stop, as he didn't understand it, even if it was quite evident to the rest of the world as to what was going on...

http://www.auto-motor-und-sport.de/form ... 97159.html

Agree with you about the potential bottas and hamilton battle. As far as team orders are concerned, Kimi never asked to be let through as he himself specifically pointed out in the interview with sky when the reporter tried to sneakily suggest that he did. So if kimi didn't ask to be let through, then it would have been team orders if ferrari ordered seb to let him through, which they didn't. As for bringing kimi in when they did, kimi did 1.23.7 on his in lap and a 1.22.7 on the lap prior to his in lap (the lap seb pitted), while the mercs were doing high 1.21's and low 1.22's on their fresh rubber, so you can understand why ferrari were concerned and pitted him, afterall they were racing the mercs first. Kimi pretty much acknowledged that the team had the bigger picture and accepted it later in his ferrari post race comments.

Look at this:

Lap26 VET 1:22.386 -> RAI 1:22.442 -> BOT -> 1:22.632
Lap27 VET 1:22.550 -> RAI 1:22.509 -> BOT -> 1:22.675
Lap28 VET 1:23.079 -> RAI 1:22.675 -> BOT -> 1:22.439
Lap29 VET 1:23.447 -> RAI 1:23.157 -> BOT -> 1:22.791
Lap30 VET 1:22.592 -> RAI 1:22.744 -> BOT -> 1:25.008P (<-- BOT pit, was 7.487s behind VET, 6.292s behind RAI)
Lap31 VET 1:23.665 -> RAI 1:23.733 -> BOT -> 1:41.001O (<-- BOT pit and outlap, VET -> RAI gap at 1.415s)
Lap32 VET 1:25.390P -> RAI 1:22.701 -> BOT -> 1:21.656 (<-- VET pit)
Lap33 VET 1:39.996O -> RAI 1:23.778P -> BOT -> 1:21.264 (<-- RAI pit)
Lap34 VET 1:21.993 -> RAI 1:40.609O -> BOT -> 1:22.149
Lap35 VET 1:22.785 -> RAI 1:22.839 -> BOT -> 1:22.367
Lap36 VET 1:23.090 -> RAI 1:23.352 -> BOT -> 1:22.566
Lap37 VET 1:22.483 -> RAI 1:22.832 -> BOT -> 1:23.071

I didn't include the gaps between VET and RAI, but for all intends and purpose, it was hovering between 1.0 and 1.5s after Lap28. The gap from RAI to BOT was at the point of him pitting at 6.292s.

Vettel last complete lap before pitting was a 1:23.665. Then on Lap32, Vettel pitted with a time of 1:25.390. That very same lap, Kimi was released within that last stretch of that lap and completed that same lap with a 1:22.701 (9 tenths faster than Vettel on his previous lap).

Lap33, Vettel is inside the pits and drives out plus has his outlap and completed all that within a 1:39.996. That same lap, RAI was called into the pits, his IN-LAP being a 1:23.778. That was more than 1.5s faster than what Vettel did on his. I don't have the sector times, but I'm fairly confident the sector times were lit up like a christmas tree.

Then Lap34, we see that RAI has a less sufficient outlap of 1:40.609 but this is easily explained by Kimi coming out the pits and straight into Vettels rear bumper at a distance of 1.1s behind him, so this time is moot and not relevant.

Also relevant - the gap between RAI and BOT.

Lap31 - it was 25.824s.
Lap32 - it was 24.779s.
Lap33 - it was 22.265s (though this one is slightly off, due to Kimi being slowed by his pit-entry)

Also relevant: When Vettel pitted lap32 and came out lap33, his gap to Kimi was 17.492s. So I'd estimate the "cost" of pitting to be around 18 seconds.

In other words - Kimi's performance once released by Vettel and the lap he was called in to pit were amazing laps and there was more than a sufficient gap to the Mercedes to keep him out longer, if the team had acted in his interest.

Now you tell me with a straight face that Ferrari was NOT protecting Vettels lead at any cost? How could it be any different, considering Vettel was driving a handicapped car for 3/4 of the entire race and wasn't passed by the faster driver, his team-mate?

I'm happy to concede that once Vettel had pitted, the off-set of the fresher tire might have worked in Vettels favor even if Kimi had stayed out a lap longer, but man, you gotta wonder how close it could have been. There was no immediate risk from behind at that point, if the team had genuinely given Kimi a fair shot at it.

[Santozini]

Ferrari are damned by some no matter what they do or not do.
A certain British driver is praised by some no matter what he does or does not do, as British drivers always tend to.
The fault in the presented logic is that the certain British driver and his team are being praised in this case for the exact same reason Ferrari is being damned:
If Ferrari should have issued team orders to allow their 2nd placed driver (who is not challenging for the WDC) overtake their 1st placed driver (who is leading the WDC but looks far from certain of having it comfortably in the bag),
at the same time when Merc's 'equally treated' drivers (who both challenge for the WDC, admittedly with the British one seemingly in with a better chance),
shouldn't one expect that Merc should have avoided issuing the order for the first swap, choosing to favour their 'equally treated' Finnish driver by giving him more opportunities to overtake his fellow compatriot, or capitalise on a mistake?
In hindsight, Ferrari were proven right, as their intended plan worked out since neither Merc was able to overtake Kimi
And Merc were proven wrong, since the British God was equally unable to overtake Kimi as the Finnish 'not number 2 driver'
Gap times mean little in a track where overtaking is so hard unless you are Alonso or have a 3 sec/lap advantage, Bottas might have as well thought to keep a safe distance and save his tires in the chance 2 of the 3 leaders crashed into each other the way the Red Bulls did
Or simply knew very well that since he couldn't overtake, the other car would not be able to either...
To view this the other way around, had Vettel allowed Kimi to pass in the lead, but managed to keep the Mercs behind until the last corner, would all you guys now crying foul have expected Kimi to give the 1st place back and then praise him and Ferrari for their sportsmanship?

Finally, well said. I was sitting back, flabbergasted, thinking "wait a minute, are people actually complaining about ferrari not issuing team orders, but happy with mercs doing so? even going so far as to make out that mercs are some kind of beacon of honor and fair play?" If there was any unfairness in the whole affair, it was bottas being made to give way to hamilton as he has every chance to win the championship as opposed to kimi who has a minimal chance. Thankfully bottas was given the place back. But had hamilton kept the place some people would have found a way to justify that and still criticise ferrari. I think all this outrage at ferrari for not letting kimi take the win has less to do with kimi's well being and more to do with the 7 extra points that seb gained on a certain british driver by winning. And by the way hamilton did not do any favours to bottas by letting him through as he wouldn't have had to give the place back if bottas didn't let him through in the first place. Some of the arguments being put forward make absolutely no logical sense

+1! Well said!! 4 weeks of sour grapes for some

[diego.liv]

In the past I've defended Lewis, but paying respect seems a little to much. Yesterday he simply gave back a position that wasn't his and that didn't gain on track/pit stop. Respect for Raikkonen, yes

[Santozini]

I'm wondering if Sky F1 did the same kind of comparison between Mercedes and Ferrari in Qualy like they have been doing so far?

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=lfWR7rx7v5M here is an example in Austria.

I really like this format of analysis! It would be good to see it for Hungary too

[evered7]

Kimi is behind Ricciardo despite having the best car bar Mercedes since the start of the season. Says all one needs to know about whether Ferrari should or should not favor Vettel over him. I am not sure if such an advantage for Ferrari is going to materialize in any of the remaining races. Might as well make your leading driver the most points to offer on that day.

Also it is not Vettel's fault that his car is broken. He was legitimately on pole and pulled a nice gap to his rivals while battling issues with his car all race long. Hope this is not going to be the discussion for the rest of the summer.

Also it was nice to see RB's B spec car not really making a mark on the Ferrari in a track where HP least matters. Ferrari have done well and Vettel especially looking his avg. grid starting position.

Both need to calm down over the summer and find a way to tackle Mercedes' superior PU. While also being consistently on the podium.

[atanatizante]

Despite acting like a team player, Lewis showed us yesterday that he stepped at the next level acting like a wise strategist. I`m saying that coz he knows is worth to lose 3 points and a podium but later in the season could win massively more knowing he just earned Bottas` trust. But that is not the main reason. The main thing is now Bottas could help him by backing him in the races hence grabbing points out from Vettel. From this point of view I don`t think Kimi is capable of doing that despite what he did yesterday when Ferrari had an advantage of track specifics and Lewis getting tyres worned out ... Had the team hadn`t have that radio issue the would have swapped places with Bottas 5 laps earlier and then I think Kimi don`t stud a chance with a superior Merc 5km/h faster on the straight plus 15km/h more from the DRS and further km/h coming from that engine mapping Strap mode 5 - Q3 mode, don`t you think? ...

[iotar__]

Despite acting like a team player, Lewis showed us yesterday that he stepped at the next level acting like a wise strategist. I`m saying that coz he knows is worth to lose 3 points and a podium but later in the season could win massively more knowing he just earned Bottas` trust.

- So by that logic he was a dumb strategists in Bahrain getting team orders twice for what 3 points? Or was his team being dumb there? He wasn't much of a "team player earning trust" in the previous race during after pitstop situation blocking Bottas, was his? A hint: it's all team = Hamilton. Team not Hamilton tells Bottas to get out of the way and he does it , trust nonsense or not.

- How is getting in front through team orders albeit temporarily "good team player" behaviour? Wait for the opposite situation (team orders against Hamilton) to prove bizarre theories like that but don't hold your breath. It can be worse than above though http://www.bbc.com/sport/formula1/40770309

- Now they are trying to spin Hamilton's losing tp Bottas in Hungary as some fair play achievement . If it's so fair why was he put in front in the first place? You want to pretend it's not decided before the races, don't use team orders at all and tell him to overtake Bottas himself. F1 - where every fraud and pathology is sold as a virtue.

- So if he messes up everything (Q,start, track position) then gets team orders and overtakes Raikkonen it's "the right way of winning championship"? Who's buying these nonsense on top of Bahrain or Monaco '16 amnesia?

[basti313]

So it's a team-order when a team openly tells both their drivers to swap positions, but it's not a "team-order" when a team is doing everything possible to protect their one driver in the lead from their 2nd driver who is evidently faster from passing him?



AMuS already has the analysis that to pit Kimi a lap after Vettel was bad, as Kimi had a lot of pace on that tire and had he stayed out just a lap longer, might have actually gotten ahead of Vettel. Kimi even came on the radio after the pitstop questioning the timing of that stop, as he didn't understand it, even if it was quite evident to the rest of the world as to what was going on...

http://www.auto-motor-und-sport.de/form ... 97159.html

Agree with you about the potential bottas and hamilton battle. As far as team orders are concerned, Kimi never asked to be let through as he himself specifically pointed out in the interview with sky when the reporter tried to sneakily suggest that he did. So if kimi didn't ask to be let through, then it would have been team orders if ferrari ordered seb to let him through, which they didn't. As for bringing kimi in when they did, kimi did 1.23.7 on his in lap and a 1.22.7 on the lap prior to his in lap (the lap seb pitted), while the mercs were doing high 1.21's and low 1.22's on their fresh rubber, so you can understand why ferrari were concerned and pitted him, afterall they were racing the mercs first. Kimi pretty much acknowledged that the team had the bigger picture and accepted it later in his ferrari post race comments.

Look at this:

Lap26 VET 1:22.386 -> RAI 1:22.442 -> BOT -> 1:22.632
Lap27 VET 1:22.550 -> RAI 1:22.509 -> BOT -> 1:22.675
Lap28 VET 1:23.079 -> RAI 1:22.675 -> BOT -> 1:22.439
Lap29 VET 1:23.447 -> RAI 1:23.157 -> BOT -> 1:22.791
Lap30 VET 1:22.592 -> RAI 1:22.744 -> BOT -> 1:25.008P (<-- BOT pit, was 7.487s behind VET, 6.292s behind RAI)
Lap31 VET 1:23.665 -> RAI 1:23.733 -> BOT -> 1:41.001O (<-- BOT pit and outlap, VET -> RAI gap at 1.415s)
Lap32 VET 1:25.390P -> RAI 1:22.701 -> BOT -> 1:21.656 (<-- VET pit)
Lap33 VET 1:39.996O -> RAI 1:23.778P -> BOT -> 1:21.264 (<-- RAI pit)
Lap34 VET 1:21.993 -> RAI 1:40.609O -> BOT -> 1:22.149
Lap35 VET 1:22.785 -> RAI 1:22.839 -> BOT -> 1:22.367
Lap36 VET 1:23.090 -> RAI 1:23.352 -> BOT -> 1:22.566
Lap37 VET 1:22.483 -> RAI 1:22.832 -> BOT -> 1:23.071

I didn't include the gaps between VET and RAI, but for all intends and purpose, it was hovering between 1.0 and 1.5s after Lap28. The gap from RAI to BOT was at the point of him pitting at 6.292s.

Vettel last complete lap before pitting was a 1:23.665. Then on Lap32, Vettel pitted with a time of 1:25.390. That very same lap, Kimi was released within that last stretch of that lap and completed that same lap with a 1:22.701 (9 tenths faster than Vettel on his previous lap).

Lap33, Vettel is inside the pits and drives out plus has his outlap and completed all that within a 1:39.996. That same lap, RAI was called into the pits, his IN-LAP being a 1:23.778. That was more than 1.5s faster than what Vettel did on his. I don't have the sector times, but I'm fairly confident the sector times were lit up like a christmas tree.

Then Lap34, we see that RAI has a less sufficient outlap of 1:40.609 but this is easily explained by Kimi coming out the pits and straight into Vettels rear bumper at a distance of 1.1s behind him, so this time is moot and not relevant.

Also relevant - the gap between RAI and BOT.

Lap31 - it was 25.824s.
Lap32 - it was 24.779s.
Lap33 - it was 22.265s (though this one is slightly off, due to Kimi being slowed by his pit-entry)

Also relevant: When Vettel pitted lap32 and came out lap33, his gap to Kimi was 17.492s. So I'd estimate the "cost" of pitting to be around 18 seconds.

In other words - Kimi's performance once released by Vettel and the lap he was called in to pit were amazing laps and there was more than a sufficient gap to the Mercedes to keep him out longer, if the team had acted in his interest.

Now you tell me with a straight face that Ferrari was NOT protecting Vettels lead at any cost? How could it be any different, considering Vettel was driving a handicapped car for 3/4 of the entire race and wasn't passed by the faster driver, his team-mate?

I'm happy to concede that once Vettel had pitted, the off-set of the fresher tire might have worked in Vettels favor even if Kimi had stayed out a lap longer, but man, you gotta wonder how close it could have been. There was no immediate risk from behind at that point, if the team had genuinely given Kimi a fair shot at it.

I admire your dedication to write such a long post, just like you did for Monaco. But honestly...doing the same fault again is either stupid or agenda...
There are only three lap times one needs to look at:
- Rai in clean air on old tires: 1:22.744
- Vet in clean air on new tires: 1:21.993
- Bot in clean air on new tires: 1:21.656

These are the times before the pit stop decision for Rai. You can have it more precise and look at the outlaps where Bot marked one second less than Vet.

I simply can not see any trigger to leave any Ferrari at this point on the track. There was one in Monaco with Ric lapping fast on old tires, but here we had Ric out, Ves penalty + slow and both Mercs pitted lapping fast on a track where you can not overtake. In this setup to delay a pitstop for an intra team battle is simply the most stupid thing you can do.

[WaikeCU]

There was glimpse of what would have been a Hamilton and Verstappen Battle.
Max seemed to have resorted to his kamikaze style for a moment when hamilton started his old clinical overtake manoeuvres. Hamilton seemed to have got on the radio to complain about max driving dangerously.
Any thoughts on that little battle there?

You mean the one at the restart after the SC period?

[Phil]

I admire your dedication to write such a long post, just like you did for Monaco. But honestly...doing the same fault again is either stupid or agenda...
There are only three lap times one needs to look at:
- Rai in clean air on old tires: 1:22.744
- Vet in clean air on new tires: 1:21.993
- Bot in clean air on new tires: 1:21.656

These are the times before the pit stop decision for Rai. You can have it more precise and look at the outlaps where Bot marked one second less than Vet.

I simply can not see any trigger to leave any Ferrari at this point on the track. There was one in Monaco with Ric lapping fast on old tires, but here we had Ric out, Ves penalty + slow and both Mercs pitted lapping fast on a track where you can not overtake. In this setup to delay a pitstop for an intra team battle is simply the most stupid thing you can do.

Unfortunately, not this time. And you have a gap in your times between Rai old tires and Vettel on new tires - that being, their respective OUT-LAPs. Bottas time is not (that) relevant given the gap and margin they had. I concede that in Monaco, the gaps were smaller, but not this time. You are also conveniently missing out the times of the in-lap that I posted that pretty much show that Rai (still in clean air) on the lap he was called in was brutally fast -> 1.5 faster than Vettel on his in-lap.

The point being, it would have been more than doable to keep Raikoennen out for one more lap if they had acted in his interest. If it hadn't worked out, the order would have remained the same worst-case scenario with Bottas further back.

Again for convenience sake:

Lap26 VET 1:22.386 -> RAI 1:22.442 -> BOT -> 1:22.632
Lap27 VET 1:22.550 -> RAI 1:22.509 -> BOT -> 1:22.675
Lap28 VET 1:23.079 -> RAI 1:22.675 -> BOT -> 1:22.439
Lap29 VET 1:23.447 -> RAI 1:23.157 -> BOT -> 1:22.791
Lap30 VET 1:22.592 -> RAI 1:22.744 -> BOT -> 1:25.008P (<-- BOT pit, was 7.487s behind VET, 6.292s behind RAI)
Lap31 VET 1:23.665 -> RAI 1:23.733 -> BOT -> 1:41.001O (<-- BOT pit and outlap, VET -> RAI gap at 1.415s)
Lap32 VET 1:25.390P -> RAI 1:22.701 -> BOT -> 1:21.656 (<-- VET pit)
Lap33 VET 1:39.996O -> RAI 1:23.778P -> BOT -> 1:21.264 (<-- RAI pit)
Lap34 VET 1:21.993 -> RAI 1:40.609O -> BOT -> 1:22.149
Lap35 VET 1:22.785 -> RAI 1:22.839 -> BOT -> 1:22.367
Lap36 VET 1:23.090 -> RAI 1:23.352 -> BOT -> 1:22.566
Lap37 VET 1:22.483 -> RAI 1:22.832 -> BOT -> 1:23.071


* In other words, had RAI stayed out on lap 33, I'm quite confident his lap time would have been a very low 1:22, if not bordering a high 1:21.xxx. With the pit-section, he still did a 1:23.665 which suggest a mighty pace on that lap.

[basti313]

The point being, it would have been more than doable to keep Raikoennen out for one more lap if they had acted in his interest. If it hadn't worked out, the order would have remained the same worst-case scenario with Bottas further back.

I do not see that. The gap after the stop was below 4sec. Bot was lapping 1sec faster than Rai on lap 32 (both in clean air!). With potential for more as we can see one lap later. That brings it down to a safety margin of 2 sec...

You really want to go for a safety margin of maybe 2sec on a track where you can not overtake? One fault at the pitstop and you screw your 1-2 finish for an intra team battle???? I think you would win the F1 strategist of the week award quite fast

* In other words, had RAI stayed out on lap 33, I'm quite confident his lap time would have been a very low 1:22, if not bordering a high 1:21.xxx. With the pit-section, he still did a 1:23.665 which suggest a mighty pace on that lap.

You need to look closer: Vet and Rai did exactly the same S2 in lap 33 with Vet still avoiding the curbs. That is the only good comparable time. So your 21 high is a good claim. But: This is not significantly faster than Vet and this is still slower than Bot. On an inlap where you ruin your tires...