ringo wrote: ↑08 Oct 2017, 09:12
Well,
Three races in a row now Ferrari has the de-facto fastest car and somehow reliability has set them back big time.
The W08 doesn't deserve to be on the podium today. Had the two Ferraris had a clean weekend, it would be 1234 for ferrari and redbull.
Hamilton is really just driving perfectly and the reliability has been perfect. The W08 doesn't seem to be the most robust when it comes to going hammer and tongs over a whole race distance like the ferrari and the redbull, but its been fairly steady for at least the first stints to put itself out of harms way; with the help of its Q3 engine trick of course.
I am a Lewis fan, but he is looking very lucky this season; driving well yes, but it has been Ferrari's to lose at the second half of the season, and for some reason uncharacteristic failures have met them when it really counts.
To be honest, while i agree with most of it, i am not convinced Ferrari would have been much faster. Hamilton drove and had fantastic pace on the SS stint. This may be also because Max had trouble with thre front-end (post race interview). On the second stint, it was a question of tire management. I think the optimum would have been 2 stops, but RB dictated the strategy for Mercedes, so they needed to make it work. This meant that Hamilton had to manage his pace, making sure that the tires lasted to the end, but also to not run into a safety car situation and then face a competitor on tires in a better state.
Then evidently, the Mercedes was extremely vulnerable in dirty air - highlighted by when Hamilton closed in on Bottas. Facing backmarkers, it was less of a problem due to the speed difference, but it still gave an opportunity to RB to close in.
Regarding luck - yes, Hamilton has been fairly lucky so far (but also unlucky, like Baku and Austria). Facing a competitor as strong as Vettel and Ferrari, i am happy that Hamilton closed most of the gap throughout the championship not true luck, but stellar performance before and after the summer break. Notably Spa, Monza and Singapore too (in the rain). The big share of “luck” in form of technical issues for his biggest rival have only dictated the last two races and extended the championship by possibly ~40 points (guestimate).
I refuse to take Vettels error in Singapore as a token of “luck”. Malaysia and Japan however, absolutely.