2017 Japanese Grand Prix - Suzuka, 6-8 October

[NathanOlder]

After watching the "best of onboard" video on the official F1 Youtube channel, how the hell did Max pass Vettel ? He was so far back, it didn't look like Sebs lack of power really cost him anytime at that point.

Max came from miles back, very Kamui like, and forced a way inside. Seb was either napping or playing around with his steering wheel maybe

https://youtu.be/PiGr64N3EvE

[drunkf1fan]

In that video from 2:20 or so is a great example of why the cameras onboard need to be taken with a grain of salt, in regards to Vettel/Stroll collision from the previous race. From Bottas's view he gets ahead of Vettel and takes the corner normally and it looks smooth, from Vettel's camera it looks like Bottas pretty much swerves across him all the way to the other side of the track, it looks completely different.

Also saw a video on the stewards room linked on reddit, I think it was from this weekend and the stewards say pretty much the same thing, the wide angle lenses distort what you're seeing so you can't judge the movement between two drivers easily from one view. Immediately when I saw the Vettel on board against Stroll it looked like Stroll came at him, but I also knew the edge would be distorted and make Stroll's movement exaggerated. Same goes for Grosjean's, because Grosjean himself switched from behind Stroll to tight inside it made Stroll look like he turned right dramatically.

Anyway back to the Max vs Vettel thing in that video, it certainly to me looked like Max gained a hell of a lot more than normal through the final 1/3rd of that straight and honestly it's likely by that point that Vettel both wasn't defending, wasn't paying attention to behind him and was slowing earlier. He doesn't know what's wrong with the car directly, the mgu-h could be gone meaning his braking power might be significantly lower and defensively speaking at this point he'll be on the radio to the pit and trying to change a whole bunch of settings to try to restore power so he'll be massively distracted. I think it's probably a combination of factors.

[PlatinumZealot]

Yeah looks like Vettel was caught unaware but i think he can be forgiven. Looks like he was distracted with fixing his engine problem.

[Vasconia]

Huh? Funny, when the Mercedes fans think that James is why the W08 development is so slow.

I don´t think it has been slow when so many people said Mercedes was developing faster than Ferrari. I have seen Mercedes bringing updates several times and solving, at least partially, they tyre management problems. Yes, they still are there but the situation is way better than in the first races. I think that a complete solution will come with a new car.

Several updates?!! Actually no. The last update package was Malyasia. The one before that was Silverstone. The car was not updated through Spa, Monza, Singapore. I think before Silverstone, must have been Barcelona. I am not saying I am dissatisfied with the quantity of updates, but there is much to be desired of the gains in lap time. The car is still a diva, Ferrari race pace advantage has extended, and RedBull have just about caught up in race pace. Qaulifying pace is still good, but I think that is more down to Sebastian not being able to participate, and Ferrari screwing up otherwise.

Didn´t they bring a PU update in Spa or Monza?

Yes, the operating window of this car is still narrower than in other´s cars but I think it is less narrow than it was at the beginning of the season.

Well yes, last races would have been pretty different with Ferrari fighting for the victory.

[Restomaniac]

Yeah looks like Vettel was caught unaware but i think he can be forgiven. Looks like he was distracted with fixing his engine problem.

Yep I imagine he was in the middle of a 'try this, do that' conversation with his chief engineer.

[Restomaniac]

Also that Sainz off seems very strange. Not often you see a driver just randomly lose the backend mid-corner like that.

[Vasconia]

Also that Sainz off seems very strange. Not often you see a driver just randomly lose the backend mid-corner like that.

He had a slow puncture, I don´t know how big was to justify or not that loss.

[Restomaniac]

Also that Sainz off seems very strange. Not often you see a driver just randomly lose the backend mid-corner like that.

He had a slow puncture, I don´t know how big was to justify or not that loss.

Well that makes more sense.