2019 Australian Grand Prix - Melbourne, March 15-17

[Big Tea]

It was good to see that Hamilton followed orders without the hysterics when he was asked (Told?) to.
It would have left a bad taste if he had performed and not pitted when asked after all the team orders Botas took for him last year.

[Capharol]

And risk pariah status in the team at the first race? Not the smart move, IMO.

Indeed Leclerc also went out of his way to escape Vettel at the start in turn1. He was cautious as he needs to thread carefully now he is in a top team. Don’t upset people without real cause.

he had the pace, and unless he wants to be a permanent #2 he needs to draw a line in the sand.

for example!
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=mLG-POZihAw

how can you compare the 2007 start from Hamilton with leclerc 2019
Hamilton had a better racingline back then

[dans79]

Indeed Leclerc also went out of his way to escape Vettel at the start in turn1. He was cautious as he needs to thread carefully now he is in a top team. Don’t upset people without real cause.

he had the pace, and unless he wants to be a permanent #2 he needs to draw a line in the sand.

for example!
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=mLG-POZihAw

how can you compare the 2007 start from Hamilton with leclerc 2019
Hamilton had a better racingline back then

As soon as he had the chance to get passed his teammate he did it.

[Capharol]

he had the pace, and unless he wants to be a permanent #2 he needs to draw a line in the sand.

for example!
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=mLG-POZihAw

how can you compare the 2007 start from Hamilton with leclerc 2019
Hamilton had a better racingline back then

As soon as he had the chance to get passed his teammate he did it.

which Leclerc tried at the start but had to back off... so still can't see your point.. starts are a different thing as in the middle of the race
in my opinion everything went correct because alll 3 of them had more to lose as to gain

[dans79]

so still can't see your point..

I don't see whats so hard to understand.... He had a chance to make a legitimate pass on Vettel, but he didn't take it. That is a good way of getting shoved into the #2 box and never being left out, specially at Ferrari.

[Capharol]

so still can't see your point..

I don't see whats so hard to understand.... He had a chance to make a legitimate pass on Vettel, but he didn't take it. That is a good way of getting shoved into the #2 box and never being left out, specially at Ferrari.

and get the complet team against you?
what did he had to gain.... a boost for his ego ? because 3rd place was far far away
what did he had to lose? ..... his good name in his 1st year at one of the biggest team on the circuit, if he had overtaken Vettel despite the order not to, you think Ferrari would say good boy? or what would Vettel say or do during the season? give him a patt on the back "well done Leclerc" ....i don't think so

what if they would have collided, both cars out, zero (0) points, and here again what would Vettel say or do during the season? give him a patt on the back "well done Leclerc"

Formula 1 is more then 1 fast driver or who is the fastest driver nowadays, there are Millions at stake there are reputations to consider.

IF Leclerc is faster as Vettel it will show during the rest of the season which has still 20 GP's, so you could say there was more to lose in the first race as to gain from it .....

[Tim.Wright]

I uploaded all laps and some more that weren't on youtube to a google drive folder. check my forum signature.

Where do you get the videos with the data overlays?

[Phil]

so still can't see your point..

I don't see whats so hard to understand.... He had a chance to make a legitimate pass on Vettel, but he didn't take it.

IMHO, there wasnt. It was a great chance to end both their races though, but a legitimate pass is something else.

[Unf]

Leclerc wasn't faster than Vettel, he had just better tyres at the time - that's why Ferrari made a political decision to not allow him to pass Vet. Also there was no chance to fight for 3rd place so changing position could be somehow bad for Sebastian's mentality... and we know how unstable his mentality is ^^ So far Vettel is more likely to fight with Ham etc. in comparison to Leclerc so so far he has priority in team. After start of the race, Leclerc couldn't follow Verstappen while Vettel could be ahead of him, plus Leclerc made a dangerous mistake in turn 1 in the middle of the race while Vettel did not any mistakes during whole race - there you see that Vet currently is more confident as driver for the team.

[SmallSoldier]

so still can't see your point..

I don't see whats so hard to understand.... He had a chance to make a legitimate pass on Vettel, but he didn't take it. That is a good way of getting shoved into the #2 box and never being left out, specially at Ferrari.

All he needs to do is out qualify Vettel moving forward and his number 2 role will be analyzed


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[Wynters]

Are there any signs that Vettel or Hamilton, took to much out of their tires, during the first laps after the pitstop? Maybe they pushed to hard, while the rear tires were only heated to 80c by the electric blankets.

I'd have to double-check but I believe that Vettel closed the gap by four(?) seconds over the course of his outlap and Hamilton's outlap. I remember thinking at the time that he'd risked overcooking them (it was his only real chance to get past Hamilton so I don't blame him).

[Sieper]

Leclerc wasn't faster than Vettel, he had just better tyres at the time - that's why Ferrari made a political decision to not allow him to pass Vet. Also there was no chance to fight for 3rd place so changing position could be somehow bad for Sebastian's mentality... and we know how unstable his mentality is ^^ So far Vettel is more likely to fight with Ham etc. in comparison to Leclerc so so far he has priority in team. After start of the race, Leclerc couldn't follow Verstappen while Vettel could be ahead of him, plus Leclerc made a dangerous mistake in turn 1 in the middle of the race while Vettel did not any mistakes during whole race - there you see that Vet currently is more confident as driver for the team.

Exactly, stint 1 Leclerc lost 10 seconds to Vettel (including indeed a quite big off in turn 1). Ferrari then took the risk with Vettel to make an early pitstop to try an undercut on Lewis for P2. This failed as Mercedes reacted. Leclerc kept going in his first stint much longer and also went to hard tires. Later in the race he thus indeed had much better tires and as a result at that time had more pace. Ferrari decided not to “punish” Vettel for the undercut they attempted and kept Leclerc behind. He already lost his P3 to Verstappen due to the undercut. Lets see how Leclerc develops, he is fast.

[Wynters]

Leclerc wasn't faster than Vettel, he had just better tyres at the time

Part of being a good driver is being on better rubber than your opposition, either by driving better or by driving longer without losing too much time. Vettel chose a strategy that, for whatever reason, he and his car were unable to make work. Leclerc chose a different strategy and made it work. It's unquestionable that if they'd been 'time-trialling' on an empty track then Leclerc would've beaten Vettel comfortably.

There's far, far, far more to a Grand Prix performance than just that, but let's not pretend that Leclerc's speed wasn't actually his speed.

Also there was no chance to fight for 3rd place

If Verstappen had sent one up the inside on Hamilton then there was every chance that it would be worth having Leclerc there to pick up the pieces. Remember that Verstappen did run wide with 10 laps to go. Additionally, they could've let Leclerc past Vettel, had him hammer his tyres for a few laps and then pit for fresh ones with 3-4 laps to go. Vettel would've retaken his position and Ferrari would've been able to effect a 2-point swing from Mercedes to themselves.

However, was the very slim chance of being able to nab a place / point or two worth binning the interteam strategy before the first race of the season? Absolutely not, as you pointed out. Ferrari seem to have decided that total team harmony is the best way to maximise their points in both the WCC and the WDC and they are very probably right. With hindsight I'm sure they'd agree they could have done things differently but I can see the logic behind the decisions they made at the time they made them.

[SmallSoldier]

Leclerc wasn't faster than Vettel, he had just better tyres at the time

Part of being a good driver is being on better rubber than your opposition, either by driving better or by driving longer without losing too much time. Vettel chose a strategy that, for whatever reason, he and his car were unable to make work. Leclerc chose a different strategy and made it work. It's unquestionable that if they'd been 'time-trialling' on an empty track then Leclerc would've beaten Vettel comfortably.

There's far, far, far more to a Grand Prix performance than just that, but let's not pretend that Leclerc's speed wasn't actually his speed.

Also there was no chance to fight for 3rd place

If Verstappen had sent one up the inside on Hamilton then there was every chance that it would be worth having Leclerc there to pick up the pieces. Remember that Verstappen did run wide with 10 laps to go. Additionally, they could've let Leclerc past Vettel, had him hammer his tyres for a few laps and then pit for fresh ones with 3-4 laps to go. Vettel would've retaken his position and Ferrari would've been able to effect a 2-point swing from Mercedes to themselves.

However, was the very slim chance of being able to nab a place / point or two worth binning the interteam strategy before the first race of the season? Absolutely not, as you pointed out. Ferrari seem to have decided that total team harmony is the best way to maximise their points in both the WCC and the WDC and they are very probably right. With hindsight I'm sure they'd agree they could have done things differently but I can see the logic behind the decisions they made at the time they made them.

The drivers don’t decide the tire strategy... Only on Wet conditions they make that decision


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[LM10]

Leclerc wasn't faster than Vettel, he had just better tyres at the time

Part of being a good driver is being on better rubber than your opposition, either by driving better or by driving longer without losing too much time. Vettel chose a strategy that, for whatever reason, he and his car were unable to make work. Leclerc chose a different strategy and made it work. It's unquestionable that if they'd been 'time-trialling' on an empty track then Leclerc would've beaten Vettel comfortably.

There's far, far, far more to a Grand Prix performance than just that, but let's not pretend that Leclerc's speed wasn't actually his speed.

Leclerc pitted way later, got Hards and thus had much better tyres when approaching Vettel. You should know that drivers don't really choose the speed on their own. All information and calls are being given by the team. Vettel was on a massive nursing mode as his tyres needed it way too early. His engine also was at a quite low mode almost all the time. Whatever the problems Ferrari had were, it seems to have been a combination of PU and (probably also related to that) setup issues.

Leclerc shows great potential, but he clearly was slower than his teammate in Melbourne, both in qualifying and race. That's not even a bad thing as he's in a learning process. I personally expect him to be a very big driver in future. However, I don't understand why some people seem to desperately try to put him ahead of Vettel already.