NathanOlder wrote: ↑06 Jul 2019, 19:13
Yeah, can't disagree more with Phils verdict on not being able to change his line once he starts braking in the braking zone.
What you are missing Phil is the point in which the braking stops. On such a slow corner, virtually everyone will have their braking finished by the time they hit the apex on the right hand side. After that point they will then get the car turned and start to apply the power again. If you want a tighter exit, you simply don't apply the power as hard, or even still, apply more brakes to get the car over to the right.
There are multiple lines through a corner. A perfectly feasible line would be to simply take the line with the largest radius through the corner. That would mean starting at the outside of the corner, hit the apex at exactly half point through the corner and then hitting the outside of the end of the corner. Doing that and you would brake before you start turning in and you would accelerate after you've completed the corner. Throughout the corner, you are grip limited and hitting the kerb on the outside is inevitable.
When you are at the limit of tire grip, you will not be able to accelerate while being on the corner as you would break traction. Braking, as I said, would shift the weight and unsettle the car.
Obviously, you can take the corner differently, by choosing a later apex (not the corner half way point). This would mean you are trading off a higher minimum cornering speed for a longer acceleration period and possibly a higher top speed later down the track. Doing this would mean you could start accelerating earlier as the radius is larger, but the trade-off would be a lower entry speed. It's a trade-off. Which line works best, depends on the track layout and your car.
The rules aren't written for one particular corner and line through it. They are generalized. My point was merely that a line through a corner is often dictated through the line and speed one chooses to take it. Once you do, you are somewhat committed to it, because you will not brake while cornering and most cars tend to understeer outwards. When you are on a track and are racing, putting yourself outside of another car is always a risky maneuver as the forces will carry cars outwards.
Leclerc simply should have covered the inside, period. Doing so would have given him more options in his defense against Verstappen. His line would have been shorter, hence he'd most likely have ended ahead of Verstappen at the 'apex' and then could have pushed him wide himself.
Given the superior traction of the RedBull at that stage of the race, I do however think defending the position might have been futile. I'm just arguing on the point that Leclerc's defense was the worst of the two he could have chosen and that IMO, he can't shout foulplay for being pushed wide at corner exit when that move has been done hundredths of times and pretty much sanctioned every single time. In my opinion, by having Leclerc not give up and keep the throttle in, he made it look worse than it was. In reality, he was sticking on a line that was always going to disappear.
. What you say is, since Max opted for a line wich does include going from edge to edge (from the inner kerb at the apex to the outer kerb at the exit), Charles was on a line that was going to disappear so it was his fault...