2019 Russian Grand Prix - Sochi Autodrom, 27 - 29 September

[214270]

Rather than tow your teammate, they shouldve just boxed HAM in. The best example of this was the Merc duo last year at Paul Ricard. Ferrari look like amateurs

[Mandrake]

The whole attempt at Ferrari to pamper both drivers is ridiculous. They made Vettel no1 which LeClerc was totally fine with (said by himself) only to ignore all orders starting in Bahrain already. The sense of entitlement LEC is having right now is also dangerous as he might be quicker in Qualy right now, but the difference in actual race pace is significantly less than say between BOT and HAM.

Then the theoretical playthroughs of this start and how to behave......that's BS. Both Vettel and LeClerc had way better starts than Hamilton due to the tire advantage, so Vettel would have led into T2 even if Charles had covered the inside. It was only about if there would have been enough space given between the cars.

According to AMuS LeClerc both in Singapore and Sotchi opted for a more aggressive setup in Quali at the expense of longevity in the race. That that with whatever pinch of salt, but AMuS were very critical about Vettel recently, so I doubt it's made up. And I believe it showed in the race. When LEC was given the order to push he made no gains on Vettel. He was 4 secs behind so not impeded by Vettel in any way. Also I doubt that his tires were shot as in the closing stages of the race he was able to go much quicker fighting for the fastest lap.

Ferrari are shooting themselves in the foot massively at the moment both for this season and in the preparation for next season.....

[TAG]

As Alonso would say to Vettel... Karma.

[NathanOlder]

Vettel had a magnificent start, as he said himself, he would have had LeClerc easy.
I rather doubt LeClerc 'gave' him slipstream, i mean come on, it's not like he's got a lever to pull to stop it.

Any car gets slipstream like that. Look at even the Mclaren overtaking Hamilton.
Immediately after Vettel passed LeClerc he blazed off in the distance with no way that LeClerc could keep up.
I was actually pleased to see 'classic' Vettel back.

A few things,

Leclerc DID give Vettel his slipstream. He stayed to the left through T1 , when the right hand side is the side to be. He stayed to the left all the way to T2, at which point Vettel only really drew alongside and then was slightyly ahead in the braking zone.

Now if Charles took the normal route through turn 1, it could have been Hamilton getting the tow. Leclerc also stayed left and made no attempt to block Vettel, as that could have given Hamilton the tow instead of Vettel. Leclerc couldnt sit looking in the mirror to see who was where. He stuck to the plan staying left all the way to turn 2, safe in the knowledge that Vettel will give the place back.

If Charles wanted to keep Vettel behind him, he would have gone defensive right after turn 1, but that wasn't the plan.

Watch last years race, and imagine Bottas being Leclerc. Hamilton and Vettel both start in the same place, Vettel gets a better start than Lewis, but Bottas GIVES Hamilton the tow and is on the right side of the track to hold the lead. Hamilton got well alongside but was on the outside.
The 2018 start was exactly what Ferrari didn't want to happen. They played it perfectly, just like Mercedes did last year.
Only difference was Ferrari has a child in the car that cannot be controlled as crucial times, or if they can control him, he cant control himself.

As for the switch , they had plenty of chances, but Vettel declined, and after 6 laps with less than a 2 second gap, Charles realised Seb wasn't going to move over, so he backed off to not damage his tyres anymore. Sitting 1 second behind someone for 4 laps shows you are faster. On lap 7 the gap Leclerc's gap was 1.0 to Vettel, and 3.1 to Hamilton. A perfect chance to switch over.

[ENGINE TUNER]

I think this will be Leclercs toughest race after the summer break, he can hope that Vettel quickly gets past Hamilton.

Don't worry, it will the their easiest race for Ferrari's. There is little to no degradation on this track. Even though it has two long straights it is very hard to overtake as the last sector is very twisty, a good traction out of the last corner will suffice to cover the position.

And as for Mercedes' strategy starting on Meds is no feat of advantageous strategy, its just they're desperately trying something different as they have no alternative. The tires will not play any role here, even if they do, going Soft - Medium towards the end its better because you can push the Meds without worry. So yeah, its gonna be a Ferrari one two, it's just a shame that my bookie doesn't have F1 quotes

Hilarious, thanks for the laugh

[ferkan]

The whole attempt at Ferrari to pamper both drivers is ridiculous. They made Vettel no1 which LeClerc was totally fine with (said by himself) only to ignore all orders starting in Bahrain already. The sense of entitlement LEC is having right now is also dangerous as he might be quicker in Qualy right now, but the difference in actual race pace is significantly less than say between BOT and HAM.

Then the theoretical playthroughs of this start and how to behave......that's BS. Both Vettel and LeClerc had way better starts than Hamilton due to the tire advantage, so Vettel would have led into T2 even if Charles had covered the inside. It was only about if there would have been enough space given between the cars.

According to AMuS LeClerc both in Singapore and Sotchi opted for a more aggressive setup in Quali at the expense of longevity in the race. That that with whatever pinch of salt, but AMuS were very critical about Vettel recently, so I doubt it's made up. And I believe it showed in the race. When LEC was given the order to push he made no gains on Vettel. He was 4 secs behind so not impeded by Vettel in any way. Also I doubt that his tires were shot as in the closing stages of the race he was able to go much quicker fighting for the fastest lap.

Ferrari are shooting themselves in the foot massively at the moment both for this season and in the preparation for next season.....

Yea Bahrain is definitely good race to take into account.

Leclerc takes a comfortable pole. Loses 3 places at the start. OVERTAKES everyone bar Vettel. Team tells him "Don't yet overtake", but he has comfortable pace advantage and does it. Vettel spins. Who is victim? Vettel.

I don't get it. Only guy behind can chose to agree on deal or not. If he starts good, then he can say "deal is of". Except guy ahead is still thinking "deal is on". If he starts bad, then he says "deal still on" and the guy ahead will obviously still follow the agreement.

Seb wanted tow anyway you slice it. If he starts bad, great, Leclerc will give me a tow and not to Ham and I'll be 2nd. If I start good, then even better, I'll get a tow but Leclerc will not defend into T1 anyway as that was a deal. After T1 I can then push the pedal and tell him to close the gap if he wants place back.

Really fair from Seb. Good guy...Really brings back his last weeks remark "Ferrari is more important then any driver".

Seems like everytime there is an issue with team orders, Leclerc is the one on pole. Bahrain, Spa, Singapore now Sochi...Maybe Seb could take a pole for a start, instead of dropping back like in Bahrain and Spa, or qualifying on 2nd row.

[Zarathustra]

As Alonso would say to Vettel... Karma.

I guess a lot of you folks Don't Understand The Clue Here.
Vettel didn't receive any Karma yesterday- it was Ferrari who received all the Karma they deserve.

It's just repulsive how Ferrari is handling this situation- I lost a lot of respect for the team yesterday.

Vettel still is a 4times WDC and should receive more respect from his team and definitely from his younger teammate- who hasn't achieved anything yet in F1.

[ferkan]

As Alonso would say to Vettel... Karma.

I guess a lot of you folks Don't Understand The Clue Here.
Vettel didn't receive any Karma yesterday- it was Ferrari who received all the Karma they deserve.

It's just repulsive how Ferrari is handling this situation- I lost a lot of respect for the team yesterday.

Not really. Ferrari is 2nd in standing and thats how its gonna remain. Vettel is -21pts 5 races before end of the season with 9 qualis in a row on losing side.

He HAS to win this battle, because losing it to Leclerc in his first year in Ferrari would be tragedy for him.

[izzy]

I don't really like VSC, (they could refine it in some ways to keep the timings neutral or do it slightly differently) but we all know it's there to try and lessen the possibility of another Bianchi incident. And you have to ask yourself is it worse that X driver benefits over Y driver, or that someone else (be it driver or steward) maybe loses their life?

they could easily arrange things to remove stopped cars without putting a crane out, quite often. They could just winch them, a lot of the time, if only they had a rope!!

It really spoils it afaic when we see strategies being played out and we're sitting there waiting for tyres to last or not with the decisions teams have made and driving to preserve them or use them for pace, and then it all gets changed arbitrarily and the car that deserves the win doesn't get it. There is literally no point having a race if it's a lottery like this, and they could improve it so easily if they just tried. Not every time but quite a lot of the time.

why did Russel's car need a full SC? it was miles from the track, the exact situation a VSC was invented for. ok perhaps it was to make up a bit for the VSC for Seb's car, that they didn't need either

[ENGINE TUNER]

MAN WITH BIGGEST HEART BREAK TODAY, IS "PAUL DI RESTA". That guy was so angry when VSC happened.

He was then trying to convince himself that LeClerc could still win after his last pitstop.
‘LeClerc can still win.........’.

It's pretty hilarious to listen to him squirm. Anyone know the root of his acrimony?

He beat vettel(F3 I think), but Hamilton beat him and was picked over him, so he wants vettel to look better, making himself look better.

Plus, Anthony Hamilton, Lewis' dad, and PDR had legal battles between them after AH was PDR's manager.

[ENGINE TUNER]

Magnussen was so right its a ..... corner and to give him a penalty while he lost the place clearly.
What can he do slam on the brakes to ruin his tires even more he joined pretty safely.

Yeah, they should just put grass, gravel and land mines at that corner so we don't have to ever hear Kmag stupidity again. If there was gravel there he would have lost all his points, rather than the 1 point he lost for a justified penalty.

Maybe he should shut up and stay on track.

[Big Tea]

The way it comes over on Ted's notebook ( https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Jkp6k6fRmmE around 7 min) is not that it was a driver agreement but that the team decided it.
It makes Vettel's reaction slightly more understandable then as he perhaps just went along rather than actively agreed.

[ferkan]

The way it comes over on Ted's notebook ( https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Jkp6k6fRmmE around 7 min) is not that it was a driver agreement but that the team decided it.
It makes Vettel's reaction slightly more understandable then as he perhaps just went along rather than actively agreed.

Don't know about Ted, but from both of their team radios its pretty damning. There was a deal - Leclerc has done as agreed, Vettel didn't. He didn't want to give place back multiple time, and obviously in clean air and Leclerc following him for 9 laps under 1.5s, he would likely have advantage.

In the end, Seb already said last week "Ferrari is bigger then any driver", yet he proves this not to be the case for top drivers (which we all know already).

[ENGINE TUNER]

Ferrari doesn't employ Webber, so anything he did is irrelevant.

Multi21 happened because Webber was aggressive with Seb in Brazil when Seb had the championship on the line, the previous year. It carried over because the team didn't do anything but left the drivers to it.

So it's 100% relevant to a team with two drivers needing managing. the team has to be in control, so the drivers have confidence that things will be fair, even though the other guy is a beastly racing driver

Nonsense, VET crashed into SEN, had nothing to do with WEB, that is just another case of VET trying to shift blame for his many mistakes to others.

[ENGINE TUNER]

Re: the VSC thing. S'funny how it put the guy in the fastest car behind slower cars which should have resulted in exciting overtaking / racing. But it didn't. People then annoyed because the VSC "robbed" a driver of a win. And yet people want to have races effectively decided by just this type of fast-behind-slow situation.

You just don't get it do you? With a reversed grid, it wouldn't just be LEC behind BOT and HAM, BOT and HAM would also be behind slower cars and would be forced to overtake them while defending. IT WOULD NOT BE THE SAME.