Max Verstappen took the lead of the race at the wet start, and maintained that until the very end. Behind him however, lots was going on due to the mixed conditions. Lewis Hamilton fought back from an error into second while Norris put McLaren on the podium for the first time this season.
The rules were changed, but I don't know if it was this or last year. Anyway, the rulebook says that after a red flag situation racecontrol can choose whether to do a standing or a rolling start. In my opinion they did the most sensible and safe thing to do in this situation. Michael Masi has been a pretty good racedirector I got to say.
I agree. On a clearly still damp/tricky surface, (Verstappen spinning just before the race got underway again) a standing start would have probably just led to more accidents. A rolling start was much safer. Conversely, I don't agree with a lot of Masi's decisions, but that one was definitely the smart move.BosF1 wrote: ↑19 Apr 2021, 11:33The rules were changed, but I don't know if it was this or last year. Anyway, the rulebook says that after a red flag situation racecontrol can choose whether to do a standing or a rolling start. In my opinion they did the most sensible and safe thing to do in this situation. Michael Masi has been a pretty good racedirector I got to say.
I can’t find the article now but was interesting that Ferrari tried a so-called ‘wet setup’ (which from Charles’ comment, sounds really just like a bit more wing level than would be optimal in the dry), essentially compromising quali because they suspected it was going to rain.
Well, I'm sure letting Lewis within 1.3s at one point before the pit stops wasn't part of his plan, and certainly he wouldn't have minded securing that extra point for fastest lap either, if he was able... Even Toto Wolff, who's - as I'm sure you know - not the braggadocious type thought they clearly had the measure on Red Bull in terms of raw race pace this Sunday... But that's neither here or there anymore, it's a very, very close and exciting battle so far all things considered, on to Portimao for another thrilling chapter...ispano6 wrote: ↑19 Apr 2021, 09:41Clearly you don't understand diction then. I know what I said, we all know the rules, and I'm calling then flawed. When you have rules where you are required to keep a delta under virtual safety car, and get penalized for gaining a lasting advantage when violating track limits, a circumstance that allows a driver to freely make up a deficit such as unlapping yourself, a 78sec delta, because of track clean up as a reason, is inconsistent with the rules that aim to maintain a delta under vsc or prevent gaining a lasting advantage. Had the red flag not happened, Hamilton would never have been close to a podium (duh we all know that too) . And there's no sense in trying to say Merc had the faster car, Max never was challenged by Hamilton after lap one. Max drove fast enough to win the race, and the 21 sec delta would have been much larger had there been no red flag causing accident. Max, Red Bull and Honda were the class of the field no matter how you try and spin it! Max praised Honda for improving the starts and nailed it, Max also avoided costly mistakes, and the boys didn't screw up the pitstop either. Overall it was a satisfying outcome apart from Perez not doing his part and Ham's gaffe not amounting to much. Even Bottas served Ham better being at the "wrong" place at the right time. Or I guess he should be thanking Russell...
Despite damage which apparently may have cost HAM up to 0.5s/lap (per Mark Hughes), HAM caught up to VER at the end of the first stint due to better tyre wear. They both were going through traffic at the time so it wasn't as much a factor.ispano6 wrote: ↑19 Apr 2021, 09:41Clearly you don't understand diction then. I know what I said, we all know the rules, and I'm calling then flawed. When you have rules where you are required to keep a delta under virtual safety car, and get penalized for gaining a lasting advantage when violating track limits, a circumstance that allows a driver to freely make up a deficit such as unlapping yourself, a 78sec delta, because of track clean up as a reason, is inconsistent with the rules that aim to maintain a delta under vsc or prevent gaining a lasting advantage. Had the red flag not happened, Hamilton would never have been close to a podium (duh we all know that too) . And there's no sense in trying to say Merc had the faster car, Max never was challenged by Hamilton after lap one. Max drove fast enough to win the race, and the 21 sec delta would have been much larger had there been no red flag causing accident. Max, Red Bull and Honda were the class of the field no matter how you try and spin it! Max praised Honda for improving the starts and nailed it, Max also avoided costly mistakes, and the boys didn't screw up the pitstop either. Overall it was a satisfying outcome apart from Perez not doing his part and Ham's gaffe not amounting to much. Even Bottas served Ham better being at the "wrong" place at the right time. Or I guess he should be thanking Russell...
Actually, LEC had some sort of radio issue and hadn’t been told it was a rolling start. That’s partly why he didn’t gun it when VER went off and why VER pulled a big gap from start.
I agree mercs we're superior. The overspeed that Lewis has in DRS even with other merc powered cars was significant. Contrast that with Perez struggle to overtake Vettel. I think if Lewis got in Max slipstream, he would have easyily overtaken Max.mkay wrote: ↑19 Apr 2021, 12:25Despite damage which apparently may have cost HAM up to 0.5s/lap (per Mark Hughes), HAM caught up to VER at the end of the first stint due to better tyre wear. They both were going through traffic at the time so it wasn't as much a factor.ispano6 wrote: ↑19 Apr 2021, 09:41Clearly you don't understand diction then. I know what I said, we all know the rules, and I'm calling then flawed. When you have rules where you are required to keep a delta under virtual safety car, and get penalized for gaining a lasting advantage when violating track limits, a circumstance that allows a driver to freely make up a deficit such as unlapping yourself, a 78sec delta, because of track clean up as a reason, is inconsistent with the rules that aim to maintain a delta under vsc or prevent gaining a lasting advantage. Had the red flag not happened, Hamilton would never have been close to a podium (duh we all know that too) . And there's no sense in trying to say Merc had the faster car, Max never was challenged by Hamilton after lap one. Max drove fast enough to win the race, and the 21 sec delta would have been much larger had there been no red flag causing accident. Max, Red Bull and Honda were the class of the field no matter how you try and spin it! Max praised Honda for improving the starts and nailed it, Max also avoided costly mistakes, and the boys didn't screw up the pitstop either. Overall it was a satisfying outcome apart from Perez not doing his part and Ham's gaffe not amounting to much. Even Bottas served Ham better being at the "wrong" place at the right time. Or I guess he should be thanking Russell...
Wolff post-race admitted that Merc may have had an advantage over RB in the race. Why didn't VER get the fastest lap (or get remotely close to HAM's benchmark) at the end when running in clean air? I think this was Merc's race to lose in an ideal scenario, but the race was already lost once HAM lost a chunk of his front wing (as the time penalty would have increased in dry conditions at the end).
The thing with the gaining the lap back, it may seem unfair to you on some occasions, but it levels itself out.ispano6 wrote: ↑19 Apr 2021, 09:41Clearly you don't understand diction then. I know what I said, we all know the rules, and I'm calling then flawed. When you have rules where you are required to keep a delta under virtual safety car, and get penalized for gaining a lasting advantage when violating track limits, a circumstance that allows a driver to freely make up a deficit such as unlapping yourself, a 78sec delta, because of track clean up as a reason, is inconsistent with the rules that aim to maintain a delta under vsc or prevent gaining a lasting advantage. Had the red flag not happened, Hamilton would never have been close to a podium (duh we all know that too) . And there's no sense in trying to say Merc had the faster car, Max never was challenged by Hamilton after lap one. Max drove fast enough to win the race, and the 21 sec delta would have been much larger had there been no red flag causing accident. Max, Red Bull and Honda were the class of the field no matter how you try and spin it! Max praised Honda for improving the starts and nailed it, Max also avoided costly mistakes, and the boys didn't screw up the pitstop either. Overall it was a satisfying outcome apart from Perez not doing his part and Ham's gaffe not amounting to much. Even Bottas served Ham better being at the "wrong" place at the right time. Or I guess he should be thanking Russell...
But if Bottas left more room, would he been in the wet?
I can't believe he didn't know it was a rolling start. The gap was only 6 tenths at the line. If he wasn't aware, it would have taken far longer to work that out and get on the power to go. No way was Charles unaware of the rolling start. You don't follow a car so close through Rivazza when you think it will be a standing start.
Jennie Gow said it. BBC5Live podcastNathanOlder wrote: ↑19 Apr 2021, 13:38I can't believe he didn't know it was a rolling start. The gap was only 6 tenths at the line. If he wasn't aware, it would have taken far longer to work that out and get on the power to go. No way was Charles unaware of the rolling start. You don't follow a car so close through Rivazza when you think it will be a standing start.
