2021 Azerbaijan Grand Prix - Baku, June 04 - 06

[Sieper]

And actually, since strolls tires blew after like 31 laps? And Max 34? Was almost everyone at danger at that point? We have seen it last year as well, at Silverstone.

The problem was also a bit that everyone was taken hostage by the Stroll blowout. They all lost their pit window. If Max would have pitted he would likely just have thrown the victory away. Even if after that they all stayed out and someone else would be the first to have his tires let go.

Or was it a 1 stopper anyway? Pirelli did advice so.

My take is that Max and Perez stopped way too early on lap 11 and 12 I think it was. If they had managed to take it out to lap 18 like Vettel then max wins the race and it's a red bull 1-2. Red Bull was faster and would still have been as fast on the softs as Hamilton was on the hard for several laps and especially with the long Merc pit stop they should have done a double take and kept them out longer because tyre life was always going to be a defining factor as we have seen in previous years with bottas late failure in a race.

I also think that pitting Max under the safety car for safety reasons and making this obvious by stating as such might have moved many others to also pit. If Merc don't pit Lewis but everybody behind him does then he would have been a sitting duck with old tyres. If he does then he is still behind Max with tyres able to go the distance and it is game over. The tricky item in this tactic would be what do you do with Sergio?

I agree on both accounts. Tactically they dropped the ball here. With one caveat. Pirelli said the red white one stopper was best. The tires would last. Stroll did not have his blowout yet at the first (normal) pitstop. So going longer was “not needed” (but would have been pertinent). After the stroll blowout they should have stopped under the SC but if NOBODY else would have, would Max be able to get back to P1? At least risky. And the tires would last to the end according to Pirelli. It was even the advised quickest strategy.

So perhaps our hindsight is a luxury.

[Sieper]

Max is lucky that Lewis made his error at the restart, otherwise you'd have a lot more to complain about.

No, it's the other way around. Hamilton is lucky Verstappen was taken out despite the eventual lock up and no points. That way Hamilton still comes out net victorious by not losing additional 11 or 12 points in WDC.

But the lock up occurred because of Max's tyre failure. Without that, there would have been no restart, no magic button, etc.. Yes, Max would have ended up with a bigger points gap had he not had the tyre failure, but if Hamilton hadn't had the button issue, Max would have lost his title lead.

They were both lucky and unlucky in the race. Both of them is lucky that both came out of the race with no change in the points between them - assuming they are the two most likely to be fighting for the title.

One was unlucky, the other made a mistake. But you could call that lucky, that your competitor makes a mistake. But it is not equal. One just had the worst of luck, the other let the opportunity presented by luck slide.

[Just_a_fan]

No, it's the other way around. Hamilton is lucky Verstappen was taken out despite the eventual lock up and no points. That way Hamilton still comes out net victorious by not losing additional 11 or 12 points in WDC.

But the lock up occurred because of Max's tyre failure. Without that, there would have been no restart, no magic button, etc.. Yes, Max would have ended up with a bigger points gap had he not had the tyre failure, but if Hamilton hadn't had the button issue, Max would have lost his title lead.

They were both lucky and unlucky in the race. Both of them is lucky that both came out of the race with no change in the points between them - assuming they are the two most likely to be fighting for the title.

One was unlucky, the other made a mistake. But you could call that lucky, that your competitor makes a mistake. But it is not equal. One just had the worst of luck, the other let the opportunity presented by luck slide.

I'm not sure Hamilton accidentally pressing a button was "a mistake". It was "an accident". One might just as easily say Max's tyre failure was a mistake on his part because he drove on some debris. I don't think that, by the way, before anyone goes nuclear on me!

Both were accidents.

As for luck - Perez was lucky to win, Vettel was lucky to podium, etc.

[dans79]

One might just as easily say Max's tyre failure was a mistake on his part because he drove on some debris. I don't think that, by the way, before anyone goes nuclear on me!

I'm sure Pirelli will insist it was debris! I mean they hadn't even analyzed the tires yet and Isola was telling the press the following!

"I believe it was debris, because they didn't have any warning that there was something strange on the car, on the suspension, on the tyre, on the brake, nothing was giving any sign of failure. And it was a sudden failure.

"So considering the rear left is not the most stressed tyre, the cut we found on Lewis's tyre and so on, these are indications that are taking us in that direction.

[Sieper]

Well, if you want to you can certainly say Max made a mistake and Hamilton got unlucky. There is no law against that so it can’t be stopped.

[PlatinumZealot]

I really think Max should have done better to avoid the debris on the sides of the track. Check the Stroll incident, and you guys will see that he was near to the wall too.

Especially after the remaining debris from Stroll's car was swept to the sides Max should have kept to the middle of the track.

[Sieper]

Yes, max was very stupid. And Lewis quite smart. It can’t be denied.

[TimW]

Yes, magic can always backfire, can happen to anyone

[Sieper]

Lewis always has that magic, even when he shouldn’t. And Max is just a bit middle of the road, or not.

[dans79]

Masi is going to feel the burn from this one!

[NL_Fer]

What would be the odd that a debris will cut the tyre and instantly destroy the construction?

[TimW]

What would be the odd that a debris will cut the tyre and instantly destroy the construction?

Twice in the same race, both the rear left, on the same long straight, same hardness, with almost the same number of laps on them?

[dans79]

What would be the odd that a debris will cut the tyre and instantly destroy the construction?

Probably not that good. As I mentioned before Bottas got a right rear puncture in 2018 after hitting a massive piece of debris and it didn't instantly destroy the tire, he had several hundred meters to slow the car and get it under control.

[PlatinumZealot]

What would be the odd that a debris will cut the tyre and instantly destroy the construction?

Do you know how long the debris was in the tyre?

[PlatinumZealot]

What would be the odd that a debris will cut the tyre and instantly destroy the construction?

Twice in the same race, both the rear left, on the same long straight, same hardness, with almost the same number of laps on them?

Softs ran pretty long with more vehicle weight.

Im not a tyre expert but if the construction failed - If we go by past Pirelli construction failures - We see it happens not in an istant but a few moments with the kevlar fibres flailing all over the place if its deep or with the side-wall tearing away after a few laps of blistering.

For punctures... That's usually a slow(er) occurence too.

None of these happened in Baku and historically Baku tyre failures have been punctures. So I was quite shocked when I saw Christian Horner fabricating the story to tell Masi live in front of the camera.