Seanspeed wrote: ↑24 Nov 2024, 18:05
_cerber1 wrote: ↑24 Nov 2024, 10:32
RonMexico wrote: ↑24 Nov 2024, 10:11
Winning a title with the car that will finish third in the WCC, bravo Max Verstappen!
Where did the McLaren pace disappear to?
On a chassis that scored 100 points in the first races, creating a comfortable gap. There was no fight for the title, just an attempt to catch up. An easy title for him.
The Mclaren has been faster for the large majority of this season. It was clearly the best car this year and they'll likely still get the WCC from it. There was nothing comfortable about Verstappen's gap whatsoever had Norris/Mclaren simply done better. They had every opportunity to catch up and overtake Verstappen, but their own failures along with Verstappen just being amazing all season made the difference in the end.
Post Brazil there was a lot of copium (oh the red flag luck) since the WDC went from 'if' to 'when' ; and now post WDC at the very next race, the copium now is "buffer was built at the first 5 races before McLaren became the fastest car in the 6th race in Miami".
What is being swept under the carpet, is :
a) within first 5 races, there was one DNF for Max.
b) the races that followed after the 'transformative' 6th Miami race, where McLaren was clearly the faster car and kinder to tyres - Imola, Canada, Barcelona, Max won, by the tiniest of margins - strategy skill of the pitwall or driving skill of driver, or both.
c) Redbullring. Austria. The first signs of a 'proper fight' - Max grabbed a P5 with a puncture sacrifice, while Norris suffered terminal damage.
d) Silverstone was a huge opportunity lost with mickey mouse strategy by McLaren. Max had the 3rd/4th fastest car, but still finished P2 (great last stint on H) ahead of Norris.
e) Then came Hungaroring, Spa and Zandvoort - the RB20 was terrible by now compared to the McLaren, and still Max kept picking up P5 P4 and P2
By now, McLaren is the totally dominant machine and Redbull is surely the 3rd/4th fastest car.
f) Now comes Monza and Baku, and Max's car has almost become a midfielder (horrible setup change after FP3 in baku) and yet again Max is squeezing everything out of the car and bagging P6 and P5
g) The big change for Redbull happened in Singapore, for which they ditched their simulators and setup the car using FP1,2,3 data. Though the car was still much inferior to McLaren, it was best of the rest and Max grabbed an important P2, miles behind Norris nevertheless.
h) The RB20 became more predictable and some sort of floor solution was obtained (frankenstein diffuser or not) for COTA, and Max got to the podium in P3. The reason Norris finished behind, despite having a clearly superior car, was because he couldn't pass a much slower Max for almost 10+ laps, being in the DRS. That was a defensive masterclass from Max, and we could see a nervous Norris, afraid to attack.
i) All the fixes from Singapore and COTA didn't prove their worth in the rarefied air of Mexico, and the car was a dud, miles behind the rampaging McLaren. But still Max picked up a patient (or impatient, rather after the penalties) P6.
j) Brazil - we all know, it had less to do with the car, it was all driver. " #cojones "
k) LasVegas - again, Redbull was the 3rd fastest car and Max grabbed the 'par' P5 finish. However, McLaren ruined their car setup and Norris finished behind, at P6
When they say
'it was all because of the buffer built at the start' , look at all those points picked up by Max, from b) through j), That is the reason he is world champion
(the only exception is Austria, where Norris came worse off a wheel to wheel battle, suffering more damage than Max. Hence can't blame Norris not picking up points there). . And not just because of those 4 wins from the first five races. And for what it's worth, it wasn't as if Norris was finishing outside the points in those first five races, he finished on the podium twice. So much for the
'it was all from the initial wins' narrative. Max literally drove like a robot (excepting some brain fade moves in Mexico) and consistently grabbed what was possible with the car he had. That's why he won the WDC. Norris, on the other hand, didn't utilize the monster machine he was given by his engineers - whether by volition of his own driving or whether due to mistakes by the pitwall, the 'opportunity with the superior machine' was squandered.
Happy Max 4 WC 
