.. and LeClerc emerges like a Phoenix. Showed his skill, hope this silences the 'ferrari let go of the wrong driver' narrative. He has won the slowest and fastest races of the calender - Monaco and Monza. Home race for driver and home race for constructor. Thoroughly deserved. Didn't let the Mclarens walk away in the first medium stint, that was important.
McLaren can go sink their heads into the sand. In the whole of 2024, they haven't taken a 'gamble' decision, if not in such races with 0.5s/lap advantage over the next best team, when ? When are they going to come out of 'safe zone' decisions ? Doesn't McLaren trust either driver to 'run with management' to slow down graining on left front ? They were hammering 1s/lap faster than others in the middle stint, when they didn't need to, could've easily done the 1 stop. The team's inexperience with race management is showing. Stella needs to rile up a few people there.
McLaren right now has a car like the RB19 of 2023, but also has a strategy team like 2022-ferrari.
Hamilton drove really well, the Mercedes is properly quick now in any track. It's the 2nd best car.
The Redbull. Well. RB20 is a sad sight. Clearly the 4th fastest car, and a long margin behind 3rd. It's slower in race trim than the top 3 teams, than how much it's slower in quali trim. The strategists did go for the aggressive H-H-M, but the car didn't have pace in any tyre compound. P6 was the theoretical best after Russel's early stop and they got it. The drivers have no reason to feel that the race was bad. The car looks like a midfielder. Redbull in 2024, are in the same 'zone' as Mercedes were for the entirety of 2022 and 2023 - struggling with car balance and consistently losing people throughout the year.
Btw, the trophies looks horrible. Looks like a badly made head gasket
