Tomsky wrote: ↑23 Jun 2024, 18:28
SmallSoldier wrote: ↑23 Jun 2024, 18:24
Tomsky wrote: ↑23 Jun 2024, 18:05
If Lando had gone to the pit after Russell, then the gap from Max after the first pit would have been 2-4 seconds, and this is a chance to trim on the second pit.
And stay behind Russell like he did in the first stint? Destroying his tires in dirty air? Without a tire delta it was going to be pretty hard for Lando to overtake Russell (as proven on the first stint).
Russell had a pit stop of more than 5 seconds, which would have been enough to take second place.
I feel like this has gone full circle, twice now lol
It seems the car came alive when not in dirty air so the delta from going long put the team in a position to find clean air and attack very efficiently.
Of course, it could be that we were just better on the harder compounds and would have got past.
But did you know it was Lando that made the call? After bluffing Russell they asked him if he wanted to come in, and Lando made the call.
Also, he would still have been behind Hamilton and Sainz, so Russels pit didn't alter the decision.
So even if it was a mistake, it wasn't the pit walls mistake. What the team realised was that each lap took over a tenth out of the softs per lap. Whilst others dropped back and lost a little time in traffic, Lando gained nearly a second a lap over them in the offset and dropped them like flies.
Fire Lando? I think it was a good idea so I'll keep him for now