Easy win for Max. Poor strategy from Mercedes lol. They cannot manage the tires as well. LH was fully correct they are at least .25 in deficit to RedBull. Thats a professional opinion and its funny to see other saying he is wrong to state they are behind. This race proves soundly who is the favortie for tltle - RedBull. Another loss here, most likely is coming for Mercedes. They are clearly slower. Max will be over a race lead ahead after next race. No changes are coming in great quantity for Mercedes. RedBull are the favorites. Thats the only result of this very boring race lol.
Mercedes is unbalanced and drag issues overall. If Im Mercedes there is no reason to kill themselves overall with next year coming. They have had a good run in history that is recent. Unmatched overall. To answer RedBull at this point is probably now worth the cost given the .25 or more deficit. Cost cap = reducing competition lol.
i don’t know what they could have done differently on strategy. Red Bull was dominant here. There was no undercut that would have helped. They did the right thing to get fastest lap...that was the only strategic play they had all day. Bottas held onto 3rd...I’d say Red Bull may have gotten too cute there. Merc did as well as they possibly could today
barnstorming effort by Charles today. Coming from the back after lap one to pass his way into a points finish, when Ferrari seemed doomed. Double points finish actually looks really good here, all things considered.
Some say it’s max making the difference, other say it’s the car. Since Perez finishing fourth, while driving a good and steady race tells me the RB isn’t that far ahead of the Mercedes. Or even ahead at all. I won’t believe Bottas drove faster while having a slower car. So it could be very true it’s really Max making the difference.
Well done Verstappen, a copybook win without a fault! He should repeat that next weekend too ! It's a RB circuit ! I think Max is on his way to clinch his first title this year. I am wondering if the usual armchair critics will still say that it's all due to the car, and that any jockey would win in a Red Bull, or if they reserve that only when it's a Mercedes? Red Bull has won 5 of the first 8 GPs this season, so they are probably the best car; Mercedes doesn't seem to have an answer.
A 15 sec gap (before the second pit) tells you that RBR isn’t ahead of Merc? That’s an interesting conclusion. Sergio is not Max’s equal, I agree. He’s been with the team for 8 races, so you wouldn’t expect him to be his match. That said, I think he would have had third today had Merc not pitted him a second time. However, they were hedging their bets on getting the fastest lap point and rolled the dice in catching VB. Red Bull has been the better car on 6 of 8 circuits, and if they were to re-race Portimao and Catalunya today, I’d think Max would win this time
Lets not forget that Bottas had a penalty that dropped him from 2nd to 5th. Perez is indeed not Max's equal, in the same way that Bottas isn't Lewis's. 6 out of 8 tracks...not sure where we're getting that from? Bahrain yes in quali, race pace was equal if not merc better. Imola Merc was faster, even with their tyre warm up issues they got pole. Spain, portugal, both easy merc tracks. Monaco, Baku was Red Bull territory (baku surprisingly so). France was nip and tuck between both teams. Austria...we have to consider the fact that Max traditionally is supreme here and Lewis not so much, but he was untouchable all weekend. I really am not convinced if we put any current driver in the Red Bull he'll be doing anywhere as good as Max is doing. I think Max is making the fraction difference, and he's doing so consistently. That said, Max and Lewis clearly in a league of their own this weekend. pre-pitstop at lap 70, Bottas was 30 seconds behind Lewis I think?
So what’s the deal with the Merc flexi-floor as seen on the slo-mo replays? I would imagine that under load this would deflect downwards to better seal the floor ahead of the diffuser. I think another TD and more stringent tests are incoming….. not!
Toto has stated they have developing for the year. Focus is on next year. RedBull is continuing to develop PU etc.