no one has called out RB's straight line speed advantage. I can't remember how many times I've seen Verstappen simply drive away on the straights from the competition. Does he have that much more motor? Its started to look a little fishy to me. Or maybe I'm naive.
They have had the top speed advantage since the beginning of 2022. I've believed since then they are stalling out he diffuser or the beam wings, or something. They also seem to be using more ERS energy at the end of the straight while all other teams are harvesting.
I would not doubt there may be something tricky there. But its all legal till you get caught, or are Ferrari.
The problem is that RB has equivalent downforce as everyone else (or better) and less drag. The motor is not that much better if any.
The engine is no better than Ferrari or Merc's (Ferrari even claim theirs is better...but each time they claim that it does go boom so there's that). The car quite simply is more efficient drag wise, so they can afford to crank more downforce on. More downforce and then open the wing = larger apparent speed differential. It's for the same reason why the DRS in Monza isn't very effective and we see little passing there: Teams run minimal downforce anyways, and then the DRS opens up they get only very little gain in speed. Take that argument in reverse (lots of downforce) and you open the wing...gain more speed. The media gets all complicated about this, calling it a super DRS, double DRS, whatever they want...but it's simply them running more downforce with no penalty.
They were running agressive engine modes because that unit only had survive the last races. Later they admitted they used Bottas to test how far they could go with those engine modes.
This RB is no different than the RB vettel won 4 championships with. The MO was the same. Get out front fast and then manage.
True, but max has come form teh back on a few ocasions and still managed to win....so this one works on all fronts, probably better than the one Vettel was driving....
I remember Jim Clark and Jackie Stewart doing the same. Nobody was too keen on wheel-to-wheel in those days.
It's racing. It's just not exciting. We fans want to see the pissing match between Max and Hammy in competitive cars. Those 2 are the most likely to tangle. ALO can be #2 but the AM has never been close to RB. The Merc is moving up from zero to hero this last race. We will see if this Merc has got legs in the right direction and can post a challenge to RB. Perez just isn't Max and maybe fast but lacks the mental game of a champion.
I cannot understand how F1 could be reduced to a "pissing maych", but I suppose we are of different generations. I suppose you would not like to see the Tourist Trophy, or rallying, where the competition is purely against the clock. At the Tourist Trophy (Isle of Man, UK), the riders are released one by one at 10 or 20 secondes intervals, and run several laps (7, up to 10 depending on category) on open road on a 37.2 miles circuit. It's fast, very fast (faster than MotoGP) but there is no close racing, since every rider is only interested in doing the best time on the distance, there are no defensive tactics. Lap time around 130mph. In rallying, or hillclimb, it's the same, competitors drive several selected sections against the clock, not against each other. Times are added to determine the winner. But both sports are considered racing, attract large crowds, have many fans and are very exciting to watch.
I amateur race in SCCA. Time trialing bores me to death. It is a different game racing a person vs. racing a clock. There is nothing wrong with either just different games different approaches etc. For amateurs we start doing trackdays graduating to time trials, then racing wheel to wheel. Some like the precision of hitting marks to the Nth degree taking risks in a different way never interested in wheel to wheel. Wheel to wheel demands TT attributes but a willingness to take risk against an unpredictable opponent in a different way while strategizing outcomes if pitstops are allowed. So when Max speeds off into the distance faster than everyone else, as a fan, we are watching Max Time Trialing in a racing setting. That's pretty boring. That said the Isle of Mann TT is a special animal. There is not other TT like it having risks like Rally over the entire course where you can end up having a really bad day for a small mistake. Fans have a sick attraction to train wrecks.
I can see we are the complete opposite then. I tried circuit racing (Formula Renault) long time ago (50 years), and didn't like it. So I switched to rallying with some success, and later finished in hillclimbing, which I enjoyed much more. For myself, I never liked close racing, the risks involved, the aggressive defensive tactics, and the argy bargy after the race. I much prefered having the place all to myself and being the only one responsible for my misfortunes. Beside, I found the atmosphere among competitors much more relaxed, as there is no cause for animosity.
Well, when Loeb or Ogier won a ton of championships in a row, rallyes declined. When the end result is predictable, the sense of risk and challenge disappears.
Up until about 2003, the suspension arms were such that wheel to wheel contact was simply bad for the car--witness Senna-Prost Japan at the bus stop. Now the cars are so heavy and the suspension arms so robust, they can bang around like NASCAR drivers (too bad about all those front wings,.....).
I wonder if Red Bull could have a better ERS or deployment, or maybe ICE. Everyone has speculated that it’s aero efficient and stalls to generate better speed. Red Bull might stay silent or insinuate it’s aero, due to Newley’s genius just to misdirect away from engine or something else…
