PS I just want to say I don't think Kimi performed well this week. There where contributing factors but he also came short of ultimate performance. I think 4th was possible.
To be honest, among the leaders, nobody looked like really going for it last Sunday. Kimi was no exception.
Vettel, bottas and Verstappen delivered. Elton and Kimi underdelivered. Ricciardo didn't do anything special but was faster than the aforementioned 2.
Vettel romped away, and the gaps between him and Bottas, and between Bottas and Max soon grew. Once you are out of DRS range, it's very difficult to come back on that track, IMO. Ricciardo was overshadowed by Max all weekend. Hamilton's engine was at his end of life, so maybe they had lowered the revs for the race (this isn't an excuse I make). He didn't look very comfortable all weekend. I expected they would try a different tyre strategy for Kimi, they didn't, and I cannot see what happened.
Strategy on Kimi was weird. They had a gap to pit kimi and get out ahead of Lewis and didn't take it...then they had a 55 second lead to hulkenberg with 20 laps to go and didn't pit....it was a no brainer. he was either going to slot back in where he was or if there was a safety car he could've made a difference. Ferrari napping again...
He would move over if/when asked because he's smart enough to see the bigger picture. Or at least everything I've seen of him leads me to believe that he is. If he were to go to Ferrari next year then the best things he could do would be to be quick, not to crash, to learn as much as possible from Vettel and to play the team game...an to prove that he is the one to lead the team into the future. The ultimate truth is that no top team will consistently ask one driver to move out of the way of the other because it soon becomes clear that you're favouring the wrong guy and the second driver is actually quicker. Which is exactly the point. But the particularly frustrating thing in Canada was that he had a real chance to be taking points off Hamilton and Ricciardo from the Drivers' Championship (and off Mercedes and Red Bull in the Constructors') and he didn't and chances like that don't come along too often and it is for days exactly like that where you need your second driver to do his part of the job as well as the first. When you add in poor tactics, unfortunate safety car timing, getting rammed by Mad Max and the odd driving error too, Ferrari are a big bunch of points down from where they could have been at this point and I can't believe that isn't going to haunt them later in the season.
Who is in charge of race tactics at Ferrari? Arrivabene ? Kimi is often at the receiving end of mistakes of all kind. To his credit, he doesn't make a tantrum (at least not in public).
Did anyone else hear the commentators say that Ferrari, when asked about this decision, replied that "there is risk in pit stops"? As others have said above, it seems like Kimi's job this year is to "be out on track" and to help Vettel rather than to push performance.
Since his return he has not overtly been allowed to push Vettel. His position is known. Ferrari have one chosen priority. Kimi is a sideshow who has been bypassed for years. His level is reflected in comparison to FA when they were both at Ferrari. His legacy is tainted the longer he stays. He is easily over-looked as Ferrari have zero use for the WCC.
Yes it was strange...there was nothing to be lost with pitting Kimi. What's the odds of Bahrain repeating itself? They had a 55+ second window...Even struggling with a wheel, hell, all 4 wheels, they'd get it all done way on time. A routine stop wouldn't hurt anything, and if a Safety car came (a high chance at Canada), he'd have been there with opportunity for 4th if not better. Not a racing attitude from Ferrari, simple as that,.
If you want to split hairs anyway then the last decade started in June 2008, the WCC was awarded later that year so it is within the last decade
I agree. That and the decision to leave him out on very old tires (in China) have me thinking that Ferrari are effectively a one car team, with Kimi running a support / research & development role. That could explain why Kimi seems less aggressive on starts than we might otherwise expect - and would explain why Ferrari doesn't seem to develop strategies or employ tactics aimed at his success. All that said, I also wonders about the proverbial "razor thin margin" that separates the good from the great in Formula One. Maybe there is something to having a team and a strategy that allows one driver to maximize their (and the car's) potential.
He still would have had to pass someone, which he isn't able to do because of aero, weaker engine, blah blah blah, and (#1 reason) he no longer has the desire.
I will look at it a different way... When we talk about “this year”...we mean 2018, not last June 13 to today... This week is Monday to Sunday or Sunday to Saturday...not a rolling last seven days... Today is today, midnight to 11:59...not the past 24 hours. Ferrari has not won this decade. They have the goods to deliver, but they let too many details fall through the cracks. Racing is all about those details. Toto understands that...I’m not convinced that Sergio understands that concept well enough.
If you want to take it that way the "last decade" would be 2001-2010 so Williams sentence would be even more wrong.... Ferrari did not win this decade (2011 onwards) but within the last decade Gesendet von meinem SM-G930F mit Tapatalk
A review of the race by Brundle but Kimi fans will not be pleased. I do not think he is off the 'mark' - http://www.skysports.com/f1/news/24096/11401719/martin-brundle-sebastian-vettel-drives-ferrari-back-into-title-race
Brundle says it's time for Kimi to go, and that Ferrari just might go with a youngster for a change (LeClerc).
I like LeClerc, but I hope he doesn't make the move to Ferrari any time soon... SF does not have a history of promoting the #2 driver. AND their program is such that #1 and #2 have significantly different roles. I fear that he will be a good #2 and will never really get the chance to show his stuff.
He might be gone in this decade already but he will certainly be replaced within a decade [emoji16] Gesendet von meinem SM-G930F mit Tapatalk
