That is not the point. What they keep doing is making a complete mess of things and screwing both drivers' races. If, for example, they are running 2nd and 3rd and the driver in 3rd catches the one in 2nd then don't let them fight for ten laps ruining both their tyres but get them to swap places and, if later in the race, the other guy is faster and closing then swap them again. The Championship is long gone so at least try to run the team properly to at least get the best possible result. I don't believe there is a single race this season where, allowing for the pace of the car, they've scored as many points as they should have.
Interesting... There have been murmurings of discontent among some teams this year about the difficulty of getting the tyres into the right working temperature window, following the introduction of a thinner tread depth this year to combat overheating. And on Saturday Red Bull’s Helmut Marko gave an interview to Italy’s Gazzetta in which he complained: “Mercedes has a huge advantage at the moment thanks to this stupid change on tyres. There are nine teams that struggle and only one that benefits.” Marko alleged - inaccurately - that the request for the tyre change came from Mercedes and said “that’s the way to ruin the sport”. Actually, the thinner tyres were approved by all teams following the post-season Abu Dhabi tyre test in 2018, and were also run at three races last year - one of which, Silverstone, Ferrari dominated. Pirelli says there has been no official request or talks of any kind on the matter. The rules dictate that any tyre-specification change requires agreement of at least 70% of the teams. Pirelli add that if this was achieved - and that’s a big if - they “would of course consider it”, but that any process would also have to involve the FIA.
Mercs turned their engines down per Toto from AMuS. Strolls failed Spec 2 engine is being shipped to England for inspection.
From a cursory look at quali, it seems Leclerc's car does well on mediums, but Seb's and Ham's cars do better on softs. But they're all three starting on mediums. So how many places will Charles lose when he gets balked at turn 1?
I would hope that Vettel beats Leclerc especially since he's been doing this so much longer and especially at this track which is tricky to learn. Leclerc had been close all weekend, let's see what happens tomorrow. If Seb is the better man so be it.
I find it hard to understand how can eliminating 0,4 mm from the tire thread( yes 0,4 mm thats about your average printer paper thickness) can have such an impact on the F1 race car performance.....
YES!!!!!! GO VETTEL!!!!!! I’ll take every little glimmer of hope I can at this point. Sent from my iPhone using FerrariChat
OK . . . The first time qualys are on ESPNU, which I don't have . . . . Ferrari comes through. Figures.
Congrats to Vettel , fantastic lap and well deserved pole . Let’s hope no brain fade from SF in the race tomorrow, they are looking good
Nice lap by Vettel. Time for the first win of the season. This will be close and possibly exciting. Good weather and a tight start and Turn 1!! A good race potential.
Charles was robbed of a win. Not Vettel. He would have been first. Yes mistakes but the speed is there. Vettel provided today, what HE should be providing each weekend and does not the last 2 years. Im happy to see him up front but he needs to be significantly more consistent under pressure when it matters. He needs a flawless race tomorrow and stay cool early on!!
Took a break from surfing in Costa Rica to watch....damn fine result even in Español. Looking forward to mañana, more than recent memory. Any Tifosi in Tamarindo / Playa Grande ?? Local Channel 322 FoxSports3 has lots of motorsports. I'd love to Seb atop the podium, but any Red Car will do.
I'll play devil's advocate and say Mad Max beats one of the Ferraris. Surely past Daniel Ric by lap 6.
I agree he needs to get his head straight and get rid of the mistakes. However, the past few months have been full of people saying the team needs to back Leclerc fullly and let Vettel be support...whereas from as far as I can see, both drivers have been significantly faster than each other on one occasion each, and for the rest I think Vettel has a small margin so far.
@TheMayor Correction AMuS - Toto Wolff said Mercedes will not turn down the power of its new engines after one of the Phase 2 engines blew up at Lance Stroll and also brought the MGU-K to run. The power unit will be flown back to England for inspection. A first suspicion was directed to a problem with the installation. The engine had been removed and reinstalled for check after the first day of practice.