It is the norm. Hope for the best and then hit with harsh realities of another uncompetitive season. 2022 started nice since the car was overseen by Rory Byrne. Seems like without him, they can't do better than a red trash can.
You know what would be hilarious? Is if LH focusing on the 26 car is true and it turns out to be a contender, what would the haters say then?
I'd say good! Charles will still be faster But we'll never know for sure because the chances of that happening are slim to none.
The ultra safe rear biased cars works perfectly fine. If you have a car that's significantly quicker than the competition.
I think the comments from Albon were during a pod cast, and he referenced that the car became so sharp that he became un settled = nervous in the car, where as Verstappen is not. I get what he's talking about. I dont know that he wants the Williams to be just as sharp, but they all want a responsive turn/rotational car so they can brake as late as possible and accelerate ASAP.... that is game. I think I understand what Hamilton means, his style is different and he needs a car that he can feel comfortable with. Ask any World Champion from any year, and the best car is one that they fit into like a glove and that they fully have confidence in.... anything else and you are slower. I don't know who all has driven a formula car - or a Shifter Kart - but if you have you know what I mean when you talk about Rotation, and sharp turn in... its mind bending, and at current F-1 levels even crazier. You are talking about G's on the body fore and aft, side to side, on top of neck etc.. all while being as smooth as possible ( which we would say is violent )... its a lot, and if you are fighting the car the whole lap, you are slow.
3:58 is when he talks about Verstappen and goes on to talk about the need for a less stable car to be fast. He is saying that the edgier cars are faster than the stable ones. Lewis has said it quite a few times now that he wants a car with more and more rear end. He has proven that he can't adapt to a car that is unstable and his performance is underwhelming to say the least. Most drivers prefer the stable car as you touched on and that makes sense. The ones that can handle the edgier cars are the ones that tend to go faster. Then there is Max and he openly wants more and more front end. His preference is a car that very front biased. A car that is perfect to him is likely a car that is very edgy and unstable for the typical driver. But his way is faster. I do believe Max has a talent that makes him faster than pretty much every other F1 driver, especially over a race distance. But I also think the way he sets up the cars to be nose heavy and can manage it (even prefers it) better than every other driver is why he is 4 or 5+ tenths faster than all of his teammates in the last 7 years. Maybe Yuki and Perez and whoever else can be within 2 or 3 tenths of Max on a good day with the same safe setup, but we know Max often runs a different setup. Even aerodynamically, we see him run a heavier loaded front winger, or a reduced downforce rear wing. His teammates can't handle it and that might account for the other 2 or 3 tenths.
If Ferrari Starts taking many of elton advises, and go in his direction they will lose Charles...wich is probably the best for him, at this point the whole team is useless, he deserves far better, i'm peretty sure 2026 will see some lineup big changes....and at this point, if Ferrari can't get it together (and i much doubt it) they can stick with crapilton, cause they deserve each other. Enough is enough, i'm missing half the gps this year, after 45+ years of this, i'm finally giving up...
short answer : yes. totally agree. I think Hamilton needs a car he can feel confident in, meaning that he can retain control through the turns, and currently he does not.
You're probably not wrong. The Hamilton hire has backfired spectacularly thus far and like I said last year...it's an insult to Charles really. Rather than do the painfully obvious and fix the f'in team, they went with the PR hire of a has-been whilst at the same time pissing off their loyal Ferrari worshipper. Charles makes mistakes yes, but fixing a few things on the team side would either make these mistakes not nearly as costly and possibly less frequent altogther, as Charles wouldn't have to push as much as he does.
Frankly, I have no sympathy for Ferrari at this point. Like you said, it was obvious to everyone that bringing in Hamilton was more about selling cars and t-shirts than winning races. The fact they are doubling down on it to cater the car to him instead of focusing on Leclerc who proved to be better (which nearly everyone already knew). I just feel bad for Charles and his management team should be having serious talks with other teams.
