He happens to apparently be in the second best car of the grid ... it could be considered when comparing with other drivers.
Only this year. Although I hope so, there is no certainty that Aston Martin will stay at that level all season.
It was fun being at the race, I’m so glad I wasn’t watching any grid walk on TV, the live driver intros was bad enough! I’m more interested in the racing than the celebrity spotting, so have fun debating all that nonsense. I think the cooler temps and more clouds on race day might have enabled Max somewhat, it sure didn’t hurt him! KMAG/LEC good fights, VER double pass on the shorter DRS zone was crazy, and a good but short VER/PER fight for the win on totally different tires so no surprise how that ended. One complaint: while I like Bob Varsha and some other guy announcing at the circuit, the video screens were not up to date, sometimes a lap or more behind the live action, as if they were not taking live timing from the pit lane into account. Inexcusable for the fans sitting in the seats. Image Unavailable, Please Login
The tyres are still the same for all. And again, Perez is free to choose whichever strategy he likes. He hasn't complained about the strategy (and he's not one to keep quiet if he feels mistreated), congratulated Max on his ridiculous speed. If we go back to Saturday, Max's time in Q2 on old tyres was faster than Perez' Q3 pole time on new tyres. Max was head and shoulders above anyone, including Perez, all weekend. He drove a superb race. Had Max started from P1 as he should've...Perez wouldn't have seen where he'd gone. Just like Bahrain, just like Jeddah (where Max was stupid fast until his driveshaft died), just like australia, Max was the clear best. It took for a **** weekend from Max, Russell clattering into him, and Perez being on his absolute best, to get the measure of him. I'm not even including the SC as I do believe Perez had the measure on him speed wise in Baku.
I am not saying for one minute that Perez is the faster driver, the strategy is set by the race engineer and strategists, they are employed by RB and they (Horner and Co) call the shots, not Perez. Same car different favoritism.
I’ve seen very little comment on how colossally wrong Sainz’s entrance in pit lane was. I don’t often see this kind of mistake in beginners and debutants in Motorsport. What did Carlos V said over it and what excuse did he use this time?
In Melbourne Perez also started on a different strategy... I think people are looking *far* too much into this and are seeing things that just aren't there. The underdog didn't win....
Perhaps they are Bas, but for me the chosen one will be WDC regardless. The car, the team is built around Verstappen, just like the Schumacher years.
no denying that Max will be champion, that's for sure. I do agree, it's nice to see the underdog win but Verstappen simply drove a fantastic race. Sadly Perez's great drives like Baku aren't happening nowhere near often enough.
@TonyL AMuS Did Perez get the worse tactics? After crossing the finish line, conspiracy theorists confronted the team leadership with the accusation that Sergio Perez had gotten the worse tactics. The Mexican was put on the medium tires at the start, while Verstappen started with the hard rubber. What no one could have foreseen: A lot of rubber was washed off the track by the nightly showers. In addition, the asphalt on the Sunday of the race did not heat up as much as it did in practice. Both factors contributed to the fact that the drivers struggled with graining on the softer compounds at the beginning. Those who had mounted the yellow-marked Pirellis with full tanks in the first stint had to slow down noticeably in order to avoid the dreaded rubbing of the surface. Anyone who saved the mediums for the second stint could end up gasping more aggressively with the lighter car and the more rubberized track. Sergio Perez had no antidote to Verstappen that day. However, this development was not foreseeable, emphasized Red Bull team boss Christian Horner: "Our simulation said that medium-hard was the faster option. We expected that Max would only benefit from a late safety car. "If you look at the If you look at the starting tires of the cars in the front rows, we weren't the only ones with this assessment." Perez later complained that he wasted a lot of time, especially in the first stint, because he was driving in overdrive. "Maybe he could have taken more risks. Max was his only opponent," Horner mused. "It's easy to say afterwards, of course. But I think Max's pace was so strong that he would have won with any strategy today." Analysis of the stints on the hard tires proves Horner right. Verstappen somehow managed to plow through half the field and not overwhelm the tyres. At the end of his first stint, he was sometimes faster with old tires than Perez with much fresher soles of the same compound. Also Perez: Verstappen’s performance not reachable for me https://www.grandprix247.com/2023/05...chable-for-me/
I hear Max RB was 20-30 kms faster through the speed trap than Perez during the race. Is this true? Is Max using different PU? Or higher modes?
From a former red bull engineer (brrrake) and former strategist (bernie Collins); Image Unavailable, Please Login And perez Image Unavailable, Please Login
18 kph because at no stage in the race did Perez get to use his DRS - Stroll had a similar advantage to Alonso for the same reason - in qualifying when DRS use was unrestricted both Alonso & Perez were 2 kph faster than their teammates
Well I can’t see anything wrong with this strategy. Verstappen like Schumacher was is one of the all time best. The RB19 is so dominant that broadcasters are desperate to create a sort of fake suspens between Max and Checo. In the end on pure pace and with the same car, Checo stands no chance against a driver like Max.
Of course Horner is going to say that, its called defence mode! Why put Verstappen on the wrong (slowest) strategy? It pumps up the media hype ..... Tony
Agree but thats what he was hired for......No2 and pickup points for WCC. Period. All the hype of a Perez / Verstappen battle is the circus with the rest as the clown show.
So you would put Perez(P1) on the hard tire to start off the race on a non-rubbered track knowing full well it will take 7 to 10 laps to get heat in that tire while the top 8 cars behind him are on the medium tire?
Fans left astonished at OUTRAGEOUS food and merch prices at Miami GP https://www.gpfans.com/en/f1-news/107259/f1-miami-grand-prix-fans-outrageous-food-merchandise-prices/?rt_feed=1
Just above you I left 2 statements, one ex red bull member (so no longer his former paymasters' mouth piece) and a former lead strategists from another team entirely, all saying Max made the difference and no other team making their lead guy start on the harder tyre. And Perez also backing up that claim.