It certainly didn’t hurt that the two McLarens (i e. just behind Lewis on the grid) started (and therefore launched) on the softs.
Think of it like the contribution from the electric motor to the total PU power output—used to overcome the drag resistance at top speed—is suddenly “clipped” or stopped, leaving only the power of the ICE, and not even. This is because when the the car is harvesting energy—usually at the end of a straight and evidenced by the red rain light blinking—it may be not just recovering energy from the MGU-K during the braking phase, it may also be using the energy from the turbo-driven MGU-H so reducing turbo boost, and so also ICE HP just when it’s needed the most, at top speed.
Pirelli were predicting a performance drop after 15 laps—race was 18 laps—so with 2 laps of running under the safety car the Macs delayed the drop-off right to the end of the race.
Think maybe Ham is letting his ego drown out his brain? Merc seemed to have unbeatable pace --- until Ham botched the start. Sure, the Norris's softs would likely go off after 15-16 laps, ... ... but Ham spent all those 15-16 laps less than a second behind Norris ... ... killing his aero, and wearing out his mediums. Not smart driving.
I think he has to also reckon with the fact that he doesn't have the kind of car anymore where he could drive around anybody, at will, like he used to have. He’s finally having to fight for every point and the pressure is telling.
Sainz lost confidence after "weird" Monza F1 practice crash https://www.motorsport.com/f1/news/sainz-lost-confidence-after-weird-monza-f1-practice-crash/6665533/amp/
Alonso: F1 too preoccupied with “improving the show” https://www.racefans.net/2021/09/11/alonso-f1-too-preoccupied-with-improving-the-show/
'Appreciate the unnecessary lesson on hybrids. I just don't see the term "clipping" as appropriate. Stopping works fine.
The term clipping was probably appropriated from the sound system “amplifier clipping”. Maybe you prefer “derating” and lesson by Autosport and C. Horner instead: “Horner thinks that Hamilton was suffering from his engine derating at the end of straights – which is when it runs out of the extra 160hp boost that is delivered by battery power. “When they're running sustainably, they're harvesting [regaining energy in to the battery rather than using it] a lot,” Horner told Sky Sports F1. “It’s what we call clipping, so the end of the straights you see the rear light flashing, and that just kills your straightline speed.”
So where is the money betting on tomorrow? Max? He's been lucky all weekend and profiting from other's mistakes. Lewis (he can pull out some great drives, and he's desperate to get win #100)? One of the McLarens? Only Merc and RB have shown they can go the distance at the front. But a little contact can cause a big loss. How many other teams will need to be swapping engines and starting from the back of the grid? Has the season become totally boring to Charles and Carlos? I appreciate that Kubica wanted to get back in an F1 car, but why is he hanging around? To get a rare weekend as a reserve driver when he could be doing better in another form of racing? And definitely there are faster people for his seat. All Lewis needs now is a couple of DNFs and he'll have to drive next year if he wants to break Michael's WDC record.
Puppets as in playing politics for their mercedes overlords. For the races, with Mclaren at least, they don't roll over that easily.
I still don't think it's quite so clear cut. There's only been one race where Red Bull had a distinct advantage over the Mercedes (Monaco). I think on average the Mercedes is the faster car Average Qualifying position for Max: 1.85 Average Qualifying position for Lewis: 2.42 Average Qualifying position for Bottas: 3.92 Average Qualifying position for Perez: 6.71 Average Qualifying position for Mercedes: 3.17 Average Qualifying position for Red Bull: 4.28 On the quali data alone, the Mercedes appears to be the faster car. I think Max is getting more from that car. I keep saying it, but from a supposed GOAT, as many keep tauting Lewis to be, I'd expect a bigger margin over his teammate, especially since he's being pushed by another driver now. Yep. Exciting first lap, maybe 2, then it settles. No one really wants to take a risk overtaking as the pay off is tiny.
It is if you consider that Bottas was sacrificed to provide Hamilton a tow (worth 0.6 - 0.7 sec.) and still went faster than Hamilton having no tow of his own.