FORMULA 1 PIRELLI GRAND PRIX DU CANADA 2023 - Montreal....Race.... ▄▀▄▀▄▀ SPOILERS ▄▀▄▀▄▀

At Montreal, the stewards have introduced another level of sanction: 5-second penalty for allegedly going too slow .
That's a new one tp me !
I can see plenty of track actions that would deserve to be called 'unsportsmanlike behaviour', but go totally unpunished.
The FIA has added an other layer of stupidity to its rules.

 

It's been a rule for quite some time...but not enforced at crucial moments, even when done a lot worse than Norris did and with a championship on the line.

As usual from the FIA though, clear as mud and rules are enforced/ignored whenever they feel like it...

But beware if you're a team principal and you call them out for it, they'll immediately reprimand you for calling their idiocy out!

 

Perez says braking affected his pace in Canada - F1i.com

In Canada, the six-time Grand Prix winner pointed to a brake issue as a justification for his subdued performance.

"The ride hasn’t been great, so on the braking I think was the biggest thing – and it’s where we think we need to come on top of and make sure we are able to figure out what’s happening and come back strong," he said.

 

The same "braking issue" he had in Australia?

 

A very complex system lol

 

Had to pick up on this...
In 2021 Sainz beat Leclerc by mere 5.5 points. It was those podiums, and some were very lucky (like the famous bowling race), that gave Sainz more points. Carlos lost in every other single metric that season, race head to head, Quali head to head etc.

F1 race points are very Top3 heavy, you can make up lot of points when on the podium, but in places like 4-8 the difference is very small, like usually you gain 2 points on your team mate per race.

I might also mention that Leclerc was 8.5 points ahead of Sainz going into Abu Dhabi for the final round. Sure enough Ferrari found a way to mess up; Leclerc was running in a position in the race (6th I think), that would have been enough for him to finish ahead of Sainz and Norris in the standings. They could have just held the position, but decided to try an undercut I believe on cars ahead to gain position; but that backfired spectacularly...Charles was stuck in traffic and ended up 10th, while Sainz finishes 3rd, a 14 point swing.

Sainz was more lucky than consistent in 2021, as proved by stats.

It's good that you left out 2022 when Ferrari could actually fight for wins in the first part of season. Only win Carlos got was a gift from the team while shafting his team mate during a late safety car. Other than that "mr. consistency" was very consistent on putting his car on gravel. First time Carlos got a race winning car in his career and he got absolutely massacred by his team mate.

Regarding 2023; I didn't know it was Sainz consistency that blew Leclerc's engine in Bahrain while on route to 3rd place finish. You add points from that single race to Lec and they would be pretty much even in points. Btw that also resulted in 10 grid drop for Leclerc in Saudi GP where he qualified 2nd, so a double smack in the face.

As for Sainz in 2023. He has had multiple brain farts already.
- The collision with Alonso in Australia and the ensuing time penalty dropping him out of points
- he locked up in Miami while coming into the pits with way too much speed, resulting in 5 second penalty (luckily for him didn't affect his finishing position)
- crashed into back of Ocon in Monaco and slid off later in the wet to lose position to his team mate.
- had every chance to out score his team mate in Canada, instead proceeds to block people in middle of a straight in Quali (twice!), resulting in 3 place grid drop (which in all honesty should have been atleast 5 places)

But hey, he is ahead in points of his team mate who has had 2 dnf's already this season, so he must be doing well!

 

I didn't say he was better, I'm saying he's very consistent. No need to go that deep in to it.

For a championship run I'd always choose Leclerc over Sainz. It's like backing Perez over Max for a title.