Perez and Vettel?
Not slow, but slower on straight line speed than the mclaren which meant he only really got close down the straight with DRS.
I'm guessing he could have thrown one up the inside, and passed them but being the first race and the new year he probably wanted to finish strong, so held back for a clean pass (much like Vettel's passing of last year).
This obviously wasted a lot of time and allowed Button enough to stretch a lead.
Also, don't forget, hammering around behind a slightly slower car is going to destroy your tyres and confidence, not to mention a harsh SC jump, so it's no wonder he was miffed after qualifying 1st.
I still maintain he can win the WDC, so long as he keeps out of collisions and plays the game when needed. Button is excellent at this, so Hamilton will need to know when to put the hammer down and when to plod along. As mentioned before, I believe his aggressive style doesn't suit the Pirelli tyres, so he needs to adapt this year and learn that ultimate lap time does not always equal a win if the tyres evaporate after 12 laps.
Given how fast Vettel caught Lewis to start with, I dont see how you are saying the RBR was a lot slower in a straight line
Of course he is capable of winning the WDC, no question about it. He is probably in one of the two teams who are most likely to win the WDC and/or WCC. Your last sentence is his weak spot totally, if he can prove this isnt a weak spot in the next 4 or 5 races (while getting excellent results) he can definitely win , any longer than that .....unless one or two other main drivers get a few bad results, that is when it might start getting tricky.
If lots of different drivers win the first 6 - 8 races, then it wont matter so much, if its just one or two - the points difference could be massive if he is still learning how to get the best out of the tyres
For right or wrong his natural instinct is to hare off into the distance as soon as he gets the chance, with current rubber not reacting well to this tactic, it can take some time to alter habits of a (young ) lifetime.
maybe, although personally i wouldnt want a random element having an effect on my strategy. I personaly think it detracts from the whole experience, safety car is inevitable, but should it have an impact on the race in terms of those who are otherwise unnafected by whatever caused it?. I spoke to a guy who enjoys his formula one and talks to me about it all the time, although he is a casual veiwer who watches the races when he can but more often than not watches the highlights, and he didnt even know that it was the safety car that allowed vettel to pass hamilton, he was a bit dissapointed when i told him, and he is not biased to either in any way to either driver, so i do think its a bit rubbish that things like that happen tbh. i've been on both ends, benefit or negative in terms of who i support so i can see why people would think its not good, to me it seems little different to bernies sprinkler idea etc, in that its some random element messing about with the actual racing.
I know what you mean - but while the teams allow for a SC period (because its practically gaurenteed to occur in Aus, as well as on a few other tracks), and therefore short fll the cars with fuel to allow for this, part of the strategy is guessing how many laps the SC will be out for, etc etc - Bernie's sprinkler idea is artificially random and therefore imo hairbrained , at least the SC is actually forced to happen in most cases due to circumstances one or multiple drivers find themselves in (yes I know sometimes SC is called out over "nothing" incidents, but usually it appears for understandable reasons).
I have to admit I was hoping over the winter the FIA would scrap the ability of teams to change tyres during a red flag incident (like that in Monaco last season) that completely ruined what could have been a BRILLIANT race to the flag with some leading cars on really old tyres vs others further behind on much newer rubber. Unfortunately I dont believe anything happened with this
, falling back from his teammate at 0.5s a lap was a pretty poor showing from Lewis.
