Poll: British Grand Prix 2022, Silverstone - Race 10
- Thread starter chrismscotland
- Start date
Caporegime
I think Albon will stay at Williams, since he is still under contract to Red Bull I don't think they'd be happy to see him in a McLaren. Of the drivers on the grid: Tsunoda, Zhou, and Mick seem the least safe in their seats (other than Dani Ric), but none of them seem likely to go to McLaren. Could Vettel decide he's had enough of Aston? Could Alpine decide they want Piastri in their own car and see Alonso move to McLaren? None of it seems very likely to me.
Yup, he should have gone 151, 30pts behind Max and ahead of Pérez. A gap that seems closable with a run of good form. Instead he's in 3rd place and two race wins adrift.
Soldato
What makes you think that?
Soldato
I can only imagine that Max must have lifted off along the straights when the Ferraris breezed past - thinking the car was about to die. Otherwise, whatever broke was like throwing a parachute out the back.
Caporegime
He initially thought he had a puncture, didn't he? So he was nursing it back to the pits rather than risking a blow-out.
In simplistic terms you would expect the no pod design to provide less drag than with pods - either giving a straight line advantage or allowing more wing etc to be run without dropping back off the straights.
Man of Honour
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Significantly reduced drag profile, reduced weight and therefore with more to play with elsewhere.
Soldato
I don't think either of these are true though. On most of the cars, the side pods act as a support structure for the floor. So by not having them, they have to make the floor stiffer - therefore heavier. Hence why Mercedes wanted to be able to add that second stay in Canada.
And for drag - this would be the case if the cars didn't have rear wheels. The wide sidepods are used as aerodynamic devices to better control the air - to reduce drag.
I agree in some respect, especially as the safety car is so common now. Seems to be one almost every race, so most races end up being a bit of a lottery.
New softs vs old hards? No brainer.
They should have pitted leclerc. He had 10 laps to get back past Sainz and Lewis even if they stayed on hards.
Soldato
The first, they pitted Sainz within a few laps. Charles was faster clearly. He would have been able to pull out maybe 1.5 second max in that period.
The second didn't matter, if they pitted Charles, Sainz drops out of the top three as others pass him on fresher and faster tyres. If they pitted Sainz Leclerc loses out. Eitherway, once the safety car came out Ferrari were looking at losing a podium.
I would have still double stacked them given the distance Perez was behind when the SC flag was thrown, then gamble on Sainz being able to challenge Lewis and defend from Perez (unlikely)
Soldato
This is the issue....you could be miles ahead on the best strategy ever meaning both the team and driver have done the best possible job and it all be tipped on its head when someone comes in and picks up free pitstops etc.
Only way I can think round it is to just keep the pit lane shut as soon as yellow flags are waved (bar the pit lane being kept open for drivers to go through if the accident is on the start/finish line and needs to be avoided).
Soldato
The Merc sidepods join the floor at pretty much the same point as the RB/Ferrari, and everyone else. The difference is that the Merc's don't go straight up.
You may have a point re. the sidepod having the benefit of conditioning the flow of air over/around the rear wheels, however I'd put good money that the Merc designers spent a lot of hours in CFD working out if the zero-pods didn't gain a benefit in other ways for it to be a net win in terms of performance.
Caporegime
The best strategy is one that takes into account possible complications, no?
We had that for a while. It was carp.
Soldato
It's just part of the racing now and team/drivers just need to get on with it. They can't just close the pit lane as there might be other cars with damage that needed to come in for a new wing etc and then you're disadvantaging those drivers instead.
Don
But then you are just moving "the problem", in that people who pitted just before the accident, will luck into being in a better strategic position (fresher tyres/more grip) when the safety car comes in and the race restarts.
And Ferrari would still find a way to mess it up. Listening to the engineers makes me cringe sometimes; they’re so passive and always sound uncertain.
Soldato
Do you think maybe because they arent used to being up at the front any more? Genuine question.
Possibly too nervy to make any bolder decisions due to pressure....I dont know just chucking it out there, they do seem pretty inept with strategy.
Caporegime
Pretty striking numbers from some dude on Twitter:
Even more so when you consider Leclerc was fast enough to be on pole for three of those five races, and Ferrari for four of five.
Points scored in the last five races
1. Verstappen- 96
2. Perez- 81
3. Sainz- 74
4. Hamilton- 57
5. Russell- 52
6. Leclerc- 34
1. Red Bull- 177
2. Mercedes- 109
3. Ferrari- 108
1. Verstappen- 96
2. Perez- 81
3. Sainz- 74
4. Hamilton- 57
5. Russell- 52
6. Leclerc- 34
1. Red Bull- 177
2. Mercedes- 109
3. Ferrari- 108
Even more so when you consider Leclerc was fast enough to be on pole for three of those five races, and Ferrari for four of five.
Soldato
Don't disagree with all responses back to my original comment - there's no right answer as such and I don't have a definitive answer either.
Just seems unfair that's all - there's no way Perez would have entertained 2nd place had the safety car not appeared but fair play to RB for calling it well!
Just seems unfair that's all - there's no way Perez would have entertained 2nd place had the safety car not appeared but fair play to RB for calling it well!