Poll: Official 2023 Qatar Grand Prix Thread - Losail International Circuit - Round 18

Rate the Qatar Grand Prix out of ten

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jonneymendoza said:
Even if ham overtook Russell on turn 1, he wasnt going to catch and beat max.
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Huh? He was almost fully alongside Max, and going faster, into turn 1 and would have had the inside line at turn 2, all on faster tyres. If George wasn't there, he had near enough got the pass done. Whether that would have panned out over the course of the race we'll never know.
 
Greboth said:
F1 has never been about that though. Tyres are only part of the picture but from the inception of motorsport there's been reasons (safety, reliability, fuel) that driver's don't push as hard as they can all the time. It doesn't matter if you gave them some imaginary tyres that gave fantastic grip and never went off and unlimited amounts of fuel - would they go faster than they do currently probably so. But would they go as hard as they can every stint? No. It all comes back to, as Lauda put it, to win going as slowly as possible.
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Agreed on all points, which is why I said 'should'. Certainly this race was closer to that than we've seen in anything since the hybrid era came in.
 
Jono8 said:
It doesn't really look like they did. I imagine Lewis was told to do everything he could to get in front of Max on the 1st lap. You'd have thought that George would have been told to not fight and hold station in third.
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I think this was the issue. I’ll bet there was a plan to let Lewis pass asap and it’s that idea that made him go for it full beans on turn one. What he didn’t realise was that George had nowhere to go, when he expected him to turn into the corner. In other words, he was expecting George to yield, George wanted to yield, but couldn’t. I don’t think it’s any more complicated than that.

You can’t expect George to slam on the brakes in turn one, he’d have been swamped and sitting in 6-8th had he done so.
 
Scam said:
I think this was the issue. I’ll bet there was a plan to let Lewis pass asap and it’s that idea that made him go for it full beans on turn one. What he didn’t realise was that George had nowhere to go, when he expected him to turn into the corner. In other words, he was expecting George to yield, George wanted to yield, but couldn’t. I don’t think it’s any more complicated than that.

You can’t expect George to slam on the brakes in turn one, he’d have been swamped and sitting in 6-8th had he done so.
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He doesn't need to slam on the brakes. He could have quite easily have lifted early and slotted in right behind Max and let Lewis have a go on the tighter line. Three into a corner seldom ends well for those involved.

I do absolutely think Lewis was too hasty and bold with that move, and should have been checking where George was/if he was yielding though.

I think it was a move caused by the desperation of being put on the soft start strategy, but Lewis is experienced enough to know that to finish first, first you have to finish so...

It was just a terrible cascade of silly moves by all involved at Mercedes, from the strategists, driver management, and drivers themselves.

If I were Mercedes I'd have gone conservative and just had them both on mediums. This was a great chance to potentially get 2nd and 3rd , whilst Ferrari and Leclerc might only finish 6th courtesy of the McLaren's and Sainz not starting. That would have been a big points haul towards clinching 2nd in the constructors.
 
On that note, I really think Mercedes need a shake up in the management/crew department. They are flattered by their drivers and it's helping to mask a fairly average team operationally. They almost always drop the ball strategically, and they are almost always in the slowest half of the pit stop times. They also aren't firm enough /ruthless enough with the team orders. Red Bull would have no qualms about categorically giving firm team orders to achieve their goals. McLaren as well displayed today how they categorically weren't going to risk 2nd and 3rd by letting their drivers scrap it out.

The Merc team has a great driver line up and a seemingly competent car, but the rest of the team frustrates me.
 
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Mr Jack said:
Huh? He was almost fully alongside Max, and going faster, into turn 1 and would have had the inside line at turn 2, all on faster tyres. If George wasn't there, he had near enough got the pass done. Whether that would have panned out over the course of the race we'll never know.
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Within a couple of laps Max, plus all the other front runners on Medium tyres would have sailed past.
 
Mr Jack said:
Not within a couple of laps, no, and pitting as the tyres went off would have put Hamilton within three stints (two more stops) of the finish. And he'd have ended up in clean air with those tyres. I think it'd have worked.
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Georges laps at the end hints otherwise.

I think all the soft tyre runners stopped during that safety car.
 
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No what Lewis did made no sense at all and he was desperate to overtake George to the point he could have taken them both out. Perhaps if the race was further on then play the team order game but let them race at the begining so at least we have something interesting to talk about.
Lewis underperformed the whole weekend and George showed him how it should be done thus rightfully given track position.
Lewis has stated he alone was responsible not George.
 
cuke2u said:
No what Lewis did made no sense at all and he was desperate to overtake George to the point he could have taken them both out. Perhaps if the race was further on then play the team order game but let them race at the begining so at least we have something interesting to talk about.
Lewis underperformed the whole weekend and George showed him how it should be done thus rightfully given track position.
Lewis has stated he alone was responsible not George.
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I agree - not really sure what Lewis was thinking. Of course there may have been some internal team plan/strategy in play but on the face of the replays it looks like Lewis angled into the turn prematurely and had a good go at taking the front of George’s car off. Again seems like some kind of weird spatial awareness issue from Lewis. Seen it a couple of times this season.

Glad George managed to do some good damage limitation and I’m really pleased for Piastri too.

Haven’t been impressed with the Alpine drivers of late and this race was no exception. Very scrappy wheel to wheel racing, but not in a good way.

DRS was too long, made it too powerful in my opinion.
 
Russell's performance really puts Perez's woeful attempt in perspective.

Russell was left at the back of the field after the collision at the start of the race, and still managed to get back to 4th, in arguably the third fastest car on the grid/for this race.

Perez is in the best car, also started at the back (but was ahead of Russell after lap 1) and only managed 10th...whilst his teammate won the race at a gentle canter.

I do find it astonishing just how bad Perez has gotten.
 
Red Bull will struggle to win another Constructors Championship with Perez's current form, they need a strong number two.

The last three races...

McLaren 104 pts
Red Bull 74 pts
Ferrari 70 pts
Mercedes 53 pts
 
weta said:
Red Bull will struggle to win another Constructors Championship with Perez's current form, they need a strong number two.

The last three races...

McLaren 104 pts
Red Bull 74 pts
Ferrari 70 pts
Mercedes 53 pts
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Indeed. If Mclaren (or Ferrari or Mercedes) stay as close as they are next season and they are clearly and consistently the 2nd fastest car, Red Bull have a big problem constructors wise. Those three teams driver pairings will ensure Perez gets mugged of a podium most races.
 
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