Soldato
Similar happened with Merc in 21. They had the best engines for years and then in 21 used more engines than any other team on the grid. irrc Bottas took 3 new engines in a space of like 4 or 5 races.
Poll: Official 2024 Belgian Grand Prix Race Thread - Circuit de Spa-Francorchamps - Race 14/24
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Similar happened with Merc in 21. They had the best engines for years and then in 21 used more engines than any other team on the grid. irrc Bottas took 3 new engines in a space of like 4 or 5 races.
Soldato
Where on earth does that come from?
Associate
I guess if Lando loses the title to Max by 7 points?
As Lando said himself though, he lost the race at turn 1 - so it's not about McLaren gifting the win to Piastri.
Definitely looking forward to Spa though, isn't this one of Piastri's better tracks too?
Pretty hard to tell what Piastri's better tracks when he's only on season 2! He was 2nd in the sprint last year but didn't even last the first lap of the Grand Prix.
Associate
It’s more miss than hit imo which is sad because it’s a near perfect track.
The most memorable moments in recent history have come during qualifying with changeable conditions.
Hopefully we get some changeable conditions in the actual race this year.
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It’s probably tactical although I doubt Max will overtake 10+ cars in 18 laps again given how others have caught up.
If they were in different teams then he would've been allowed to undercut, which as we saw would've easily won him the race. If Piastri had pitted early to cover the undercut, then Norris could've gone longer to create a large enough tyre offset to overtake at the end. Hard to see how Piastri would've won if they were allowed to race with the pace deficit in the final stint.
It was foolish to gift Piastri the win when Norris is still in with a chance of winning the drivers championship. All it takes is a couple of Max DNF's and he'd be right with him, which is made more likely if he has engine penalties.
Soldato
Well not really because we know nothing, it is all a speculative 'what if'. I prefer to deal with the here and now and this weekend's race anyway.
If Mclaren had changed their minds from the agreement they had, that is the team and the drivers, before the race, then that would have been very poor. As they stated they are a team that works together, not make it up in the middle of the races such as Ferrari do. Personally I feel Mclaren should be applauded.
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Put simply - as this has been said multiple times in the other thread - the pace deficit was not a true reflection of a pace difference between them at that stage. Oscar had been told Lando would move by and was bringing his mediums in more gently. Why would be push and take risks if he had been told he'd be let through anyway. Lando was going all out to try to make it more difficult for the team to decide.
Perhaps focus more on the first stint where Piastri beat him off the line, controlled the race, and built a 3 second lead.
Oscar himself said that he didn't have the pace in the final stint to keep up and it was something he needed to work on, you don't need to make up excuses for him. A Grand Prix is won over the whole race distance, not just the first part if you beat someone off the line.
Right, so you said it yourself... why the focus on the last part so much? Over the full race, Piastri deserved to take the win.
The last part is where they cross the finish line.
Soldato
If they were in different teams, McLaren would never have left piastri our there floundering.
I'm not sure how it can be difficult to see the problems McLaren created here, and why it might be different if they weren't team mates.
Don't need to worry though. The victory was a bit ruined, but over the years no-one will care. "Race winner" is better than what he was previously.
I'm not sure how it can be difficult to see the problems McLaren created here, and why it might be different if they weren't team mates.
Don't need to worry though. The victory was a bit ruined, but over the years no-one will care. "Race winner" is better than what he was previously.
Soldato
Or is it more foolish to **** off your team mate unnecessarily when your titles chances realistically rely on hoping your rival gets a couple DNF’s.
Imagine Norris took the win, Max has a couple DNF’s, McLaren decided to use Piastri tactically but because of Hungary Piastri doesn’t help and Norris loses by a few points. Currently that has as much a possible future as the one your suggesting. Then we’d all look back and highlight that had Norris not been so selfish at Hungary, Piastri would have been a better team player and Norris would have won.
At this point it’s all what if’s but’s and maybe’s so McLaren were right to stick the plan they made.
But moving on to this weekend, so Max’s grid penalty will be for the sprint race, not the feature race? I don’t know why but I thought it would apply to Sunday’s race and not the sprint.
No sprint this weekend
Soldato
Ah my bad, I misread Mesai's post. Thanks for clarifying.
The only cars that will probably give him an easy ride will be Williams, haas, kick/long named cars, alpine and maybe Aston depending which one turns up. Albeit Alonso will probably hold him up for the lols regardless. Other than that I can’t see the mercs and Ferraris making it easy so he may get tripped up.
They’ve also shortened the DRS zone, which might also create a bit of a train.
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