Race 6 - 2025 Miami Grand Prix [Miami International Autodrome]

[Nitrodaze]

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The battle at McLaren takes on a new complexion as Piastri surges to the lead of the driver's championship. Lando Norris comes into this weekend bruised from a couple of difficult races that have cost him dearly. The F1 world watches to see if he can recover and close the gap to a resurgent Piastri.

At this crucial stage of the season, McLaren is 77 points clear of its nearest rival, Mercedes. Yes, you heard it: Mercedes is second on the constructors' championship table and 22 points ahead of RedBull. Ferrari, the season's hope of providing a championship challenge to the papaya cars, are 11 points behind RedBull in fourth.

The gamble on this season with a new car is not manifesting the desired success for the scarlet cars. LeClerc somehow hustled the Ferrari onto the podium at Jeddah, but the car still looks nothing like a championship-winning car. Hamilton continues to look like a painful picture of unfulfilled promise.

The Miami circuit may suit the edgy Ferrari more than Jeddah. The long straights and fewer punishing chicanes suggest that the Fearraris may be deeper in the mix of the fight for podium positions. This is also a great opportunity for Verstappen to recover some lost ground to the McLaren pair. It is going to be a tighter race weekend l think.

[Matthew]

It wouldn’t be surprising to see McLaren deliver another dominant performance this weekend (https://www.formula1.com/en/racing/2025/miami), but Max will be determined to bounce back and fight for victory after his Saudi penalty. With a sprint race adding extra excitement, could this finally be the weekend Lewis claims his first podium of the season? It’s a question every F1 fan will be watching closely. Off the track, there is a packed schedule of events, concerts, and fan experiences. Anyone heading to the circuit this weekend must check out this helpful guide (https://www.fanamp.com/tr/the-best-fan-zones-and-events-at-the-miami-gp) to make the most of everything happening around the venue.

[F1nKS]

Antonelli gets pole for the sprint race!

[Nitrodaze]

Antonelli gets pole for the sprint race!

How about that???
Not to jinx things, but it seems Mercedes are on to a winner here. They may have found the next Lewis Hamilton.

The Mercedes looks on the pace of the McLarens this weekend, it is going to be a cracking race.

[Nitrodaze]

I think Verstappen did the rain dance last night.

[F1nKS]

That was an exciting sprint race. Just wish Alonso had not yellow-flagged it. It would have been even better to see Piastri and Norris race for the win.

Qualifying was good too. There are three teams and Verstappen that can get pole if everything aligns.

[airshifter]

Plenty of good action so far this Saturday.

The weather made both the Sprint and qualifying most interesting. Red Bull got it wrong in the Sprint, but Max put in a monster lap for qualification.

It should be a good race tomorrow. I'd be down for some more rain myself.

[F1nKS]

Some storms bubbling to the west of the track. Could make this race finish in a epic strategy-fest.

[Nitrodaze]

Ferrari very slow on the uptake on the fight with Anonelli.

[F1nKS]

Some storms bubbling to the west of the track. Could make this race finish in a epic strategy-fest.

Looks like the earlier storms worked over the atmosphere and stabilized it around the track. Everything moving towards the track falls apart.

[F1nKS]

It was an interesting race while Piastri and Norris were fighting Max, but Mclaren car is just too fast for the field.

I loved it when Hamilton was told Sainz was 1.4 seconds behind. Do you want me to let him pass, too?

[Nitrodaze]

Looks like the earlier storms worked over the atmosphere and stabilized it around the track. Everything moving towards the track falls apart.

Apache juju l think.

[Nitrodaze]

The Ferrari pitwall came across as the dumbest on the paddock today. They let Antonelli off when they had the potential to take the race to him. I am not impressed.

[airshifter]

Overall a fantastic race weekend. Both in the Sprint and race, strategy came into play as well as providing some twists and lucky breaks for some.

Piastri showed this race why he is leading the points this year. Though Max is never easy to pass, he made it stick fairly quickly and actually managed to force Max into a rare mistake. By comparison, though Lando had the pace to fight back from his poor desision on the first lap, he looked like a rookie trying to make the pass stick on Max.

The VSC mixed things up enough to bring some cars back into the fray, and the race stayed full of action until a lull near the end. George just barely got the VSC break, but made it stick with the softer tires. Lewis on the same strategy struggled and was salty when they didn't swap immediately, and again when he had to give the position back to Leclerc. It's a shame to see the theatrics from the Ferrari drivers when clearly the car isn't strong enough to justify the politics being played. Antonelli had a decent race overall. Williams was the standout in the finishing positions, they must be excited to see Albon in 5th and both cars in the points. Sainz tried right until the end, and Yuki had to keep fighting hard to overcome his pit lane penalty.

Though McLaren were obviously the car to beat this weekend, they ended up with some challenges. And Zak Brown made a good point when it was mentioned that Miami last year was where things started coming together for them. Last year they were 3rd in the championship at Miami, and Zak seems very aware how quickly things can change in F1.

One of the best overall weekends we have had in a while.

[Nitrodaze]

It was an interesting race while Piastri and Norris were fighting Max, but Mclaren car is just too fast for the field.

I loved it when Hamilton was told Sainz was 1.4 seconds behind. Do you want me to let him pass, too?

The vibe from the Ferrari camp seems to be a bit off. It was definitely whiffy of something rotten on Sunday. They ambled when a swift decision was needed. l was looking forward to seeing one of the Ferraris catching up to the Mercedes ahead and a repeat of the overtaking battle of Hamilton vs Ocon. They denied us of that spectacle.

[Used to be Starter]

The vibe from the Ferrari camp seems to be a bit off. It was definitely whiffy of something rotten on Sunday. They ambled when a swift decision was needed. l was looking forward to seeing one of the Ferraris catching up to the Mercedes ahead and a repeat of the overtaking battle of Hamilton vs Ocon. They denied us of that spectacle.

The comment that I read from Hamilton is that he wasn't criticizing whether he should or should not have gone by Leclerc, it was that team management can't seem to make a decision in a timely manner.

[airshifter]

Ferrari simply made a clown show out of making the wrong decision.

Hamilton never had pace over Leclerc, he could simply stay with him due to DRS. Leclerc still had more pace in dirty air, so now both drivers tires are taking abuse. The only real shot they had at catching Kimi was to never swap the first time.

[Bagwan]

It all made me wonder how Enzo would react to Ferrari's dirty laundry being aired in public .
And , as far as I know , Italians don't drink much tea .

[Used to be Starter]

Ferrari simply made a clown show out of making the wrong decision.

Hamilton never had pace over Leclerc, he could simply stay with him due to DRS. Leclerc still had more pace in dirty air, so now both drivers tires are taking abuse. The only real shot they had at catching Kimi was to never swap the first time.

Leclerc was making no headway on catching Kimi, so giving Hamilton at least a shot at it would have been a smart move if done in a timely manner. Either way taking so long to make a decision is the really dumb part. I'm beginning to think that Ferrari and Hamilton are going to be a one and done from both sides.

[airshifter]

It all made me wonder how Enzo would react to Ferrari's dirty laundry being aired in public .
And , as far as I know , Italians don't drink much tea .

In hindsight, maybe Lewis should have said coffee. But it was in the heat of "battle" for a midfield position. :laugh:

As for Enzo, I think heads would be rolling. Ferrari for years now has not set a precedent for pit wall and driver communications, and even the simple tasks break down into discussionr or arguments, often mostly emotions driven. Emotions don't win races, and having the wall and drivers question each other only adds to confusion and animosity.

I actually thought Fred might be the guy to straighten this stuff out, but so far he has not. It should be simple really, the drivers respond to the pit wall instructions. The pit wall is then held accountable for their decisions. As it is now, it's a bunch of finger pointing and few results, and it's getting them nowhere fast.

Compare their communications to Merc or Red Bull. Both of the later ignore driver whining, and make clear instructions. Voices stay less emotional and calm. Though drivers can and will get excitable, the pit wall helps calm rather than inflame them, even when the driver thinks they are making the wrong decision. This is basic verbal communications 101, and Ferrari are failing at it.





Leclerc was making no headway on catching Kimi, so giving Hamilton at least a shot at it would have been a smart move if done in a timely manner. Either way taking so long to make a decision is the really dumb part. I'm beginning to think that Ferrari and Hamilton are going to be a one and done from both sides.

Both of them were already faster than Kimi.




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Charles remained faster in dirty air behind Lewis afer the initial swap for all but a few laps. Once in clean air his pace was quicker still. It was also confirmed post race that Leclerc was in a lesser deployment mode and still bringing in his tires. DRS and the higher output mode was the only thing keeping Lewis in DRS to begin with, and he only got there due to the sloppy pass on Sainz. Even counting the laps behind Lewis, Charles had quicker pace from then until race end.

I can't blame Lewis for wanting to try, but the reality is that the Ferrari wall already had data to show them that Lewis wasn't the faster car. They simply caved and swapped cars.

[Nitrodaze]

Ferrari simply made a clown show out of making the wrong decision.

Hamilton never had pace over Leclerc, he could simply stay with him due to DRS. Leclerc still had more pace in dirty air, so now both drivers tires are taking abuse. The only real shot they had at catching Kimi was to never swap the first time.

Martin Brundle made a very interesting observation about this. He pointed out that Hamilton was able to catch Leclerc with faster medium tires while they were still fresh. Because they took three to five laps to decide if they should swap, the mediums were mostly spent by the time they finally swapped them. After they swapped them, Leclerc benefited from being towed along in the slipstream of Hamilton's Ferrari ahead. Much like how Sainz towed Albon to keep both Williams in the top ten and ahead of the Haas of Ocon in the previous race.

There were two qualms that Hamilton voiced during the race; firstly was that they took too long to execute the swap instruction. Secondly, that he voluntarily swapped in China when he realised that Leclerc was faster than him and expected a return of that favour.

So one observation is that Ferrari needs to be smarter to act promptly in the best interest of the team. The Ferrari strategy team should be considering the best outcome for Ferrari before considering anything else. Secondly, Leclerc was not being a team player on this occasion. He was only thinking about himself and not the team. If he were, he would have facilitated the swap and let Hamilton tow him along to Antonelli, which may have given both Ferrari a chance to sneak past Antonelli to produce a better result for the team. Clearly, Hamilton on mediums was considerably faster than Antonelli on old Hards.

One of LeClerc's weak points is that he is not capable of seeing the bigger picture during race conditions. This was one of those things that put Sainz above him when it came to in-race intelligence. Most noticeable in the 2023 and 2024 seasons, where Sainz in red was always able to outthink LeClerc to finish ahead even when he starts the race behind him.

What we saw was ugly from all concerned? And Vasseur did not have a handle on the situation for some reason.

Ferrari's problems seem set to deepen as they are failing to work as a cohesive team. Lacking team synergy while having a troublesome car is a recipe for disappointment come the end of the season. I personally, think the team needs a refresh. Time to swap out some of the old faces and bring in some fresher younger ones.

[airshifter]

Martin Brundle made a very interesting observation about this. He pointed out that Hamilton was able to catch Leclerc with faster medium tires while they were still fresh. Because they took three to five laps to decide if they should swap, the mediums were mostly spent by the time they finally swapped them. After they swapped them, Leclerc benefited from being towed along in the slipstream of Hamilton's Ferrari ahead. Much like how Sainz towed Albon to keep both Williams in the top ten and ahead of the Haas of Ocon in the previous race.

There were two qualms that Hamilton voiced during the race; firstly was that they took too long to execute the swap instruction. Secondly, that he voluntarily swapped in China when he realised that Leclerc was faster than him and expected a return of that favour.

So one observation is that Ferrari needs to be smarter to act promptly in the best interest of the team. The Ferrari strategy team should be considering the best outcome for Ferrari before considering anything else. Secondly, Leclerc was not being a team player on this occasion. He was only thinking about himself and not the team. If he were, he would have facilitated the swap and let Hamilton tow him along to Antonelli, which may have given both Ferrari a chance to sneak past Antonelli to produce a better result for the team. Clearly, Hamilton on mediums was considerably faster than Antonelli on old Hards.

One of LeClerc's weak points is that he is not capable of seeing the bigger picture during race conditions. This was one of those things that put Sainz above him when it came to in-race intelligence. Most noticeable in the 2023 and 2024 seasons, where Sainz in red was always able to outthink LeClerc to finish ahead even when he starts the race behind him.

What we saw was ugly from all concerned? And Vasseur did not have a handle on the situation for some reason.

Ferrari's problems seem set to deepen as they are failing to work as a cohesive team. Lacking team synergy while having a troublesome car is a recipe for disappointment come the end of the season. I personally, think the team needs a refresh. Time to swap out some of the old faces and bring in some fresher younger ones.

Commentators or others can come up with any alternate reality theory they want, but the data doesn't lie.

Hamilton was quick on his out lap, but with the softer tires and pitting first that was expected. And a part of the "lap time" was the fact that the VSC ended when Leclerc was still coming out of the pits, so his VSC advantage wasn't as complete. Cue the second VSC, and Hamilton managed to close to within DRS under VSC, and had not been there before.

When Leclerc passed Sainz, the next timing sector showed Hamilton less than .25 behind. That grew to almost 9/10ths through the lap. As the data clearly shows, Leclerc was faster for the next two laps, even though Hamilton was still in DRS range. On the third lap Lewis was faster.... all of 1/1000th of a second. During those 4 laps, Lewis made no less than 5 radio calls wanting the swap, even though he was at risk of dropping out of DRS range. So when the swap took place, the data Ferrari had was that Leclerc was quicker 2 of the 3 laps, on tires slower to come into temp, running in a lower power deployment mode. Far from beind towed by Hamilton, Leclerc dropped back almost a second and a half and was out of DRS range. A couple laps later Charles started taking time out of Lewis again, probably when his tires were up to temp. He pulled himself back into DRS range without much trouble, and was then smart enough to not push up too close and eat his tires, as well as using alternate lines to avoid the dirty air from ahead at times. He continued to be faster back through the second swap, and until race end. In the last four laps he gapped Lewis by over 2 seconds, and reeled Kimi in by a second.

As for Leclerc not being a team player? Rubbish if you ask me. The team made a single call and asked Charles to swap, and he swapped. He even suggested not swapping back stating it would cost the team time as he was still thinking they were catching Antonelli quicker. Though Lewis gave up a place in China, he was obviously slower, struggling with the car, and really just avoiding the team having to do it later. In the case of Miami Charles was in fact quicker, so he had no reason to volunteer to yield to a car struggling to stay in DRS. But when the team asked just once, he swapped.

I fully agree Ferrari need to act quicker and be smarter in their decisions and how they impact the whole team. But in this case, they set a precedent of letter the slower car through in hopes it would work. They simply caved, even though on the previous lap they had instructed Lewis to stay in DRS to open the gap to Sainz. And basic communications to the drivers are not respected, enforced, or punished when not. As I said in the other post, if the drivers just followe pit wall direction, then pit wall becomes accountable for problems they create.

[Nitrodaze]

Commentators or others can come up with any alternate reality theory they want, but the data doesn't lie.

Hamilton was quick on his out lap, but with the softer tires and pitting first that was expected. And a part of the "lap time" was the fact that the VSC ended when Leclerc was still coming out of the pits, so his VSC advantage wasn't as complete. Cue the second VSC, and Hamilton managed to close to within DRS under VSC, and had not been there before.

When Leclerc passed Sainz, the next timing sector showed Hamilton less than .25 behind. That grew to almost 9/10ths through the lap. As the data clearly shows, Leclerc was faster for the next two laps, even though Hamilton was still in DRS range. On the third lap Lewis was faster.... all of 1/1000th of a second. During those 4 laps, Lewis made no less than 5 radio calls wanting the swap, even though he was at risk of dropping out of DRS range. So when the swap took place, the data Ferrari had was that Leclerc was quicker 2 of the 3 laps, on tires slower to come into temp, running in a lower power deployment mode. Far from beind towed by Hamilton, Leclerc dropped back almost a second and a half and was out of DRS range. A couple laps later Charles started taking time out of Lewis again, probably when his tires were up to temp. He pulled himself back into DRS range without much trouble, and was then smart enough to not push up too close and eat his tires, as well as using alternate lines to avoid the dirty air from ahead at times. He continued to be faster back through the second swap, and until race end. In the last four laps he gapped Lewis by over 2 seconds, and reeled Kimi in by a second.

As for Leclerc not being a team player? Rubbish if you ask me. The team made a single call and asked Charles to swap, and he swapped. He even suggested not swapping back stating it would cost the team time as he was still thinking they were catching Antonelli quicker. Though Lewis gave up a place in China, he was obviously slower, struggling with the car, and really just avoiding the team having to do it later. In the case of Miami Charles was in fact quicker, so he had no reason to volunteer to yield to a car struggling to stay in DRS. But when the team asked just once, he swapped.

I fully agree Ferrari need to act quicker and be smarter in their decisions and how they impact the whole team. But in this case, they set a precedent of letter the slower car through in hopes it would work. They simply caved, even though on the previous lap they had instructed Lewis to stay in DRS to open the gap to Sainz. And basic communications to the drivers are not respected, enforced, or punished when not. As I said in the other post, if the drivers just followe pit wall direction, then pit wall becomes accountable for problems they create.

We agree on one thing: Both Ferraris were faster than Antonelli at some point after the VSC. But you seem to read the speed plot differently than professional drivers who have looked at this plot and are saying something quite different to you. Of course, we would never know how it would have turned out if they had reacted quicker. There is no doubt that LeClerc is quicker of the two on the same tire compound at the moment. But with the setup of the new medium to a few laps old hards, on evidence, Hamilton was quicker in that stint of the race and may have used those fresh tires to pull in Antonelli. But then again, you are very unlikely to see that. You did not factor in that both Ferrari drivers had to overtake Sainz and the effect of that on how that is represented on the plot. Or that, though Hamilton lost ground during that overtake, he quickly was on to LeClerc soon after due to the faster tires.

I expected LeClerc to be with Hamilton throughout after the swap for two reasons; Firstly, he would benefit from being towed along. Secondly, he is more efficient through the corners than Hamilton at the moment. The corners are where Hamilton loses all his lap times.Hence, LeClerc would always appeared to be faster of the pair through the corners. Even so, patience and cooperation to try out an alternate strategy were the smarter thing to do. Though LeClerc appeared faster after they swapped them back, he was not fast enough to catch Antonelli. The end of the race bears out that fact, even if we factor in time lost in the swap

Whichever way you look at it, the driver pairing did not work together cooperatively to experiment to see if an alternative approach may yield a different result. If the Ferrari pitwall thought Hamilton was too slow for the experiment of swapping them to work, they would have said so and most likely refused to swap them. On evidence, they took too long to work out the potential of the scenario.

[Bagwan]

Ferrari needs to act quickly , to stop drivers second guessing instructions and denigrating the team in public .

[airshifter]

We agree on one thing: Both Ferraris were faster than Antonelli at some point after the VSC. But you seem to read the speed plot differently than professional drivers who have looked at this plot and are saying something quite different to you. Of course, we would never know how it would have turned out if they had reacted quicker. There is no doubt that LeClerc is quicker of the two on the same tire compound at the moment. But with the setup of the new medium to a few laps old hards, on evidence, Hamilton was quicker in that stint of the race and may have used those fresh tires to pull in Antonelli. But then again, you are very unlikely to see that. You did not factor in that both Ferrari drivers had to overtake Sainz and the effect of that on how that is represented on the plot. Or that, though Hamilton lost ground during that overtake, he quickly was on to LeClerc soon after due to the faster tires.

I expected LeClerc to be with Hamilton throughout after the swap for two reasons; Firstly, he would benefit from being towed along. Secondly, he is more efficient through the corners than Hamilton at the moment. The corners are where Hamilton loses all his lap times.Hence, LeClerc would always appeared to be faster of the pair through the corners. Even so, patience and cooperation to try out an alternate strategy were the smarter thing to do. Though LeClerc appeared faster after they swapped them back, he was not fast enough to catch Antonelli. The end of the race bears out that fact, even if we factor in time lost in the swap

Whichever way you look at it, the driver pairing did not work together cooperatively to experiment to see if an alternative approach may yield a different result. If the Ferrari pitwall thought Hamilton was too slow for the experiment of swapping them to work, they would have said so and most likely refused to swap them. On evidence, they took too long to work out the potential of the scenario.

If "professional drivers" don't understand clear data then that's on them. Numbers are absolute, and as I said in the previous post people can come up with whatever alternate reality they want. At best it results in what you stated here..... we will never know. As for the overtake on Sainz, the numbers shown are after the pass. Lewis did not lose ground at all, he made up ground on the VSC, as well as during the overtake on Sainz. Less than 1/4 second between Lewis and Charles became almost a full second though the lap. The only time Hamilton was consistently quicker during the "stint" was the brief period when he had his new mediums on a lap before Charles took the hards, prior to the second VSC.




Ferrari needs to act quickly , to stop drivers second guessing instructions and denigrating the team in public .

100% agreed. Though the car is not in a good place, with communications as poor as they are they will never perform under any real pressure. They were fighting for 7th and 8th places, and the only thing that got them there was some fortune of the VSCs and who had already pitted.

Right now Ferrari are a hot mess. They have two great drivers and little else. And if they don't reel in the drivers, it will be those drivers sucking motivation out of the team.

[Bagwan]

If "professional drivers" don't understand clear data then that's on them. Numbers are absolute, and as I said in the previous post people can come up with whatever alternate reality they want. At best it results in what you stated here..... we will never know. As for the overtake on Sainz, the numbers shown are after the pass. Lewis did not lose ground at all, he made up ground on the VSC, as well as during the overtake on Sainz. Less than 1/4 second between Lewis and Charles became almost a full second though the lap. The only time Hamilton was consistently quicker during the "stint" was the brief period when he had his new mediums on a lap before Charles took the hards, prior to the second VSC.





100% agreed. Though the car is not in a good place, with communications as poor as they are they will never perform under any real pressure. They were fighting for 7th and 8th places, and the only thing that got them there was some fortune of the VSCs and who had already pitted.

Right now Ferrari are a hot mess. They have two great drivers and little else. And if they don't reel in the drivers, it will be those drivers sucking motivation out of the team.

Though he's had his moments as well , Charles was a good boy this time .

It brought to mind a moment from years ago , when Dennis said "We are racing Fernando." .
It was an incident that could completely sour the whole situation .

Thank you for explaining the numbers behind the debacle clearly .
Lewis is a seasoned professional , but in the seat , he has far less data at his disposal than the pit wall .
A suggestion or a question should be fine , but a petulant "tea" rant is definitely not .

[airshifter]

Though he's had his moments as well , Charles was a good boy this time .

It brought to mind a moment from years ago , when Dennis said "We are racing Fernando." .
It was an incident that could completely sour the whole situation .

Thank you for explaining the numbers behind the debacle clearly .
Lewis is a seasoned professional , but in the seat , he has far less data at his disposal than the pit wall .
A suggestion or a question should be fine , but a petulant "tea" rant is definitely not .

I saw an article where a reporter claims that Lewis stated him and Vasseur had a meeting after the race, and Lewis supposedly told Fred to calm down and not be so sensitive. If that is true, I would expect Fred to put him in his place over the comments and make it clear who runs the show. It was a Planet F1 article, so I'm hoping it's not true.

The pit wall should always make the decision, and driver input should be part of it. But driver input based on "what I think" shouldn't be taken as fact unless it can be proven to be. And emotions have little place in concise communication..... ever.

[Nitrodaze]

If "professional drivers" don't understand clear data then that's on them. Numbers are absolute, and as I said in the previous post people can come up with whatever alternate reality they want. At best it results in what you stated here..... we will never know. As for the overtake on Sainz, the numbers shown are after the pass. Lewis did not lose ground at all, he made up ground on the VSC, as well as during the overtake on Sainz. Less than 1/4 second between Lewis and Charles became almost a full second though the lap. The only time Hamilton was consistently quicker during the "stint" was the brief period when he had his new mediums on a lap before Charles took the hards, prior to the second VSC.

Wow, professional drivers with several houndred races under their belt that look at these charts for a living are dumb by your statement above. We have to go with you the armchair expert l guess.

I find it hard to reconcile your view with others l have analysed,. When l add the fact that you have a strong anti-Hamilton stance over the years, then l am inclined to say it is what it is, let's move on. On to the next race and more to talk about. Onwards and upwards as they say.

[Used to be Starter]

The pit wall should always make the decision, and driver input should be part of it. But driver input based on "what I think" shouldn't be taken as fact unless it can be proven to be. And emotions have little place in concise communication..... ever.

The Ferrari pit wall has screwed over Charles so much in the last couple seasons I'm sure he doesn't have much faith in it either. You rely on numbers a bit too much I think and not enough on the experience of those behind the wheel. Perhaps we should save a bunch of money and fire all the drivers, you know, just run the cars "fly by wire" from behind the pit wall.

[Nitrodaze]

The Ferrari pit wall has screwed over Charles so much in the last couple seasons I'm sure he doesn't have much faith in it either. You rely on numbers a bit too much I think and not enough on the experience of those behind the wheel. Perhaps we should save a bunch of money and fire all the drivers, you know, just run the cars "fly by wire" from behind the pit wall.

It may sound far-fetched, but it would not be long before that concept happens: driverless racing with real-size F1 race cars. With AI tech, this is very possible. I would venture to wager that a formula based on this concept may be introduced within the next ten years.

[airshifter]

Wow, professional drivers with several houndred races under their belt that look at these charts for a living are dumb by your statement above. We have to go with you the armchair expert l guess.

I find it hard to reconcile your view with others l have analysed,. When l add the fact that you have a strong anti-Hamilton stance over the years, then l am inclined to say it is what it is, let's move on. On to the next race and more to talk about. Onwards and upwards as they say.

A number of former professional F1 drivers don't agree with what Ferrari did, or how they did do it. Unlike your claims, I look at all the data rather than claim to be a fortune teller and predict the "what might have happened" scenarios. I'd assume that if former drivers, commentators, and fans have varied opinions then it's not a simple black and white matter, no matter which angle we look at it from.

As far as anti Hamilton... not even close. But I don't give him or any other driver bias when looking for facts. Facts can be proven, emotions from bias can't. Only one usually falls closer to reality. And the reality is that Hamilton never had faster laps times as compared to Charles once the overtake on Sainz took place, other than for a couple of laps spread out over the 15 laps after the first swap.




The Ferrari pit wall has screwed over Charles so much in the last couple seasons I'm sure he doesn't have much faith in it either. You rely on numbers a bit too much I think and not enough on the experience of those behind the wheel. Perhaps we should save a bunch of money and fire all the drivers, you know, just run the cars "fly by wire" from behind the pit wall.

No doubt Ferrari have made a lot of bad calls, but this time Charles didn't blink and complied. To top that off when they asked if he thought he had pace (after the first swap) he said he wasn't sure due to his tires being hot. He also tried to suggest against the swap back, saying it would just waste more time.

As for numbers..... data doesn't lie when used properly. Not to say that data shows the entire picture by any stretch. Had the same lap to lap gaps existed when they crossed the line, but Lewis was having a hard sniff at an on track pass lap after lap, it might have been safe to say that he had greater pace. But he never got close to even attempting a move on track. After the initial timing of 1/4 second right after the pass was made on Sainz, the closest he got was around 4/10ths at the end of the DRS zones. Even Ferrari stated the delay was due to trying to factor the actual pace advantage if it existed, since we all know DRS improves lap times.

And as I said above, former drivers don't all agree that Lewis had pace on Leclerc. So I could easily claim that anyone saying he did is disregarding the expert opinions of drivers as well. And though I haven't really raced anything near the capability as an F1 car, even on the (much slower) bikes I raced back in the day 4/10th at the end of a braking zone is a long, long, long way from being able to complete a pass.

[Bagwan]

Shifter , you have an unbelievable amount of patience .