2019 Austrian GP - Redbull Ring

[airshifter]

Well that race delivered the unexpected now didn't it?

Qually was just all over the place with crashes and mistakes. Leclerc reigns supreme through the chaos, Max is third on the grid, KMag is in FIFTH place in a Haas, Lando right behind him, both Alfa's in Q3, and though not mighty enough to take pole Mercedes are still solidly in the game.

Then the lights go out, and the whole game changes as Max drops like a rock, along with everyone else gaining or losing all around him. By the end of lap 1 the only car in the same position they started was Leclerc, still in front. The entire field shuffled behind him with big losers and big gainers.

From that point on, there was action on track for more or less the entire race. The tire strategy came into play, some struggled to hold positions, and some were bold in gaining them. Along the way there was both some great defending and some great passes. Plenty of "guess the line" tactics throughout, and drivers showing how it can be done from the front defending, and from behind attacking. Kimi showed his experience defending against Gasly in a very superior car. Seb comes along and shows just how quick one of the faster cars can get into that mix. Ricciardo, though a terrible strategy IMO, holds off attacking drivers on tires that are 40+ laps into the race. Even as the last pit stops took place, the field was still moving around, and now fresh vs old tires kept things moving. The movers up front were Seb and Max, and they were making some for some clean and exciting racing.

The charge Max made was strong, and those fresh tires were really working. He was watching the lines, figuring out the drivers we was overtaking, and making it work. Max vs Seb was great on the part of both drivers. Bottas made it a little too easy, but really Max was so late on the brakes that the position was already gone. Then the charge to catch Leclerc.


And then IMO, Max blew it. He lost his composure he had in all the previous passes, and even the start of the fight with Leclerc. Lap 68 was more great attacking by Max, and defending by Charles. But the pass that happened just showed me that Max is still capable of losing his calm and playing dirty. Up until that point he did everything right, and there is no doubt in my mind that he could have made a clean pass on Leclerc, just like he did with everyone else. But instead he chose to force a bad line, the same one that failed in the previous lap, but instead went in deep enough to bump his opponent off track. The delay in the decision, the controversy over penalties, etc... all of his own doing if you ask me.


But apparently Formula 1 is boring anyway.

[melaniepss]

It was clear that on the second contact between Leclerc and Verstapenn, there was considerable force from the Redbull on the Ferrari.