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Thread: 2019 Russian GP - Sochi
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1st October 2019, 15:12 #91
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1st October 2019, 15:14 #92
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1st October 2019, 15:24 #93
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If you have Sky, please watch Davidson's analysis of the start. Leclerc gets of the line and tried to close down Hamilton, Vettel behind used the racing line grip and some of the tow to get alongside Hamilton who had a bad start anyway. As Leclerc approached the corner with Hamilton and Vettel side by side at this point, but with Vettel half a cars length ahead, Leclerc had two choices; go tight round the corner closing any doors open, but that would hand the slipstream to Hamilton who was on the inside of Vettel. Or take a wider line round the bend and hope that Vettel get just enough tow to get ahead of Hamilton.
As it turned out, Leclerc position in the corner was all he could do whether there was an agreement or not. He either tow his team mate who would slingshot into the lead or tow Hamilton who would hound him for the rest of the race and possibly steal the race with tyre strategy.
From Ferrari's perspective, all they ought to care about is getting a one-two coming out of that corner whichever way it shakes out. If they did, then one Ferrari car is guaranteed to win the race, with the other potentially 2nd.
The Ferrari pitwall lost the plot. They stopped thinking in the best interest of the team and wasted so much energy on the irrelevant issue of driver positions. I suppose this is why they are not ready to be world champions again.Last edited by Nitrodaze; 1st October 2019 at 19:53.
Better a witty fool than a foolish wit.
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1st October 2019, 15:56 #94
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If you watch the start again, you will see that Leclerc got off the line thinking of number one; himself only. He was not concerned about giving the tow to Vettel but was more concern about closing down Hamilton. By so doing, Vettel only had the advantage of the grippy racing line, a powerfull Ferrari engine and a partial tow to fight Hamilton who also had bad start. Hence, Vettel did not need the tow to pass Hamilton anyway.
At the corner, it was everyman for himself, Leclerc thinking he had done enough to put Vettel in Hamilton's hair to allow himself to get out of the corner in the lead with at least a cars length while those two squabbled. As they came out of the corner, Vettel had used the superior power of the Ferrari engine to nose ahead of Hamilton and took the slipstream of Leclerc. Please note that at this point, both Ferrari cars are outside the zone of the agreement.
From this point on, it was racing as usual. Vettel with a better race pace than Leclerc was always going to slipstream into the lead at the straight after the corner. The agreement was not to finish 2nd at this race. It was to get Vettel ahead of Hamilton from the start. The agreement was stupendous for a start and l think it was reasonable to expect Vettel to fight Leclerc after the first corner. It was all racing, but unfortunately with meddling Ferrari pitwall.
Before this crap, there was half a chance in the constructors championship for Ferrari, if they can manage a consistent one-two for every race to the end of the season. It would have been up to Mercedes to equally maintain a flawless operation to ensure they can maintain some sort of advantage by the time we reach Abu Dhabi. And Ferrari had a real chance, especially with Redbull getting in the hair of Mercedes regularly and bleeding points from them at some races.
This fiasco at Sochi is very costly to Ferrari. Not because of anything that Vettel has done. But because the Ferrari pitwall lost sight of their responsibility [the long game] to the team. That said, the MGUK failure would not have helped matters whichever way things had turned out anyway.Last edited by Nitrodaze; 1st October 2019 at 16:38.
Better a witty fool than a foolish wit.
William Shakespeare
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1st October 2019, 17:51 #95
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Best comment was from Alan mcNish who said that all the while Ferrari were trying to get Vettel to yield to LeClerc he could hear Webber's voice saying "multi 21 Seb"
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1st October 2019, 22:02 #96
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No this is what you’re failing to get. The agreement was that LeClerc would be left by if Vettel towed past him, that’s why Ferrari pitted him early.
By the way, if you have some highfalutin idea that pole position in Russia means you’re de facto second after turn 2, watch what Bottas did last year. The initial slipstream he gave to Vettel and then cut over to Hamilton. Last years start is what this years probably would have equated to had LeClerc not provided Seb the tow. Bottas showed how to do it while keeping the lead last year and he did it exceptionally well.
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1st October 2019, 22:03 #97
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1st October 2019, 22:13 #98
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1st October 2019, 23:56 #99
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I've watched the start several times from several angles, including the overhead shots. Lewis moved far more left, Leclerc barely budged right. As for trying to close down Hamilton, not even close. At any point after the cars started moving, Leclerc had several car widths to the right. He could have shot across the nose of the Merc as soon as they moved.
It's my opinion that his position in the corner was only to ensure that Seb stayed in the tow, and he maintained that position with no attempts to cover the inside line at any point. Had me moved to the right through turn one, Lewis might have gained a tow, but Seb was alongside and so the chances of making an outside move were down the tubes. Had me moved inside it would have had a similar impact to when Seb moved inside and Sainz lost the tow. Sainz was fully ahead of Lewis, but when Seb moved he lost the tow and he lost advantage to Lewis almost immediately. Lewis finished him off by outbraking him into turn two, but Lewis got a good view of the back of the Mclaren before it happened.
And my point remains the same. Leclerc didn't move to cover, when anyone racing for themselves would have. It's really that simple in my opinion. Though I don't like such agreements, I don't think Ferrari screwed it up. I think Seb did.
As for race pace, all of the front runners had enough to keep the cars behind them behind them. I don't think it's any shock to see that the leading car can't be caught up easily, as it's often the case these days.
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1st October 2019, 23:58 #100
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Great speeds. Did you miss WRC machinery on these roads?
[ERC] Royal Rally of Scandinavia...