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

[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.

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.










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.