Pleasant surprises from Australia
Posted: Wed Mar 20, 2019 4:33 pm
What have we learnt after the Australian Grand Prix that wasn't expected and wasn't thought of in the off season?
Red Bull mixed it with Hamilton in a damaged car. Verstappen was nowhere near Bottas, so unless you believe that Verstappen also had mechanical issues in Australia, they did not mix it with Mercedes.Siao7 wrote:I'd say RB mixing it with the front two. Though I am not sure how much of that was RB being competitive and how much down to Ferrari dropping the ball.
Well, I consider Ferrari to be in the top two, so mixing it with Ferrari makes it mixing it with the top two.F1 Racer wrote:Red Bull mixed it with Hamilton in a damaged car. Verstappen was nowhere near Bottas, so unless you believe that Verstappen also had mechanical issues in Australia, they did not mix it with Mercedes.Siao7 wrote:I'd say RB mixing it with the front two. Though I am not sure how much of that was RB being competitive and how much down to Ferrari dropping the ball.
Yeah with improvements made to the Honda engine it's looking like being Red Bull's most competitive season in the hybrid era, Marko reckons it's only 10hp down on the Mercedes engine.Siao7 wrote:Well, I consider Ferrari to be in the top two, so mixing it with Ferrari makes it mixing it with the top two.F1 Racer wrote:Red Bull mixed it with Hamilton in a damaged car. Verstappen was nowhere near Bottas, so unless you believe that Verstappen also had mechanical issues in Australia, they did not mix it with Mercedes.Siao7 wrote:I'd say RB mixing it with the front two. Though I am not sure how much of that was RB being competitive and how much down to Ferrari dropping the ball.
People were afraid that with the Honda engine they'd be dropping back.
Que in my last sentence after that and you should get the idea behind my thinking...
Ferrari not having a far better race package.Kev627 wrote:What have we learnt after the Australian Grand Prix that wasn't expected and wasn't thought of in the off season?
There was one correct strategy for the midfield cars and he was one of those on it. Had Perez been on it rather than Stroll then it would've been Checo who picked up the points and Lance who finished outside the top 10. Stroll kept it clean, but the idea that he's delivered a points finish through anything other than benefitting from the right strategy at a track where you can barely overtake is just wrong.Altair wrote:Lance Stroll showing the haters he can drive.
Helped by circumstances it seems, early days to be making any defined opinion.Altair wrote:Lance Stroll showing the haters he can drive.
Results are always the most heavily weighted element of a weekend. That said; Lance was easily bested in qualifying by a mediocre qualifier and simply was fortunate in the race to be on the right strategy. I agree with you.Jenson's Understeer wrote:There was one correct strategy for the midfield cars and he was one of those on it. Had Perez been on it rather than Stroll then it would've been Checo who picked up the points and Lance who finished outside the top 10. Stroll kept it clean, but the idea that he's delivered a points finish through anything other than benefitting from the right strategy at a track where you can barely overtake is just wrong.Altair wrote:Lance Stroll showing the haters he can drive.
Good point, a pleasant surprise for me is how well Mercedes performed after Ferrari looked so strong in winter testing, the level of surprise can be perhaps measured by how poorly I did in my competition.Siao7 wrote:Just a side note here, the thread title says "Pleasant surprises from Australia".
So are people happy that Ferrari is struggling and Renault is still not improving (random examples) or shall we change the title to "What surprised you/what did you noticed in Australia"?
I'm surprised Haas seem to be fourth. I didn't expect thàt in consequetive yearsKev627 wrote:What have we learnt after the Australian Grand Prix that wasn't expected and wasn't thought of in the off season?
You've not read the thread then.jiminwatford wrote:I'm surprised Haas seem to be fourth. I didn't expect thàt in consequetive yearsKev627 wrote:What have we learnt after the Australian Grand Prix that wasn't expected and wasn't thought of in the off season?
McLaren are still mid-mid field. I expect them to be higher
Racing point have poor testing and still score points. As a side point Stroll scored over Perez! Nobody's made anything out of thàt
You've not read the thread then.[/quote]pokerman wrote:jiminwatford wrote:I'm surprised Haas seem to be fourth. I didn't expect thàt in consequetive yearsKev627 wrote:What have we learnt after the Australian Grand Prix that wasn't expected and wasn't thought of in the off season?
McLaren are still mid-mid field. I expect them to be higher
Racing point have poor testing and still score points. As a side point Stroll scored over Perez! Nobody's made anything out of thàt
Stroll has already been praised.jiminwatford wrote:Erm,pokerman wrote:You've not read the thread then.jiminwatford wrote:Kev627 wrote: I'm surprised Haas seem to be fourth. I didn't expect thàt in consequetive years
McLaren are still mid-mid field. I expect them to be higher
Racing point have poor testing and still score points. As a side point Stroll scored over Perez! Nobody's made anything out of thàt
What?
But isn't this why he was employed to drive alongside Vettel rather than a more experienced driver?TedStriker wrote:What a shame for Leclerc, only way I can see him getting a race win now is if Vettel has already won the WDC.
Leclerc having to finish 5th instead of 4th isn't exactly destroying his rights to be the WDC this season, unlike Vettel he was unable to take any kind of fight to Mercedes or Red Bull, he needs to show more before I start to believe he's actually being disadvantaged.Kev627 wrote:But isn't this why he was employed to drive alongside Vettel rather than a more experienced driver?TedStriker wrote:What a shame for Leclerc, only way I can see him getting a race win now is if Vettel has already won the WDC.
I don't think they are blocking him from finishing ahead of Vettel, not just on this evidence. From Ferrari's perspective, there was little to gain from having the two cars fight each other, as there was little to no chance of Leclerc catching Max/Lewis even if he had got past Vettel so they were probably just looking to take the points. Leclerc didn't kick up a fuss AFAIAA so don't see the issue. Mercedes did the same with their two drivers in 2013 and yet Nico still managed to win races during the season, so I think it's premature to claim Leclerc will be blocked from finishing ahead of Vettel. I think it's likely that Ferrari are thinking ahead and imagining that Vettel will be the most likely title challenger, so are probably prioritising Vettel (which is consistent with Binotto's comments), but prioritising is not the same as not allowing Leclerc any kind of chanceTedStriker wrote:What I took from it was that if we have a rejuvenated Bottas with no team orders and Ferrari are already blocking Leclerc from finishing ahead of Vettel then Mercedes will very soon need to enforce their number one selection or they'll end up with Vettel beating two faster car/driver packages to the WDC due to him not sharing the points with a team mate.
No more Mr Nice Guy, Toto - You can't rely on Vettel throwing it away again.
What a shame for Leclerc, only way I can see him getting a race win now is if Vettel has already won the WDC.
what the..? Are we agreeing on something?pokerman wrote:Leclerc having to finish 5th instead of 4th isn't exactly destroying his rights to be the WDC this season, unlike Vettel he was unable to take any kind of fight to Mercedes or Red Bull, he needs to show more before I start to believe he's actually being disadvantaged.Kev627 wrote:But isn't this why he was employed to drive alongside Vettel rather than a more experienced driver?TedStriker wrote:What a shame for Leclerc, only way I can see him getting a race win now is if Vettel has already won the WDC.
Why not I say things as I see them, I do say both positive and negatives things about teams/drivers although some may think that I just sit on one side of any particular fence?Zoue wrote:what the..? Are we agreeing on something?pokerman wrote:Leclerc having to finish 5th instead of 4th isn't exactly destroying his rights to be the WDC this season, unlike Vettel he was unable to take any kind of fight to Mercedes or Red Bull, he needs to show more before I start to believe he's actually being disadvantaged.Kev627 wrote:But isn't this why he was employed to drive alongside Vettel rather than a more experienced driver?TedStriker wrote:What a shame for Leclerc, only way I can see him getting a race win now is if Vettel has already won the WDC.
Well why not say thatpokerman wrote:Stroll has already been praised.jiminwatford wrote:Erm,pokerman wrote:You've not read the thread then.jiminwatford wrote:Kev627 wrote: I'm surprised Haas seem to be fourth. I didn't expect thàt in consequetive years
McLaren are still mid-mid field. I expect them to be higher
Racing point have poor testing and still score points. As a side point Stroll scored over Perez! Nobody's made anything out of thàt
What?
I assume because they recognise why he beat Perez.jiminwatford wrote: Well why not say that
Well done to Stroll. He's getting relatively little praise in the wider media
Maybe.mikeyg123 wrote:I assume because they recognise why he beat Perez.jiminwatford wrote: Well why not say that
Well done to Stroll. He's getting relatively little praise in the wider media