Driver(s) of the Day - 2021 U.S Grand Prix
Posted: Sun Oct 24, 2021 8:38 pm
For me,
Verstappen, Leclerc & Ricciardo
Verstappen, Leclerc & Ricciardo
Perez started on the same side of the grid of him (in identical machinery - showing what was possible) and would have been ahead of him if he wasn't his team mate.Covalent wrote: ↑Mon Oct 25, 2021 7:53 amI don't think the start can be classified as a mistake. If you look at the helicopter view of the start (40s in) you can see that generally the drivers on the left hand side had better starts. Of all the drivers in the top 12, it looks like Ricciardo was the only driver starting on the right who didn't lose ground to the driver starting after him on the left.
https://www.formula1.com/en/latest/vide ... 51386.html
I think would have should be changed to could have. There wasn't much room and yes, had they not been team mates, perez may not have backed off, but I'm unconvinced it will have been a successful pass. We certainly can't confirm that Perez would have made it had he not lifted.Alienturnedhuman wrote: ↑Mon Oct 25, 2021 8:16 amPerez started on the same side of the grid of him (in identical machinery - showing what was possible) and would have been ahead of him if he wasn't his team mate.Covalent wrote: ↑Mon Oct 25, 2021 7:53 amI don't think the start can be classified as a mistake. If you look at the helicopter view of the start (40s in) you can see that generally the drivers on the left hand side had better starts. Of all the drivers in the top 12, it looks like Ricciardo was the only driver starting on the right who didn't lose ground to the driver starting after him on the left.
https://www.formula1.com/en/latest/vide ... 51386.html
Ok so you're talking about events that occured in/after T1? Because the actual getaway from the grid was identical between VER&PER.Alienturnedhuman wrote: ↑Mon Oct 25, 2021 8:16 amPerez started on the same side of the grid of him (in identical machinery - showing what was possible) and would have been ahead of him if he wasn't his team mate.Covalent wrote: ↑Mon Oct 25, 2021 7:53 amI don't think the start can be classified as a mistake. If you look at the helicopter view of the start (40s in) you can see that generally the drivers on the left hand side had better starts. Of all the drivers in the top 12, it looks like Ricciardo was the only driver starting on the right who didn't lose ground to the driver starting after him on the left.
https://www.formula1.com/en/latest/vide ... 51386.html
I thought this was possibly Kimi's best drive this until this moment. Although admittedly, his pace was only good in the first half as Giovinazzi was over 20 seconds behind at one point and closed right to below 2 before Kimi's mistakes later on. I've said before that I've been really critical of him this season, but this race, most of it was good. But the fact he got a black and white flag for a driver of his experience, then spun right near the end undoes everything for me. He's just making too many errors even if his pace still shows to be there occasionally.
My thoughts exactly.TheGiantHogweed wrote: ↑Mon Oct 25, 2021 9:21 amI thought this was possibly Kimi's best drive this until this moment. Although admittedly, his pace was only good in the first half as Giovinazzi was over 20 seconds behind at one point and closed right to below 2 before Kimi's mistakes later on. I've said before that I've been really critical of him this season, but this race, most of it was good. But the fact he got a black and white flag for a driver of his experience, then spun right near the end undoes everything for me. He's just making too many errors even if his pace still shows to be there occasionally.
You make a valid point about max taking too much out the first set of hards too early. That plus lewis tyres were younger plus lewis eased them in and thats why his didnt drop off and maxs did. Max learnt his lesson though and ultimately going hard early on the first set secured track position, which in the end was king. His last stint was excellentAlienturnedhuman wrote: ↑Mon Oct 25, 2021 7:38 amI seem to have watched a different race to everyone else.
Yes, Hamilton and Verstappen drove at an elite level (along with Leclerc who had clear daylight between him and the other Mclarens/Ferraris) however Max made two key errors in the race that put Red Bull twice on the back foot, needing to take risks with the strategy.
The first was the start. Hamilton has been crucified for losing places on the start in the uncharacteristic errors thread, yet here it seems largely ignored. Laughably Horner in his interview said "Lewis made a great start but WE made an average start" - once again showing Red Bull's need to trash the team to avoid any criticism of the team member releasing the clutch. Don't get me wrong, as far as 'errors' go, this is extremely trivial. Just as I don't think it symbolises Hamilton breaking down against the challenge of Verstappen, it doesn't mean or take away anything from Max's calibre as a driver, there will always be imperfections even from the very best - but when judging the performance on the day, Hamilton made the perfect start, and Max's start would have seen him down to P3 had Checo's car been any car without a Honda engine.
This error saw him behind Hamilton - clearly with far more pace - as the Mercedes was sliding around on the mediums and he could comfortably sit in Hamilton's wake, only unable to pass due to Hamilton focussing entirely on his drive out of turn 11. Red Bull then attempted the undercut, way too early because of their paranoia from Spain - it seemed despite a dominant race package, they were trying everything to hand the race win to Hamilton.
The second error was pushing way too hard on his out laps following the first stop. He took 4 seconds out of Hamilton in two laps, and it was well known that this tyre compound required easing in on the initial laps, it's been the case all season.
This is likely was prompted Max's call to the pit to use Checo to force Hamilton to pit early. Fortunately Red Bull had this luxury with Bottas no where and the pace advantage they had over the McLarens/Ferrari. However, this was also probably why Checo was put on used mediums - so he would have very fast pace out of the box, bringing him in to Hamilton's pit window. It wouldn't matter if this ruined his long term race pace - he just had to be an obstacle to slow Hamilton down, forcing Mercedes to pit earlier than they otherwise could have gone. Once Hamilton pitted, Checo had to manage his tyres, but while he was always out of contention for P1/P2 - his race pace was severely compromised by this, leading to the ultimate gap to P2 at the chequered flag.
If Max had led out of turn 1, he would have had a big gap on Lewis by the end of the race. If he hadn't murdered his first set of hard tyres, he Checo would have had a much more competitive race. If Bottas had not have had a penalty, that exuberance likely would have cost the team third place.
Do I think that Max drove badly in this race? Absolutely not, and his pace on wrecked tyres was very impressive... but he put himself in that position. He had a faster car in the race (not a dominant one) and ultimately finished with Hamilton on his tail. Of the two title protagonists, Hamilton clearly drove a much more accomplished race, and I would rank yesterday's race as one of Max's weakest of the season (which is a mark of how strong his season has been) - so I find all this gushing over his performance yesterday to therefore be somewhat perplexing.
As a result, I didn't include Verstappen in my top 3, as I went for Hamilton, Leclerc and Ricciardo. While Max probably did drive "better" than Ricciardo, I do factor in my expectation for driver performance. I hold Hamilton, Verstappen and Alonso to a higher standard, and Ricciardo's unease with his car is a factor too.
It shouldnt as ultimately it secured track position so was the right thing to do. Altho in hind sight im sure hed balance it a bit more next time, he secured the undercut after one lap, but seemed to keep the hammer down ( might be wrong there im assuming based on the 6 second gap he achieved).tootsie323 wrote: ↑Mon Oct 25, 2021 11:31 amI'd argue that Max / RB probably felt that he had to put in a big out-lap after the first stop in case Lewis decided to respond immediately - bear in mond that Max also had a bit f traffic to deal with. I don't think it takes anything away from his race.