I guess we need to wait for the official file from Pirelli, as no one (but the FIA) knows which dry tires they returned after FP3. Going by the Qualifying attempts though, it looks likely that Red Bull as well as Mercedes & Leclerc kept two sets of new Hards.
I suspect if he wins the damage will be done in the pits. They may even have a wet start, or a tyre swap needed early on, otherwise I see him going long or short and ending up with good free air or having a car with 5 laps newer rubber.Mr.S wrote: ↑09 Oct 2021, 16:13Lewis is not winning this unless he overtakes 4-5 guys in the opening lap. The cars infront (Mclaren-Alpha Tauri) are 0.5-0.7s slower than RB on full tanks. Lewis has to overtake so many guys & run behind so many guys. Not to forget Perez & Gasly both. By the time he catches up to Max, Max should be 25-30s ahead. This changes if he has a blistering opening couple of laps & manages to go to P6-P7 types in the 1st 2 laps.
There is more chance of Max pressurizing Bottas & Gasly-Perez are high enough to hold Hamilton. Also, the following car will lose a couple of tenths here & there in the dirty air. There are many fast corners where the chasing car will lose. If Max can go past Bottas in the 1st 2 laps, he can hold him up. And we know RB had better race pace than qualifying in Monza & Russia (Since Silverstone new tyres). And Bottas is not as good in the race than qualifying.
The problem for Max is not Bottas but Leclerc. Leclerc is also a young prodigy in the league of Max & Ferrari have made up a few tenths with the engine upgrade & Charles is good in starts as well & now has the race pace to hang on to Max (Maybe 2 tenths behind like RB is to Mercedes - But that can all evaporate in the dirty air). Hopefully, Max goes past Bottas otherwise Leclerc will put him under pressure.
Hamilton can go to P4-P5, maybe even a podium in a dry race. If it wet all bets are off. Mercedes has the pace to make up grid positions !
Aaand we have seen Bottas do this so often we know what the probability of that is, dont we
One of the RedBulls had a flatspotted medium set and one had a muddy one from going off track. Mild damage actually, and the team will scrape the tyre surface back to true, but that little extra wear could be decisive.
I don’t understand the logic here but I guess I was wrong.214270 wrote: ↑09 Oct 2021, 15:57He did all the signing of the tyre shenanigans associated with pole, no? Surely, it’s counted as a quali pole but doesn’t get credited as starting the race in first place/pole position.
I´m here since 2010, that´s far longer than most around here. In the old days I used to chat with Steven from time to time and know he´s not the kind of guy, at all, that resembles the typical poster that this forum has had in the last years.