2021 United States Grand Prix - Austin, Oct 22 - 24

[PlatinumZealot]

Yeah, I think we can say now, with some confidence, that Max has pretty much got the championship in his bag.

COTA was supposed to be Mercedes territory and Red Bull turned up faster. After the dreadful (for Mercedes) Mexico/Brazil sequence, bar any misfortunes, Max will be above or about the 25 points mark. He can only trail Hamilton from there and it will be enough.

Great drive from both of them, fascinating stuff nonetheless!

Championship was given up in Spa, Monza, Turkey. Mercedes tracks that were not capitalized on.
Even with the luck of Silverstone and Hungary... Well, Mercedes and Lewis still cannot win the coming races without the luck of a leprechaun in a rabbit skin suit.

[Sieper]

What a stonker this was. Both gave it their all and I was sure Max would be a sitting duck with the 8 laps tire difference and Lewis so fast. But he somehow kept it on track those last laps. Good to see both being happy with their own performance, and rightfully so.

[JPower]

Nothing to add re: Mercedes vs Red Bull that hasn't already been said. Let's go to the next battle down the list.

Ferrari's ERS system is clearly a huge improvement over the old one. Leclerc ran away from Ricciardo and had Carlos not had botched pitstop(3rd race in a row!), probably would've done the same. Charles was locked step for step on Checo on race pace. At a track they weren't really favored at, they are headed in the right direction.

I'm interested to see when Lando takes his next engine. He might be the only Mercedes-powered car not to take a 4th ICE.

[Sieper]

Nothing to add re: Mercedes vs Red Bull that hasn't already been said. Let's go to the next battle down the list.

Ferrari's ERS system is clearly a huge improvement over the old one. Leclerc ran away from Ricciardo and had Carlos not had botched pitstop(3rd race in a row!), probably would've done the same. Charles was locked step for step on Checo on race pace. At a track they weren't really favored at, they are headed in the right direction.

I'm interested to see when Lando takes his next engine. He might be the only Mercedes-powered car not to take a 4th ICE.

Perez had sub optimal tire strategy (yellow, used yellow, white) and he was feeling a bit under the weather today (plus no water in the race). He wasn’t even able to get within Lewis pit window on those used yellows (to kind of force him to pit earlier which likely was the idea of the used yellow stint 2. Leclerc had yellow white white and tires are critical here. But yes, Ferrari is coming closer again. Which is a good thing.

[ringo]

Mercedes' handling was detuned for some reason, they might still be faster elsewhere.

I am not sure why everything thinks the Mercedes is faster? The narrative seems to be that the Mercedes is faster, but at every race there is some reason why it can't be faster. It's getting tiresome. The Red Bull was clearly 3 tenths quicker this weekend, just look at the gap in qualifying, and look at the start of the race on equal tyres.

This media narrative of a dominant Mercedes with The Device™ needs to stop. Give the Red Bull team some credit, they've done a stellar job this year.

Laps lead and poles pretty much tells the story which car is the faster one most of the time.
but the championship is not over. Anything can happen, and it usually does.

Gasly suspension broke today, and he had to retire. Both Alpines retired etc. Redbull can easily lose Max's car in Mexico.
It's not over till it's over. But under normal circumstances with the car that redbull have and with Newey back in office. They will ensure that the car is operating optimally for the rest of the season. We may be in for Austria type pace advantage as we have seen today for the remaining tracks. Something unlucky needs to happen to max for him to drop 25 points. And even if he drops 25 points, he still has the car to claw back a 13 point deficit to Lewis and win the championship.

[Zynerji]

I don't know how but merc's tyre life is so long. Even in this condition they stayed long to have tyre advantage. So it is not "way faster". Faster is also questionable. But even if merc were faster, there is a young man who knows how to drive, how to save tires and how to win. And at the end this is what matters.

The key name is James Allison.

There are other possibilities I would prefer to choose.

I agree with Allison. He has a track record of cars that are super nice on the tyres.

[BlueCheetah66]

I don't think enough people picked up on what a good decision it was to pit Verstappen when they did. It meant they only had to go through the traffic once, compared to Hamilton having to go through them twice.

[Sieper]

I don't think enough people picked up on what a good decision it was to pit Verstappen when they did. It meant they only had to go through the traffic once, compared to Hamilton having to go through them twice.

I think Max was the one making the calls today. Even asked for Perez to also go early. Ofcourse they talked about it beforehand and the team decides but Max radio talk was crystal clear.

I thought it wouldn’t last to the end, but they had to try. And did, and Max made the tires last, somehow. Those last laps were so difficult. He had snaps here and there but managed. Lewis put so much pressure on him, both were as quick as they could be.

[mkay]

I don't think enough people picked up on what a good decision it was to pit Verstappen when they did. It meant they only had to go through the traffic once, compared to Hamilton having to go through them twice.

I think Max was the one making the calls today. Even asked for Perez to also go early. Ofcourse they talked about it beforehand and the team decides but Max radio talk was crystal clear.

I thought it wouldn’t last to the end, but they had to try. And did, and Max made the tires last, somehow. Those last laps were so difficult. He had snaps here and there but managed. Lewis put so much pressure on him, both were as quick as they could be.

What pressure? HAM never got DRS once on Max. Max did very well to nurse those tyres though, especially in the early part of the stint, which allowed him to increase pace gradually as Lewis got closer. As a result... well... Lewis never really got close.

[Scalexf1]

When you build understeer into the car to protect the rear tyres your assigned to leading only.
To follow is much harder under the current regulations.
So once vestappen was in front it was always going to be hard to get close enough to overtake.

[Hoffman900]

It seems to me the cars and Lewis / Max are so close, it's coming down to the fine details. RedBull's strategy and pit wall is seasoned fighting one car against the two Mercs the last few years, and that's the difference. They're just on it. IMHO of course.

As much as it pains to me say, but if George (on paper he should and he has shown signs of being great) isn't Lewis good over a season, and RedBull builds a strong car, it's going to be boring once Lewis retires.

[Edax]

Mercedes' handling was detuned for some reason, they might still be faster elsewhere.

I am not sure why everything thinks the Mercedes is faster? The narrative seems to be that the Mercedes is faster, but at every race there is some reason why it can't be faster. It's getting tiresome. The Red Bull was clearly 3 tenths quicker this weekend, just look at the gap in qualifying, and look at the start of the race on equal tyres.

This media narrative of a dominant Mercedes with The Device™ needs to stop. Give the Red Bull team some credit, they've done a stellar job this year.

Qualifying was in 1.32.9 race pace was around 1.40-1.42. One lap pace does not tell everything.

If you take the tires out of the equation then the red bull is faster, but I think it is fair to say that race pace has as much to with tire management as it has with the platform’s capabilities.

I think merc had got an advantage there today, but i don’t believe they had the optimal strategy to make it work.

Anyway it is fascinating to see these two pieces of very different equipment go head to head on track.

[langedweil]

Not that it makes any difference after the race but the rule of getting DRS when you already passed a lapping car needs to be revisited.It just looks silly in my opinion.

Totally agree.

There should also be stricter rules for backmarkers getting out of the way. Both Lewis and Max get punished today because of them, but even more so Max who had them three cars at some stage.

Don't agree: as DRS is meant for overtaking, this is just how it works right? It could also be used tactically ..
Blue flags is all meant well, but it never works equally well for the head of the field; DRS doesn't discriminate, and one knows exactly when it's available.

[Sieper]

I don't think enough people picked up on what a good decision it was to pit Verstappen when they did. It meant they only had to go through the traffic once, compared to Hamilton having to go through them twice.

I think Max was the one making the calls today. Even asked for Perez to also go early. Ofcourse they talked about it beforehand and the team decides but Max radio talk was crystal clear.

I thought it wouldn’t last to the end, but they had to try. And did, and Max made the tires last, somehow. Those last laps were so difficult. He had snaps here and there but managed. Lewis put so much pressure on him, both were as quick as they could be.

What pressure? HAM never got DRS once on Max. Max did very well to nurse those tyres though, especially in the early part of the stint, which allowed him to increase pace gradually as Lewis got closer. As a result... well... Lewis never really got close.

Of course he nursed his tires in the beginning of the stint, it was like 28 laps. I thought this would be France in reverse. Or better said Spain again.

[Sieper]

It seems to me the cars and Lewis / Max are so close, it's coming down to the fine details. RedBull's strategy and pit wall is seasoned fighting one car against the two Mercs the last few years, and that's the difference. They're just on it. IMHO of course.

As much as it pains to me say, but if George (on paper he should and he has shown signs of being great) isn't Lewis good over a season, and RedBull builds a strong car, it's going to be boring once Lewis retires.

Lewis isn’t retired yet. George can grow (Hopefully to his level) in those years. I think he already is way better than Bottas. As can Charles and perhaps also Lando. If Ferrari (and maybe even McL) is in the mix next year it could be a great season.