Zynerji wrote: ↑28 May 2023, 17:25
Mansell89 wrote: ↑28 May 2023, 17:19
Superb from Alonso again- another weekend with the maximum available delivered on Sunday. What a driver.
Aston have a great base car to build on for these next couple of seasons- especially if they can unlock the Red Bull drag efficiency
I feel that they are very, very close. If their wind tunnel advantage is used and produces results, the back 9 of the season could legitimately be a toss-up.
In a race where straightline speed doesn't matter, Max was ahead in pure race pace (which is supposed to be a strength for the AM), maybe 2-3 tenths per lap but surely ahead. With a normal circuit with straights & fast corners, RB will have their half a second advantage, 2-3 tenths coming from a straight alone & maybe a shade from the faster corners. Aston, IMO, needs half a second in the next 3 upgrades to close the gap to RB. Even then, RB will probably be ahead, they will also bring upgrades, gain something & develop as well. But this gap of 4-5 tenths will be down 1-2 tenths odd & in some tracks, Aston can fight for the win in terms of pure pace.
F1doc wrote: ↑28 May 2023, 17:09
Let's see what excuse Lance has for today's lacklustre performance. Second in the constructors is very much in threat due to his incompetency in bringing home clean weekends.
Missed chance today with Alonso's pit call, but it would still have been a long shot even if he did go onto Inters. Max still had a significant time margin.
Lance will never lose his seat due to his dad owning the team. But if Aston can close the gap to RB, Lance can take points off Ferrari & Mercedes & be in the pitstop window to actually help Alonso fight for occasional wins as well, like Perez did in Abu Dhabi for Max. Also, when Ferrari & Mercedes sort their issues, they will pile up the pressure on Aston & if they keep scoring good points through both drivers, Alonso's P3 will not be enough for Aston to hold on to P2 in the Constructors Championships.
This kind of mistakes don't work @ this level when you fight for wins. It was clear & raining quite hard (Enough rain for the Inters) & the Pirelli Inters work great even in drying conditions & the Wet Tyres are crap anyways, so it was the only choice. Perhaps Stroll's initial data was not good (They Pitted Lance for Inters) but they should have known it would have take 1-2 laps to warm those tyres too. The Drivers were barely struggling to keep the car in the track. With these kind of blunders, you don't fight for wins, forget championships. This was a Ferrari level mistake (Like their stupid Box to Overtake Ocon joke of a message, I think most of the viewers were laughing @ them & Ferrari don't realize how ridiculous they looked).