ScuderiaLeo wrote: ↑31 Aug 2024, 18:57
search wrote: ↑31 Aug 2024, 18:45
in the post qualifying interview on Sky, Leclerc said Sainz' S1 was faster due to a different setup, though
I don't think they're contradicting each other. Leclerc has been worse in S1 for most of the weekend, realistically I'm sure they both knew they'd be better in different areas and yes they did have setups targeting different areas. It's just that they both encountered more understeer than expected in the areas where they were weak. Leclerc knew he'd be slower in S1, but not that much slower. Sainz knew he'd be slower in S3, but not that much slower.
"Consciously sacrificing" might've been bad wording on my part however. It's more like Sainz didn't think his losses in S3 would erase his gains in S1.
f1316 wrote: ↑31 Aug 2024, 18:56
I can see Leclerc’s concern that, if they’re still behind here, it shows how much they’ll miss at other circuits and that the car still lacks some outright pace but we can’t expect miracles overnight and if they’re competitive in the race that will be the big indicator.
I didn't get the impression he was concerned about their performance relative to Mercedes/Red Bull for future races, but he was very disappointed about the fact they put effort into Monza specifically and it didn't come to fruition.
I'm surprised at so many people saying the upgrades did nothing. We honestly have no idea how much they did, we have no comparison to how they would've done without it, but neither driver has named the upgrades as the reason for their disappointment today. Unlike during the Barcelona triple header where they were very clear about it not being a gain.
Yeah exactly but this is what I meant: if they’ve put this much effort into this track specific package, it stands to reason that the gap could be more on a track where they don’t have track specific parts.
But I’m actually more and more convinced that this is a qualifying pace issue not a global pace thing. Eg
(1) Carlos said that the under steer got worse in Q3 when the clouds came in and temperatures dropped - this fits with a car that already has tyre warm up issues and especially given they are running lower downforce than most this weekend
(2) Max also said the same about understeer getting worse in Q3 - they also trimmed wings overnight to reduce downforce
(3) McLaren went the other way - adding more downforce overnight - and it paid off for them (not sure about Mercedes but I think they were running more as well)
Now conventional wisdom might suggest that having more downforce might also help preserve tyres in the race, but I’m not sure in this case: (a) because warm up will no longer be an issue (and a more understeery car can often be better for tyre life) (b) because there’s a lot of “free” time you can gain on the straights and this means you don’t have to push so hard in the corners. If we can get a good start (eg pass one car) then I think we have a shot.