Wynters wrote: ↑17 Jul 2020, 16:31
Quick shout back to Styria.
Each of the drivers had two significant stints:-
1) Once Sainz had been passed by Albon, Sainz had
23 laps at an average lap time of
1:09.65. He finished with a final 5-lap avg of
1:09.35 and pitted on lap 32. He had started losing time on his last two laps. I suspect he was trying to clear the Grosjean/Raikonnen/Kvyat/Gio battle from his pit window but couldn't quite manage it.
1) Once Stroll passed Norris he found himself stuck in the Ocon train. He traded places with Perez and Gasly but it didn't really matter as Ocon was holding all of them up. This didn't seem to be too much of an issue though as, once Ocon pitted on lap 26, Norris' pace remained consistent, sitting a couple of seconds back from Perez. In light of this, I've included the traffic period in his first stint meaning that Norris did
33 laps with a
1:09.74 average, finishing on a 5-lap
1:09.26 average when he pitted on lap 39.
2) Sainz comes out in traffic but it quickly clears leaving his second stint pretty unobstructed. Over the next
28 laps he averages a
1:08.57, finishing with a
1:08.12 (this is excluding the lap Norris passed him which saw a 1:09.85 from Sainz).
2) Norris comes out and is pretty clear until he reaches Sainz and then onto the end. This
31 lap stint was averaged at
1:08.0 with a final five laps of
1:07.4 or 1:07.9 (if you use the final 3 laps of squabbling). I've also excluded the lap he passed Sainz (which cost him almost a second).
Both drivers had a surprising amount of time in clear air (although I suspect Norris' strategy was dictated by being stuck behind the Ocon train for most of his first stint). Sainz commented after the race that trying to clear the traffic after his stop destroyed his tyres but I'm not wholly convinced. He cleared most of the traffic within 4 laps and barely sniffed the Racing points (overall, he spent four laps within 2-seconds of either Racing point and never within 1 second of them). The botched stop really didn't help but he was going to come out into traffic regardless. I feel it was a poor race from Sainz after a great qualifying.
Norris, on the other hand, seemed comfortable managing his pace in traffic and then dropping the hammer when the road opened up in front of him.
They did both have a weirdly slow lap 45, no idea why.
