Are you sure? I should watch the replay but I belive he was safe and there was 10s where he could have aborted according to the recorded improvement of others being not enough.
Are you sure? I should watch the replay but I belive he was safe and there was 10s where he could have aborted according to the recorded improvement of others being not enough.
That is not what he said. He said they weren’t really pushing like in race and in race we will see how fast everyone is. Allthough overtaking here might be troublesome for an RBR against a merc.TNTHead wrote: ↑05 Dec 2020, 22:14Max stated at Ziggo interview after qualy that Bottas didnt have a clean/superb lap so that makes the gap seem closer. Max also thought that long run lap times of RB weren't comparable because the mercs were runned with low engine modes.
With his experience and fighting spirit I expect him to catch at least one merc, may be both. But starting on soft is probably a disadvantage strategy wise.
I think we should all calm down from seeing that 0.0052 gap. The Merc hasn't been developped in months. You can guarantee that next year's car is going to be a monster again, even with all the downforce restrictions. They have had so much of a head start working on it. Just like every year really.
Not only that, but also the biggest team of engineers. But the Honda should make a nice step too and RBR have clawed back a lot of what they lost. They maybe aren’t even back to the same level of competitiveness as end last year though but OK. No DAS and no qualy mode at least levels the playfield a bit.Hammerfist wrote: ↑06 Dec 2020, 02:11I think we should all calm down from seeing that 0.0052 gap. The Merc hasn't been developped in months. You can guarantee that next year's car is going to be a monster again, even with all the downforce restrictions. They have had so much of a head start working on it. Just like every year really.
How much can they improve for next year? Let's say the engine brings .3, and the downforce is clawed back to late 2019 levels. Meaning they lose .1 from the chassis, or by some miracle break even. The RB chassis is on par, the engine has a tall mountain to climb, it needs to gain .6 to be at Mercedes level for next year. Honda's 2021 engine is the biggest step forward it has ever made, where it's usually .3. Really doubt they found .6 from the engine, combined improvement from engine and chassis has to equal half a second improvement to match what Mercedes will do next year.Hammerfist wrote: ↑06 Dec 2020, 02:11I think we should all calm down from seeing that 0.0052 gap. The Merc hasn't been developped in months. You can guarantee that next year's car is going to be a monster again, even with all the downforce restrictions. They have had so much of a head start working on it. Just like every year really.
I don't like Checo at all, but I think is the best bet the RBR can do if they want to really fight against Marcedes. With only Max is not possible.
Don't get me wrong. I think we just need an improvement compared to Alex. He's a really nice guy, but his performance is not on a top-team level. Otherwise WCC is impossible.
Yeah, I understand your point. But I've big doubts about the athmosphere in the team if Checo gets in... He's a talented driver, but I'm worried if that becomes a double edge knife...