Ryar wrote: ↑02 Aug 2021, 15:39
diffuser wrote: ↑02 Aug 2021, 14:36
Ryar wrote: ↑02 Aug 2021, 09:53
More apt is Pirelli's stupidity.
RBR problem was that they couldn't get enough front DF to keep the car balanced. That resulted in them having to drop DF on the rear wing. That then compromised their pace. At a high DF track, you need all the DF you can get.
The "coincidence" is, they started having these problems with Pirelli introducing new construction compound. The car was on rails for 5 races before that. They may get it right and I hope they do, but it's just an undeniable "coincidence" that has suddenly put Mercedes ahead.
Don't worry, remember the slap train Verstappen laid in the sprint race, the pace is still there. He likely would have cruised to victory at Silverstone, and would have given Hamilton the race of his life with a full car at Hungary.
We often focus so much on the negatives because they stick out like sore thumbs that we lose sight of the positives hidden in all this.
Had Verstappen stayed with Gasly he could have finished higher up. Doubt crept into the mind and threw a wrench in the plan. Had Verstappen ran his own race instead of reacting to Hamilton he could have salvaged a better result.
There's an important lesson here, and now Verstappen has a chance to learn long term strategy, how to deal better with inadvertent BoP. The mind is a powerful tool for reflection, had he been a bit more patient he could have moved up the order with an overcut like Perez did in Monaco. Perhaps salvaged a few more points. It's frustrating, but that energy from the frustration is not in vain. Incidents like these are good for long term memory formation which will only help in the future.
The Honda power unit is fine by the way.
Turkey is not a bad round to introduce a 4th power unit, there's a very nice long straight that should make overtaking not too impossible.
Introduce it in Turkey, break it in, keep it in the pool, use No.3 at Sochi, then you can run No.4 at Suzuka like normal.
An extra power unit in the pool may pay off later.