ringo wrote: β02 Sep 2021, 15:43
I do not think there is a 4 tenths advantage in Mercedes Favour.
We have Spa practice sessions to say otherwise. Hungary qualifying was misrepresentative because the RB16b setup was not balanced and Max just did not do his best.
I think we are yet to see the real difference. We need a clean race to establish the gaps.
RedBull i am sure will be fine, if not slightly quicker with both Max and Perez at Zandvoort.
Max Verstappen was 6 tenths ahead of Perez & Hungary lap is almost as short as Monaco time wise. It is like 60% of Spa. That is like 1s in a long circuit. And Max was 6 tenths ahead of Mclaren & Ferrari in such a short track which is like close to 1s in a big track. In Austria, Max & Lando had set identical times almost & in the Styrian one, it was 3 tenths between him & Lando.
Verstappen was 3 tenths behind Hamilton. How much more could he have done better? A tenth @ best? Mercedes was still 2 tenths quicker. And if you look @ Silverstone Qualifying before the sprint race, Hamilton was quicker. The track can suit Mercedes a bit more but Mercedes & Honda as per this forum & you & others were tied on HP & Honda was probably ahead.
France is also a track which should suit Mercedes but RB were on par with Mercedes & after their Austrian-Styrian upgrade they were 2 tenths ahead. Now they are 2-3 tenths behind in a track which should suit them much more. Mercedes has made a step through aero + engine whether it is 2 tenths or 3 tenths or 4 tenths I don't know. This whole PU thing could all be BS for all I care.