Michiba wrote:This is a bit out there, but is there any chance that this is all staged to prevent what happened in the DTM race involving audi?
Of course it was staged. Despite a regulation that forbids team tactics, even today team managers and strategists are very capable of manipulating the outcome between their two drivers, notwithstanding that they are close.
Back in Spain, Barrichello found himself in the envious position of being in the lead, his teammate following, and knowing that he was carrying more fuel and same spec tires. All those people on the pitwall, all those engineers closeted in the back staring at their displays and computer screen, there are there for a specific purpose. It is to provide information to the strategists and team leaders, and analyze data. This is done immeidately, and the information also immediately flows to the decision-makers. Everyone is wired, and the flow of information is supposed to be up to date.
I wish most of you watched NASCAR more, because they practice strategy a LOT.
Anyways, back to poor Reubens. He is in the lead, and enjoying every tactical advantage. When you are in such a position, only mishap and strategy can beat you. So let's ignore mishap, and focus in the strategy, what happened, and more important, what did not happen. One common strategy to stay ahead of a car is to follow their strategy. Pit when they pit, add the same amount of fuel as them, and tires. How can a following car close up and overtake? They can't. Let's play out this scenario. Button pits, takes on a lot of fuel. Barrichello, meanwhile is still on track, doing some of his quickest laps because he is low on fuel. In fact, when Button trundles out of the pits with a full fuel load, Barrichello is turning quicker laps, and opening the gap even further. Barrichello pits, and he takes on what Button did. When he goes back out on track, he is in front of Button, is running the same spec tires and a relatively equal amount of fuel. And this scenario is played out for the second pit stop.
Now,
IF Reuben's people are doing their job correctly, they keep an eye on their competitors, and react as required. Button made his first pit stop, and it was for enough fuel to make it a two-stopper. Even as Button's car was exiting the pits, the television commentators were talking about how much fuel he had taken on. (it was at this exact moment while I was watching the race that I became suspicious of what was going on, and it was later confirmed when many laps later, Brawn informed Barrichello of Button's change in strategy) So Barrichello's people would have been aware of this fact at this same time. They have eyes and stopwatches. So what they should have done, is inform Reubens of this change immediately, and adapt their strategy to this situation. If Reubens people had done their job correctly, they would have added the same fuel and tires as Button did. That way, no matter what Button did strategy-wise, Barrichello would have remained in front of him. But what really happened? Barrichello pitted, and took on enough fuel to continue his three-stop strategy. Only when he was back on track two laps later did Brawn inform Barrichello of Button's change in strategy. Much too late, the horse has bolted and is now long gone.
At the beginning of the race, once the start had settled down, it was established that Barrichello was ahead of Button. But at that time, Button was planning the same strategy as Reubens, and if you follow the same strategy, you can't change positions. So Button and his people changed strategy, went for a two-stop strategy, and in the end, won the race.
Brawn decided that Button was supposed to win, or at least, finish as high as possible, even at the expense of Reubens. Once the start was over, he decided on changing Button's strategy, and kept this information from Reubens until it was too late to do anything about it.
Racing should be decided on the track, not the court room.
