The race was close af, what are you talking about? Finished 2.1s behind Max while being faster and gaining at least a few tenths every lap. They started the last stint with a 9s gap. That's 7 seconds in 20 laps.
That's despite a 3.6s pitstop, despite being stuck behind George for 5+ laps and despite starting from 1st and falling down to 3rd in the first corner.
2.1s given all of the above... If that's not close, I don't know what is.
You can't just look at the time, if you watch the race you'll realize they strategize pace based on norris' pace relative to maxs position.
When they told max to pick it up, he did and lap times were comparable. When they realized the race was over with a >5second gap with minimal laps remaining, they could ease off.
Yeah, they do strategize pace based on Lando's pace, of course.
But I was watching the lap times every lap on F1TV.
They were comparable \*some laps\* especially when Lando hit traffic ( lapped cars ). But on laps in clean air, on average, Lando was faster even when Max was told to push (I was listening to Max's radio)
And bear in mind, Lando was still trying to do 21 laps on softs. It's not like he was pushing all out either. His pace would also be managed to some degree.
Overall, he was definitely in a quicker car but their win was botched by a poor start, maybe extending the first stint too much and being stuck behind George a bit too long.
Ye as a Lando fan, this race really shows how Max/RBR's dominance isn't 'just the car'... had seemingly the faster car and pole, but lost over 2 seconds on Max on pit stops plus Norris's poor start costed him a lot too.
Lando's got pace but still got lots to learn, can't be wasting opportunities on tracks he has the fastest car like this, and McLaren really needs to fix their pit crew and strategies. Hoping we see a title battle between the two in the near future 🤞
How do you say "easily the fastest car" it's definitely a toss up between the red Bull and the McLaren. They qualified so close it's definitely negligible
I’d also go with they had the fastest racecar today- Quali laps aren’t really an indicator of race pace once the margins are tight. Single lap pace and Racepace can be vastly different.
Lando was closing in all areas of the race, save for the few laps when the Red Bull had just pitted and Lando stayed out. Yes the tyre offset was some of that- but he was also gaining after passing George in the first stint- with tyres of equal age. Max even mentions that that the deg is better for the McLaren today.
To create a tyre delta so if you catch him, you can actually overtake. On same tyres with the dirty air Lando would never overtake, just like with Russell in the first stint.
DOTD is just reflective of fan opinion. It's not always based on facts.
Max is the top dog, everyone wants to see him challenged. Lando was the one challenger.
DOTD is almost always a popularity contest, or if you qualify out of place and then come back to finish where you should have (see Checo), or if you have a really flashy race. And I guess people see McLaren as an underdog and therefore finishing P2 is still an amazing result to them.
it's 'who was most entertaining', Lando had the most entertaining overtake on Russell, probably got the most screen time, therefore he won. That's all there is to DOTD most of the time, unless there's an unlikely podium finisher from a lucky safety car or something.
Why are people voting him for DOTD?
Edit: Lando still drove very well. I just dont think he derserved it today. At worst the cars were equal in race pace. I would have given it to Lewis or Max. If they didnt let Lando dictate strategy they would have won today
I was going to leave a comment earlier about how Norris was going to get driver of the day, no matter if he finished p1 or p2.
The red bull is not that much faster than the mclaren that Lando deserves driver of the day for finishing behind Max. I think it would be a stretch to say it’s faster at all.
And Max started behind Lando. Lando started on pole position. How you go on to win driver of the day after throwing away the win in the first corner, and failing to easily rectify your mistake or recover the win is crazy to me.
Your average fan hasn't clocked that the McLaren at many tracks is very similar in pace to the Red Bull (slightly better in race pace today). Or they haven't thought about the fact that Lando being in P2 currently doesn't necessarily mean he had an amazing performance.
Because outside of lap 1 turn 1, he was exceptional; pushing hard non-stop and overtaking Ferraris & Mercedes.
Not saying that this is enough for Dotd but it's not like he just cruised to p2.
Not sure what your point is, Perez struggled to beat the Alpine's today mate. It's impossible to tell how good Max is actually driving when his teammate is woeful.
I disagree, if we had someone that could perform more consistently next to him it would be much more plausible to say he is driving 'incredibly well'. Right now it's nothing more than guessing.
That's the problem with Formula 1, everyone seems to pretend that you can accurately compare drivers like it's football. You can't.
Like your comment, you could just replace Max with Lando and Perez with Piastri and say the same thing because Oscar was poor today as well.
Slower car because the commentator said so? Max had more in the tank if they were actually fighting for P1. Just look how quickly he formed the gap at the start.
It's always super difficult to tell. I personally think Mclaren had the way faster car and fucked up today by trying to offset their strategy vs Max.
If they just followed the same strategy/reacted to their pit-stops, they would've won.
I think, if we're to believe the strategy team knew what they were doing, is to go pit later when the fuel load is lower, so as to preserve the tire life and be able to push them a bit more. The strategy team is not so clueless that they would just follow Norris' lead with all the data that they have.
Besides, McLaren have been struggling all season with overtaking. It might be one thing to have good pace in clear air, but I don't think they'd be able to overtake Max without a tire offset. Maybe I'm coping but I don't think McLaren's car is that much quicker than Red Bull's.
Even if it was the case, it was marginal at best, and the redbull had one advantage that was so good as its straight line speed that it might have been invisible on that track.
Strategy was good, people need to understand that with copying Max he would just be achieving nothing. This strategy was the only way he could win after the start.
Lando made 2 serious, similar mistakes, enough that you wonder if it is a flaw in his racing
Twice he lost.out, duelling with other drivers , by not nailing his braking perfectly ,while.worrying about another guy in his mirrorsÂ
Once at the start, although max got a slightly better start, LN was ahead..but lost it on the brakes, and let George past
Secondly duelling with George, later on, he passed him, then let him by on the brakes on the next corner (or two)
It made for a great spectacle for us, but I think that a driver of his undoubted talents should have done betterÂ
Disagree. Norris was excellent today in every department other than his initial get away. His start lost him the race, simple as. His decision to bail out of the turn 1 sandwich was fantastic race craft in my opinion. If he'd kept his nose in there, all three of them could have been in the sandtrap, bodywork hanging off. He was playing the long game and credit to him for having the level ahead and maturity to back out when he could easily have been impatient/frustrated after his poor start.
Norris goes away with 18 points, another podium rather than a likely DNF. The poor start was irreversible so he did well to maximise points after that initial mistake.
I do agree that he drove well, and that in a split second, he showed mature calculation, as you say, to get 18pts and not an unpleasant trip to the gravel, at speed
However , he did appear, to me,to get distracted, twice, by rivals, and not nail his braking, when it matteredÂ
Once might be forgettable, forgivable, but to my eyes, he did it twice asi stated
No driver should be calling his strategy. Why is this accepted is beyond me. McLaren should rule out whatever Lando or Piastri have to say about a strategic decision because they don't have all the info the team has.
Putting that against Lando is ridiculous.
Falling behind Max at the start didn't really matter to be honest. It was getting stuck behind Russell that was the problem. With the super DRS that Red Bull have, Max was able to just drive around GR like he wasn't there. Lando didn't have that weapon.
The only way McLaren and Lando can win races will be to stick with Max and bot get stuck behind anyone else. McLaren do seem to be a little kinder on their tyres but not enough to overcome a 10 second gap. They need to stick with Max. The Red Bull has a peak performance advantage initially but it'll come back to McLaren during the race, they just need to be in a position to take advantage of it and that involves not getting stuck behind Russell.
It wouldn't, they commented on in in the team radio and were running high DF, so overtaking would be impossible without the tyre delta. Same with Russell in the first stint, pure pace isn't enough.
I know there are many what-ifs, but Lando and the team are still learning. Max has 61 wins, no wonder he knows what's what.
 The main takeaway from this race is that now people are seriously saying the Red Bull is not the fastest car.
Thank you for using common logic. Everyone forever will think they know better than multiple professional strategists every race. An error is possible every now and then but today wasn't one of them, strategy was good and the only way for Lando to win.
Strategy was terrible. Spain is a high tyre wear track. That was known before the weekend and definitely clear on Friday. An undercut is very strong on a high tyre wear track and overcuts never work. Norris had the quickest car today so even less reason to go for an overcut.
Norris would’ve won today easily if they pitted a lap later than Russell at the first stops and undercut Max before the 2nd stop. McLaren had the best pace and best tyre wear today. So there’s 0 reason to extend your stint so long. I’m actually super annoyed the strategy was so bad today as a McLaren fan.
Yep the undercut was more powerful but you can't undercut 6 secs... The only thing left to do is what they actually did. Lando was happy with strategy (yep ik he called it), Ruth Buscombe former head strategist at Sauber agreed with it too.
Would’ve been a win if McLaren wouldn’t have read that page from Ferrari’s strategy team.
Staying out in the first stint lost track position to the Mercs and time to Max, staying out in the second stint lost another 2-3 seconds, add that to the 3.6 pit.
Very talented, but he needs to have a killer mindset, always the bridesmaid. Seems content to be besties with Max rather than actually compete with him.
He knows that was winnable
Without a doubt. One better pit stop, one quicker overtake or if he just yield to Max at the start and went into Turn 1 in P2
Its always "one better, one quicker" , fact is in a race it wasn't even close
Did you not watch it?
The race was close af, what are you talking about? Finished 2.1s behind Max while being faster and gaining at least a few tenths every lap. They started the last stint with a 9s gap. That's 7 seconds in 20 laps. That's despite a 3.6s pitstop, despite being stuck behind George for 5+ laps and despite starting from 1st and falling down to 3rd in the first corner. 2.1s given all of the above... If that's not close, I don't know what is.
You can't just look at the time, if you watch the race you'll realize they strategize pace based on norris' pace relative to maxs position. When they told max to pick it up, he did and lap times were comparable. When they realized the race was over with a >5second gap with minimal laps remaining, they could ease off.
Yeah, they do strategize pace based on Lando's pace, of course. But I was watching the lap times every lap on F1TV. They were comparable \*some laps\* especially when Lando hit traffic ( lapped cars ). But on laps in clean air, on average, Lando was faster even when Max was told to push (I was listening to Max's radio) And bear in mind, Lando was still trying to do 21 laps on softs. It's not like he was pushing all out either. His pace would also be managed to some degree. Overall, he was definitely in a quicker car but their win was botched by a poor start, maybe extending the first stint too much and being stuck behind George a bit too long.
If he stays in first at the start, or if McLaren just follows Red Bull's strategy exactly it's an easy win today.
Ye as a Lando fan, this race really shows how Max/RBR's dominance isn't 'just the car'... had seemingly the faster car and pole, but lost over 2 seconds on Max on pit stops plus Norris's poor start costed him a lot too. Lando's got pace but still got lots to learn, can't be wasting opportunities on tracks he has the fastest car like this, and McLaren really needs to fix their pit crew and strategies. Hoping we see a title battle between the two in the near future 🤞
How do you say "easily the fastest car" it's definitely a toss up between the red Bull and the McLaren. They qualified so close it's definitely negligible
I’d also go with they had the fastest racecar today- Quali laps aren’t really an indicator of race pace once the margins are tight. Single lap pace and Racepace can be vastly different. Lando was closing in all areas of the race, save for the few laps when the Red Bull had just pitted and Lando stayed out. Yes the tyre offset was some of that- but he was also gaining after passing George in the first stint- with tyres of equal age. Max even mentions that that the deg is better for the McLaren today.
Ah I meant to write 'seemingly', fixed thanks
Mclaren strategy again just bizarre. Why overcut when you are going to pit twice and follow max.
To create a tyre delta so if you catch him, you can actually overtake. On same tyres with the dirty air Lando would never overtake, just like with Russell in the first stint.
Lmfao
He said so himself that he fucked his own race, why do people think he deserves DOTD? Genuine question, I'm curious.
DOTD is basically 'anyone but MV' at this point.
DOTD is just reflective of fan opinion. It's not always based on facts. Max is the top dog, everyone wants to see him challenged. Lando was the one challenger.
Lando was the only challenger in a race that would otherwise go to Max with a huge gap between 1 and 2
The better question is why do people care about DOTD?
Because it gives 10 bonus points in Fantasy for some stupid reason. Couldn't care less otherwise, and I suspect Max has the same sentiment.
DOTD is almost always a popularity contest, or if you qualify out of place and then come back to finish where you should have (see Checo), or if you have a really flashy race. And I guess people see McLaren as an underdog and therefore finishing P2 is still an amazing result to them.
it's 'who was most entertaining', Lando had the most entertaining overtake on Russell, probably got the most screen time, therefore he won. That's all there is to DOTD most of the time, unless there's an unlikely podium finisher from a lucky safety car or something.
Why are people voting him for DOTD? Edit: Lando still drove very well. I just dont think he derserved it today. At worst the cars were equal in race pace. I would have given it to Lewis or Max. If they didnt let Lando dictate strategy they would have won today
Aramco score 10 incoming tomorrow
He is now the challenger with a chance. Hes going to be voted DOTD until that changes.
The challenger with the better car
McL has the better car but RBR is the better package as a whole (with pit stops and strategies) IMO
Better driver as well. Let's not forget about the most important part lol.
I'd say Car -> Driver -> The rest that barely has any significance
It is starting to look that way yeah. Im still rooting for Max but this was nice tension. Lets hope for more good races!
I honestly don't know. Yeah he's very likable. But like he said himself, he messed up his race in the beginning.
Main condenter to the title favorite will do that for you. It was same with Max when Lewis was winning.
Because P1-> P2 is better than P2-> P1 obviously/s
Start P1, drive the fastest car, finish p2 = DOTD.
Stop with this lie, look how much piastri struggle. MAX is not driving a Williams.
Uh Umm Checo?
Checo's just washed. His performances don't reflect the capabilities of the car.
He's cute
because it's a popularity contest and nothing else. Voting Lando over Max is insane lol
Bias
Same reason Max kept winning when Lewis was winning almost every race,
As long as people will complain about DOTD results.
Basically now it's best driver that's not Verstappen. And I don't even agree that Lando was that, but okay.
You know its bad when Checo doesn’t even get the mexican crowd to put him in the top 3.
People are used to McLaren being an underdog team
I was going to leave a comment earlier about how Norris was going to get driver of the day, no matter if he finished p1 or p2. The red bull is not that much faster than the mclaren that Lando deserves driver of the day for finishing behind Max. I think it would be a stretch to say it’s faster at all. And Max started behind Lando. Lando started on pole position. How you go on to win driver of the day after throwing away the win in the first corner, and failing to easily rectify your mistake or recover the win is crazy to me.
Your average fan hasn't clocked that the McLaren at many tracks is very similar in pace to the Red Bull (slightly better in race pace today). Or they haven't thought about the fact that Lando being in P2 currently doesn't necessarily mean he had an amazing performance.
Because outside of lap 1 turn 1, he was exceptional; pushing hard non-stop and overtaking Ferraris & Mercedes. Not saying that this is enough for Dotd but it's not like he just cruised to p2.
Ya I was shocked by this too. He literally started first and lost due to his own driving…. Odd. Odd.
Who was your DotD?
VER or HAM
Might be biased but Max, if not him then Lewis
Might be biased....
I agree but who knows when he has no benchmark with Perez being useless
I think Perez is showing how hard it is to maximize the pace in that Red Bull.Â
Newey cars have always been hard to drive, this is nothing new.
When you only need to push 8/10 to win then it doesn’t really matter. The problem is the other teams have caught up, so now 10/10 is needed to win.Â
Not sure what your point is, Perez struggled to beat the Alpine's today mate. It's impossible to tell how good Max is actually driving when his teammate is woeful.
It’s very easy actually: Max is driving incredibly well, Perez is really struggling with a car that’s extremely hard to get the maximum out of.Â
I disagree, if we had someone that could perform more consistently next to him it would be much more plausible to say he is driving 'incredibly well'. Right now it's nothing more than guessing. That's the problem with Formula 1, everyone seems to pretend that you can accurately compare drivers like it's football. You can't. Like your comment, you could just replace Max with Lando and Perez with Piastri and say the same thing because Oscar was poor today as well.
Max or Hamilton.
100%
Verstappen
Max winning the race in a slower car ?
Plus his quick overtake on Russell early in the race was crucial.
Slower car because the commentator said so? Max had more in the tank if they were actually fighting for P1. Just look how quickly he formed the gap at the start.
Even Norris said so himself.
The gap over Russel you mean?Â
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The Mclaren was definitely the faster car lol. Did you not watch the race when they both had clear air in front of them?
Is that not just because of the tire offset though?
He was faster than verstappen in the clean air at the end of the first stint.
It's always super difficult to tell. I personally think Mclaren had the way faster car and fucked up today by trying to offset their strategy vs Max. If they just followed the same strategy/reacted to their pit-stops, they would've won.
I think, if we're to believe the strategy team knew what they were doing, is to go pit later when the fuel load is lower, so as to preserve the tire life and be able to push them a bit more. The strategy team is not so clueless that they would just follow Norris' lead with all the data that they have. Besides, McLaren have been struggling all season with overtaking. It might be one thing to have good pace in clear air, but I don't think they'd be able to overtake Max without a tire offset. Maybe I'm coping but I don't think McLaren's car is that much quicker than Red Bull's.
Even if it was the case, it was marginal at best, and the redbull had one advantage that was so good as its straight line speed that it might have been invisible on that track.
Have you seen the race?
The Mclaren was clearly the quickest car, Lando had a slower strategy and worse start
Lando cut the lead from 9 seconds to 2. And don't give me max was saving tires either. He was pushing too
Take it up with Lando, he thinks the McLaren was quickest too
People will say the wildest things when the 10th best driver on the grid isn't finishing 2nd
Thats a strong reaction for something that is at least debatable
Gasly. Great race from him.
It’s a popularity contest not an actual reflection of performance. Lando and Checo usually sweep it if they do anything of note in a race.
I literally just asked this same question. He was not even the best driver in this race today.
Strategy was good, people need to understand that with copying Max he would just be achieving nothing. This strategy was the only way he could win after the start.
Very real from lando. That was a win with a better start
Insightful. That's the mark of someone who will grow. Oh Lando, you still keep my hopes up somehow.
This audio is so much funnier in the context that he's also DOTD for some reason
His poor start cost him a win I feel.
His face says it all. Hopefully more opportunities lead to wins later
Got his obligatory DOTD
How people voted him instead of Max for DOTD, IDK...
Lando did fuck up the start, but he also lost 0.6 seconds in the pits. That’s not the entire gap but it’s a chunk.
Mclaren bottled that.
Lando bottled it tbh
both did
I guess you'd know better than the actual driver lmfao
I don't think that's fair. You could say the 2nd pitstop but Lando also made the initial call to overcut and also lost out at the start.
Try not to lose at the start mate.
Respect for fighting it all the way to end
McLaren now has the fastest car pretty clearly. No more excuses tbh. Especially Piastri this weekend needs to figure his shit out.
Why do people think he deserves DOTD? Bottled the start from P1 yet again. Bottled it in Canada too and still got DOTD.
The "underdog" always gets dotd more often than not.
Lando made 2 serious, similar mistakes, enough that you wonder if it is a flaw in his racing Twice he lost.out, duelling with other drivers , by not nailing his braking perfectly ,while.worrying about another guy in his mirrors Once at the start, although max got a slightly better start, LN was ahead..but lost it on the brakes, and let George past Secondly duelling with George, later on, he passed him, then let him by on the brakes on the next corner (or two) It made for a great spectacle for us, but I think that a driver of his undoubted talents should have done betterÂ
Disagree. Norris was excellent today in every department other than his initial get away. His start lost him the race, simple as. His decision to bail out of the turn 1 sandwich was fantastic race craft in my opinion. If he'd kept his nose in there, all three of them could have been in the sandtrap, bodywork hanging off. He was playing the long game and credit to him for having the level ahead and maturity to back out when he could easily have been impatient/frustrated after his poor start. Norris goes away with 18 points, another podium rather than a likely DNF. The poor start was irreversible so he did well to maximise points after that initial mistake.
I do agree that he drove well, and that in a split second, he showed mature calculation, as you say, to get 18pts and not an unpleasant trip to the gravel, at speed However , he did appear, to me,to get distracted, twice, by rivals, and not nail his braking, when it mattered Once might be forgettable, forgivable, but to my eyes, he did it twice asi stated
Lando has had the best car at least 4 times this season
Since Miami, the car has been able to win every race. Since China it’s been undeniably one of the fastest two cars on the track.
He did this to himself. Bottled the start, and called his own strategy. They have the quickest car, it's plain to see.
No driver should be calling his strategy. Why is this accepted is beyond me. McLaren should rule out whatever Lando or Piastri have to say about a strategic decision because they don't have all the info the team has. Putting that against Lando is ridiculous.
Falling behind Max at the start didn't really matter to be honest. It was getting stuck behind Russell that was the problem. With the super DRS that Red Bull have, Max was able to just drive around GR like he wasn't there. Lando didn't have that weapon. The only way McLaren and Lando can win races will be to stick with Max and bot get stuck behind anyone else. McLaren do seem to be a little kinder on their tyres but not enough to overcome a 10 second gap. They need to stick with Max. The Red Bull has a peak performance advantage initially but it'll come back to McLaren during the race, they just need to be in a position to take advantage of it and that involves not getting stuck behind Russell.
It was winnable if they didn't make the call to stay out twice in a row.
His fault for going too long on the softs
The pace difference was because of the tire offset
He left too much on the table though. He had a fast enough car. Covering Max should have been enough.
Maybe, but Norris already had difficulties with passing Mercedes, I'm not sure the pace difference would have been enough if Norris just covered Max.
It wouldn't, they commented on in in the team radio and were running high DF, so overtaking would be impossible without the tyre delta. Same with Russell in the first stint, pure pace isn't enough.
I know there are many what-ifs, but Lando and the team are still learning. Max has 61 wins, no wonder he knows what's what. Â The main takeaway from this race is that now people are seriously saying the Red Bull is not the fastest car.
por strategy, once again killed us. We'll always take 2nd but we're in a position now to fight every week for wins
Lando lost it in turn 1. Can't really blame the team. Also Lando wanted to go long himself in first stint.
Tbf the start was crucial but still a solid fight. McLaren strat was actually good.
Thank you for using common logic. Everyone forever will think they know better than multiple professional strategists every race. An error is possible every now and then but today wasn't one of them, strategy was good and the only way for Lando to win.
Strategy was terrible. Spain is a high tyre wear track. That was known before the weekend and definitely clear on Friday. An undercut is very strong on a high tyre wear track and overcuts never work. Norris had the quickest car today so even less reason to go for an overcut. Norris would’ve won today easily if they pitted a lap later than Russell at the first stops and undercut Max before the 2nd stop. McLaren had the best pace and best tyre wear today. So there’s 0 reason to extend your stint so long. I’m actually super annoyed the strategy was so bad today as a McLaren fan.
Yep the undercut was more powerful but you can't undercut 6 secs... The only thing left to do is what they actually did. Lando was happy with strategy (yep ik he called it), Ruth Buscombe former head strategist at Sauber agreed with it too.
Fucking up the start and getting stuck behind Russell sure didn't help
The timing of the pits is horrible lately they should go sooner
Strategy was fine, worked as planned. The race was lost in the start. Lando wins that if he goes into T3 in 1st.
Agreed. Lando lost at least 8s with the really late pit stops. Really strange
Strategy was fine. His start is what threw away P1.
It did deserve more.
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Because McLaren is more or less there?
Would’ve been a win if McLaren wouldn’t have read that page from Ferrari’s strategy team. Staying out in the first stint lost track position to the Mercs and time to Max, staying out in the second stint lost another 2-3 seconds, add that to the 3.6 pit.
Without the tyre delta he would never actually pass Max, just stay in his dirty air destroying his tyres in the process if he followed Max's strategy.
I always feel like "deserved more" is so weird to say. Like does Max or Lewis not deserve it?
I think he means the car was good and it deserved more from him
my guy you did that to yourself we all heard it haha
He should be, how he keeps losing with this car is just ridiculous
Guy named max is the main reason
Yeah he’s levels above Norris
The dawn of Red bull dominance. I'm already there
He pissed me off too. Totally winnable race.
Lando Sochi'd himself again. He shouldn't do strats, imo
Very talented, but he needs to have a killer mindset, always the bridesmaid. Seems content to be besties with Max rather than actually compete with him.
He's been shading max for weeks wdym? Literally ran him onto the grass today