Ksdaoski

I think Lando and McLaren missed an opportunity for the win in Montreal. They admitted to not handling the safety car the best. Previously he was just walking away from Max. I'll be shocked if Lando doesn't win again this year, and I wouldn't be surprised if he won multiple times across the balance of the year.

multi21

Ocon is looking for a race seat next year. Would you hire him?


Esteban Ocon initially resisted team orders to let teammate Pierre Gasly pass at the Canadian GP and challenge RB’s Daniel Ricciardo, responding with a defiant “forget it” over the radio. Despite this, Ocon eventually complied, allowing Gasly through at Turn 8 on the penultimate lap.

Analyzing the team orders incident, Jacques Villeneuve saw clear tactics at play from Ocon. He felt Ocon let Gasly by to appear as a "team player" but did it late enough to ensure Gasly couldn't overtake Ricciardo.

“That wasn’t good, because we heard him in his comments, ‘I was a team player, I let him by, the team was wrong’ and so on, but he made sure that he waited long enough that it was too late for Gasly to go and attack.”

“But he still let him by to say, ‘I was a team player’. So there’s a lot of thought process going in there.”

VIA: [PLANET F1:

thebishman

Ocon is a toxic ***** whose opinion of himself far outweighs his actual talent. If MB picks him up on a one year contract whilst they wait for Max to make up his mind re: ‘26, he will no doubt bugger George’s year for sure!

500

Great race! I thought Lando had it sewed up prior to the first safety car. Typical of him was his mature take after: Sometimes it falls in your favor (Imola) and sometimes it does not. But he drove a perfect race.

Although I think George has (in the recent past) been a little mistake-prone, I don't feel yesterday was more of that. The conditions were super-tricky and many drivers had moments.

Max drove well and this was a high quality win (with a bit of good fortune mixed in). That car looked like being third-best this weekend and Max had a dozen ways to lose that race, but found the win.

NaroEscape

And that's my point about Russell - Max found a way to win, and George found a way to lose. Both made mistakes sure, but the Mercedes was a better car this weekend and Max still won.

I kinda wonder...every so often Max says something over the radio about how bad this or that is on the car....then sets a fastest lap or pulls away from someone. Is he just playing mind games with everyone? Baiting them to change up a strategy?
Just a thought...
But in the end, this year is SOOO much better. Any given weekend there are a handful of drivers that could win.
...then I watch MX5 Cup racing and realize how boring F1 is!! lol.

ELange0322

Isnt it interesting that he has been a Mercedes guy all along, that Toto manages him, had him as a reserve driver and got him into the Force India drive before the current stint at Alpine... but no where near the conversation to take the spot vacated by Lewis ? This is why I dont think he gets a seat next year. What open ? Mercedes, Williams, Haas and Audi. Just did Mercedes - no. If Haas takes Berman, will Ocon be the guy to help him and mentor and develop him ? Not a chance. Williams seem to want nothing to do with him and I love that James Vowels is shooting for Sainz. Audi ? Do they want that as the pair to Hulkenberg as they try to develop the car ? I just dont see it. He's literally got 1 of 20 seats in the biggest game on the plant, and drive himself out of a job. Just my 2 cents.

CCA

There was some talk that HAAS might be interested in Ocon. I don't like the guy, because he's such a tool, and would like to see HAAS do better. However, if he was teamed with KMag, there would certainly be some fireworks. I think Kevin would be like the kid in the geico commercial..., but would not go fishing with him - lol.

thebishman

I’m not buying for one minute that the RB was the ‘third best’ at Montreal; in fact I believe that with its combination of mechanical and aero grip it is still the best car on the grid on any given day. Hell, Max equaled George’s Q3 time and only started 2nd because George hit the 1.12 mark first. Plus the RB still appears to be the ‘easiest’ on its tyres, at least in Max’s hands.

What I saw was Lando driving the ***** off of the Macca, and George ruining his first set of Inters trying in vain to stay ahead of Max. It was Lando’s race to lose and I hate like hell he lost his second win. Btw: twice now McLaren has cost Lando a race win in the rain by getting tyre strategy wrong. 🤦‍♂️

500

The argument can flip both ways. Max being on the same qualifying time as George does not necessarily mean that the Red Bull had the measure of the Mercedes. Look how their respective teammates did. I do think which car was best did ebb and flow as the conditions changed. In that phase where the dry line was emerging before the safety car Lando was putting heaps of time into his lead and the Mercs looked great in the dry.

multi21

There is something fundamentally wrong with the Red Bull and we’ve seen it in Imola and Montreal. The car cannot ride the curbs and the most telling comment was that Max told the pit wall the suspension ceased up again. To me it sounds like they are fighting an issue that they don’t fully understand and it has nothing to do with aero.

ParadiseGT3

An issue commonly known as Newey Dynamics Loss.

Adrian Newey revealed last year in an exclusive interview with The Race that he focused on the suspension design and left the aerodynamics to very capable others in the Red Bull design group. He still had some input into the aero platform profile and its characteristics relative to ride height change and offered his opinion on what needs to be achieved, then set about controlling that as much as possible within the suspension design.

https://www.the-race.com/formula-1/g...led-inversion/

Carlo_Carrera

Yes, suspension is too stiff.

This will hurt the tracks where riding the curbs is important for a good lap lap time but make the car super quick at open curvy tracks.

thebishman

And what happened almost as soon as Max complained about the handling? Yes, he set the fastest lap.

Someone mentioned it above, but Max is developing a routine of complaining about something on the car not being ‘right’, but still ripping off fast laps and pulling out a lead. Max is not ‘getting the best out of a second tier car’; it is still the class of the field, even though certain parts of the field have made substantial improvements.

Put Lando; Piastri; George, etc. in a RB and we’d all be screaming about what a season we’re watching.

PS: Please no one state, ‘but Perez’!; that proves it’s all Max, not the car. No; just no! 😂

ParadiseGT3

is his performance relative to Max's not relevant, indicative of a weaker current car?

multi21

Agree. You cannot separate the two as that’s all we have to compare in the same car.

With regard to Max complaining about something and then putting in a fast lap, the radio communication is delayed by about 5 minutes on the broadcast so on a 1:13 lap, that’s about 4 laps to adapt and drive around the issue - which Max has mastered.

Regardless, this year’s RB is not where near as dominant as last year’s car.