They could've. But decided not to. It was conscious decision. Max probably could've made the cut on his first time IIRC.
RB decided to go for track position over tire choice.
LiveFromLondon
Superstar
Only 3 tenths off Max whose on softs
No it wasn't. Max flat-spotted his mediums and had to go softs in q2 or his race was over before it began. He had no more fresh mediums
Not worried about Max on pole but Bottas needed to Q ahead of Perez and he's in 6th. fukking Joker.
At least Norris got 3rd. He's not stupid and should be a good buffer at the start
Looks like his engine is losing power.
KillerB88
Superstar
They went for a more aggressive setup for qualifying. They tried to set up for race pace but weren't competitive, so they switched the rear wing and decided to shoot for track position. What they didn't anticipate was having to start on softs. That soft tires is probably going to fall off after a dozen laps.
What I'm saying is, I think Max's first time on mediums before the flatspot was good enough to get into Q3. Given track evolution, it would've been stupid to leave him in the garage but it was possible.
So Max has to go soft hard while Merc have options for the tyres. A unless Max is fast enough to build a buffer, Merc shouldn't feel too bad about this. Game on.
Over? The race hasn't even started.
I don't take any F1 fans opinions seriously. Cats on here were saying max won the championship at mexico.
As long as the mercs are on form tomorrow they can go long on those mediums and have a massive overtake advantage.
Max has to create meaningful distance very quickly or the race will be in the bag for Merc
RB didn't change Max's wing design. He's been running the same spoon wing all weekend. And their race pace was very good in practice.
I agree that the softs will fall off quickly though.
KillerB88
Superstar
That doesn't mean they knew it would be good enough. The softs were insurance.
That's exactly what I said.
So despite that Qualy I am surprising optimistic. Unless Max can drive of into the distance, Lewis can push him to ditch his tyres early, then Lewis has the overlap to try to get Max in the final laps.
The biggest issue for Max, is that the sector he is going to use to get a gap on Merc, is the sector that's going to stress the car the most. This is going to be a battle for the ages, or someone is going to drive off into the distance.
The biggest issue for Max, is that the sector he is going to use to get a gap on Merc, is the sector that's going to stress the car the most. This is going to be a battle for the ages, or someone is going to drive off into the distance.
KillerB88
Superstar
My guy they definitely changed to a skinnier wing and CH just confirmed it on Sky.
