Motor Sport
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McLaren making a Ferrari level gaffe at exactly the wrong time. Truly just blows my mind. Why take that risk at this moment? Lando has now had a P2 and a P1 start where he got zero points through no fault of his own. It’s remarkable he is still leading WDC.
I think he wins it still but under unneeded additional pressure, and Oscar I think drops to P3 in the final standings.
McLaren is really good at finding new ways to tank their drivers.
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…anybody have the feeling that Lando is going to receive random all hour food deliveries, phone calls, loud music playing next door, etc. for the next week.
…and Max just checking in to see how his buddy is doing to make sure he’s ok…explaining how he knows how stressful it can be on top…
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Pirelli would make better tires if F1 allowed them to.
But no matter how good your tire, giant sharp rocks as “gravel” present a challenge.
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I was not blaming Pirelli, I was implying that the FIA, and more specifically MBS are arseholes :-). I know my logic can be questioned, but I like to think in black and white
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@Giles but you’re spot on. I was replying to @Tago-Mago ; Pirelli is more than capable of making tires that could go much longer than theirs are going (say, a 40-lap Medium for example) but FIA (and presumably MBS) won’t allow it. They said as much when Pirelli took over in 2011: they had eliminated in-race refueling, and wanted tire replacement to drive pit stops. Since it is a team sport, to make sure that the strategy and pit stop aspects of the sport were tested, gracefully degrading tires was what Pirelli were expected to deliver.
I get that, but getting tires that degrade in the right way per track and conditions to spice races up is not an easy task. I think part of Pireli’s responsibility as the supplier of tires is to take the heat for FIA’s decisions about tire compounds and degradation when they don’t work out.
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This stint cap is the dumbest rule yet
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Another disaster class from McLaren strategy.... The trend is being so cautious not to appear to be favoring a driver that they wind up fucking them both over. It's really laughable at this point that they are keeping Max in this thing. Think about what Lando will have to overcome should he secure P3 or better next race:
At least 40 points lost this season that weren’t his fault, mostly can be tied to the team: bad strategy here (3-6 points), bad qualifying run plan plus poor pit stop at Baku (4-6 points), DSQ from Vegas due to a needlessly aggressive ride height setup (18 points), mechanical DNF at Zandvoort (18 points). I’m not counting the collision with OP in the ATX sprint but you could argue to do so, and you could also argue Max cost him P1 Miami running him off the track—so this is pretty conservative.
Should he get P3 or better next weekend to seal WDC, I think it will be a remarkable display given how handicapped he was this year. Hopefully Will Courtenay will turn around this mess of a strategy operation next season.
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@mclaincausey I think that is something that they have to commit to. Ensure that Lando get’s P3 or Oscar takes it all.
One fuck up and Max walks away…
As the saying goes “shit or get off the pot”. Those guys need to decide how they want this season to end.
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McMuppets complete brain explosion to fuck the strategy (do the maths nimrods).
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Stella said something like “we didn’t expect them to pit under the safety car” as though that was a valid excuse. Like dude, incident at lap 8, 25 lap tire limit, 57 lap race. This shit isn’t hard. As @Bridger said, “do the math.” The fact that Stella said that out loud like it wasn’t something to be incredibly mortified about is wild to me and makes me think he isn’t team principal caliber. They built a great car, maybe he should move to tech leadership because he clearly doesn’t have a handle on strategy and it seems like a TP should understand everything at least at a high level.
At least they’ll have Courtenay next season when it may be too late if they don’t nail the regs but Singh and Stella just don’t get it. And papaya rules are idiotic.
The pattern with McLaren strategy, and I’ve now seen enough that I’m confident about this pattern, is that they are too conservative, they don’t cope with changing conditions, and they are terrible under pressure.
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Saw an interesting discussion concerning the last race where the hypothetical was laid out: Max needs 1st with Lando placing 4th to win the WDC. Oscar needs 1st with Lando placing 5th. Lando needs to place 3rd to win the WDC.
If Max is in 1st, Oscar 2nd with no hope of passing Max, and Lando is in 4th….what does McLaren do? Do they order Oscar to help Lando in securing 3rd…or is everyone on their own?
The way that this season has progressed has proven anything is possible.
"I don't give a shit what anyone else is doing, we will do what is best for us and our customers" - Giles P. :)
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@goosehd I think we all know what McLaren would do: cover their eyes.
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@Tago-Mago Maybe lewis's old team, i wouldn't be too surprised if a Merc made contact with Max in the finale....
