Carlton Supporters Club

Superior ultimate pace ??

Yes, in race they were all able to close the margin on the McLarens, they just couldn't sustain it due to tyre degradation.

Don't put the cart before the horse LP.

McLaren didn't need to 'go faster' to satisfy your need for pace.

Norris and Piastri were trying to complete or defend undercuts, they both had hot laps after the tyres warmed, they were given permission to race each other, and both of them got disciplined on the radio for excessive tyre degradation, yet they were ultimately slower in the race, unless of course you think the numbers are meaningless!

Time of last pitstop similar, track conditions similar, fuel load similar, motivation similar, ............... yet slower.

Spin it any way you want.

Much of the F1 establishment, at least the bit we see dominated by the Sky race crew (Nearly all of them Brits), are throwing their weight behind Lando Norris after Piastri's second win. Comments like, "this doesn't mean anything for team tactics" or "Lando is still the No.1". For those not following, Lando is a bit of a chosen one in Brit land.

Reality is Piastri has looked a class above from the day he started, back when his arrival clearly signalled the demise of Ricciardo, at least to me.

Piastri is cooler behind the wheel, doesn't break the machine, is technically excellent, smooth as silk, gets the job done with minimal fuss or bluster, does the right thing, behaves predictably, seems relentless, and appears to be marketable. These are not small scalps Piastri is claiming, he is making some old heads look like rookies. It comes with a bit of push back.

I can't wait to see what Jack Doohan is capable of, he is a racer type like his old man.

Watching F1 team politics today, McLaren shot itself in the foot leaving Norris ahead of Piastri. Norris was the slowest of the top three drivers but the Japan track makes in nearly impossible to pass without a pace advantage. They delayed and delayed nad delayed telling Norris to get out of the way of the faster Piastri, and then it was pointless and too late.

Worse still, in trying top preserve his ranking in McLaren Norris let Verstappen draw level.

Watching F1 team politics today, McLaren shot itself in the foot leaving Norris ahead of Piastri. Norris was the slowest of the top three drivers but the Japan track makes in nearly impossible to pass without a pace advantage. They delayed and delayed nad delayed telling Norris to get out of the way of the faster Piastri, and then it was pointless and too late.

Worse still, in trying top preserve his ranking in McLaren Norris let Verstappen draw level.

Austria was probably the best first 5 or 10 laps of the season, the racing between Norris and Piastri was as good as it gets before the team orders put the kybosh on it.

I felt sorry for Piastri, he suffered a bit from his past with Alpine doing it's best attempt at a trip pitting cars twice to send them out in front of him on fresh tyres while he was trying to close the gap between himself and Norris. In effect F1 politics robbed us of a grandstand finish, but that's F1.

The only thing that was a bit unsavoury was in the late stages Norris started begging the team for help as Piastri was 0.5s per lap faster and closing rapidly. Norris has a big weakness relative to Piastri, Norris burns tyres faster and is nowhere near as neat and tidy around the track.