@genius83
Firstly, if Brundle said that, and i only watched till the last lap nothing after it, then he needs to be reminded. The first race that comes to mind right away is Hungaroring 98, one of Schumacher's finest victories. Now that was a superior driver, driving an inferior car, using a clever strategy to beat a very fast driver and car. A hundred races like today cannot compare to Hungaroring
98. Maybe the second one would be French GP, 2004, Schumacher again, making 4 stops on his way to victory. Those are just a couple that spring straight to mind. Beautiful tactical races.
Today, Vettel did not lose to clever strategy, nor to a superior car. Maybe he lost to a superior driver but they, Red Bull, shot themselves in the foot by opting to only stop Vettel twice. It will be interesting to see if the simulators suggested two stops as being the fastest way. Unlike Bridgestone 'hards', crapelli hards are not good enough. Slightly more durable but a lot slower and that`s why putting Vettel on hards after his first stop was not an option for Red Bull.
Vettel pitted on lap 31 for his last stop. Hamilton pitted on lap 38 for his last stop. Red Bull expected Vettel to do 25 laps on one set of tires, while Hamilton had to do 18 laps. No one managed 25 laps on one set of tires, the closest was Karthikeyan, who managed 23 laps during his first stint, if he counts:D Tires that don`t last more than 14-15 laps in the first couple of stints and last possibly 18 laps at the most as some rubber is laid on during the race, Red Bull wanted their driver to do 25 laps!
Ferrari did the same and as much as they would try to talk and pretend otherwise, it was the wrong strategy. They will blame everything on the car, it`s an easy scapegoat at the moment and will help hide the mistake made by them.
Yes, it makes for a good spectacle. Any uncle, cousin, friend, whoever watched F1 before and got bored, get him to watch these races and they will enjoy it, make the watch NASCAR and they will like it even more:P. So its great in terms of spectacle but it
s artificial, its all fake. It does not reward good drivers and levels the playing field. If a driver is gentle on his tires, there is no reward for him, if a car is gentle on it
s tires, there is no reward for it. No one can nurse their tires beyond an extra lap or two maybe.
Bridgestone were too conservative, Pirelli are at the other end of the scale.
It`s early days. For now though, Red Bull is on a different level. Mclaren is close but not really close enough to bother Red Bull unless they keep making errors.
Mercedes showed good qualifying pace but thats about it. They were never in the hunt for a win today. It
s wishful thinking. Gone are the days of refueling, having a quick sprint and make a strategy like that pay off. Their race pace is a lot worse than their qualifying pace. Rosberg pitted on lap 39 for his final stop, his fastest lap, 1:41:166 came on lap 41. Schumacher pitted on lap 39 too, (the gap between both drivers was big enough to be brought in on the same lap) his best, 1:41:215 came on lap 46. Fuel adjusted-that will be the same gap as there has been between the two of them, this year and last year.
Massa on a 2 stop strategy pitted on lap 33, his fastest, 1:41:678 on lap 39 compares very well with both Mercedes drivers. Fuel adjusted-that will be a quicker car in race trim. Mercedes might have made progress but it`s nothing like its been made to look. They were flattered by Ferrari picking the wrong strategy and Renault missing from the picture. In race trim, Mercedes is the 5th best team right now.
Anyway, three weeks break before the next race. Most teams will have big updates and the race to bridge the gap to Red Bull will well and truly begin.