[Artemis]

Originally Posted by HeelToeShift

Is Mekies the guy RB needed all along? A real engineer at Team Principal? Seems good progress since he's taken the helm.

Originally Posted by ///M Power-Belgium

Yes Mekies is a better Team Principal ..
On the other hand :
According to Mekies at Monza : I've done nothing , it was MAX .
From what I heard , Mekies gave MAX the permission to speak at the Red Bull factory .
MAX had meetings with the Red Bull engineers and said what he wanted to change on the RB21.
With the so said MAX RB21 Monza design won MAX the Monza GP (with ease)!
The latest RB21 upgrades was the floor , front wing and the extreme low downforce rear wing.
The new RB21 floor improved the cars balance a lot that's why they can run with a lower downforce package to reach a higher topspeed.
Yuki also ran today with the new RB21 floor .

Belgian F1 TV journalist Gaëtan Vigneron confided that Verstappen apparently overruled his engineers about the best car setup for the Monza and Baku circuits. Mekies stepped in and granted Verstappen's setup suggestions: Verstappen got the setups he preferred - and he delivered: he won both races, 6.1s and 14.6s ahead of P2 + fastest lap on laps 58/63 and 50/51.

[Artemis]

Originally Posted by Artemis

When the going gets tough, the tough get going.

Verstappen could have toned down to safely 'bring home' the car on the Baku street circuit that had claimed several casualties during the qualies.

But that's not the way he thinks: went full send and squeezed out the fastest lap during the penultimate lap of the race. Finished 14.6s ahead of Russell.

He's a race machine.

Remember Austria 2023: Max is comfortably leading the race - his race engineer asks him to calm down during the final stage of the race - Max insists on boxing to get the fastest lap point - initially the team considers this too risky as Leclerc would be within striking distance for the race win - Max suggests not to worry - he pits - squeezes out fastest lap - wins the race. Mic drop.

Savagely hilarious:

[3798j]

.

[Fillip]

Today was a good reminder for those who call Piastri an emotionless robot, even he can make mistakes.

[Artemis]

https://www.fia.com/system/files/dec...sification.pdf

[Artemis]

https://www.fia.com/system/files/dec...hip_points.pdf

wdc:


wcc:

[Artemis]

Originally Posted by Fillip

Today was a good reminder for those who call Piastri an emotionless robot, even he can make mistakes.

No Schadenfreude here. Piastri is a great driver (dedicated thread here). Just unlucky with the start stutter + brake lock-up / understeer.

[G30M]

Originally Posted by afadeev

.

One of McLaren boys will walk away with Drivers crown later this year, long before the Abu Dhabi finale. In Vegas, maybe?

a

Norris lost 4 points from the tyre nut gun drama.

So if there were less than 4 points at the end... Then it came down to this.

[3798j]

"fans praised Williams’ Vowles-led sportsmanship as even Alex Albon was there celebrating Carlos Sainz’s Baku podium despite his own tough race"

[Artemis]

Originally Posted by G30M

Norris lost 4 points from the tyre nut gun drama.

So if there were less than 4 points at the end... Then it came down to this.

Well, this time around Team McLaren couldn't order Piastri to swap positions to donate some points to Norris.

[NickyC]

Fun race thoroughly enjoyed it.

What's up with that winner's trophy? Is that the first F1 trophy with working lights in it?

[Davil]

Originally Posted by GuidoK

It's clear that McLaren still has a huge tyre advantage. NOR managing 38 laps on meds!
So for sure on tracks where tyrewear is a big issue the McLarens will shine again this year.

But a slow stop for NOR!

Hehe.

[HFW003]

Originally Posted by Artemis

Well, this time around Team McLaren couldn't order Piastri to swap positions to donate some points to Norris.

You'd think they would insist Norris hit the wall seeing as though Oscar did?

just to keep things fair

[GuidoK]

Originally Posted by M5Rick

He admits being caught out by the dirty air and dirty outside track after blowing the start with anti-stall kicking in.

But is that an excuse worthy of a future WDC?

That said, I think the biggest loser of the day was Lando.
If you're in a fierce battle for the WDC and your main competitor is down, you have to profit to the maximum.
Instead Lando drove a very mediocre race.
At least he didn't crash as well (like for instance Hammy did (well he missed his brakepoint after te restart so he was last) in '21 after Max had that freak tyre blowout here)


On another note: when Max crossed the finishline I actually saw 2 checkered flags waved properly. So for once the celebrity flag waver didn't mess up. No idea who, wasn't shown on tv afaik.
Probably someone more close to F1 and not some female track athlete or big company CEO being totally flabbergasted....

[wizardofOz]

Originally Posted by ///M Power-Belgium

Yes Mekies is a better Team Principal ..
On the other hand :
According to Mekies at Monza : I've done nothing , it was MAX .

From what I heard , Mekies gave MAX the permission to speak at the Red Bull factory .
MAX had meetings with the Red Bull engineers and said what he wanted to change on the RB21.
With the so said MAX RB21 Monza design won MAX the Monza GP (with ease)!
The latest RB21 upgrades was the floor , front wing and the extreme low downforce rear wing.
The new RB21 floor improved the cars balance a lot that's why they can run with a lower downforce package to reach a higher topspeed.
Yuki also ran today with the new RB21 floor .

I thought you were also going to say something about Pierre Wache...After reading this

[wizardofOz]

Originally Posted by GuidoK

But is that an excuse worthy of a future WDC?

That said, I think the biggest loser of the day was Lando.
If you're in a fierce battle for the WDC and your main competitor is down, you have to profit to the maximum.
Instead Lando drove a very mediocre race.
At least he didn't crash as well (like for instance Hammy did (well he missed his brakepoint after te restart so he was last) in '21 after Max had that freak tyre blowout here)


On another note: when Max crossed the finishline I actually saw 2 checkered flags waved properly. So for once the celebrity flag waver didn't mess up. No idea who, wasn't shown on tv afaik.
Probably someone more close to F1 and not some female track athlete or big company CEO being totally flabbergasted....

It was one of Max's DJ friends waving the flag I believe

[GuidoK]

Originally Posted by wizardofOz

It was one of Max's DJ friends waving the flag I believe

Makes sense, someone more close to F1.
Must've been Martin Garrix I guess.

[fs1977]

Originally Posted by Artemis

No Schadenfreude here. Piastri is a great driver (dedicated thread here). Just unlucky with the start stutter + brake lock-up / understeer.

A bit more than just unlucky in my opinion. Obvious driver error. Especially the brake lock-up that put him in the wall. But agreed, Piastri is a great driver. One of the better ones on the grid.

[fs1977]

Great win by Max Verstappen, didn't look like he had to put much effort in it. And after two wins in a row, you already hear whispers about the WDC and how it's not over yet and Max might be in the mix. I personally do not believe he can make up that massive point difference, what do you think? Should McLaren be worried?

[G30M]

life after F1. charles and carlos version

https://www.youtube.com/shorts/s0Qx-SYWtTc

[G30M]

Originally Posted by fs1977

Great win by Max Verstappen, didn't look like he had to put much effort in it. And after two wins in a row, you already hear whispers about the WDC and how it's not over yet and Max might be in the mix. I personally do not believe he can make up that massive point difference, what do you think? Should McLaren be worried?

it's the track specifics also. Mekies says this is a slow corner track, McLaren is fast in medium corners, not as fast in slow and fast corners

however Yuki is fighting for Max

[GuidoK]

Proof that LEC and SAI are still best buddies:

https://youtube.com/shorts/s0Qx-SYWt...yHuJTkSCOq1ldw

together in a rented van in the middle of Italy...