I think today really, Toyota just got the strategy all wrong. They seemed to think the harder tyres would work better, so they put both Glock and Truili on long middle stints with those tyres, but unfortunately they were wrong. Those medium tyres were too slow and they were on them for too long and ultimately it lost them the race.
Button today drove a brilliant race, and Brawn car or not, he won the race on his own merit. He was able to pass Lewis which was pivotal, and then he was on a better strategy than the 2 on front, which gave him the race win by a very comfortable 7 seconds. On the other hand, what was Rubens doing on a 3 stop
That to me didn't make sense, on a 2 stop he could've caught Lewis.
The best strategy for today was clearly to use the soft tyres, and do a short stint on the hard at the end. Ferrari did that brilliantly today, and it earned Kimi an extra point from Glock
I told you, they got rid of their strategist and now they look less stupid.
Vettel was on the right strategy, but ultimately spent most of the race behind people. His first stint he was behind Lewis and lost time to Button, and then the 2nd stint he was behind Truili who was on the slower tyre, so again he lost time. The only time Vettel had clear air today was at the end, when he was on the slower hard tyre. Really, what lost Vettel the race today was the fact that he couldn't seem to get past anyone
McLaren looked good today. This weekend they were the closest to the top 3. Lewis was able to run very close to Vettel when he was backed up by a slow Truili. Overall he set the 6th fastest time. So clearly they are 4th fastest. But they're only just faster than Ferrari who don't have a new diffuser. So I'd expect them to be run much closer in Spain.
Again it's hard to take much from this weekend. Toyota were the fastest for sure, but it was a mixture of bad strategy and an awesome drive from Button. The performance of the teams seems to vary from circuit to circuit between Red Bull, Toyota and Brawn. But Brawn appear to be more consistent with their speed, and their strategy remains flawless. The championship battle very much looks to be all Buttons. I'd say only Vettel and new diffuser on that Red Bull will be a challenge right now.
