FORUMula1.com - F1 Forum

[myownalias]

I am surprised how poor the Red Bull's were in qualifying at the RED BULL RING! Hopefully, they are better in race trim.

I'm not: Red Bull backs Max Verstappen in qualifying spat with Daniel Ricciardo

Oh, dear, I saw them running slow, but SKY F1 didn't elaborate further, we didn't hear this radio messages on the world feed. But Red Bull have been off the pace all weekend, so it's more than an inter-team squabble.

[overboost]

Interesting race seeing the Merc troubles come to the surface with their blistering tires especially. This is the trouble that Merc had in pre-season testing and why they asked for and received custom 'Merc spec' tires for three races (including Silverstone next week). Austria was not on their list and it bit them in the a s s! Could there be more troublesome tracks for Merc to contend with? Lets hope!

Hamilton exacerbated the issue as well by immediately overheating the rears on the soft tires as soon as he started his stint. You could hear his engineers pleading with him to let them cool. Had Hamilton kept his cool and nursed the tires he could have gone longer and avoided stressing the power unit (which quit) trying to make up ground.

This season could have been alot more interesting without these 'Merc spec' tires being provided by Toto's friends in the FIA.

[overboost]

Excellent race by the Ferrari drivers and Verstappen. Getting to the end pushing hard on the fragile tires, well done by all three drivers. And Vettel's pass on wdc leader Hamilton (on 11 lap younger rubber) was a joy to watch. Also both teams were ready for the double stack on the vsc, slickly executed.

Amazing to see Haas and in particular Grosjean doing soo well. It could be the drive of the race by Grosjean getting his first points of the season with a 4th place.

Mistakes by Bottas at the start/Hamilton with his tires, the Merc strategists, and the Merc engine guys means alot of work to do for them before next week.

[overboost]

[overboost]

Well that didn't take long!

Hamilton is saying that Pirelli should have brought the 'Merc Spec' tires to Austria. And rumours are that Pirelli are considering bring the special tires to more races this season because "blisters make Pirelli look bad". What a farce!

Hamilton also says that they were supposed to bring that tire to Austria but didn't. Was the FIA in on this plan!?

Merc is working its unsporting magic. Why don't they just fix their car or train their driver to not cook the rubber.

https://www.racefans.net/2018/07/02/pir ... -hamilton/

Hamilton: Pirelli should’ve brought thinner tyres to Austria
2018 Austrian Grand Prix Posted on
2nd July 2018, 8:31 | Written by Dieter Rencken and Keith Collantine

Lewis Hamilton says Pirelli should have brought its thinner-tread tyres for the Austrian Grand Prix after he and other drivers suffered blistering in the race.

Pirelli produced a special batch of tyres which are 0.4mm thinner than usual for the previous race at Paul Ricard, as well as at the Circuit de Catalunya earlier this year. The thinner tyres were created after some drivers experienced blistering in testing.

Hamilton was one of several drivers whose tyres blistered during yesterday’s race. The team only planned to pit once but Hamilton was forced to stop again for a third set of tyres.
“They should’ve brought the other tyre here, the same tyres we had in the last race,” said Hamilton after the race.

Asked if it was unusual to see tyres blistering, Hamilton said “it’s not unusual. When you make the wrong call, that’s what happens. They were supposed to bring the other tyre this weekend.”

“It doesn’t really make a difference to my weekend anyway” added Hamilton, who retired with a loss of fuel pressure following his second pit stop.

Sebastian Vettel previously claimed Pirelli introduced the thinner tyre due to pressure from Mercedes. The thinner tyres will be used again at this weekend’s British Grand Prix.

Hamilton said the fragility of the tyres prevented him from being able to attack the cars in front of him when he fell to fourth place following his mis-timed pit stop.

“I was trying to overtake,” he said. “And that’s probably the problem with these tyres is you can’t stay in a race.

“I had the pace to put on a race and stay with them and be in the fight for the rest of the race and then the tyres don’t make it. In that circumstance, that’s robbed the fans of seeing more racing. But that is just the way it is.”

“These tyres aren’t good enough for us to be able to really race,” he added. “It’s a shame these tyres aren’t good enough that you can stay in the battle, you have blistering.”

[darwin dali]

Same old

[sagi58]

Good thing it's not Ferrari asking for different tires...
all h e l l would have broken loose by now!!

[Stephen]

Yeah, Mercedes have always been in bed with the FIA...oh wait...

[sagi58]

Yeah, Mercedes have always been in bed with the FIA...oh wait...

You don't have to be "in bed" with anyone to around!

[darwin dali]

[overboost]

Here is Horner stating the obvious about why Mercedes trotted out a strategist mid race. Lewis needed a 'Davey Ryan' to take the blame, and to take the focus away from his tire mismanagement as well. Grade 'A' pot stirring by the Red Bull boss.

https://www.motorsport.com/f1/news/horn ... r-1055693/

Horner thinks Mercedes strategist Vowles was put in ‘unfair’ situation

Red Bull boss Christian Horner thinks it ‘unfair’ that Mercedes strategist James Vowles was put in a situation where he felt he had to confess to making an error in the Austrian Grand Prix just to keep Lewis Hamilton calm.
Vowles made a rare appearance on team radio during the Red Bull Ring race to own up to Hamilton that it was his mistake to not pit under the VSC period. Horner has said he does not understand how such a situation came to pass – and questioned why Vowles needed to be singled out.

“It’s always difficult to know the intricacies of other teams but I think the one thing you have to do as a team is win as a team and lose as a team,” said Horner, speaking at the Red Bull factory.

“That’s why we hardly at all, in success or failure, talk about individuals, because that puts an unfair amount of scrutiny and pressure on that individual.

“Certainly our philosophy is that as a team, it’s collective responsibility rather than an individual. Of course there has to be accountability, but it’s something that’s dealt with in the right environment behind closed doors and not in a public forum.”

Horner thinks it equally strange that Vowles needed to intervene at all just to motivate Hamilton.

“I have never worked with Lewis and I don’t know what makes him tick and what doesn't, but it a fairly bizarre thing to need to do for somebody to throw themselves under the bus to motivate a driver to go faster from fourth back into the lead,” he added.

Horner is clear that he would never have allowed such a situation to play out at Red Bull, as he was adamant that in similar circumstance it was his role as team principal to take flak for people.

“It’s not the way I operate. My view and my role as team principal of this team is that you’re here to protect your workforce to make sure they’re represented in the best possible way – that’s on the good days and on the bad days.”

[myownalias]

I quite enjoyed the Austrian Grand Prix, guess I kinda enjoy seeing LH and Mercedes struggle after years of dominance, although you have to feel for Bottas, who was let down by his machinery once again. Certainly, a really bad strategic call from Mercedes, Ferrari, and Red Bull was on the VSC situation immediately.

It was also great to see HAAS doing well, Grosjean especially, being almost halfway through the season and only scoring his first points now. Also, seeing top cars suffering from race-ending failures, when was the last time three of the top six competitors failed to finish a race due to mechanical issues?

On Hamilton and the "Merc Spec" tires, what a steaming pile of , this is not a safety concern and IF Mercedes win at Silverstone, the third of the three times this spec of tire is used, questions have to be asked of the governing body, three wins out fo three using the tires has to be beg they question about advantaging one team over another.

[sagi58]

...On Hamilton and the "Merc Spec" tires, what a steaming pile of , this is not a safety concern and IF Mercedes win at Silverstone, the third of the three times this spec of tire is used, questions have to be asked of the governing body, three wins out fo three using the tires has to be beg they question about advantaging one team over another.

Completely agree with this ( and most of the rest of your post, as well)!
Thing is, the FIA have "allowed" this situation when they didn't penalize
Mercedes for their "illegal tire testing", as it was obvious from then that
this was a possibility.

I guess we'll have to see what happens at Silverstone, eh?

p.s. Had this been Ferrari, let's face it, the blood would have already been shed!