A little more about the tyre situation in this very detaile article by Mark Hughes.
https://www.motorsportmagazine.com/repo ... rix-reportI (myself Delfy) was under the impression that it was Red Bull and Mercedes that wanted the tyres changed after pre season testing but apparently Ferrari and McLaren also requested it........
From the article.....
“Conspiracy debunking
1) The request for thinner-gauge tyres on fast corner tracks had come from a number of teams – but led by Mercedes, McLaren and Ferrari – after winter testing here on the new surface had revealed worrying degrees of blistering.
2) Pirelli finally agreed to the request on the weekend of the Bahrain Grand Prix – i.e. after just one race: a race (Melbourne) at which the Mercedes had been the dominant car.
3) Such nonsense assumed that anyone had sufficient understanding of the alchemy of the Pirelli-car-track temperature relationship that it could modify the tyre in a way that was sure to have the required differing effect on each car.”
( me)
Other conspiracy theories are also looked at under the section ‘conspiracy theories debunked’.
I’d recommend reading all this article though it is rather long it’s immensly detailed. I’d assumed Ferrari screwed up bringing Vettel in under the safety car, but in fact they were waiting for exactly that scenario. His tyres were gone, as a previous poster mentioned. It was other events that made the stop so costly to Vettel.........
(Article)
“Stopping under a VSC costs 10.5sec less relative to the pack than a conventional stop. In he came – a little bit too fast for his cold tyres, running wide of his marks. This delay, plus that, as he was held while Pérez came in, meant he exited behind not just Bottas, which was inevitable, but also Verstappen. Even with fresh tyres, it looked unlikely that Vettel would be able to pass the Red Bull.”
(Me)
All teams and drivers are examined in detail in this article. So I’ll leave you to it. An informative and thought provoking read. Answered a few questions for me regarding performances up and down the field.
After the agony of defeat, success will be sweet!
