McLaren seem to have no confidence in their strategy calls so they leave the final decision up to Lando.
Similar to what happened in Sochi a few years ago.
They had saved medium tires for the last stop, mentioned that earlier in the race but didn’t have the confidence to make the call themselves.
The failure to double stack on the first stop put Oscar out of contention too.

It's been many years since I followed F1, and I was amazed to see Intermediates shred rubber so fast that I could watch it happen.

That was perhaps the best race of the year and although I’m not a Hamilton fan I was happy for this win. He deserved it.

I also appreciated the clean racing between Max and Lando, unlike last week.

quote:

Originally posted by 220-9er:
McLaren seem to have no confidence in their strategy calls so they leave the final decision up to Lando.
Similar to what happened in Sochi a few years ago.
They had saved medium tires for the last stop, mentioned that earlier in the race but didn’t have the confidence to make the call themselves.
The failure to double stack on the first stop put Oscar out of contention too.

Was it Lando’s call to go onto softs for the final stint? That seemed to be a pit wall decision to me. Earlier in the race, when swapping to intermediate from the starting tire, letting the driver make the call is the right thing to do. The driver can tell far better where the track is wet enough or too dry for inters. A number of teams left it to their drivers. I heard a number of radio calls from the guys up front telling their teams it wasn’t time to swap to inters.

quote:

Originally posted by smlsig:
That was perhaps the best race of the year and although I’m not a Hamilton fan I was happy for this win. He deserved it.

I also appreciated the clean racing between Max and Lando, unlike last week.

Agree completely, one of the better races I’ve seen in 3 years. Would have loved seeing George Russell go from pole to winner… rather than Hamilton.

quote:

That seemed to be a pit wall decision to me.

Yes, exactly. They did ask him as he was about to come in, which set he wanted. They should have simply made that call themselves.
There's a time to let the driver make the call-when he has the essential information the pit wall does not.
In other cases there are too many other calculations and info that the driver doesn't have to make that call, especially while trying to drive the car. Like that last stop, so the strategy folks are supposed to make that one, not the driver.
The fact they made several mentions of the extra set of mediums, and even the TV commentators mentioned that, showed that those that could see the big picture knew the red's were very marginal.
The surprise was Max on the hard tires, but apparently that's the only other tires they had available when they had decided the soft's wouldn't hold up. Seemed to work well, in any case.

I couldn't figure how the team could accommodate Lando with his preferred tire with him so close to the pits. BTW didn't Hamilton ask him in the cool down room why he didn't go with the mediums? Three races in a row that Lando could have won, he was absolutely devastated post-race.

A lot of pieces had to fall in place for Hammy to win, a win produce by chaos as much as anything. Considering his drought, Hammy's joy was pretty moving.

quote:

Originally posted by mttaylor1066:

quote:

Originally posted by smlsig:
That was perhaps the best race of the year and although I’m not a Hamilton fan I was happy for this win. He deserved it.

I also appreciated the clean racing between Max and Lando, unlike last week.

Agree completely, one of the better races I’ve seen in 3 years. Would have loved seeing George Russell go from pole to winner… rather than Hamilton.

Definitely bummed for George, he was having a good run.

I think that was the best race I have seen since 2021.

I just learned that Rolex is being replaced by LVMH. Adrian Barker (Bark and Jack) says it is immediate and Silverstone was the last race for Rolex.

quote:

Originally posted by xd45man:
I just learned that Rolex is being replaced by LVMH. Adrian Barker (Bark and Jack) says it is immediate and Silverstone was the last race for Rolex.

That's pretty shocking. How long has Rolex been the official timekeeper?
I know it was still Longines/Olivetti in the early 90s

Edit: Rolex since 2013. I started watching again in 2014.
Looks like Tag Heuer or Hublot could he the replacement, but the article I read said starting with the 2025 season, not immediate effect.

Adrian may have it wrong about exactly when, but it is happening. I’m new to F1, probably 2018 or so. I’ve only ever known Rolex as the sponsor.
I think LVMH made a smart move The Tag Heuer brand is nothing like it was in the 1990s. They need a brand reboot.

Small wonder that Rolex is out, considering that LVMH is willing to pay 3 times what Rolex was paying to F1 per year to be the "official timepiece of Formula One."

Big whoop. A bunch of rich corporations that cater to the ultra-wealthy, tossing around their money like it actually is going to make one bit of difference to the average F1 fan.

And since we missed this:

I remember Heuer being a sponsor of Ferrari back in the 70's and seeing a lot of banners. That was an era when the money was much smaller but the TAG in front of Heuer can certainly write the big check.
They've been involved with McLaren, Red Bull and others since then.
Owned by one of the richest guys in the world and part of LVMH.
https://www.chrono24.com/magaz...d-tag-heuer-p_59097/

quote:

Originally posted by DanH:
And since we missed this:

Guessing it'll be predictable, but should be a fun watch.
I remember them filming during one of the race weekends last season.

Think Norris deserved the win. To let off that much to swap was a bit ridiculous, especially with him consistently increasing the gap.
Different scenario to the "Valtteri, it's James" call. IIRC, the Mercs were much closer & holding when that call came in.

Max is a lucky boy, that could've gone much worse.

It really was a great race, save for Max having his on track tantrum. Nice to see Lewis take his 200th podium.

Good race, lots of tactical info to process in addition to the race itself.
I’m sure Lewis got a good chuckle when Max launched but Max was very lucky to not have major damage.
The real screw up McLaren made was caused by the timing of the second pit stop. They could have done Oscars first, he should have had the choice as leading driver, and this never would have been an issue. There would have been much less drama having Lando hold station if he had caught up than the way it happened.