Sainz just isn’t good enough for Leclerc to win the Champ. These are the types of days when the No. 2 driver earns their wage by getting one over for their No. 1. Verstappen was great but I feel like if it was Leclerc behind him it would be a different story at the end of the race.
F1 2022 Season
- Thread starter pauldyson1uk
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That was a very dominant drive by Max. Glad to see Mercs closing the gap a bit.
I also just don’t think he has quite the bottle and consistency and pace overall. Second to last lap he was 0.5 seconds behind at the hairpin. That was his chance. And he locked it up. Still might not have gotten past but the fact he locked up says a lot about how he handles the most critical moments.
I mean you say that but Checo was miles off last year as well. And his qualifying was way worse than Sainz.
It was an easy win for him , never in trouble, Seinz was never catching him , only got close due to DRS, yes it was a decent driver, but better than Leclerc from back of the grid to 5th, not for me.
latifi for me. managed to go 70 laps without binning it. mega drive by his standards.
I think if they carry on improving, they will be challanging for wins towards the end of the season and hopefully carry that into next season.
Tsunoda for saying feck this and making it interesting. Absolute lad.
True, but he’s shown he has it in him to win races or hold off people (Hamilton last year), winning this year etc.
I’d be surprised if Sainz wins a race, he just doesn’t seem to have that last 5%/cutting edge that the better drivers do.
we joke but it’s so true.Many drivers would've made a mistake there under pressure, but Max didn't crack. I also take into account the entire weekend tbh.
Charles p5 was to be expected. I actually think first half of the race he was underperforming. Was stuck behind Ocon for ages, but then finally found his pace after a couple of (v)sc's. Decent drive, but nothing spectacular considering the difference in performance with the cars he was racing.
Fair but Checo only won a race last year from a Tyre Blowout and Lewis fecking up holding the Brake Magic button.
Sainz could easily get a win if similar happens in front.
It’d be nice. But competing for wins by end of the season is best case scenario.
OK I can see your points, but its driver of the day, for me Leclerc, I will give you yes driver of the weekend was Max.
OH I agree , very best and I admit it will be extremely hard.
With a Checo DNF. Hardly amazing. Really to be expected.
He did well don't get me wrong but Driver of the day.... Don't think so.
I’m neither here or there on this but I wouldn’t say Le Clerc was scintillating today, as much as getting to 5th would suggest. He was massively helped by the safety car, albeit conversely he was also mega let down by his team on his pit stop.
Fair it is Dotd, but for me Max got unlucky with the safety cars, but kept his cool and won the race so dotd for me.
Leclerc's final stint was great though I admit.
Seeing some in here say the Ferrari was faster today. Got to completely disagree with that. The only reason Sainz kept pace with Max was due to DRS, and 3-lap younger tyres. Plus Sainz could barely catch Max on 10 lap fresher tyres until Max's started to fall off drastically.
Leclerc did well with the issues he was having with the Ferrari.
Leclerc did well with the issues he was having with the Ferrari.
Would've been easier to judge with Leclerc battling Max. Carlos is not on that level.
Fair enough and yeah Max did well under pressure.
We all see different things, it was either Leclerc or Max.
Agreed
We've seen that throughout the season so far. The red bulls race pace has just been far quicker.
Albeit Leclerc would more than likely have taken the chance on that second last lap that Sainz bottled.
Well to be honest I'm currently in Italy with a rubbish connection so I missed most of the race (and qualifying) but from what I saw Sainz, who has shown to be nowhere near Max/Leclerc's level, was able to keep on Max's arse for the final 16 laps. Yes he had DRS but normally I would expect Max to be able to push for a few laps and create enough of a gap to get out of DRS but he couldn't despite driving well by all accounts. That combined with the fact that Leclerc was able to match Max's best lap in P2 and the fact that Ferrari was faster last week (before they all broke down in spectacular fashion of course) leads me to believe that the Ferrari is the car to beat on raw pace. They've just not been reliable enough to profit from that. But I could be wrong of course. Was certainly an entertaining GP
I think it's a valid question with Sainz being fairly competitive all race.
Max and Leclerc are always miles better race pace than Checo and Sainz so the fact Sainz was very competitive all race makes it a valid question.
Either was it was very very close.
Also both Sainz and Max said the Ferrari was the quicker car this weekend. Not sure how much we value their opinions though haha.
That said think that Saftey car fecked Max over so the fact he still won was brilliant
Max for DOTD for me closely followed by Leclerc. Why are those Alpines so difficult to pass?
devestated for Mick. Running a very solid race in the points only for engine failure
As the guys above me explained correctly, to say the Red Bulls have had far better race pace is an exaggeration. There's no evidence for that.
Would have been tyre dependant. Charles couldn't get passed Ocon for ages and was struggling for traction out of the hairpin.
Alright, take away "far" for slightly. Otherwise agree to disagree.
Why on Earth did Ferrari put Sainz behind Verstappen on hard tyres. They already put Leclerc on mediums, put Sainz on mediums too with 20 laps to to and bunched up from the SC and he easily wins against Max on hard tyres.
The hards arent really hard here anyway, just slightly not as soft.
It wasn't a tyre issue at all IMO.
Anybody going to say how Hamilton is finished and Russell is better today?
I don't understand the criticism Latifi gets? He's the most consistent driver on the grid
That doesn't usually matter though does it if it's the other way around
safety car, both 3rd and 4th on the same fresh tyres and Hamilton pulled away by a few seconds.
I think overall pace is similar. However Red Bull have the greater straight line speed, which is a huge advantage in the DRS era. Been a fair few races where it’s come down to Max either holding off a Ferrari with DRS or going past using DRS towards the end of a race