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Forum nameOkay Sports
Topic subjectLeClrec is mad, and rightfully so. Mercedes overthought themselves
Topic URLhttp://board.okayplayer.com/okp.php?az=show_topic&forum=8&topic_id=2688365&mesg_id=2703571
2703571, LeClrec is mad, and rightfully so. Mercedes overthought themselves
Posted by spenzalii, Mon Sep-23-19 10:48 AM
Seb needed a win in a bad way, so can't really be too mad at that. But Charles has the hot hand. I think the strategy may have worked in LeClerc's favor had the second phase of the race not have been as safety car heavy, but that was not to be. No doubt there's still plenty to work out over who's the #1 driver there and who gets the calls. It may not quite be Charles just yet. Should it be? Maybe?

As for Mercedes, being on fresher tires made sense, but not getting said tires up to temp made that strategy go to shit.Not sure why they didn't have Hamilton push those last few laps when the Ferrari's pitted to get more of a gap, as he was lapping slightly slower than some of the midfield. Once the fresh hard tires went on, they had one too many safety cars to deal with so catching Max was a lost cause. Whether they could have gone on mediums (or if they even had that option; can't remember what tires they chose for the race) I'm not sure. To add insult to injury having Bottas back off his pace so Hamilton could come out ahead was hard to listen to. Understandable from a team perspective, but team orders suck. This is now 3 races Mercedes couldn't win in a row. Considering the nature of Spa and Monza and the weird ending of Singapore,I'm not quite sounding the alarm just yet, as there's still a pretty big cushion in driver and constructor points. But it does show they aren't invincible. I don't see either points leader losing at this point, but I would be a little concerned for Bottas coming in 2nd, as we still have the American leg of the season and Red Bull runs quite well at those tracks. With Max being a non factor for 2 of the last 3 races, I'm sure he'll be itching to get back in the mix