2019 F1 challenge: Discussion thread: Italy 8 September

Well LeClerc certainly stamped his feet firmly in the future of the Ferrari team today. Lewis threw everything including the kitchen sink at him today and couldn't get past. Soaking up the pressure from both Mercedes was an incredible bit of racing.

Not sure what to say about Vettel though. He looked thoroughly amateurish today and needs to have a serious word with himself.

Indeed but a s Toto Wolff said, if he had been penalised and a Merc driver won the race as a result, they would have needed armed guards to get out of the circuit !

So they all seem to accept that there will be biased judgements made in Italy in favour of Ferrari, but it's accepted !

It’s racing!

Yes, it was a bit naughty but the teams, drivers and the FIA have all agreed to let drivers race and use the Black and White flag as a warning, but only once per driver in the race, then it’s a penalty.  The race director was interviewed by Ant Davidson after the race and he said if Leclerc had made contact with Hamilton then it would have been a penalty, but he didn’t.

I’m a big Hamilton supporter but I was fine with it, great to see proper wheel to wheel racing and Leclerc was superb.

Leclerc soaked up immense pressure. You have the 5x World Champion behind you, someone so successful at hunting down the leader at Monza and he didn’t crack to the extent it cost him the win.

What I didn’t like, though, is Leclerc’s weaving. Through Curva Grande he waited to see what side Hamilton would pick, then effectively blocked whatever way Hamilton was coming. That would cause Hamilton to lift, stunting Hamilton’s momentum. That was what Verstappen used to do, and that was wrong as well. Similarly, at the start Hamilton got partly alongside, only for Leclerc to move right to edge Hamilton on the grass. When the car behind is having to breath the throttle in a straight line, that isn’t right. It’s almost like his defeat to Verstappen in Austria has haunted him, and is now overly aggressive when someone attempts to pass him. At Silverstone, he decided he wasn’t allowing Verstappen past, and edged Verstappen off the track in doing so.

At the chicane, I didn't see that Leclerc did much wrong. Hamilton was on the wrong side, he realistically knew the gap was going to close. Leclerc was always going to have his nose ahead for the first part of the corner, making it impossible for Hamilton to make the pass. With Verstappen v Bottas last year, as Martin says, Massi did a good job of explaining the differences in there being contact. Also, Verstappen took a more abrupt swipe towards Bottas' car last year. Leclerc was just commanding the racing line today, there was no issue. 

With Vettel, I don’t think he looks comfortable in these hybrid cars. With so much energy now going through the rear axle with the harvesting, it’s looser on entry. Vettel needs corner stability on entry, which he had in spades at Red Bull with the blown diffuser. At Red Bull, his corner entry almost looked violent, with how aggressively he could turn in. Vettel has lost a feel and balance he once had, in that era there was probably nobody better, probably better than Hamilton. The difference is, Hamilton has a more adaptable driving style, and can live with a slightly neutral balance.

With Haas, I would definitely fire both drivers. They both keep getting into too many incidents. Racing isn’t just about defending at any cost, and nerfing whatever might come. It’s about accepting a situation and collecting points, especially in the midfield. Haas need someone like Hulkenberg who is more pragmatic, and can reliably score points without tangling with other drivers. Say if Red Bull no longer wants Kyvat, I’d hire him alongside Hulkenberg. Kyvat now quietly does a consistent job, and the pairing would be good for the team.

Yes that's what I thought but it's Ferrari and it's in Italy so these things will happen. The pendulum now swings back towards Red Bull and Mercedes for the tracks for the remainder of the season. I can imagine that such things might not have been accepted as easily by the other teams if the championship was closer.

I imagine there’s a lot of rumours surrounding Vettels future after yesterday’s fuck up. Finishing 13th in a car your rookie teammate won in is never a good look for a four time champion.

I can't see Vettel and Verstappen sitting comfortably so does that mean that Max is on his way to Ferrari? As for Vettel, I think he has lost that tiny extra desire to win that differentiates the champions from the rest (probably getting paid too much).

Cannot see Max in a Ferrari either with Charles as number one. As an outside bet, Hulk at Ferrari as a safe number two.

I see the FIA (Ferrari International Assistance) was out in full force at Monza. Mind you, they all know what to expect from LeClerc now and he can expect no favours from the other drivers from now on when he is attempting to pass them.

Hamilton made a similar point post race, he'll have a catchup with LeClerc and chat about it and see if that's where the boundaries between them now lie.

For his part LeClerc has said Verstappen's move on him at Austria was a wake-up call.