2019 challenge round 2 discussion thread: Bahrain 31 March

Leclerc was just outstanding in Bahrain, he handled the weekend with such composure and consistency. I always say that getting the maximum from a midfield car is different to fighting at the front. Until a driver sits in a winning car, you’ll never know how they can perform. People like Heikki Kovalainen and Kyvat have faltered under that pressure in the past, performance at that level isn’t a given.  Leclerc’s pass on Vettel illustrated great race craft. He came from a long way back with DRS, but in the braking zone it was his decision to out-brake his teammate, then cut across his front wing, realising he was clear to take the corner. That could have so easily gone wrong; a slight lock-up, cutting across Vettel too early, or getting sideways on exit, allowing Vettel to retake the lead again – none of that happened. Leclerc is no rookie to racing, he has been racing a long time – but execution at this level is different to anything he has experienced before.

These are interesting times for Sebastian. Vettel definitely earned the right to be the lead driver at Red Bull, his driving style was so in-tune with the blown diffuser. He had the pace on Webber over the course of a season. He had the measure on Raikkonen, and Vettel publicly stated how much he liked Raikkonen as a teammate. Leclerc will not be able to beat Vettel on every weekend, but it’s clear that Leclerc is not content at accepting a supporting role to his teammate, and his raw speed backs up that stubbornness. Mattia Binotto is good for Ferrari, a calm head who isn’t afraid to let his drivers race. Ferrari had a fantastic car in 2017 and 2018, and Binotto oversaw that development. He is more open than his predecessor and less defensive when things go wrong, as they did in Bahrain.

Lando Norris is someone who impresses. Norris already has fantastic raw qualifying pace, he needs to work at not losing so many positions during the opening laps, but that judgement will come in time. Lando fully embraces the simulator and online racing; I think that helps him cope with the complexity of a 2019 F1 car. After all, he was racing in Formula 4 during the BTCC weekends a few years ago – he has risen to F1 very quickly.

I’m split on DRS. On the one hand; it’s a sticking-plaster solution to disguise a much bigger problem. And simply having more DRS just makes the plaster bigger, without addressing why you need the plaster in the first place. On the other hand, DRS worked rather well in Bahrain – I was entertained. Entering turns 1 and 4 respectively, DRS put the pursuing driver in a position to overtake, it was then the drivers job to judge whether to overtake or not. There were a few “automatic” overtakes, but you’re inevitably going to get that. It will never be perfect, because the situation on corner exit will always be slightly different. However, the most common situation is that the pursuing driver suffers from massive “aero wash”, meaning they lose a lot of distance on corner exit. It could be argued that DRS just returns what the chasing driver previously lost. I’m just grateful we have racing in F1, because pre-2011 it was badly lacking.

The change to the front wings has been positive. It would appear that following another car is slightly better. Unfortunately, knowing the limitations with the front wings, the teams have concentrated a lot of development on the barge boards, which now look rather ridiculous. And this neatly summarises the problem; you can’t make one small change, then not address the rest. Thankfully, the 2021 package is a fundamental overhaul in the right direction. I just hope that the limitless spending on aero development will end, not by a cost cap – by sound regulations that outlaw a lot of the external aero development seen today. I liken it to the old 2.4 litre V8’s, yes there was competition, but engine development became so restricted and exploited, it was impossible to spend significantly more to achieve a better performance in 2012 and 2013.