Originally Posted by BinaryDad:
“Mercedes had said during the summer break, that the problem with rear tire wear on all Merc powered cars, was purely down to the engine. They thought it was producing way more torque in the mid rpm range than other engines such as the Reanult, which was causing the rears to wear more on the exits of corners.”
That's interesting.
That was exactly the issue that RBRs "banned" engine map was designed to address.
I wonder if it's one of those cases where everybody complains about it when one team is doing it but then everybody else goes on to do the same thing themselves?
Originally Posted by Assa2:
“Alonso can easily sneak into 3rd or 2nd which will keep the title race well and truely on for a while yet. I tend to agree though that if LH can win today it would seem it's hist title to lose from here.”
I guess it depends how you look at it.
I mean, on the one hand, any one of the chasing pack are only "two wins" away from leading the championship.
Conversely, if you look at a "worst case scenario" the difference between 1st and 2nd is only 7 points which means one particular driver must win every remaining race
if Alonso still manages to come 2nd before they can win the title from him.
I still dunno just how far behind the Ferrari is.
We didn't learn a lot from Spa and they looked good at Monza until Alonso's roll bar snuffed it in quali'.
At a guess, I'd say McLaren is a little ahead but then Ferrari is about level with RBR and then you've got the Williams' and Saubers who can do well on a good day too.
Seems like Alonso has a decent chance of finishing on the podium for the rest of the season and if Hamilton, Vettel, Button, Raikkonen and co take wins of each other during the remaining races that might still be enough to win Alonso the championship.