How to deploy both an aggressive and defensive strategy in F1 Canadian GP

“They are sharp, so I’m not even thinking about it,” Max Verustapane When asked during Canadian Grand Prix Media Day, whether the victory was on the card.

“They” were referring to the Governance Formula 1 World Champion McLaren As many, like many, Dutchmans were predicting another win from the Papaya-Rang team and thought they would be left scraping for the last podium location Mercedes,

In practice, two elements of his prediction were true: yes, the race became a fight with Mercedes, and yes, it was actually for a podium location. But it was an unexpectedly fight for the top phase of the podium, as McLaren was not as strong as anticipated.

While the speed of the race Lando Noris And Oscar piastry It was still a little better – especially in the last term – it was not enough to move easily and cross a charging marsidies.

Red bull tires wear more than expectation

Looking at Friday’s long run, a similar pattern emerges: one aspect was taken into the race, while two did not.

Data have shown that McLaren, Red Bull (well, Vastapane), and Mercedes were close together during the race weekends so far this season. It was also visible in the race, especially in the last term.

However, everything did not happen as expected. Mercedes managed its Pirelli tires much better than the anticipated, especially ascendant as the first days as the first day.

Mercedes boss Toto Wolf said, “Generally, if I am wearing a pullover, there is a connection with our performance! But today, the track temperature exceeded 50 degrees and we were still prominent,” said Mercedes’s boss Toto Wolf. Austrian, among other things, credited the new rear suspension for success.

While Mercedes kept his tires alive for longer than expected, the opposite was true for the red bull. The team was slightly slow compared to McLaren on Friday, but showed encouraging signs about the fall per lap tire. But the picture changed on Sunday, a lot in the surprise of Red Bull.

Helmut Marco, Advisor to Red Bull, admitted, “Wearing our tires were surprisingly high.” “I think Max pushed the first stent to live with Russell. But the greatest surprise came from Mercedes. They were really hurry in the race and did not have tires issues that we expected.”

Both factors shaped the race, of which Verustapane said: “We run the race for both an attacker and rescue. The strategy was aggressive, but on the track I had to spend most of my time in mirrors.”

The four -time champion said he lacked lump sum speed to go to win, and said: “I could not attack at all, not a chance. It was more about the loss limit and was not trying not to overdo things. We are still decreasing.”

Team radio revelations

While Vestepen attacked the strategy – with two undercuts – this approach was certainly more defensive in nature. The early pitstops were mainly to save Vastapane from moving forward Andrea Kimi AntoneleyWhich stopped rapidly at the end of the first two stinces.

In a direct duality, the Verustapane will be unsafe on the wearing tire, which will inspire the red bull to drag the trigger quickly. Yes, undercuts are usually aggressive moves, but in this case, They were used to keep Antoneley in the Gulf,

At the end of Lap 12-before the westpane pits were almost straight with the Dutchman and the rash were already seen on the tire-left tires in front of Verstapane. The undercut of the red bull was effective to maintain the other, as Verustapane re-incorporated the antoneley with a 2.5-second gap.

It is worth noting that the crook cannot respond immediately. The first car on the track gets a naturally better strategy, which means that Mercedes placed Russell in a lap after Vestapen to rescue. Antoneley had to stay out for a long time, losing those 2.5 seconds on two laps on the old rubber.

The loss at the time was minimal, and predicts the second round of the pitstop, when Antoneley could respond to the next lap. But the same pattern was repeated: Verustapane pulled away at the beginning of the stent, and Antoneley rapidly reduced Verustapane’s tires than Mercedes. The 18 -year -old child also worked an overcott.

Berstappen beaten at the end of Lap 37 with 0.8 seconds in hand. As team radio showed, it was a late call, and was clearly, clearly based on Antoneley. “Box, Box, Max,” called, to which Verustapene replied, “I am inside,” confirming that he managed to react only on time. On exiting the pit lane, Vastapane was immediately told: “Antonely Paes 15.4.”

The next radio message was: “Okay, the entanley in the pit lane. It will be closer, so press the overtake button.” Verustapane complied directly for a long time, and exiting the first corner, it really turned out to be closer.

“Racing Antoneley, Max.” The Mercedes driver was actually coming out of the pits, but with the warm tires and the inner line, managed to maintain the varostapane position. It was once again underlined that the red bull was primarily defending – and successfully defending – with its undercut strategy.

A title fight after all? Verstappen is not convinced

Call in Canada throws light on two things. First, that Mercedes was better on tires than the red bull – although Marco said Vastapane may have pushed very hard in the initial stent. This makes it quickly understandable, as Dutchman targeted to win and the limit of wearing tires was still not clear.

But in the last term, Vastapane changed her view, including a subtle signal from Gianpiero Lambia on the radio: “Middle Stent 25 laps, Max, now we’re looking for 33.”

After the race, Vastapane admitted that he was afraid that the last term could be too long, but it became better than expected. A part of it was below for their more measured approach, but Vastapane also explained another factor: Red Bull’s car performed better because it became lighter.

“Yes, thankfully. I think it was better with a little less fuel, but still, I could not attack at all.” Antoneley accepted to contrast in the last term, for her share, and regretted: “I pushed very hard behind Max and became a little greater.”

Finally, Vastapane acquired the maximum with his P2 finish. The strategy was important for his success, and it meant that he obtained land on both McLaren drivers: six points on Piastry and 18 on Noris. However, this does not mean that Vastapane believes that he is back in the title.

“I think we still need more speed for this. Today, we only ended forward because of our ability and because the team made the right strategic calls,” he said.

“But you can’t always trust him. We need pure speed. I think McLaren was also slightly weak from normal this week – generally, they are well ahead. Sure, of course, we all take positivity, but we have a lot of work if we really want to fight for the championship.”