Disclaimer: I use the McLaren app for their live commentary, the F1 app for their live timing and track map, and I watch the session on F1TV. I do not have access to in depth telemetry or more detailed information, so this is me compiling the information I have and doing some guesswork.
First off, I want to say that the track map I use was being possessed the entire race and did not accurately show where divers were on track. So I have a little less data to work with than I usually do.
- The race goes for 77 laps.
- Before the race the air temperature was 30Ā°C and track temperature 52Ā°C.
- During the race the FIA blue flag system failed, which meant blue flags were waved manually across the track. This caused confusion among drivers about who the blue flag was for, at times.
- It was said to be gustier than yesterday, which affects car balance.
- Outside of the racing line the track is dustier and dirtier, making the grip worse. This can affect overtaking but also affects the cars starting in an even-numbered grid spot.
(I am only bringing up events that I think affected the McL drivers directly)
The start of the race was interesting. Both Ferraris decided to go with soft tyres to try to get track position* but ultimately failed to do that. Both McLaren drivers went for mediums and had a good start, Oscar especially, going up to P2 even before T1. Oscar managed to pass Lando for P1 by T2, Lando struggling with rear grip and going over to the dirty side of the track.
*the soft tyre has a grip advantage worth ~2meters to 150kph compared to the medium tyres.
Early on in the race, Lando reported having better pace than he was showing, but being slowed due to dirty air.
Oscar reported early that he was struggling with the rear tyres, but a few laps later said the tyres were good, having been able to get them into the correct window.
By lap 13 Lewis pitted for the first time, and it became clear that we would see different pit stop strategies from different teams, and even within teams since Charles went on for a few more laps before doing his first stop.
On lap 15 we got our first retirement with a Cadillac being on fire (again).
Oscar and Lando pit on lap 16 and 17 respectively. They end up in p3 and p4 after Kimi and Isack who both havenāt had a pit stop yet. They pass Isack on lap 19 and Kimi pits on lap 23, putting the McLaren drivers into 1-2 again.
Lando keeps letting the team know he has more pace at the same time as Oscar tells the team that he is struggling with the tyres. Lando asks to be pit but gets denied since Oscar has pit priority, being the car in front. Lewis is catching up and McLaren risk losing P1 due to Lewis gaining enough time to be able to undercut, so they ask Oscar to go faster. He responds that he canāt and that he is struggling on these tyres, the car being less consistent on this compound. This leads to them pitting Oscar to give him new tyres.
Lando does not pit the lap after Oscar, instead deciding to take advantage of the clean air. He drives ~1 second a lap faster in the clean air.
Carlos drives into the side of Oscar when Oscar is going to lap him. Pit wall reports no damage. This does however cost Oscar lap time.
Lando pits, successfully overcutting Oscar. This was not a preferred strategy and was only possible because of Landoās speed and possibly also Oscar being delayed due to the incident with Carlos.
After both drivers have pit, Lando is ~1 second faster than Oscar, the fastest car on track. After overtaking Kimi, he puts in a lap 3 seconds faster than him.
Oscar struggles a bit on the first few laps on his new tyres, but soon gets settled, doing similar lap times to Lewis who is chasing him.
Oscars gear box stops working, leading to a devastating dnf as the McLaren drivers were 1-2 in the race. The reason for the failure isnāt clear, but Lando gets told to stay off exit kerbs.
There is a lot of lapping during this race. All but the top 7 drivers have been lapped at least once, with many drivers having been lapped twice.
The podium ends up with Lando in P1, Max P2 and Kimi P3.
Iām devastated for Oscar. He was struggling for pace compared to Lando this race, but he was still doing pretty well and would have probably ended P2 if not for the gear box failure.
Lando drove incredibly today. His pace was unmatched and when he had a little bit of clean air he was always one of the fastest cars on track, even when he was holding back to make sure the tyres and car made it to the finish line in one piece. It was extremely impressive.
Itās so disappointing that, once again, the FIA are messing up. The blue flag system not working in a race where there are so many lapped cars, itās honestly impressive we didnāt have even more incidents.
This was Landoās first win as LN1, and also his first time winning a race on a track where he has won before.
This bodes well for McLaren. Itās difficult to know how track specific this performance was, but hopefully not fully. They are bringing more upgrades after summer break, and hopefully they can keep challenging the other top teams.
I hope you all have a good summer break, and that we get that beautiful McLaren 1-2 in the fall! š§”š§”š§”
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