[Official] French Grand Prix 2022: Grand Prix Weekend Thread - Round 12 of 22

[tux]

Only thing worse than Ferrari today is the SKY commentary.

[Greem]

I'm completely baffled by Ferrari's decision making. Sainz was 3rd, albeit with a 5s penalty, but was flying!

If he doesn't come back to the podium places on these mediums now then they've chucked away a result.

(Edit to correct the tyre compound)

[peebee2]

Originally Posted by Greem

I'm completely baffled by Ferrari's decision making. Sainz was 3rd, albeit with a 5s penalty, but was flying!

If he doesn't come back to the podium places on these softs now then they've chucked away a result.

Unless they thought the right front was going to fail.

[bjohnsonsmith]

Russell catches Perez napping and is up to 3rd.

[Greem]

Well now. The last five laps of that race were superb!

[bjohnsonsmith]

Congrats to Max. It was handed to him after Leclerc went off but still, he kept it together and drove a solid race to take the win.

[Richard C]

My impression is for whatever reason, George attacked Perez during VSC, then Pereez responded (maybe wondering if VSC was over and display was wrong), then had to slow to ensure correct delta which allowed George to be accelerating while Perez was slowing, or going slow. Regardless it's on Perez for screwing that up.

Rough for Leclerc, but I think that was his mistake. Probably torpedoes his championship.

Richard

[broadrun96]

Originally Posted by tux

Only thing worse than Ferrari today is the SKY commentary.

100% there, couldn't believe the inability to read the scoring and be competent. Multiple times Di Resta kept asking if Lewis was really out, ummm dude he was 8 seconds back and gap growing, he had nothing for Max at all. Wrong cars, misreading action on the track and general cluelessness, it's getting worse each week it seems

[Lancsbreaker]

The weird handling of the VSC ending certainly caused some confusion - which of course Russell took advantage of. It did feel like Ferrari out-fumbled themselves, today......

[TrapezeArtist]

So many things to comment on:

Oh dear Charles! Everyone makes mistakes occasionally, but that one will haunt him for a very long time. 25 points thrown into the wall. Well more really, because Max would have scored 7 fewer if Charles had won, so the championship gap is now 32 points bigger than it might have been.

Meanwhile on the other side of the garage, Carlos did everything right while the team just went back to being Italian. Starting from the back was already determined by past unreliability, but then they threw in that dreadful pitstop that cost him so dear. Four wheels changed and they left him on the jacks. Finally dropped him and waved him straight into the path of another car. The 5 second penalty was quite light; it could easily have been a retirement. Then finally, the indecision over stopping again. At the start of the season it looked like Carlos had lost the plot but now he's driving like a No 1.

Lewis had a good start and then just drove a steady race and profited from Charles's brainfart.

George didn't start well but quietly worked his way to a good place. The battle with Checo was engrossing although I think George overstated things over the clash at the chicane. I made that a 50:50. Then came the VSC. It looks like the race director vacillated over ending it, and confused both George and Checo (and probably others too). They both were on and off the brakes and throttle trying to keep within the delta. Then George was lucky because he was on throttle and Checo was on the brakes just as the VSC finally ended.

There were a few clumsy incidents: Ocon and Tsunoda, Zhou and Magnussen, and I suppose George and Checo too. It seemed to me to be at least partly the nature of the circuit.

Danny Ric is finally getting close enough to Lando that it is no longer embarrassing. Unfortunately his form is changing just as the McLaren form seems to be going down.

[Kempi]

Anyone else think this is pretty much like 2018? Ferrari having a very good car but shooting themselves in the foot over and over again until their lead driver makes a crucial mistake. The mental aftermath of that mistake will linger for a long time and Red Bull will now walk away with it.

The only difference: this time it was obvious from the 3rd race on and the mistake happened earlier.

[Aysedasi]

Originally Posted by TrapezeArtist

Danny Ric is finally getting close enough to Lando that it is no longer embarrassing. Unfortunately his form is changing just as the McLaren form seems to be going down.

Time will tell. One swallow doesn't make a summer......

[S griffin]

Leclerc threw that one away. Just when the momentum had seemed to swung Ferrari's way. Shows he's still got a way to go. Let's not forget though Senna's infamous mistake at Monaco, showing it can happen to the best of them

Max had it under control after that. Merc are definitely back though. Good to see Lewis up there in his 300th GP and great drive by Russell, really caught Checo napping there

What were Ferrari thinking bringing Sainz in when on for a podium? After a great recovery he deserved more.

Alonso did another great job keeping the cars behind him, seems he's taken over Trulli's role. Both McLarens did well, Ricciardo closer to Norris.

[steve_r]

I really like LeClerc. He is quick and fair on the track, and comes across as a really nice person.

From his early Sauber days, he has always made the odd mistake. I am not sure whether the Ferrari is reliable enough to deliver him a championship this year. If he is to even make the WDC a close run thing, both LeClerc and Ferrari need to be absolutely perfect for the rest of the season. I don't think it will happen this year - Red Bull have seemingly got on top of their own early season gremlins, and Verstappen is driving as well as ever and the pressure is off him.

[Sodemo]

I really don't understand why Ferrari brought in Sainz when they did, unless they were fearing a tyre failure, however if that was the case they should have brought him in 5-10 laps earlier.

[VIVA GT]

One thing I spotted when watching the race highlights on Sunday was the only car that seemed to be bothered by bouncing was the Ferrari of Carlos Sainz.
Or was it just that this car had more in-car coverage that anyone else?