FRENCH GRAND PRIX - CONVERTION BY MAX AND LEWIS, WHILE BOTTAS IS OUT-STRATEGIED BY PEREZ.

 

There are time when machine and humans can, and do work in perfect harmony. 

A bit unfortunately for Team Mercedes and Lewis Hamilton, the example of the 2021 Formula 1 French Grand Prix was not one of those times. 

I said a bit unfortunately, because it was only a bit, in that, although Mercedes' pit call for Hamilton to come in and make a tyre change, did not result in the anticipated advantage.  

It would have given him over Max Verstappen, the Great Racer was still able to convert his P.2 Qualifying position into coming second in the race.

Since the race, I have read that Toto Wolff has attributed the failure of Team Mercedes' attempt to maintain Hamilton's lead in the race, which he took in the first lap, by effecting an under-cut of Max, to a computer error. 

Of course, the bottom line is likely to be that, it was down to small but significant variations in human performances. 

With  say, possibly Hamilton and Mercedes' pit crew marginally under-performing in one or any of a number of tasks, while Max and Team Red Bull over-performed in one or any of a number of relevant tasks. 

And/or Team Mercedes racing strategy model not inputting enough error margin in their input data.

Although this small failure impacted the race, it did not do so in any major way.  With the eventual outcome of Max winning it, Lewis making it to second and Sergio Perez taking P.3, to put himself on the Podium for the second week running, seeming to be just as it should have been.

Probably the biggest loser from the Team Mercedes' race strategy model malfunctioning, is Valtteri Bottas, whose demotion from P.3 to P.4 can be directly attributed to Team Mercedes having a one tyre change instead of a two stop strategy.

The race was both exciting and enjoyable, although it had none of the spectacular interventions of the gods, such as we have seen during the Practising and Qualifying sessions. 

Indeed, there were no episodes or rumours of Safety Car or VSC involvement. 

The results leave the current Driving Champion, Hamilton, with a deficit of a dozen points behind his main challenger, Verstappen. 

This is not an unassailable lead, but it does exemplify how important it is to get not only having the racer performing optimally at a consistent level. 

But also to have the right racing strategy more often then not, but especially on those days when it makes or could make all the difference between  maintaining or regaining the Championship lead.

So, A Very Big Congratulations to Team Red Bull and Max Verstappen, and Team Mercedes and Lewis Hamilton, for making it P.1 and P.2 and P.3, respectively.

And to all the racers and their teams, who have made their own contributions towards delivering another enjoyable Grand Prix.