Comments on: 2008 French GP preview: McLaren tactics

By: Kenneth Yale

Kenneth Yale — Tue, 24 Jun 2008 18:45:50 +0000

KC’s Franch GP review was a good article & there wasn’t much one could criticise. We all have our own ideas of team/driver tactics on Saturdays but come Sunday one feels like I do,occasionally upset because my guy/car didn’t win. Team bosses,drivers & cars(plus sponsors!!) do get it wrong. That’s GP racing & always has been.Mind you in the old days of support by Castrol, Dunlop & Goodyear, there were less pressures on the drivers,but they still gave of their best.
At one time only newspapers,radio, magazines & cinema news could criticise & get it wrong & it has not changed with the addition of TV & PC’s.Yes,carry on having your say but think about you what you are writing & try not to add too much pressure on the guys who really do their best.

By: Harkirat

Harkirat — Wed, 18 Jun 2008 12:11:03 +0000

He will try to be on pole and then go for a “Schumacheresque” 4 pit stop strategy and use the shorter pit lane to his advantage. Why? because he can’t make his tires last. Running shorter stints will give him the perfect excuse to abuse those tires and look flamboyant on the track as well. That will sure become something that his fans will rave about for the rest of the season.

I don’t see him starting from the pit lane or at the back, because that means he will have to spend a lot of time trying to overtake Giancarlo and Jarno. He needs a grid position ahead of these two.

By: GR

GR — Wed, 18 Jun 2008 10:13:31 +0000

I agree with KB above – I think there’s a significant chance that Hamilton is going to overdrive the car in qualifying, getting a 3rd or 4th, start 13th or 14th (after making up a place from Rosberg) and then wipe out somewhere in the first few laps, as in the back of Alonso’s car at Bahrain.

That said, if he can genuinely keep his cool all weekend, get his head down and pull out a good 6th or 7th then I’ll take all of that back. The reason I respected Hamilton last year was his level headedness and pragmatic approach to the whole weekend, which combined with the occasional flourish of brilliant flair was truly inspiring. It was like he was in the pursuit of excellence. This year he’s just about the pursuit of flair and it’s not impressive.

By: donwatters

donwatters — Tue, 17 Jun 2008 19:54:58 +0000

Qualify light. Start light. 2nd stint heavy. 3rd light. It’s the only plan that makes sense.

By: KB

KB — Tue, 17 Jun 2008 19:19:20 +0000

Hamilton under pressure – he cant hack it and makes mistakes

By: chunter

chunter — Tue, 17 Jun 2008 18:45:15 +0000

I think Robert McKay has the right idea. If running heavy and praying all the cars in front of you break works so well, Red Bull, Toyota, and Honda would have wins.

Even if Hamilton cannot finish in points, he’s going to want to finish as well as possible just in case his finish position is needed as a tiebreaker.

The question I’d rather see asked is, what should BMW’s strategy be? They should be licking their chops at the opportunity to get one over on Ferrari again.

By: frecon

frecon — Tue, 17 Jun 2008 16:24:18 +0000

I wasn’t talking about FIA.

Can Mclaren gives orders to Heiki in order to benefit Lewis?

I think with all the equal treatment issue, they can’t. Even being the best option.

By: Jupiter

Jupiter — Tue, 17 Jun 2008 11:32:43 +0000

I agree with the consensus that starting light and trying to qualify as high as possible will yield the best results in Magny-Cours due to the the likely lack of safety car periods, the high tyre wear and relatively short pitlane at this venue. Another factor which favours this strategy is that he’ll gain back one grid place immediately if Rosberg qualifies within 10 positions of him (so posting the 2nd quickest time could mean 11th on the grid).

If Ferrari’s pace is dominant in practice they could look to compromise this strategy and maximise their advantage from the weekend by also going a couple of laps lighter in qualifying and comdemning Hamilton to no better than 12th on the grid.

Even if Hamilton does maximise his qualifying position, I can see him finishing no better than 5th (unless it rains). Also, how significant is the penalty of carrying extra fuel in qualifying at this track? How conceivable is it that he fails to post the fastest Q3 time with, say, 6 laps less fuel than both Ferraris?

By: A Singh

A Singh — Tue, 17 Jun 2008 10:09:54 +0000

The Ferrari does tend to be quite good around France, so Lewis will probably get 3rd at best with a light load. With the heavy load he’ll have to carry he would probably only get fifth – so he would be starting 15th. The French GP is hard to win from 15th place – considering that rain probably won’t happen.

By: Jean

Jean — Tue, 17 Jun 2008 09:20:55 +0000

If I were responsible for Lewis’ race strategy , fair weather permitting , I would advise starting with a light fuel load , which should secure pole , effectively starting him 11th . Lewis in a light car , could end him running around 5th after about 10 laps . He could pit around lap 12 , then fuel heavy to take him through to 12 laps before the end. Being heavier fuelled during the mid-phase of the race , would be much less of a penalty than starting heavy , as the cars tend to be more spread out which allows more consistent speed to be achieved. Also , by the time the front runners pit for 2nd stop , he could continue for around 10 more laps – by then running a lighter car – put in some blisteringly fast laps , do a quick stop , and come out using soft option tires to finish off. The critical thing would be conserving the tires for the long middle stint. Assuming his strategy , whatever it is , ends up perfect , considering the small performance gap between Ferrari/McLaren/BMW , I think a win would still be a very tall order. McLaren may also use Heikki (as he is effectively not in the championship race), try to get him out in front to slow the pace in initial phase while Lewis does his business further back , so I guess betting on a very “light” Heikki taking pole may not be a bad thing.