What were ferrari thinking?

Question

why didn't they changed raikkonen's tyres during the first pit stop. which eventually ruined his race.

Answer 1

We've seen situations in recent years wear worn intermediates work increasingly well as conditions continue to dry... right up to the point where they turn into full slicks, and have shown pace better than some of the harder compound dry tires.

The choice was most notable with Raikkonen as he was just off the lead, and quickly closing on Hamilton at the time... but we saw the same choice with Alonso (and of course, Masa).  In retrospect, it was a mistake.  Though if the track had continued to dry, tread squirm would've made Hamilton's tires overheat and quickly lose pace compared to Kimi.

It was a gamble, and even with the potential upside, I am still somewhat suprised they went that route as running near the front usually means going with the more conservative choice (which is the route Lewis took).  Though, if it had continued to dry, there would be many people asking "what was Mclaren thinking?"

Answer 2

Sometimes you take a chance and it just doesn't work out.  I understand why Alonso in his Renault made that choice, they had nothing to lose and would have had a really good result if it didn't continue to rain but it did.  Kimi, in second who was fighting for a podium, should have played it safe..

Answer 3

I have no idea and was quite confused myself. Sure was a mistake as was allowing Massa to run anything less than full wets. He obviously hates racing in the rain and I hope in two weeks he blows them away in Germany. I want him to be Champ but I gues to be champ you should have to be able to run in all conditions weather you like it or not.

Lets hope they have it together in 2 weeks and start and finish P1 and P2

Answer 4

We thought it would dry out, but the FIA weather forecast is seriously dodgy. Ferrari put less fuel in the car, because they thought that they would need to switch to dry tyres, so they were saving the long fill up for the tyre switch.

Could have worked both ways, but they were unlucky.

Answer 5

Luck Mate, LUCK!

Answer 6

The only thing I could think of was they thought the track was going to dry out, so the lack of tread would have been an advantage, not a disadvantage. However, I'm not familiar with the intermediate tyres, so I don't know how well that would work in practice.

As I see it, the time taken to change tyres is less than the time taken to refuel, so it wouldn't have cost him any extra time to put on a new set.

I think Rubens phenomenal performance highlights the importance of making the right choices.

Answer 7

Ferrari are getting less lucky by the race. i thought it was due to the weather, but it would have made sense if they know lewis was going to change his tryes they should have changed kimis!