I really thought the Sprint Quali and Sprint were interesting but in another way it was not so I was trying to think besides talking about the results what else was interesting and for me is how Leclerc loose the race at the start and I came to this realization after some comments online about the start.
Sprint Quali vas very very close with only 0.055 of a second between Verstappen and Leclerc that makes me think Red Bull did minor changes to their car because Verstappen knows he fucked up that lap he got deleted during Race Quali on Friday not only he lock up on turn one but also got out of the track twice so the car was never the problem although it is having some troubles on bumpy tracks like Texas but I think they have learn that if Verstappen that still perform he will just have to deal with it because the car is still that good, the entire outcome of the Sprint makes me think Leclerc thought this was a blip on the Matrix and he is finally close enough to beat Red Bull but this is not a one lap race, to beat the current top driver as it is all the time not only Max this goes for any driver that dominant, you need to be consistent and constantly improving.
Lets begin with a clear example of what is NOT pushing a driver out of the track and ends up in a Penalty for the driver who said he was push out and this is Piastri vs Russell, why is it Leclerc and Russell on the same dilemma, in the case of Russell I think he was just trying to be a smart ass and in the case of Leclerc I think he was just too proud and naive to let go, I'm sure if it was Sainz on his position he would do the opposite, he is way smarter driver than Leclerc.
On the above image we can see how Russel gets a five second Penalty for taking a position after he got out of the track and didn't give it back, now days FIA give the team and driver the chance to give the position back and not getting penalize but this didn't happen they both thought Russell did got push out.
Here a shot how everything started, it was just Russell coming from the back attacking Piastri trying to run wide and over take him but it was obvious Piastri will go to edge of the track as long as they are not side by side and he still has the advantage, in this case more than HALF of Piastri car was ahead the entire time of Russell before they got to the edge of the track.
Once they got out of the turn again Piastri going to the edge of the track but still not making contact with Russell both Mercedes and Russell come out on the radio saying ""They Think"" he got push out, sometimes it might be the adrenaline from the driver and I get that but from the engineering from the pit stop that just stupid, end of this sad story for Russell he got a five second penalty, this was very evident, this is the clear example of what is NOT been push out of the track, for Piastri push him out of the track some of the following should have happen.
Advantage before going into the turn, meaning Russell front of the car ahead Piastri
Pure side by side action to give it the benefit of the doubt and even call it, Race Incident
Piastri pushing Russell out before the Apex on the turn
Any of the above would be consider pushing out of the track and Piastri could end up with a Penalty or Russell just keeping the position because no advantage was gain when he got out of track and if there was any it was the result of Piastri running him out.
This is the image that some are using for the argument "Verstappen push Leclerc out of the track", there is a single variation to the case above, this was the start of the race, during the start of the race drivers are aloud to defend more aggressive and use as much of the track they want. Texas been a very wide track at the start makes it also look like Verstappen was abusing of Leclerc but it was never the case.
They were never side by side
Before they got to the exit of the pit lane, Verstappen was already ahead
When Leclerc got out of the track he was BEHIND Verstappen
I think this makes clear how Leclerc was never going to win this drag race to turn one and how he got out of the track himself because he didn't want to LET GO, he was still trying to drag race Verstappen and if he had done the opposite he might have the opportunity to keep second place and attack him latter on.
After Leclerc dumb decision to drag race Verstappen to turn one then he loose position to Hamilton, right now I think Ferrari has a better car than Mercedes, if Leclerc had done the opposite at the start and just stay behind and cover his position from Hamilton he would have probably end second or at least not loose second position after turn one.
Hamilton goes wide but its clear they were side by side, but on Hamilton favor he got the inside of the next turn so when the got the the double S turn it was game over for Leclerc, there was no way he could attack Hamilton.
This was just a long story of how Leclerc loose the race at the start and how he might have a car with a chance to win but not like this, to make things even worst on a short race that is the Sprint Race, Verstappen wins by +9.338 seconds to the second place Lewis Hamilton, if you give him another 19 race plus the pit stop at least add another +9 second, this means the Red Bull car is still the dominant car plus they have the best driver on the grid, some may argue that if other drivers had that car could do better but hey that's just ifs and buts, go build a better or same car and then race it.
Today it is going to be very interesting to see how long it will take Verstappen to be on second place because ahead of him there is Russell, Sainz, Hamilton and Norris, to be honest I think of all this drivers the one with the best chance to give him a good battle are Russel and Norris, once Verstappen is on Leclerc mirrors is game over and I think this might happen on the first fifteen laps unless there is a crash or Verstappen crash or his car brakes.
