When the car is stopping for 100s for fuel anyway, what's another 20s?
Read below why that matters hugely...
I did an unusual amount of testing for this because the sheer options to choose from was nigh on endless. I quickly fell in love with the Sauber and decided to go with that, but I also knew that if someone was brave enough, they could go on a 1 stop in the Porsche and possibly win with it.
I didnt focus too much on qually, just added boost and removed the fuel and off I went. Stuck it on the front row which I was happy with.
I think Michael missed how early the green flag flew and therefore I could breeze past him even before the line. It made my initial plan of keeping people behind me for as long as possible much easier, until I spun at the last chicane from missing the braking point and shifting down too hard. I lost out to Dan and Yves and I could see they both ran higher boost than me and sure enough, they also pitted earlier than me. I stretched the fuel as much as I could, put a full tank and new tires on for stint 2 and came back out behind the fighting duo that was Michael and Dan. I could see I had a slight pace advantage over the two, but passing them would turn out to be impossible, especially on low boost. So I waited. Finally, about half way into stint 2, they collided and I made it through. While this was going on, I was starting to keep an eye on Cosimo and it dawned on me that he was doing exactly what a feared the most - a hero 1 stopper. As I neared the pits, I took 10 liters off from full and decided to double-stint the tires (saving me 30 secs), the worst tire still being at 73% (R600) at that point. It was the right decision because I kept 2nd with 15 secs and I had to gain 25 secs on Cosimo. The gap to the guys behind was stable and I was gaining on Cosimo at the exact rate required to catch him near the finish. By this point I should have turned the boost up on the straights earlier than I did as I still had something like 15 liters left for the final lap, so I turned it up to the max and tried to persuade the tires, now at 50%, to hang on for dear life for one more lap, something we didnt quite agree on in every corner exit. I had a small go on the outside into the first of the 'S' Curves, but that was never gonna work. Followed him around, I knew the only chance I'd get would be the final chicane. I had a poor exit from Spoon '2' but also the possibility to go full tilt, 200mph through 130R and thus we ended up neck and neck into the final chicane. I committed to the inside early and hit the anchors as late as possible, at the same time Cosimo moved over slightly to cover the line but by then it was too late and inevitably we touched, ending up in the gravel Senna/Prost style. I'll admit I didnt wait as I felt I was turned in on, but looking at the replay, I think its 50/50'ish. Technically I hit him, but had he not moved over there would have been no crash.
Regardless of the controversial ending, the race was brilliant! Vastly different cars and stradegies and its all decided on the last lap, in the last chicane. Awesome!
Please use these cars again
