I reran Singapore this morning. Not one lap, the whole race. Seventy per cent of my room is cockpit, so I had the space.
Same plan as him: start on the mediums, the only one in the top six, very early stop for softs. And at first it works. The undercut goes through, the ghost car drops back. Then his team-mate, Charles Leclerc, pits, and you come out just behind him. Up to there, my sim and reality agree.
Then the virtual safety car, triggered by Lance Stroll. Leclerc pits a second time for fresh softs, and so do Kimi Antonelli and Oscar Piastri. Running second, he has to make his tyres last while the others attack flat out. In my sim I did the same. I lose four tenths a lap. Passed, passed, passed. Sixth. Exactly like him.
And that’s where I don’t get it. He made the calls himself, according to RacingNews365, and after the race he told his team over the radio: “Sorry, guys. I let you down today with that strategy. It was my decision and because of it we lost valuable points. I’ll do everything I can to make up for it at the next race.”
The virtual safety car, I hadn’t planned for it. Nobody does. It’s an unmodelled variable, like the wind. Your plan is good until the game throws one in, and then the others get fresh tyres for free. In the sim I’d call that a balancing bug.
At Fabienne Racing, we don’t make excuses: we learn the lessons.
I still reset once, without the virtual safety car. He finishes third. In theory.
It’s true, we checked: RacingNews365.
