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Originally Posted by abm89
If my memory serves correctly, the tire compound was changed because of the blow-outs in Baku right? Red Bull has had the advantage in tire performance for most of the Pirelli era excluding the last two years when Mercedes finally figured out how to not kill the tires. Chopping the floor and restricting engine modes has done more in RB's favor than beefing up the compounds. Not to mention DAS, FRIC, and other Mercedes innovations that were banned in the turbo-hybrid era.
RB used to push the envelope with innovative tech, especially with the off-throttle blown diffusers, but now it seems they spend more time lobbying to pull other teams back (Not giving Ferrari a pass on their fuel flow shenanigans. That was clearly cheating). Merc has operated within the FIA rule-set, to the point of even having the FIA review their design for DAS and getting it approved. It still ended up getting banned in 2021 because "oh man, we didn't come up with that!"
While operating in the gray area is a usual thing in this sport, I have no sympathy for RB.
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Our memories must be different.
I don't recall any constructors' championship winners in the hybrid turbo era except Mercedes. Mostly by over 250 points.
Two blowouts from Baku were the public reason for the compound change. One assumes that more analysis was done, but we're not privy to it. I don't recall any other unexplained tire failures this season before Silverstone. But maybe that was coincidence.
Everyone pushes the envelope. Be it RB trying to include a horsepower increase in an engine swap, to Ferrari doing whatever they were doing in 2018-2019, to DAS. And 1000 other initiatives. Some have been good for the sport, others not so much. I'm not sure if Mercedes lives within the rules, or is just better at hiding it. Clearly, they sold their 2019 car plans to Tracing Point - that was not a case of clever copying. Might have been Stoll's indiscretion, but a transaction takes two parties.
I'm not in anyone's camp particularly, and agree that when litigation / lobbying becomes more important than racing, then the sport suffers.