[bradleyland]

The thing you have to keep in mind that when two cars are very close in performance, there is no "Car A beats Car B always and under all conditions". The M235i squeaked out the fastest lap time on this very tight circuit where the AMG's greater horsepower couldn't really shine. The AMG also understeers badly, so the driver must rely on brute force and AWD to drag the car through the corners. On a different course, it's just as likely that the A45 would pull out a win.

It was pretty clear which lap was timed for the A45, but I didn't get that same clarity for the M235i. It appears Sutcliff can't keep his hoof off the pedal mid-corner, at least not long enough for his film crew to get good footage of a clean lap.

Overall, my impression is that Steve is fooling himself a little bit. He's clearly fighting the A45 during the fast lap. The car understeered constantly, and he was struggling with the gearbox, yet he talks himself in to liking it. When he laps in the M235i, he's grinning the whole time, loves the engine, can't muster enough self-discipline to keep the car straight (because he enjoys that sort of thing), and yet he somehow gives the car a reluctant win because "it's not really an M car".

Maybe the take-away is that he's not really enthusiastic about either car. Maybe he's saving his high praise for the M2. I guess we'll see.