Ferrari poised to push Mercedes, but will new rules wreck the racing?

21 comments on “Ferrari poised to push Mercedes, but will new rules wreck the racing?”

1. 

   Kribana (@krichelle)
   25th March 2017, 18:16

   Hamilton may have carried less at the entry of the high speed chicane, but at the exit he was quicker than Seb. There is a comparison video om youtube and it is clear that Hamilton was accelerating earlier than Seb on most of the corners and therefore getting better exit speed. Plus, I think Lewis didnt say but it looks like as if he ran slightly wide on the first part compromising his exit that may be why Seb was the fastest in that sector because before that Hamilton was the quickest in that sector. Hamilton is quicker in the speed traps than Bottas, running lower downforce than him. I am guessing mercedes relied on Lewis’ speed to get this pole and focus more on the race because lower downforce setups in the race are better to lessen the tyre wear. Seb and Kimi also seem to be carrying more downforce than Lewis. If Lewis gets away fine tomorrow then the race is his. I am sure if Bottas ends up where he starts in the first lap, mercedes wont have trouble getting past Vettel and would try to undercut him because the tyres just last so long…
   1. 

      frood19 (@frood19)
      25th March 2017, 18:41

      @krichelle “lower downforce setups lessen the tyre wear” – how do you figure that out? surely it’s the complete reverse. this race may well be attritional and reliability will be a big factor in who wins. well, it always is but we’ve come to rely on rock solid reliability from the top teams in recent years – it may not be the case tomorrow.
      1. 

         F1 in Figures (@f1infigures)
         25th March 2017, 20:47

         @frood19 Less downforce may, however, reduce fuel consumption, which may be quite useful in the race.
      2. 

         Michael Brown (@)
         25th March 2017, 22:38

         @frood19 Lower downforce reduces tire wear because it reduces cornering speed. High downforce lets you take corners faster but you put more strain on the tires. But sliding and spinning the tires is much worse, obviously
      3. 

         Kribana (@krichelle)
         25th March 2017, 22:53

         I actually rewatched it and then realized that Lewis could have done a 1.21… after the fast chicane, he went from -0.2 something to -0.1 then he gains more time in the last 2 corners… Seb and Bottas said that they didnt get any perfect laps… maybe the drivers are getting tired when they push using these cars??
      4. 

         Kribana (@krichelle)
         25th March 2017, 23:02

         Cause in f1 games it is described that increasing wing levels contribute to higher tyre temperatures… And that I have always used low downforce setups in races? However, the low downforce setup can also give you tyre wear if you slide because it is quite frequent, which is even worse than loading the tyres through the corners..
   2. 

      Sensord4notbeingafanboi (@peartree)
      25th March 2017, 20:08

      The 200 m “loops” are often irrelevant as differing lines end up corrupting the data. For instances on the out lap drivers take a wider line at the last corner therefore that loop is always grey in the end of the flying lap.

      The merc sufferes from understeer on the high speed corners! But tge car is so responsive and so grippy at the rear that both merc drivers just open tge throttle to negate tge understeer.
      1. 

         Kribana (@krichelle)
         25th March 2017, 23:12

         Nope. The mercedes is fine, I watched both of lewis’ q3 laps and the only reason we could think that it has understeer is because Lewis made a mistake at the fast chicane. In his first lap, he was flat through the 2nd part after having a slight lift in the middle using 6th gear. In his second lap, his lift in the middle part was bigger and even carried less speed on the apex of the second part (245 at around and using 7th gear) than his first lap (260) which matched Seb’s speed during that apex. In general, we could say that if they got the perfect laps, Mercedes is still faster than the Ferrari in this tradk. As I said, Lewis lost a tenth all because of that mistake but Vettel and Bottas werent that perfect either, but I reckon the same gap will be there, 2-3 tenths. We must remember that last year, Ferrari were 0.5 slower than mercedes, 0.8 because mercedes ran a second time while the red cars didnt but before the 2nd runs last year, ferrari were 0.5-0.6 slower. This year, they are 0.2-0.3
   3. 

      kanan
      25th March 2017, 21:16

      What Vettel was doing by getting on the brakes much later wasn’t losing him time just because Hamilton was getting on the throttle a bit earlier. If you watched that video properly, you would see how much Vettel was also gaining on Hamilton by getting on the brakes later. It’s just different driving techniques.
2. 

   Fer no.65 (@fer-no65)
   25th March 2017, 18:53

   I’m expecting a classic Australian GP, with a lot of crashes, if qualy was anything to go by.

   I’d not rule out Bottas either. Hamilton might have it under control (I can’t see him losing this one) but those starts… uhm…
3. 

   Jere (@jerejj)
   25th March 2017, 19:18

   ”Several drivers have already predicted the increase in downforce will result in a reduction in overtaking.”
   – Once again, the problem is how the downforce is generated, not the amount of it.
   1. 

      Robbie (@robbie)
      25th March 2017, 19:40

      And I just don’t think one can discuss the added downforce and it’s effect without also discussing the new tires at the same time. These new fronts should be much more durable while following in dirty air. Much less likely to be ruined from movement in said dirty air with such a finicky operating window.
4. 

   sato113 (@sato113)
   25th March 2017, 19:59

   Alonso Q2 lap onboard:
   https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=kc8A2gMmPhY

   Alonso 2017 vs 2004 lap onboard:
   https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8AWiFRbhqyc
   1. 

      Sensord4notbeingafanboi (@peartree)
      25th March 2017, 20:17

      At first I thought the mclaren was looking handy, as it should as the cost of f1 rose with this regulatory change, wealthier teams as such as mclaren should improve, but on judging the top speed and qualy alone, they are not that hindered by honda, same top speed as a sauber yet only .5 quicker.
      1. 

         Stephen Crowsen (@drycrust)
         25th March 2017, 21:52

         I was disappointed that the speed trap measurements put the McLaren-Honda on par with Sauber-Ferrari (2016), or maybe Sauber have made a good choice. I just hope that Honda follow through with some decent Japanese research and development so Alonso and Vandoorne get an improvement with their second engines.
5. 

   Scottie (@scottie)
   25th March 2017, 20:35

   I think it’ll be a great race also, despite the thoughts of many… Why? Well so many of the front runners said they didn’t do their best lap.

   The cars are harder to drive, so with more errors, and higher speeds compounding those, things are going to get interesting!
6. 

   F1 in Figures (@f1infigures)
   25th March 2017, 20:51

   Is there a chance that someone will run the yellow softs instead of the red supersofts in the second part of the race, or will the soft tire be the “classic” useless compound?
   1. 

      Josh
      25th March 2017, 21:14

      I was thinking that as well but the tyres last so long it wouldn’t make sense. I can’t wait to see what the strategies are with these new tyres.
      1. 

         James (@jimbo0070)
         25th March 2017, 21:54

         I’d be amazed if anyone 2 stopped by choice, I don’t think they have enough fuel to push for the whole race, which is probably what a 2 stop would allow.
         I think the best pit stops will be those that allow the drivers to return to the track with a big gap to the next car. Now that they can push for a decent amount of time, running on a clear track for a few laps will be more important than a one lap undercut.
         1. 

            Josh (@canadianjosh)
            26th March 2017, 4:24

            I agree, clean air and open track will be the best one can ask for with these cars.
7. 

   AceAce
   26th March 2017, 0:34

   I got £50 on Kimi 8-1. Got over excited watching testing. Ahwell 4th isn’t a bad spot to start from.

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