TRANSPORTED TIRES IN SOCHI
Mercedes surprised himself
Everything spoke at the GP Russia for a Ferrari victory. But then Mercedes won. The winners and losers were missing the words, because the tires once again behaved as no one had expected.
You can be pretty stupid these days as an expert.The tires do what they want. And then the professionals in this business look old. "I told everyone before the race that Ferrari wins," admitted Niki Lauda, only to admit after the GP Russia: "I've never been so deceived. It was a miracle, as Bottas used the mini-chance to get in the tire window with full tanks, and afterwards also remained in it. "
Mercedes wins on Saturday and Ferrari on Sunday. Not correct. For the first time in Ferrari Ferrari had been racing with two cars in the first row. Mercedes reversed the order at the start. Ferrari is fast at the start of the race, and Mercedes does not wake up until the second half of the race. Also wrong. Mercedes dominated to the pit stops and in the end had to tremble for the victory.
Bottas took Hamilton off 36 seconds
Mercedes Has a problem with the soft tire mixtures and comes first with the hard rubber on tempo. Not right. In GP Russia it was exactly the opposite. Bottas drove on the Ultrasoft soles Sebastian Vettel up to 5.5 seconds. It was only the 3 minute lap time. Ferrari made steam on the Supersoft tire. Bottas only saved an advantage of 0.6 seconds.
One more insight this season: Mercedes immediately puts the tires in their working window, but under certain conditions it will certainly be worthwhile. Up again. Sochi has also disproved this. Only Ferrari brought front tires and rear tires quickly and simultaneously into the working window. Therefore, the training gain. Mercedes sometimes needed up to 3 laps. On the other hand, the hind legs remained alive. Despite 40 degrees on the asphalt.
To conclude, another expert opinion: Lewis Hamilton is more constant in the race than Valtteri Bottas. Old news. Bottas took his team colleague in half a second and over 52 laps 36 seconds in training. Hamilton Fought in the race with the same problems as in the training. Front and rear tires were only phase-wise in the window. The World Cup second lost mainly in the 90 degree curves on Bottas.
Ferrari brings tires more stable into the window
Mercedes-Teamchef Toto Wolff tried to get the order in order: "We learned again how difficult it is to bring the tires into the working window. Valtteri did it, Lewis did not. This can have many reasons and vary depending on the route. The driving style, the tuning of the vehicle, the balance, the asphalt, and the external temperatures also play a part. "
Although Mercedes in the duel with Ferrari Wolff and Lauda still see advantages in their tire management. "Ferrari brings the tires more reliably into the window. We have to make this window bigger for us. "This will be a hard learning process. Because each stretch is different. "The asphalt in Sochi was as smooth as a glass plate. Since learning has begun at zero. The next race in Barcelona will be better. The track we know from the test drives ", Lauda makes courage.
Certain puzzles can be explained by the prehistory of the GP Russia. Mercedes had trouble heating up the front tires, because after the bad experiences with the rear tires in the races had been more concerned about keeping the rear rollers alive. Ferrari put the front tires in the window with a simple trick. One chose more camber and paid in the race with blistering on the soft tire.
Hamilton is simply wrong
Also for the sudden strength on the Ultrasoft tires and the time loss with the Supersoft rollers, there is a plausible assessment of the engineers. After the softest rubber mix developed from Friday away as the Sorgenkind, Mercedes concentrated more on this tire type and neglected the Longruns on the Supersoft tires. Only Hamilton drove an 11-lap stint on Supersoft on Friday. At Ferrari, both drivers were on the dress-up on the supersofts.
Valtteri Bottas got problems with the harder mixture in traffic. The Mercedes is obviously more affected by turbulences than the Ferrari. "The front tires are chilled behind the overturned. Then I took a brake pad. This has broken my rhythm for a few rounds. It was only when I was able to drive free that I could start the tires again, "the winner said.
Pirelli technical manager Mario Isola does not understand the needs of the teams. He does not want to know anything about a window that is too small. "The tires behave differently because they are harder throughout than in the previous year. So you have to treat them like hard tires. It's a little harder to get them to work, but when they get them, they'll stay in their windows. "
Niki Lauda also believes that the tire question will soon find its answers. "Somehow you understand. The question is, who can do it faster? "This also applies to the drivers. "Lewis is simply wrong in the setup somewhere," summed Toto Wolff. "We saw that in other teams. In one driver the performance was very good, the other was not. "
Reply With Quote
Originally Posted by Jax
FERRARI FOR EVER !!!!!!!
Bookmarks