Ferrari puts Mercedes under pressure
Will fuel consumption be the deciding factor?
Mercedes won the first battle of the year. But Ferrari is so close to the silver arrows that Lewis Hamilton and Valtteri Bottas can not allow any mistakes.
The picture begins to become sharper. After 8 test days, 3 training sessions and the first showdown of the year, the new Formula 1 has shown its true face. Mercedes is roughly 3 tenths ahead of Ferrari and 1.3 seconds ahead of Red Bull. But there is still air up and down.
Sebastian Vettel had two small mistakes in his qualifying round in Curve 1 and 9. "It would have gone a little faster, but Lewis would not have been enough at the time." Lewis Hamilton also saw some room for improvement: "It was not The perfect round, but I am satisfied with the result. The team reacted great to the new rules and Valtteri and me again a great car adjusted. "
Vettel wanted to look at this very closely. The second of the training took the Mercedes in the Parc fermé exactly under the magnifying glass and pressed with his finger even on the left side panel wing. Hamilton turned around the corner and asked curtly, "Why are you touching my car?" Vettel gave back: "I just looked at it."
Hamilton did not praise the Ferrari for nothing: "They are incredibly fast", the Englishman felt in his assessment of the test drives confirmed. With the performance of the test drives, Mercedes would never beat the red opponent in Melbourne. "The test did not go well for us," Teamchef Toto Wolff admitted. "There were a number of minor weaknesses. As in Singapore 2015, we analyzed the causes and solved the problems. The result was seen in the training result. "
In the end, the difference between Hamilton and Vettel was 0.268 seconds. Last year it was 8 tenths. After all, Vettel was able to split the two silver arrows, albeit imaginably tight. The lead over Valtteri Bottas was 25 thousandths of a second. The second Ferrari fell by 6 tenths on the other hand. Kimi Raikkonen blamed himself: "I have installed too many mistakes."
Ferrari wins in fast corners
The training result confirms the assessment of a Mercedes engineer: "If we do everything right, we can win. If Ferrari does everything right, we can not do anything wrong with us. "
Wolff rated the work over the winter as a success despite the shrinking distance: "We were prepared that our dominance could not go on forever. It also belongs to losing in dignity. Until now, a team has never managed to keep their performance over a big change of rule. It was our motivation to prove the opposite. "
Wolff is relieved that his squad has again built a car "with which we can win and compete for the championship." Ferraris Gegenwehr, however, suggests that it will not be as easy as in the last 3 years. Also Vettel was satisfied with the work of his team. Ferrari was massively under pressure after a triumphant season. "We managed to build a car that could take us back to where we belong."
In the direct comparison of the two cars, it is noticeable that Ferrari wins easily in the fast corners, easily loses on the straights and in the slow corners. Vettel won the liquid third sector with 32.853 to 32.918 seconds just for himself. The first sector, consisting of two straight lines and four slow corners, went to Hamilton with 26,976 to 27,271 seconds. In a top-speed comparison, Mercedes had a head start at 325.5 at 322.8 km / h.
Does fuel consumption determine the race?
The image in the race could shift more in favor of Mercedes. Even if the Ferrari pilots on Friday reported balance problems, the scissors in the Renntrim continue in favor of Mercedes. In this calculation, tire decomposition, fuel consumption and recuperation via the electric machines also play a decisive role.
It may well be that on Sunday will not win the fastest car, but the best starter. The better racing speed will not be of any use to Mercedes if Ferrari wins the race as in the previous year. From the point of view of the title defendants, the worst-case scenario would be if two red cars are in the lead in the first corner. Since overtaking is practically impossible, and even with the Mercedes, which is particularly critical in traffic, there would remain only one chance to reverse the order. The GP Australia is likely to be a stopping race.
The Mercedes strategists still see possibilities to drive Ferrari in this case. "If you have a speed advantage and two fast riders like us, you can get the opponent out of the reserve with aggressive strategies. Ferrari would have to defend both cars. That's why it was important for us that Bottas is the same in music. "
Motorschef Andy Cowell warns that GP Australia will be an extreme fuel economy. "There will be more Lift and Coast than last year. The 105 kilos of gasoline does not compensate for what we consume more. "
There are many factors for this. 10 percent more full gas. 10 percent more air resistance. And tires that break down only 0.1 seconds per lap. "In the past year, gasoline savings often took place by themselves because the tires had less and less grip over the distance. This time, the drivers really need the throttle, "explains Cowell. And then comes a quality in the game. Which engine manufacturer has the better energy recovery strategies on offer?
source: ://www.auto-motor-und-sport.de/formel-1/ferrari-setzt-mercedes-unter-druck-kein-spielraum-fuer-fehler-11950039.html (translation)
i have to say that i was hoping that the Ferrari would have been sandbagging a bit more in winter testing as well as in free practice
i was truly hoping that we would be AHEAD of the Mercs by the amount they ARE ahead of us.
but all in all i am REALLY happy wiht the outcome, given that in the previous yaears the Mercs were LIGHTYEARS ahead of us in QUALI and we all know that the Ferrari has NOT been that good at this track in a LONG, LONG time.....so to be ONLY 0.286 behind the Mercedes and more importantly LEWIS which we all know he's really good at extrating that extra bit from the car, i am TRULY, TRULY HAPPY.....
i am VERY pleased with the work Ferrari has done so far over the winter, they have kept their heads down and worked around the clock so BIG koodos to everyone at Maranello for buildng such a good solid car out of the gate.....WHO on here said that the only way to beat the MERCS, is to get NEWEY from Red BULL.....no way man, we don't need them....look were the red fools are now.....lol
anywyays, i'm hoping for a good reace tomorrow and let's hope we can get the mercs off the start and dissapear into the distance and WIN the race
So 2023 started off bad, but managed to claw back some lap time come end of the year. Lets hope SF24 will give us tifosi something to smile about.
In last 7 years just 5 pole positions for Ferrari drivers...
NO YEAR GRAND PRIX CIRCUIT N° DRIVER CHASSIS EENGINE TYRE
208 2015 Singapore Singapour 5 VETTEL Sebastian SF15-T Ferrari Pirelli
207 2012 Germany Hockenheim 5 ALONSO Fernando F2012 Ferrari Pirelli
206 2012 Britain Silverstone 5 ALONSO Fernando F2012 Ferrari Pirelli
205 2010 Singapore Singapour 8 ALONSO Fernando F10 Ferrari Bridgestone
204 2010 Italy Monza 8 ALONSO Fernando F10 Ferrari Bridgestone
This is something that needs to be upgraded
Are we still using Testing Spec engine or have we brought that rumored 3D printed pistoned engine ? It looks like we have plenty in the bag with this car. If both the rumored technologies sorrounding our engine are true then we are going to be quicker than Merc as the season progresses
i don't know and personally would LOVE if someone knows more about this and posts a link in here.
also i've read or heard rumors of Ferrari totally redesigning the injection system later in the year for 2017 (i.e running it at a lot HIGHER pressures) so if that is true maybe it will show up at the next engine upgrade....that would be awesome
so let's hope ONLY GOOD things will come from Ferrari this year
So 2023 started off bad, but managed to claw back some lap time come end of the year. Lets hope SF24 will give us tifosi something to smile about.
Poles
Schumi 68
Senna 65
Hamilton 62
Hamster is making F1 history in this season
One expert said that we will see tomorrow many times same what happened to Ricciardo today, because tires are wider and when you lose rear, there is nothing to do, it goes so fast...so, Safety Car many times tomorrow...we will see
and it would have been a LOT MORE for Luise if it wasn't for Nico taking some of those away from him.....he would have been way past Senna's and even close to Shumi's pole position records if not MORE then him
so we have to thank Nico for slowing him down.....something Bottas will have a really hard time
that is why Ferrari has to improve their car really fast so we can stop the Lewis madness...LOL
Why do you people have to disparage other or your own drivers?
You are not in the car with them, you are not in the team, so you have no context. Yeah drivers make mistakes. Sometimes they are just caught off guard, sometimes they have to be more on the edge to cover the deficit of their car, sometimes they are just not as good as others, sometimes it's the team forcing the mistake, sometimes it's something in their personal life etc etc. But the point is you don't know. So stop getting on their cases.
Not bad for italians, 5 of the top 9 qualifiers have italian chassis: Ferrari, Toro Rosso, Haas (Dallara)
and three of the top six engines are Ferrari engines. Massive lap from Romain, which has to beg the question as to where he got his speed advantage over the Williams. Also, whatever boost Mercedes use in qualifying, they better hope that they are fast enough without it during the race. Bring it on!
"Formula 1 is not a sport anymore” - Fernando Alonso
you've got a perfectly good point there.....we're in an era where we have at least 2-3 races more then in the Schumi's era, so if you have a fast car like the Merc's been for the past 3 years one could easily have 3 extra poles per year....so any little bit counts
let's hope Ferrari will put a stop to this in the next few races and Seb or kimi can steal away the poles from the Merc's boys....ha, ha....
So 2023 started off bad, but managed to claw back some lap time come end of the year. Lets hope SF24 will give us tifosi something to smile about.
https://m.youtube.com/watch?v=5Nu5PNrmiog
As I said before, Vettel catches up to Hamilton just before turn 9. Great analysis.
Ferrari looking good under brakes and high speed corners. Just a little tail happy though
Ted Kravitz said that MA was furious with Seb and Kimi for not delivering a pole position and better results. How true is this?
If that's true I would be quite disappointed. Ferrari need to stick together as a team more now than ever. Sebastian is trying to build Ferrari up - with a team around him for future success, as Michael did. I can't imagine Jean Todt Would have ever been "furious" with Michael for not delivering a pole. The mentality was that if Michael couldn't - it probably couldn't be obtained. Ferrari need to start treating Sebastian with the same respect. If he wasn't in that car, our best would have been 4th - 8 tenths off the pace.
Having said that - I think that is taken out of context. I very much doubt MA would have been furious AT anyone. Likely more the situation..
Good morning everyone. Wishing us a great start and great race.
Red is the only color!!!
Roccardo's car stopped on track. Stuck on 6th gear. Such a shame in his home grandprix.
Red is the only color!!!
10 more laps!!!
"Big things have small beginings"
"Perseverence is power"
It is being quite some time since I hear the Italians and German anthem at the end of the race.
"Big things have small beginings"
"Perseverence is power"
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