2018 Russian GP: Practices & Qualifying

[zike]

Someone spilled our secrets? You don’t hear merc crying anymore about our “special modes”. Maybe they were able to copy-neutralize our performance gains.

Or maybe it’s just business as usual for a Friday and the engine is tuned way down.

It can't change that quickly, we killed them in Spa, I don't get it. I would love to stop carrying about these idiots, if I only I could

[wisepie]

I think Ferrari is suffering from tyre issues. Monza, Singapore & now Sochi.
Either their updates didn’t work as expected or they r out developed by merc once again who brought their A game just like last year.

I'm confused by the tyre allocations and the fact that Ferrari don't seem to do FPs with the harder compounds or even run on them except in the race, therefore they don't have a reference for long-run performance or degradation. It seems we're relying on the softest tyre for speed and initial grip and forgetting that the tyres won't last long enough. Am I missing something, because today's FP times don't inspire me with confidence for quali and the race...unless we really are sandbagging and it's all an act!

[Vettel165]

Is it possible guys that Pirelli and FIA secretly brought special made Mercedes tyres (aka France, Silverstone style) for races after Monza. Because after that race we started to have problems with the tyres. All is possible in this currupted world.

[zike]

Is it possible guys that Pirelli and FIA secretly brought special made Mercedes tyres (aka France, Silverstone style) for races after Monza. Because after that race we started to have problems with the tyres. All is possible in this currupted world.

And Ferrari or others would not notice,no way

[jgonzalesm6]

NEW GEARBOXES for Charles Leclerc and Esteban Ocon. Ricciardo and Verstappen receive a further grid penalty for NEW GEARBOXES.. starting P19 and P20.

https://pbs.twimg.com/media/DoMculXXUAAHX4w.jpg

[chinmay]

The season is almost complete and Ferrari is still struggling with tyres. Mercedes and Red Bull look after its tyres way better than Ferrari since the first race in Australia, must rectify these issues with next year's car.

[tifosi1993]

[tifosi1993]

No need for the victim game here. It's not like Hamilton is driving a Mclaren or SF71-H is miles ahead of Mercedes, both cars are now evenly matched. I'd say Ferrari only slightly ahead in traction zone and straightine speed.

We need to wait and see what happens tomorrow...there's still another practice session left.

[mwk360]

I think Ferrari is suffering from tyre issues. Monza, Singapore & now Sochi.
Either their updates didn’t work as expected or they r out developed by merc once again who brought their A game just like last year.

THIS 100%

[stefa]

Is it that bad just looking at the results, or it's just another Friday?

[mwk360]

[mwk360]

Did Ferrari drive with less power than usual today? Vettel denies: "We were just too slow."

Vettel about the tyres: "We had to do alot of tyre management with the hypersofts and ultrasofts."

[jgonzalesm6]

Is it that bad just looking at the results, or it's just another Friday?

Wait till tomorrow. Currently, it's just another Friday. We have the PU's dialed down so todays FP's are all about setup and fuel loads. I have never taken the first 2 FP's very seriously with regards to lap times, speed traps and sector times.

[Rob]

Improvement expected
Ferrari Media

Seb and Kimi comment on today’s session

SEB: “Some Fridays are good, some aren’t and this one hasn’t been great for us. We are not where we want to be yet and we’ve got some catching-up to do. Today it was difficult to put the laps together, we went through the tyres too fast, especially the front left, and struggled a bit with both the fast laps and with fuel on board. There was also a lot of traffic and obviously this never helps. Now we have some work to do, as we need to find the reasons for that and come back stronger. However, I am positive as ever, as I think that tomorrow and on Sunday it will be better and we’ll find out the right things to apply. We want to put both cars on the front row tomorrow; we don’t know yet what will happen, but we’ll try to do our best as pole is the best place to start from”.

KIMI: “Usually, on Friday, it is always tricky with the tires; then the situation improves, the circuit cleans up and there’s more grip to be found. Today, the conditions we found were pretty much those we had expected. Normally, we don’t look too much into the lap times on Friday ; we try many things and learn from it. For sure there’s some work to be done and there are things to improve, but this is normal. We’ll see what tomorrow brings in qualifying, when everybody is pushing to the maximum.

[FerrariF60]

that's it we're DOOMED.....mind as well wrap up this season, hand over the trophy to "TWO CHAINS" and think and work hard at getting a good head start for 2019.....deep down i think Seb's thinking hte same thing.....

oh well, it was good while it lasted....just like 2017 was

[FerrariF60]

Wait till tomorrow. Currently, it's just another Friday. We have the PU's dialed down so todays FP's are all about setup and fuel loads. I have never taken the first 2 FP's very seriously with regards to lap times, speed traps and sector times.

yeah, but so were Merc's engine.....you can't tell me that they were running full beans on their engine....NO one does that on Friday practice; we're just to damn slow and not only that, but with HIGHEST tire wear then Mercs and Red Fools

[jgonzalesm6]

Kimi's lateral load in T3. Notice Kimi's rear wing??? It's not curved nor does it have the slotted vanes on the endplates in this pic. It's a "Spa" rear wing with minimal downforce. Ferrari are playing with different config. during these FP's.

https://pbs.twimg.com/media/DoLkszBXUAEHYx0.jpg

[jgonzalesm6]

that's it we're DOOMED.....mind as well wrap up this season, hand over the trophy to "TWO CHAINS" and think and work hard at getting a good head start for 2019.....deep down i think Seb's thinking hte same thing.....

oh well, it was good while it lasted....just like 2017 was

yeah, but so were Merc's engine.....you can't tell me that they were running full beans on their engine....NO one does that on Friday practice; we're just to damn slow and not only that, but with HIGHEST tire wear then Mercs and Red Fools

Maybe, again, just wait till tomorrow before throwing in the towel. I might add that everyone is in the penalty zone (components) with emphasis of the top 2 teams given where we are at in the season.

We got ourselves in this position that we are in currently. Should we be here...no. If we don't win this race on Sunday, then I will more than likely be in the same boat with you as the GP's dwindle down in succession.

[Ferrarichamp]

So RBR and Merc may do a one stopper, but we will probably need 2 if our tyre deg is bad.

[jgonzalesm6]

So RBR and Merc may do a one stopper, but we will probably need 2 if our tyre deg is bad.

Too early to tell. Again, wait till tomorrow. Ricciardo and STR were experiencing tyre deg. today...not just Ferrari. FP3 will be crucial tomorrow with regards to tyre deg....among everything else that comes with FP3. You can bet, I will be looking for tyre deg. tomorrow....fronts and rears.

[nani_s23]

Too early to tell. Again, wait till tomorrow. Ricciardo and STR were experiencing tyre deg. today...not just Ferrari. FP3 will be crucial tomorrow with regards to tyre deg....among everything else that comes with FP3. You can bet, I will be looking for tyre deg. tomorrow....fronts and rears.

Mercs tyres were clean ... that’s worrisome

[jgonzalesm6]

Mercs tyres were clean ... that’s worrisome

True, I'll "worry" bout that tomorrow as well.

[nani_s23]

True, I'll "worry" bout that tomorrow as well.

Hope track cleans up with more grip.

[mwk360]

I’ve done something on it for the live text tomorrow. Long story short, Mercedes a lot quicker than Ferrari on short and long runs today and with less tyre degradation

via Andrew Benson

https://twitter.com/andrewbensonf1/s...54376176971776

[KimiBot]

I feel sick when coming here to see this "Mercedes is so great" day after day.

[totox]

I feel sick when coming here to see this "Mercedes is so great" day after day.

I guess you should thank to mwk360. The guy just can't stop.

[FerrariF60]

I guess you should thank to mwk360. The guy just can't stop.

ha, ha.....true that

[IulianFerrari]

Normally I wouldn't read to much into FP, but our guys seem to be a little worried. Hopefully tomorrow will be better and we can be well prepared for qualy

[long2ma]

Improvement expected
Ferrari Media

Seb and Kimi comment on today’s session

SEB: “Some Fridays are good, some aren’t and this one hasn’t been great for us. We are not where we want to be yet and we’ve got some catching-up to do. Today it was difficult to put the laps together, we went through the tyres too fast, especially the front left, and struggled a bit with both the fast laps and with fuel on board. There was also a lot of traffic and obviously this never helps. Now we have some work to do, as we need to find the reasons for that and come back stronger. However, I am positive as ever, as I think that tomorrow and on Sunday it will be better and we’ll find out the right things to apply. We want to put both cars on the front row tomorrow; we don’t know yet what will happen, but we’ll try to do our best as pole is the best place to start from”.

KIMI: “Usually, on Friday, it is always tricky with the tires; then the situation improves, the circuit cleans up and there’s more grip to be found. Today, the conditions we found were pretty much those we had expected. Normally, we don’t look too much into the lap times on Friday ; we try many things and learn from it. For sure there’s some work to be done and there are things to improve, but this is normal. We’ll see what tomorrow brings in qualifying, when everybody is pushing to the maximum.

Both drivers never sound so pessimistic before. The season is already over for the Reds since German GP when Vettel was out of the race. Feel like a repeat of Singapore GP 2017...

[FerrariF60]

Both drivers never sound so pessimistic before. The season is already over for the Reds since German GP when Vettel was out of the race. Feel like a repeat of Singapore GP 2017...

sadly, you may be onto something about season already being over....but i will still be somewhat optimistic, at least until Q3 tomorrow.....If Merc (and by that i mean Luise) is still doing the better job and the team to beat come tomorrow and more importantly during Sunday's race.....then i'm afraid Seb can say BYE< BYE to the WDC this year....