Page 15 of 41 FirstFirst 123456789101112131415161718192021222324252627282940 ... LastLast
Results 421 to 450 of 1219

Thread: 2019 F1 news/rumours

  1. #421
    Join Date
    Feb 2004
    Location
    Ontario
    Posts
    2,124
    Quote Originally Posted by The Architect View Post
    It's already overly regulated which limits the possibilities, so why inflict a standardised gearbox on everyone? A casual observer may not know the difference but it will be used to ram through other standardisation that will kill technical innovation in the sport.

    There are still a lot of things that can be standardized and some things that should never be. The Halo is standard. Gearbox is to be a cassette and the casing can be bespoke, so no big issue, as long as it works like teams want. Some other stuff that can be standardized that won't affect cars too much and will stop unnecessary development... rims, mirrors, brake discs (can have options like they do with tires). But I don't think these things will save much money. The only way to save big is to go the Indy car route .... but that would kill F1. Best way right now to save big bucks.... bring back V8's with the ERS and dump these hybrids.

  2. #422
    Join Date
    Jan 2004
    Location
    UK
    Posts
    510
    Quote Originally Posted by Silent Bob View Post
    There are still a lot of things that can be standardized and some things that should never be. The Halo is standard. Gearbox is to be a cassette and the casing can be bespoke, so no big issue, as long as it works like teams want. Some other stuff that can be standardized that won't affect cars too much and will stop unnecessary development... rims, mirrors, brake discs (can have options like they do with tires). But I don't think these things will save much money. The only way to save big is to go the Indy car route .... but that would kill F1. Best way right now to save big bucks.... bring back V8's with the ERS and dump these hybrids.
    As for rims, mirrors and brake discs, anything on the car that can be improved for performance is worthy of development - that's the essence of F1. Stopping that is simple - regulate against it, as has happened with so many other avenues of development. Frankly, as with gearboxes, it's not really going to save a lot of money. I agree with you that the engine is the fundamental problem. It should never have happened and something should be done to change it in a positive way and not the nonsense idea that existing teams should share knowledge with new entrants.

  3. #423
    Join Date
    Feb 2004
    Location
    Ontario
    Posts
    2,124
    But wasting resources to find small bits of performance from items like a mirror or rims is costly. Use regulations and teams will look for grey areas. Give them a rim and a mirror that they need to use as is and no money wasted on developments. Fans won't abandon the sport because all the teams use the same rims and/or mirrors. Go back to a simple engine formula that is cheaper and perhaps new manufacturers will come aboard.

  4. #424
    Join Date
    Jan 2004
    Location
    UK
    Posts
    510
    Quote Originally Posted by Silent Bob View Post
    But wasting resources to find small bits of performance from items like a mirror or rims is costly. Use regulations and teams will look for grey areas. Give them a rim and a mirror that they need to use as is and no money wasted on developments. Fans won't abandon the sport because all the teams use the same rims and/or mirrors. Go back to a simple engine formula that is cheaper and perhaps new manufacturers will come aboard.
    The only way to stop F1 teams looking for any improvements is to move to the Indy car model. While some fans would still remain, I can guarantee you that I and many others would not. I doubt any manufacturers, including Ferrari would want to remain in a series like that.

  5. #425
    Join Date
    Dec 2005
    Location
    Stockholm, Sweden
    Posts
    1,416
    Quote Originally Posted by Greig View Post
    The sport is realising costs can't keep going the way they are so no it's not too late and no it does not make me wrong just cause you say so Yes I am fully aware teams have come and gone but now it's looking like teams will be gone and not be coming back, maybe you are happy to sit on your hands and accept the end of F1 but it seems like the teams and sport in general is not. So it's really up to you to decide if you want to follow it or not as whatever you feel is clearly the opposite of the teams and sport.

    If you can't watch the sport because the fire extinguisher or the gearbox cogs are standard then there really is nothing much more to say is there, as that is what will happen.
    Sorry that I didn't write and respond earlier. So basicly you and Rob are OK with F1 becoming a spec. series? Just so McLaren and Williams can be saved and be treated differently than Cooper, Lotus, Brabham, Tyrrell etc. The latter ones weren't saved and they died off like many other living things have died off on this planet (Megalodon, Sabre-tooth tiger, Mammoth etc). But somehow McLaren and Williams are more important than those animals and must be treated differently? Right? Did I get the essence of it all right? Seriously, are you sure you are on the right forum with these kind of opinions?

    Stupidity comes in all shapes and sizes and you, Greig, I'm sorry to say, you're an idiot. Don't ge me wrong. I respect you a lot for creating this forum. But that, in itself doesn't give you a pass and it doesn't keep you immune from idiocy. If you (and others) think you can regulate F1 by socialistic measures then you haven't understood one bloody thing about "the pinnacle". You're just a zombie. Ban me for writing that but it's the truth.

  6. #426
    Join Date
    Feb 2003
    Location
    Scotland
    Posts
    32,234
    Someone throwing the toys out the pram and gone all out crazy? Some gearbox cogs and a fire extinguisher is hardly a spec series but you can pick up the toys and be a grown up about it if you wish instead of going off on absolute drivel about animals.....again if you want to talk about extinct animals I am sure there is a forum for that, this is a F1 forum in case you forget....

    Yes McLaren and Williams are more important to F1 than a sabre tooth tiger. Your post is probably the most bizarre I have EVER read on the internet.
    Forza Ferrari

  7. #427
    Join Date
    Feb 2004
    Location
    Ontario
    Posts
    2,124
    Quote Originally Posted by 512 TR View Post
    Sorry that I didn't write and respond earlier. So basicly you and Rob are OK with F1 becoming a spec. series? Just so McLaren and Williams can be saved and be treated differently than Cooper, Lotus, Brabham, Tyrrell etc. The latter ones weren't saved and they died off like many other living things have died off on this planet (Megalodon, Sabre-tooth tiger, Mammoth etc). But somehow McLaren and Williams are more important than those animals and must be treated differently? Right? Did I get the essence of it all right? Seriously, are you sure you are on the right forum with these kind of opinions?

    Stupidity comes in all shapes and sizes and you, Greig, I'm sorry to say, you're an idiot. Don't ge me wrong. I respect you a lot for creating this forum. But that, in itself doesn't give you a pass and it doesn't keep you immune from idiocy. If you (and others) think you can regulate F1 by socialistic measures then you haven't understood one bloody thing about "the pinnacle". You're just a zombie. Ban me for writing that but it's the truth.


    Yes it does. It's especially apparent in mirrors. Is there any use in sticking to a formula that drives team away from competing? If it means using some standardized parts or losing 1/4 of the grid... which would be preferable? If using some standard non-performance affecting parts and it attracts new competitors... which would be preferable? Not a trick question.

  8. #428
    Join Date
    Feb 2010
    Location
    Czech Republic
    Posts
    7,508
    Quote Originally Posted by Silent Bob View Post
    Yes it does. It's especially apparent in mirrors. Is there any use in sticking to a formula that drives team away from competing? If it means using some standardized parts or losing 1/4 of the grid... which would be preferable? If using some standard non-performance affecting parts and it attracts new competitors... which would be preferable? Not a trick question.
    So why not just introduce the cost cap and let teams use it however they want? That would create a diversity in the car design and kept the costs from being absurd as they are now. Why to standardize anything? This is NOT just drivers series.... This is constructrs and drivers series. And having WCC with standard parts is... kind of stupid.

    "If he can't do it with Ferrari, well, he can't do it." - John Surtees

  9. #429
    Join Date
    Sep 2003
    Location
    norCal
    Posts
    9,590
    Quote Originally Posted by Kyss4k View Post
    So why not just introduce the cost cap and let teams use it however they want? That would create a diversity in the car design and kept the costs from being absurd as they are now. Why to standardize anything? This is NOT just drivers series.... This is constructrs and drivers series. And having WCC with standard parts is... kind of stupid.
    Good points, fratello.

    -Lou(is)
    Forza
    Ferrari 16/15

    Totus Tuus


  10. #430
    Join Date
    Dec 2005
    Location
    Stockholm, Sweden
    Posts
    1,416
    Quote Originally Posted by Silent Bob View Post
    Yes it does. It's especially apparent in mirrors. Is there any use in sticking to a formula that drives team away from competing? If it means using some standardized parts or losing 1/4 of the grid... which would be preferable? If using some standard non-performance affecting parts and it attracts new competitors... which would be preferable? Not a trick question.
    The F1 grid is what it has always been. Some come and some go. No more, no less. It's not more complicated than that. Everyone has a set of rules, a box and you have to keep within those frames. How you do it it's up to anyone and there's no right or wrong. When a season is over then it's fine to call the shots and make statements and be the yahoo who knows it all. But please, leave it be. Don't accelerate ahead of F1. Let F1 be F1. Why do they have to destroy this small, nische thing as well? What's the point of destroying F1? Because it doesn't meet the standards of today's world? It never did! F1 was always the "ugly duckling". ALWAYS! Yes, F1 is not politically correct. No women race, only men. BUT we have a black 5x WDC. That has to count for something, right?. But no...that is not enough.

    Seriously. Jim Morrison (the singer from The Doors) said "You cannot petition the Lord with prayer". Do you understand what he meant by that? See below.

    https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=k1g8WCA7mJk

    Jim Morrison also called out people like this so that they would open up their eyes.

    https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=PFdmAgA_Gfo

    The two links above can also be used as an analogy of what is happening to Formula 1. What they will do to it. What the psychopaths like Carey, Todt and Brawn will do to it and what Elkann and Camilleri will accept...

    I just hope someone in power puts a stop to it.

  11. #431
    Join Date
    Feb 2004
    Location
    Ontario
    Posts
    2,124
    Quote Originally Posted by Kyss4k View Post
    So why not just introduce the cost cap and let teams use it however they want? That would create a diversity in the car design and kept the costs from being absurd as they are now. Why to standardize anything? This is NOT just drivers series.... This is constructrs and drivers series. And having WCC with standard parts is... kind of stupid.
    Ya that would be the best way. Except that teams will find grey areas. Teams with resources will use other platforms to test parts or offload costs to other divisions. Just saying that some standard equipment will not ruin racing. Halo is standard, ECM is standard. Did you notice?

  12. #432
    Join Date
    Feb 2004
    Location
    Ontario
    Posts
    2,124
    Quote Originally Posted by 512 TR View Post
    The F1 grid is what it has always been. Some come and some go. No more, no less. It's not more complicated than that. Everyone has a set of rules, a box and you have to keep within those frames. How you do it it's up to anyone and there's no right or wrong. When a season is over then it's fine to call the shots and make statements and be the yahoo who knows it all. But please, leave it be. Don't accelerate ahead of F1. Let F1 be F1. Why do they have to destroy this small, nische thing as well? What's the point of destroying F1? Because it doesn't meet the standards of today's world? It never did! F1 was always the "ugly duckling". ALWAYS! Yes, F1 is not politically correct. No women race, only men. BUT we have a black 5x WDC. That has to count for something, right?. But no...that is not enough.

    Seriously. Jim Morrison (the singer from The Doors) said "You cannot petition the Lord with prayer". Do you understand what he meant by that? See below.

    https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=k1g8WCA7mJk

    Jim Morrison also called out people like this so that they would open up their eyes.

    https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=PFdmAgA_Gfo

    The two links above can also be used as an analogy of what is happening to Formula 1. What they will do to it. What the psychopaths like Carey, Todt and Brawn will do to it and what Elkann and Camilleri will accept...

    I just hope someone in power puts a stop to it.


    Except the problem is when more go than are coming. Face facts... there aren't too many people or companies willing to spend hundreds of millions of dollars to race cars. There are less that will spend that just to finish midfield or worse. Remember when there were 30 cars on the grid? That wasn't so great because some were so bad, but having 12 cars on the grid wouldn't be much fun either. So there has to be a happy medium. Like I said before, Halo is standard, ECM is standard, Tires are standard, everyone used to use the same refilling rig. Right now Ferrari, Alfa and Haas use the same engine, rear end and gearboxes so for those teams all those parts are standardized and yet all those cars are not performing the same. Adding non-performance parts to the list won't kill F1, having no cars on the grid will.

  13. #433
    Join Date
    May 2006
    Location
    hull
    Posts
    911
    Seriously.

    People how many who are saying, ‘if you can’t compete, go under’ are in favour of the historical payment system and Ferrari getting more without even winning?

    It is a sport, the money gained for points should be the same for everyone, anything else stinks of hypocrisy.

  14. #434
    Join Date
    Feb 2003
    Location
    Scotland
    Posts
    32,234
    Quote Originally Posted by 512 TR View Post
    The F1 grid is what it has always been. Some come and some go. No more, no less. It's not more complicated than that. Everyone has a set of rules, a box and you have to keep within those frames. How you do it it's up to anyone and there's no right or wrong. When a season is over then it's fine to call the shots and make statements and be the yahoo who knows it all. But please, leave it be. Don't accelerate ahead of F1. Let F1 be F1. Why do they have to destroy this small, nische thing as well? What's the point of destroying F1? Because it doesn't meet the standards of today's world? It never did! F1 was always the "ugly duckling". ALWAYS! Yes, F1 is not politically correct. No women race, only men. BUT we have a black 5x WDC. That has to count for something, right?. But no...that is not enough.

    Seriously. Jim Morrison (the singer from The Doors) said "You cannot petition the Lord with prayer". Do you understand what he meant by that? See below.

    https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=k1g8WCA7mJk

    Jim Morrison also called out people like this so that they would open up their eyes.

    https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=PFdmAgA_Gfo

    The two links above can also be used as an analogy of what is happening to Formula 1. What they will do to it. What the psychopaths like Carey, Todt and Brawn will do to it and what Elkann and Camilleri will accept...

    I just hope someone in power puts a stop to it.
    Forza Ferrari

  15. #435
    Join Date
    May 2014
    Location
    New York
    Posts
    5,586
    Drivers pay says it all! Charles hasn't had a race yet in his new car. He would probably drive for free just to be in "The Seat !" How does he wind up with starting salary at 3 million? I believe after last season Seb is still getting 40 million!! Where's the incentive if your already getting millions , win or lose?

  16. #436
    Join Date
    Dec 2005
    Location
    Stockholm, Sweden
    Posts
    1,416
    Quote Originally Posted by Greig View Post
    If that's the best you can do, laugh again...OK.

    I just want to say this. I sincerely apologize for my wording to you Greig and to you, Rob. My intention wasn't to call you idiots. We're all Ferrari tifosi and we should all stick together now with this new season that is coming. We should all be on the same side. Sometimes my tongue just slips. Don't hold it against me. Thing is, Formula 1 is in REAL dire straits right now. That is for real. If we just sit on our behinds and wait...then it will all be gone soon. If we, the tifosi, don't act then we'll have nothing left.

    Again, I sincerely apologize. For real. Sorry guys.

  17. #437
    Join Date
    Oct 2016
    Location
    Corpus Christi Tx
    Posts
    11,046
    Quote Originally Posted by 512 TR View Post
    If that's the best you can do, laugh again...OK.

    I just want to say this. I sincerely apologize for my wording to you Greig and to you, Rob. My intention wasn't to call you idiots. We're all Ferrari tifosi and we should all stick together now with this new season that is coming. We should all be on the same side. Sometimes my tongue just slips. Don't hold it against me.

    Again, I sincerely apologize. For real. Sorry guys.
    Well done mate.
    It's not how start but how you finish.

  18. #438
    Join Date
    Feb 2004
    Location
    Ontario
    Posts
    2,124
    Quote Originally Posted by Brembo View Post
    Drivers pay says it all! Charles hasn't had a race yet in his new car. He would probably drive for free just to be in "The Seat !" How does he wind up with starting salary at 3 million? I believe after last season Seb is still getting 40 million!! Where's the incentive if your already getting millions , win or lose?
    This!!! Why are teams paying driver's 40-50 million? There are only 3 or 4 teams that can afford that. Why drive prices so high? Will Vettel leave Ferrari if he was offered 15 million? Where would he go? If Merc decided to offer Ham a $20 million renewal and no other team was offering more, would he refuse it? Top out salaries @ 10 million, give them a decent car and they'll drive.

  19. #439
    Join Date
    Feb 2003
    Location
    Scotland
    Posts
    32,234
    Quote Originally Posted by 512 TR View Post
    If that's the best you can do, laugh again...OK.

    I just want to say this. I sincerely apologize for my wording to you Greig and to you, Rob. My intention wasn't to call you idiots. We're all Ferrari tifosi and we should all stick together now with this new season that is coming. We should all be on the same side. Sometimes my tongue just slips. Don't hold it against me. Thing is, Formula 1 is in REAL dire straits right now. That is for real. If we just sit on our behinds and wait...then it will all be gone soon. If we, the tifosi, don't act then we'll have nothing left.

    Again, I sincerely apologize. For real. Sorry guys.
    Forza Ferrari

  20. #440
    Join Date
    Apr 2008
    Location
    Stowmarket. U.K
    Posts
    18,334
    Quote Originally Posted by 512 TR View Post
    If that's the best you can do, laugh again...OK.

    I just want to say this. I sincerely apologize for my wording to you Greig and to you, Rob. My intention wasn't to call you idiots. We're all Ferrari tifosi and we should all stick together now with this new season that is coming. We should all be on the same side. Sometimes my tongue just slips. Don't hold it against me. Thing is, Formula 1 is in REAL dire straits right now. That is for real. If we just sit on our behinds and wait...then it will all be gone soon. If we, the tifosi, don't act then we'll have nothing left.

    Again, I sincerely apologize. For real. Sorry guys.


    CAVALLINO RAMPANTE PER SEMPRE

  21. #441
    Join Date
    May 2014
    Location
    New York
    Posts
    5,586
    Quote Originally Posted by Silent Bob View Post
    This!!! Why are teams paying driver's 40-50 million? There are only 3 or 4 teams that can afford that. Why drive prices so high? Will Vettel leave Ferrari if he was offered 15 million? Where would he go? If Merc decided to offer Ham a $20 million renewal and no other team was offering more, would he refuse it? Top out salaries @ 10 million, give them a decent car and they'll drive.
    Excellent post!! I Couldn't agree more. The only incentive during the season should be free dinner for the #2 driver if he has to move over for his ream mate!

  22. #442
    Join Date
    Jun 2012
    Location
    New York
    Posts
    2,495
    Quote Originally Posted by Silent Bob View Post
    This!!! Why are teams paying driver's 40-50 million? There are only 3 or 4 teams that can afford that. Why drive prices so high? Will Vettel leave Ferrari if he was offered 15 million? Where would he go? If Merc decided to offer Ham a $20 million renewal and no other team was offering more, would he refuse it? Top out salaries @ 10 million, give them a decent car and they'll drive.
    Supply and demand? There's a low supply of Vettels and Hamiltons and there's a high demand.


    Disappointed Since 2010

  23. #443
    Join Date
    May 2014
    Location
    New York
    Posts
    5,586
    Which team wants Seb at his salary? Merc? Lewis will not go to a less car than he has. Cut his pay , he will stay!

  24. #444
    Join Date
    Apr 2017
    Location
    S.A
    Posts
    10,231
    Frederic Vasseur, Team Principal: “Alfa Romeo Racing is delighted and proud to announce our partnership with Shell. It feels amazing to have the logo of such an iconic brand, which is so close to the heart of racing, featured on our car.”
    #AlfaRomeoRacing #Shell
    Nice
    hockenheim 2018 / China 2018 : Never forget how quick Ferrari can lose it all, be humble.
    Positivity doesn't win you championships, whining about people being negative makes you blind!
    lol ignore the bitter old cows ;-)

  25. #445
    Join Date
    Feb 2014
    Location
    UK
    Posts
    3,057
    Anyone able to copy and paste article from autosport - how Ferrari held back its pace

  26. #446
    Join Date
    Apr 2017
    Location
    S.A
    Posts
    10,231
    Quote Originally Posted by mizf1 View Post
    Anyone able to copy and paste article from autosport - how Ferrari held back its pace
    https://www.autosport.com/f1/feature...riday-practice

    here's the article, hope someone can paste it , really interested in seeing what they say
    hockenheim 2018 / China 2018 : Never forget how quick Ferrari can lose it all, be humble.
    Positivity doesn't win you championships, whining about people being negative makes you blind!
    lol ignore the bitter old cows ;-)

  27. #447
    Join Date
    Feb 2006
    Location
    Dubai, UAE
    Posts
    10,238
    Quote Originally Posted by mizf1 View Post
    Anyone able to copy and paste article from autosport - how Ferrari held back its pace
    Everyone, and that includes the Formula 1 teams themselves, had Ferrari pegged as the clear leader heading into the Australian Grand Prix weekend.

    So with Mercedes apparently blowing the red cars, and Red Bull for that matter, out of the water in Friday practice, either everyone was wrong or something has changed dramatically. Both of these possibilities cannot be dismissed out of hand.

    But this was no ordinary Friday practice and there are enough question marks and asterisks against the performance not just of Ferrari, but other teams in the field, to suggest all was not quite as it seemed.

    Looking back to winter testing, most reckoned Ferrari potentially had an advantage of around 0.3 seconds over Mercedes. Some thought a little more, some a little less, but there was a clear consensus.

    Although Vettel had shaded Hamilton in the battle to top the times by just 0.003 seconds, the fact that he gave away a couple of tenths in his final sector on that fastest lap compared to his best and set a lap time that put him a good 0.3s faster, when adjusted for using a slower tyre compound, painted a different picture. But that was just a snapshot from testing.

    It's well known that Mercedes introduced a major upgrade package for the second test, so it's far from unreasonable to think it will have shaken more performance out of it in the two weeks since testing wrapped up.

    "It's a difficult read for us," said Mercedes boss Toto Wolff. "We hit the road and it wasn't great. Then we brought a substantial upgrade package to the second test and slowly but surely started to understand and learn and put the dots together. It was a quite decent end of testing.

    "The teams were, lap time-wise, very close together but very few kilograms of fuel can make you look very good or less good. That's why, pants down on Saturday, that's the first real benchmark this year."

    Ferrari didn't have a great time on the softs. Vettel complained his car was "still a bit wobbly" after his push lap, while Leclerc said FP2 was difficult and the wind caused some problems

    But today, we don't have the luxury of waiting for qualifying. So what did we learn from Friday? The bare facts show that Lewis Hamilton set the pace with a best lap of 1m22.600s, just under half a tenth faster than Mercedes team-mate Valtteri Bottas.

    Max Verstappen was third fastest, eight tenths down, with Sebastian Vettel a further 0.073s back for Ferrari. All of these times were set in FP2 using the soft Pirellis.

    Single-lap pace
    1 Mercedes 1m22.600s
    2 Red Bull 1m23.400s
    3 Ferrari 1m23.473s
    4 Alfa Romeo 1m23.572s
    5 Renault 1m23.574s
    6 Haas 1m23.814s
    7 Toro Rosso 1m23.933s
    8 Racing Point 1m24.011s
    9 McLaren 1m24.133s
    10 Williams 1m26.453s

    Now we come to the first caveat. While Mercedes had a completely conventional run plan for Friday afternoon, Red Bull didn't.

    To deviate a little from the Mercedes versus Ferrari narrative - worth doing given that Red Bull's testing pace was inconclusive - Verstappen's performance run was not entirely representative.

    Typically, after early running on a harder compound, drivers then head out in the middle of the session, or even earlier than that, for a qualifying simulation. Verstappen went against the grain by continuing to pile on the miles on mediums and didn't do his run until the closing stages.

    After setting his fastest time, he stayed out and did enough running to show you can confidently knock 0.6s off for fuel. That puts him 0.2s off Mercedes, if we (riskily) assume they would normally have a similar payload for their FP2 performance runs.

    Ferrari, meanwhile, didn't have a great time on the softs. Vettel complained that his car was "still a bit wobbly" after his push lap and lacked confidence, while Leclerc mentioned that FP2 was difficult and the wind caused some problems.

    Leclerc also, however, stressed that "we are not flat out". We know Verstappen could have gone significantly quicker, and we can be sure Ferrari would have been able to as well.

    We know the Ferrari is not only a tenth faster than an Alfa Romeo, quick as Kimi Raikkonen's lap was, so can dismiss that gap as anything representative.

    But what we can't say based on that is where Ferrari would have been with an even comparison to Mercedes other than saying it would be at least a lot closer.

    It's possible that fuel loads played a part, and the pace of the Ferrari in the early running using mediums, with both drivers seconds off, suggests the comparison was indeed skewed.

    But what about the long runs? Mercedes again was fastest by some distance based on runs on the soft rubber. The gap to Ferrari was very similar to the one-lap pace, judged by Vettel's run; Red Bull - based on Pierre Gasly - was in a similar area.

    In fact, on long-run pace Ferrari and Red Bull are among a clutch of teams in the very low 1m29s bracket, which includes Alfa Romeo, Renault and even McLaren - with Toro Rosso only a few tenths back.

    Again, this is clearly misleading because, while the gap from midfield to the front has narrowed, the big three are still the big three. Here's how the long-run pace stacks up, based on six counting laps on soft rubber.

    Long-run pace
    1 Mercedes 1m28.238s
    2 Alfa Romeo 1m29.006s
    3 McLaren 1m29.029s
    4 Ferrari 1m29.090s
    5 Renault 1m29.133s
    6 Red Bull 1m29.154s
    7 Toro Rosso 1m29.348s
    8 Haas 1m29.570s
    9 Racing Point 1m29.578s

    Look at pace on other tyre compounds and things get a bit more interesting. Leclerc's pace on the hard tyres (C2s compared to the 'soft' C4s) was within a tenth of Vettel's on the softs.

    Pirelli puts the total pace difference between hards and softs at 1.5s. It should be stressed that's peak lap time and the gap on a long run would be smaller, so that doesn't put the reds seven tenths up the road, but again this confirms that Ferrari has more pace than it has so far unleashed.

    To add to that, Vettel's pace on a brief long run on mediums was very similar to that of Bottas. This could potentially point to Ferrari struggling more on the softs than the other compounds, but that will only become clear tomorrow.

    The midfield picture is a little clearer, but still inconclusive. In testing, the feeling was that Haas perhaps headed the first group of three teams in the mid-pack with Renault and Alfa Romeo close.

    Today broadly supported that, although Alfa Romeo shaded it, with Renault on very similar pace. It's worth noting that Nico Hulkenberg did a very impressive run on the softs in terms of range with very limited drop-off, which suggests the Renault is kind to its tyres and the tyres are durable.

    As for Haas, often on Friday it looks less competitive than it actually is and the gap to the front of the midfield can easily be made up.

    That said, it was just behind Toro Rosso, while McLaren driver Carlos Sainz Jr delivered a strong run on softs that put him with the midfield leaders and well clear of Racing Point, which appears to be its closest rival on outright pace.


    The one thing we can be sure of is that the midfield is close. So what can we really conclude from today? Probably less than we expected and certainly less than, to invoke Wolff's phraseology, we will when the pants are down on Saturday afternoon.

    Mercedes probably has extracted more from its car, but until we see Red Bull and Ferrari on equal terms in the one-hour qualifying session, we won't get a meaningful read on exactly where it's shaken out.

    But we should not be surprised if Mercedes has made gains, given how formidable this team is. And even if that has only closed the gap to Ferrari, at worst it could move it within range of Hamilton taking pole with a one-lap special.

    It's possible Ferrari might have a bit of a problem with the soft Pirellis, which would definitely be an issue come Q3, but it does look plenty fast enough on mediums and hards.

    As for Red Bull, it's probably thereabouts and it wouldn't be a surprise if the gap of closer to two tenths (once you've corrected for the length of Verstappen's run) to Mercedes was in the ballpark of reality.

    But there's one thing we can be absolutely sure of: Ferrari is faster than it looked on Friday. The question is, by how much? And will it be enough to put it ahead, as expected after testing, or will the competitive picture be dramatically different?
    #KeepFightingMichael | #CiaoJules

  28. #448
    Join Date
    Oct 2016
    Location
    Corpus Christi Tx
    Posts
    11,046
    [Racefans] RedBull to get more power from Honda.....soon.
    It's not how start but how you finish.

  29. #449
    Join Date
    Jun 2007
    Location
    Malta
    Posts
    1,434
    Quote Originally Posted by jgonzalesm6 View Post
    [Racefans] RedBull to get more power from Honda.....soon.
    It's not always a good thing with Honda you know.. KABOOM! I read an article where Marko claims the Honda PU is just 10bhp short of the Mercedes. If that was true and we all know that Newey builds the best aero then MAX should have been on pole.

    What I mean is don't mind the claims. RedBull never reached Ferrari in terms of PU let alone Mercedes. Ferrari was running in safe mode to save mileage on the PU for an already ruined race. When you consider we still got 4th and 5th it's quite a good points margin and gives hope for what's to come once the issues are sorted. If they manage to fix the PU issue and open them up in Bahrain you will see what we gave up in Australia. There is NO WAY we are that slow on the top speed charts or even more so toppled by RedBull. Even when RB were dominant they never topped the top speed as their strong point was always cornering speed with massive down force. During the period when Alonso used to battle it out in our car with the likes of Webber and Vettel, top speed was our only weapon against them.

  30. #450
    Join Date
    Oct 2014
    Location
    Helsinki
    Posts
    4,164
    Quote Originally Posted by jgonzalesm6 View Post
    [Racefans] RedBull to get more power from Honda.....soon.
    If so, they will be in fight for WDC and WCC this year for sure.

Bookmarks

Posting Permissions

  • You may not post new threads
  • You may not post replies
  • You may not post attachments
  • You may not edit your posts
  •