2019 FrenchGP: Practices & Qualifying

[KimiBot]

looks better today, much closer, have to wait, last 10 minutes, then we`ll see

[tifosi1993]

Time in Sector 3 looks good (relative to yesterday)

Bottas 40.079, Hamilton 40.122, Leclerc 40.298, Vettel 40.398

Other 2 sectors:

Sector 1: Bottas 22.608, Leclerc 22.652, Hamilton 22.688, Vettel 22.920

Sector 2: Leclerc 28.026, Vettel 28.159, Hamilton 28.165, Bottas 28.166

[jgonzalesm6]

{AMuS}

The silver arrows kill the competition in the third sector. Because they are the only ones who keep their tyres in the window through the first two sectors and then have enough grip in the final section.

[nani_s23]

Time in Sector 3 looks good (relative to yesterday)

Bottas 40.079, Hamilton 40.122, Leclerc 40.298, Vettel 40.398

Other 2 sectors:

Sector 1: Bottas 22.608, Leclerc 22.652, Hamilton 22.688, Vettel 22.920

Sector 2: Leclerc 28.026, Vettel 28.159, Hamilton 28.165, Bottas 28.166

Vettel 22.9 isn’t representative i think. When Lec is 22.6 n even mercs. Vettel loosing .3ths alone in S1 doesn’t seem to be representative

[KimiBot]

Time in Sector 3 looks good (relative to yesterday)

Bottas 40.079, Hamilton 40.122, Leclerc 40.298, Vettel 40.398

Other 2 sectors:

Sector 1: Bottas 22.608, Leclerc 22.652, Hamilton 22.688, Vettel 22.920

Sector 2: Leclerc 28.026, Vettel 28.159, Hamilton 28.165, Bottas 28.166

It takes some time to fine tune car when they get new parts, so, it has been good progress this weekend so far, hopefully it is enough to beat Mercs.

[Golfsmith]

The silver arrows kill the competition in the third sector. Because they are the only ones who keep their tyres in the window through the first two sectors and then have enough grip in the final section.

Merelli tyres work for them and not for the rest.

[nani_s23]

It takes some time to fine tune car when they get new parts, so, it has been good progress this weekend so far, hopefully it is enough to beat Mercs.

Yeah it’s enough yet.

[KimiBot]

Yeah it’s enough yet.

Yeah looks like so atm

[nani_s23]

I see similar to Barcelona quali for ferrari.
Ferrari still has same issue in S3.

[paolo lalli]

Sorry guys but it looks like it will be a mercedes front row lockout but any thing can happen on race day Bottas is the man to beat.last sector ahhh.

[tifosi1993]

Lost all the time in sector 3, as expected

Bottas 39.700, Hamilton 39.754, Vettel 40.083, Leclerc 40.166

Other 2 sectors:

Sector 1: Leclerc 22.346, Bottas 22.434, Hamilton 22.438, Vettel 22.638

Sector 2: Vettel 27.846, Hamilton 27.914, Bottas 28.025, Leclerc 28.026

Ultimate lap time: Mercedes 1m30.048, Ferrari 1m30.275

[KimiBot]

[nani_s23]

Mclaren almost matched RB lap time

[nani_s23]

Except mercs all other teams are struggling in S3, I mean with tyres

[KimiBot]

this is a long track, so we are not so much behind, just some small thing and we are even or ahead

[jgonzalesm6]

Mclaren almost matched RB lap time

New front suspension setup. They're replicating Mercedes push-rod setup.

Norris did over 900 laps in the sim on this track.

[bondilad]

Sadly merc looks like out of reach for us. I just hope Ferrari doesn't destroy leclarcs race to let vettel get P3 (if he manages to outqualify seb).

[Grinsomx]

Sadly merc looks like out of reach for us. I just hope Ferrari doesn't destroy leclarcs race to let vettel get P3 (if he manages to outqualify seb).

why would ferrari hire a driver and then sabotage him on purpose?
you really give Vettel too much credit if you think he has that much power within the team.

Ferrari have messed up more than enough, so much that we could start hoping it's a deliberate act and not another show of incompetence.
The facepalm mistakes we have seen are not planned, sadly, they are genuine mistakes of a team in trouble.

[Louisa Fortuna]

Merc 1-2 by 30 seconds come Sunday afternoon....

I think next season we will be strong, the team knows what went wrong this season. Next season will be good i am positive of.

[nani_s23]

#AMuS Binotto: In the first two sectors, the tyres wear out so much that there is less rubber on them. This means less temperature inside the tyre. This makes the car slip more, you lose even more rubber and the temperature goes even lower. Understeer is getting worse and worse"

#AMuS When Ferrari, RB and the other teams (except Merc) arrive in S3, the surface of the tyres is already too hot and the mantle too cold. Then the rubber peels from the tread of the softest tyre compound. This is called graining. This mainly affects the front tyre.

#AMuS Renault Cyril Abiteboul rants about the tyres: "You spend millions on an upgrade and then you don't bring the tyres into the window. It's like a lottery. When we get to the S3 with the soft tyres, the surface of the tyres is too hot. We just slide around."


#AMuS Helmut Marko: Now the others are realizing what we've been saying for a long time. We are fully in the hands of Pirelli. I asked GIO what kind of upgrades the Alfa has that it is suddenly so fast. He told me that he was only fast because they hit the tyre window


#FrenchGP

[FerrariF60]

I think next season we will be strong, the team knows what went wrong this season. Next season will be good i am positive of.

isn't that teh story every year with Ferrari.....next year, next year, next......just like a broken record player.....i'm still yet to find that "next year" pace ferrari will bring.....maybe 2029....if we're lucky

[nani_s23]

#AMuS Mario Isola partly blames the new asphalt patches in the first sector: The surface is particularly smooth. This makes the cars slip more. And that makes the surface temperature go up. If you arrive in S3 with tyres that are too hot, you have a problem.

They don’t blame themselves .... either it’s the track or they blame other teams incompetence.

[vcs316]

#AMUS: Binotto: "We are doing well in the first two sectors, but we are suffering in the third part of the track, a bit like in Barcelona. But we can do more. How much more, that might only be shown in qualifying."
#AMUS: Binotto also cleared up rumours that the data from the wind tunnel, simulator and race track do not match and therefore cause problems. "That's not true. There aren't such correlation problems and if there had been, we would have solved it a long ago."
#AMUS: In regards to the parts (new floor) that will be not on the car this weekend, Binotto said: "It's not because they are a failure, but because we believe that we need more kilometers to understand them better."

[f412]

why vettels laptime this slow. he is running different setup?

[vcs316]

As Ferrari seeks to determine the root cause of its continued deficit to Mercedes, the Italian team introducing an engine upgrade earlier than planned while admitting that there is no short-term solution to the SF90's core issues, team boss, Mattia Binotto has dismissed talk of the team discovering a correlation issue between data from its wind-tunnel and its cfd (computer fluid dynamics) figures.

"I've heard and I've read that point and it is not true at all," Binotto told reporters. "We do not have correlation issues.

"I would say that if that would have been the case then we would have solved part of the performance problems," he added, "but it is not a correlation issue. So what I read does not correspond to the true situation."

While the team remains unclear in terms of the upgrades it brought to France, ditching the new floor for the old one, Sebastian Vettel insists the title is not lost, setting Silverstone - where Ferrari scored a surprise win last year - as the deadline by which time it must be able to take on Mercedes.

"Obviously each team is developing their own car," said Binotto, "and you don't know by race ten where the others will be.

"We are continuously understanding better our car, and we have got some ideas," he continued. "But it is difficult to judge if race ten will be the point. But we have seen, as in Canada, that even the races on the circuit are different. So we may expect even better circuits for us in the next races.

"On top of that, we know that we need to develop and improve the car and there are still a few races, but not much. I think we will have something on the car that is at least addressing part of the situation."

However, he dismissed talk that there would be one significant upgrade.

"We are not working on a B-car," he said. "We are continuously developing the car in the wind tunnel and the simulator, back at the design office and simulator. Whatever they may find that is an improvement, we will try to bring it to the track. There is no need or necessity to wait for a big package but more important to try to close the gap as soon as possible, even if it is a progressive development."

Referring to the new parts tried on Friday, he admitted: "The data we got is matching with what we were expecting, so in that respect we are happy.

"That is the reason why at least we are keeping some of the components on the car," he added. "We know it is not sufficient for what we are looking for, but as I said, it was important for us to understand at least the direction and we got relevant data for that."

[nani_s23]

#AMuS Why does Mercedes have not tyre problems? The car certainly has more downforce than the competition. But is that all? Obviously the car also generates better mechanical grip and continuously keeps the tyre temperatures in the window thanks to a clever rim heater.

#AMuS We hear that Mercedes drives with less wheel camber than the others. You have to be able to afford that. The rivals almost all go to the limit of what Pirelli says. To heat up the tyres faster. Disadvantage: This reduces the contact surface of the tyre with the track.

[bondilad]

why would ferrari hire a driver and then sabotage him on purpose?
you really give Vettel too much credit if you think he has that much power within the team.

Ferrari have messed up more than enough, so much that we could start hoping it's a deliberate act and not another show of incompetence.
The facepalm mistakes we have seen are not planned, sadly, they are genuine mistakes of a team in trouble.

Not saying he has so much power, but Ferrari did say they would prioritize Seb. We don't have the luxury of having the fastest car. So this has to stop.

[KimiBot]

Here we go!!!

[tifosi1993]

Sector 1: Hamilton 22.329 (abandoned lap), Bottas 22.576, Leclerc 22.623, Vettel 22.716

Sector 2: Leclerc 27.967, Bottas 27.998, Vettel 28.029, Hamilton 28.124

Sector 3: Bottas 39.976, Hamilton 39.982, Leclerc 40.057, Vettel 40.330

[Christopher]

Yikes that was close for Max