2018 Chinese: Pre-Race news

[jgonzalesm6]

Tire choices and track synopsis from Pirelli

https://pbs.twimg.com/media/DaV6KlIWsAEzhhG.jpg


Should make it a 1 stopper.....medium towards the end.

[Aberracus]

Tire choices and track synopsis from Pirelli

https://pbs.twimg.com/media/DaV6KlIWsAEzhhG.jpg


Should make it a 1 stopper.....medium towards the end.

Merc was much much faster than anyone on hard (medium tires) on Barza tests and on Bahrain.

That medium tire is causing one stops, pirelli should remove it from
Future GPs.


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[jgonzalesm6]

Merc was much much faster than anyone on hard (medium tires) on Barza tests and on Bahrain.

That medium tire is causing one stops, pirelli should remove it from
Future GPs.


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yep, Mercedes got tyre strategy and tactics right. Ferrari got them wrong, BUT Sebastian (being the that he is) was sublime with his car control on tyres that were completely shot with 10 laps to go!

Sometimes it pays to be good.
Sometimes it pays to be lucky.
And sometimes it pays to be both good and lucky!

Ferrari dodged one bullet at Bahrain. It was a nail biter till the end.

I like the medium tyre.....messes with everyones tyre strat.

[Stormy]

yep, Mercedes got tyre strategy and tactics right. Ferrari got them wrong, BUT Sebastian (being the that he is) was sublime with his car control on tyres that were completely shot with 10 laps to go!

Sometimes it pays to be good.
Sometimes it pays to be lucky.
And sometimes it pays to be both good and lucky!

Ferrari dodged one bullet at Bahrain. It was a nail biter till the end.

I like the medium tyre.....messes with everyones tyre strat.

Seb's tire control and car management was sublime indeed. However, if this was 2010-2016 with the narrow chassis cars, i think he would've been easily overtaken.

[Aberracus]

Seb's tire control and car management was sublime indeed. However, if this was 2010-2016 with the narrow chassis cars, i think he would've been easily overtaken.

We will never know for sure


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[Ferrarichamp]

I wonder who Mad Max is gonna tangle with in China :lou

[Riccardog]

I wonder who Mad Max is gonna tangle with in China :lou

:lol:lol:lol:lol:lol:lol:lol:lol:lol:lol:lol:lol:l ol

as long as it isn't a red car!:-!

[jgonzalesm6]

I wonder who Mad Max is gonna tangle with in China :lou


:lol:lol:lol:lol:lol:lol:lol:lol:lol:lol:lol:lol:l ol

as long as it isn't a red car!:-!



:-D.What if it rains or it's in the wet? Max Verstappen's Incredible Opening Lap | 2017 Chinese Grand Prix.... https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=WBRhuhU5WHM

[ScuderiaBuckeye]

yep, Mercedes got tyre strategy and tactics right. Ferrari got them wrong, BUT Sebastian (being the bada$$ that he is) was sublime with his car control on tyres that were completely shot with 10 laps to go!

Sometimes it pays to be good.
Sometimes it pays to be lucky.
And sometimes it pays to be both good and lucky!

Ferrari dodged one bullet at Bahrain. It was a nail biter till the end.

I like the medium tyre.....messes with everyones tyre strat.

I disagree that Ferrari got their strategy "wrong".

[bondilad]

Will the medium tyre work in cooler temperatures in shanghai ?

[jgonzalesm6]

I disagree that Ferrari got their strategy "wrong".

I certainly would not want a repeat of last year where Ferrari, both Kimi and Vettel, "blew" their tyres on the last lap all due to tyre strategy. Remember that???
This was too close and Seb said the tyres were gone 10 laps ago.

We should not do that again.

[Vettel165]

Merc was much much faster than anyone on hard (medium tires) on Barza tests and on Bahrain.

That medium tire is causing one stops, pirelli should remove it from
Future GPs.


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Did you see Ferrari on medium tyres in Bahrain? No we still dont have a clue if Ferrari could matched the Mercedes pace on mediums, I think we could. With US the QUALY tyre in China with a good setup my opinion is that we can get also pole position.

[mwk360]

I certainly would not want a repeat of last year where Ferrari, both Kimi and Vettel, "blew" their tyres on the last lap all due to tyre strategy. Remember that???
This was too close and Seb said the tyres were gone 10 laps ago.

We should not do that again.

To be honest, we all were saying ferrari seemed to treat its tyres better, but at bahrain Bottas had better speed and closing in at the end of the first stint, went few laps longer too. Seb was a master on the softs and i think it was close to impossible to do what he did :). I think bahrain was a once off bad setup for mercs in quali but in race they looked quite faster even though i would say we were matched at the start of each stint of tyre. apparently seb had to save fuel a lot once again. I feel the two stopper was the wrong strategy too, but vettel said the team reacted immediately because he dropped in pace compared to bottas. Im not sure ferrari was able to get info on alonso's Medium laps before boxing. China will be tough especially with rb in the mix, one stop would be safer but we can always split strategies with kimi and have him force the other teams into changing their strategies:thumb

[mwk360]

Its good that people are finally bringing to light the mad max immature driving. Now that it happen with hamilton it seems people are talking.no red car is safe with him around, hopefully at china ferrari can get front row and leave mercs with max close by.

[paolo lalli]

Maxcrashen the first he is gifted but dangerous to be around you need to be on full alert with this guy a type of mr magoo just drives and leaves the carnage behind.

[mwk360]

https://twitter.com/ScarbsTech/status/983401993967493120

can ask some questions and might get answered :-)

[ScuderiaBuckeye]

I certainly would not want a repeat of last year where Ferrari, both Kimi and Vettel, "blew" their tyres on the last lap all due to tyre strategy. Remember that???
This was too close and Seb said the tyres were gone 10 laps ago.

We should not do that again.

We had to do what we did to win the race. Ferrari clearly wanted a 2-stop w/ both cars. The first thing that compromised that strategy was Kimi failing to be second after the start (or first w/ Seb second).

I don't see the bad strategy and think the team should be commended for having a good strategy that could be adjusted on the fly based on what happened in the race. That is what Ferrari did, and it lead to victory.

[jgonzalesm6]

We had to do what we did to win the race. Ferrari clearly wanted a 2-stop w/ both cars. The first thing that compromised that strategy was Kimi failing to be second after the start (or first w/ Seb second).

I don't see the bad strategy and think the team should be commended for having a good strategy that could be adjusted on the fly based on what happened in the race. That is what Ferrari did, and it lead to victory.

these are Sebs times from lap 40 onwards....he is losing time every lap. I agree it was a win based on luck and very awesome driving but going forward, this is not how you want to win a race with Mercedes. I'm sure Ferrari has this and will learn from it given the tyre and track conditions.


LAP TIME
40 94.800
45 95.482
46 95.437
47 95.019
48 95.266
49 95.302
50 95.332
51 95.406
52 95.412
53 95.805
54 95.778
55 95.947
56 96.625
57 97.033

[Brembo]

If Max winds up on a "pole winning team", he may never lose a race! A top car + Max's desire to win. Ferrari needs him.

[Tony]

So was the drop off in the race due to the tyres wearing out faster than Ferrari expected or could it be that they have improved their version of party mode for quali?

[jgonzalesm6]

So was the drop off in the race due to the tyres wearing out faster than Ferrari expected or could it be that they have improved their version of party mode for quali?

According to Pirelli, the tyres Seb had on were only good for 30 laps....Seb went 39 laps on said tyres....so the tyres were wearing out lap after lap. Seb said the tyres were gone 10 laps ago after finishing the race...which makes sense given Pirelli's criteria.

I will note that Seb kept quiet about this during those last 10 laps knowing all the while Mercedes was listening......smart on his part including the drive which is why he gets paid the big bucks.

[paolo lalli]

Simple ferrari have built and designed a car which is fast reliable and kind to its tyres hard to beat.

[brawnydog]

The way I see it, Ferrari were just managing their lead in the first half. Second half they needed to respond to Mercedes Plan B, so naturally when Ferrari went to plan D, Vettel had to manage his pace again on degrading tires. I think Mercedes had a brilliant change of strategy, and so we never saw the 2 teams on equal terms. Anyway, in China, Ferrari will have the new parts. I'm hoping we'll see more improvement and a strong race. I saw Hamilton a bit worried.

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[Jakke74]

If Max winds up on a "pole winning team", he may never lose a race! A top car + Max's desire to win. Ferrari needs him.

No matter what kind car or team you have if you crash q1.

[Jax]

I just read on motorsport Italy that we have 6 tenth worth of upgrades coming our way into this Chinese gp :) :)

[Vettel165]

I just read on motorsport Italy that we have 6 tenth worth of upgrades coming our way into this Chinese gp :) :)

Its a shame that the whole friday might be rainy, saturday,sunday looks dry. So the only time to test our updates will be for FP3. Hope forecast will change to better and less rainy.
Can you give me the link about 6 tenths? I looked everywhere and still couldnt find it. Thank you.

[Ferrarichamp]

looking forward to China. One aspect that was really encouraging in Bahrain was our front row lockout in qualy. Compare that to last year i think we qualified p3 and p5.

[Vettel165]

If Max winds up on a "pole winning team", he may never lose a race! A top car + Max's desire to win. Ferrari needs him.

No thank you I hope Verstappen will never join our team, Ricciardo would be a better choice.

[PURE PASSION]

I just read on motorsport Italy that we have 6 tenth worth of upgrades coming our way into this Chinese gp :) :)

Can you give us the link because i can't find an article saying that !!

[Kristof_F40]

Given the fact that there is a gap in the compounds available (US-S), won't it be even more interesting to try and do Q2 on Softs? Ofcourse depending on degradation of US in race conditions...

[Giallo 550]

If a Ferrari wins this weekend, this will create problems between Hamilton and Mercedes. The guy has a habit of becoming unwound when he's not winning. There's no need for mind games when you're the fastest. :-D

[jragona]

If a Ferrari wins this weekend, this will create problems between Hamilton and Mercedes. The guy has a habit of becoming unwound when he's not winning. There's no need for mind games when you're the fastest. :-D

I would love to see that :thumb

[enjaybel3]

these are Sebs times from lap 40 onwards....he is losing time every lap. I agree it was a win based on luck and very awesome driving but going forward, this is not how you want to win a race with Mercedes. I'm sure Ferrari has this and will learn from it given the tyre and track conditions.


LAP TIME
40 94.800
45 95.482
46 95.437
47 95.019
48 95.266
49 95.302
50 95.332
51 95.406
52 95.412
53 95.805
54 95.778
55 95.947
56 96.625
57 97.033

Looking at those lap times just makes me realize how awesome Seb's drive was and how well the car could manage the tires. Bear in mind that neither Lewis or Valtteri ran the full recommended max distance on the medium tire (40 laps). But Seb ran 39 laps on tires that are supposed to have a max life of 30. That's 30% extra life out of those tires. In pretty harsh conditions that is a great testament to both driver and car. Bodes very well for us. And although the times did drop off in the last 2 laps that would also be because Seb was then defending, which will also slow him down.
I think there's a lot of good news in the knowledge that we could get 30% extra out of those tires.

[Riccardog]

If Max winds up on a "pole winning team", he may never lose a race! A top car + Max's desire to win. Ferrari needs him.

I SO have to disagree with you!
he's audacious and reckless BECAUSE he's not been in any way shape or form able to compete for a world title... his own words last year..."I've got nothing to lose ... they do"

If he ever gets the opportunity to be racing for a world title, he'll have to... curb his enthusiasm, to be able to complete races.

So my opinion, no he's not good, he's reckless.

[mwk360]

Tech analysis: Red Bull's vital F1 floor tweaks
https://www.motorsport.com/f1/news/red-bull-floor-upgrade-bahrain-1024466/?s=1

I hope our floor we hopefully bring to china brings some improvement that allows us to not only match our rivals at their worst but match them at their best, taking us one step closer to mercs best and eventually beating them at it. We have made a great start and the news that Seb and ferrari aren't jumping the gun and saying ferrari have the best pace all the time like they did last year(look how hamilton and merc threw it back in the teams faces) and the same way horner is going around throwing out that his team has the best pace this year, helps me believe Ferrari are concentrating more on development than last year and it makes me feel good.

[mwk360]

I SO have to disagree with you!
he's audacious and reckless BECAUSE he's not been in any way shape or form able to compete for a world title... his own words last year..."I've got nothing to lose ... they do"

If he ever gets the opportunity to be racing for a world title, he'll have to... curb his enthusiasm, to be able to complete races.

So my opinion, no he's not good, he's reckless.

Good point. I respect Dani Ric, he is so sensible and yet aggressive. He always wants to attack and makes great passes but he never goes into kamakazi mode like max does

[Hornet]

I have a feeling that this season will crown a new 5 time world champion.
And it's going to be a close fight on who gets it.

Fingers crossed everything goes well for us this weekend. :pray

[Riccardog]

I have a feeling that this season will crown a new 5 time world champion.
And it's going to be a close fight on who gets it.

Fingers crossed everything goes well for us this weekend. :pray


The points gap is getting big already, but I reserve a tiny FERVENT hope that it could and maybe should be... a 2 times world champion who'll go again into retirement as the reigning champion!!!! :pray:pray:pray :-D

[nani_s23]

I have a feeling that this season will crown a new 5 time world champion.
And it's going to be a close fight on who gets it.

Fingers crossed everything goes well for us this weekend. :pray

Still long way to go...!! I’m praying for the same.
But I think it all comes down to reliability, similar to last year.

[FerrariF60]

Still long way to go...!! I’m praying for the same.
But I think it all comes down to reliability, similar to last year.

yes for sure, this year reliability will play a MAJOR role in who's gonna win the WDC
so we'll have to wait an see how our engine will compare to the Merc on how reliable it is.
i'm sure all drivers at some point will face grid penalties due to various unscheduled replacement parts.....but lets' hope that our parts will be a tad more reliable then the Mercs....

we'll know more about this near the three quarters into the season and we'll see where we stand....

another thing is consistancy.....the most consistent driver will come out on top.....that is why i miss ALO as while he was with us he was the most consitant driver....and no one can deny that...especially th e2012 season

[bondilad]

another thing is consistancy.....the most consistent driver will come out on top.....that is why i miss ALO as while he was with us he was the most consitant driver....and no one can deny that...especially th e2012 season

No ones denying.... He's fourth in the driver's standings, ahead of kimi and both RB drivers......:-D

[ScuderiaBuckeye]

Alonso has consistently made poor career choices I will give him that.

[FerrariF60]

Alonso has consistently made poor career choices I will give him that.

Yup, I have to agree with you on that one
I guess he got too impatient with Ferraris lack of car development while he was there....hindsight he should have stuck with them, and we will never know but baybe, just maybe he would have been a WDC with ferrari by now

[Vettel165]

I see Mercedes overheating the rear US tyres on Q3. Is it really true, that Toto said, that Chinese GP is now a rear limited track not front?

[brawnydog]

Yup, I have to agree with you on that one
I guess he got too impatient with Ferraris lack of car development while he was there....hindsight he should have stuck with them, and we will never know but baybe, just maybe he would have been a WDC with ferrari by nowAlthough I've gotten to like Vettel. Vettel dreamed of driving for Ferrari as a kid. Alonso didn't. I think Alonso only cares about himself and if things aren't going his way, he burns bridges. Karma is a bitch!

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[jgonzalesm6]

component allocation going into the Chinese GP

https://pbs.twimg.com/media/Dablf7NWkAMd94W.jpg


Looks like Honda are pushing for performance at the expense of reliability....getting data for 2019.

[FerrariSteve]

If a Ferrari wins this weekend, this will create problems between Hamilton and Mercedes. The guy has a habit of becoming unwound when he's not winning. There's no need for mind games when you're the fastest. :-D


^This is true.
if it's all going fine, he's happy but if they have problems then it doesn't take much for him to throw his toys out of the pram.

[DefaultSettings]

7403

It all makes sense now.

[Aberracus]

7403

It all makes sense now.

Lol !


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[Silent Bob]

If Max winds up on a "pole winning team", he may never lose a race! A top car + Max's desire to win. Ferrari needs him.

he'd find a way to run into a backmarker. Remember Verstappen SR and Montoya?

[Giallo 550]

Although I've gotten to like Vettel. Vettel dreamed of driving for Ferrari as a kid. Alonso didn't. I think Alonso only cares about himself and if things aren't going his way, he burns bridges. Karma is a bitch!

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I have a feeling that Alonso enjoyed driving for Ferrari and the adoration he received from the fans, especially at Monza. The breaking point was really 2014, when Ferrari had the worst season of this decade. That car was so bad...

[Giallo 550]

7403

It all makes sense now.


So true. He's like Maldonado minus the jokes and memes, which means he's even less likable than Maldonado.

[killer]

So was the drop off in the race due to the tyres wearing out faster than Ferrari expected or could it be that they have improved their version of party mode for quali?

Tyres were not in the shape you'd expect them to be after going 9 laps beyond what Pirelli recommended. The drop off was as intended; Seb was managing the rubber--even more so when Kimi went out. Also, and this is oddly coming from Toto, Seb was saving fuel. I think an improved engine was the key to the quali pace and I think it's an overlooked aspect of the Bahrain victory. That Ferrari was killing it on the straights.

[killer]

component allocation going into the Chinese GP

https://pbs.twimg.com/media/Dablf7NWkAMd94W.jpg


Looks like Honda are pushing for performance at the expense of reliability....getting data for 2019.

Didn't know Seb had to change CE in Bahrain. Would you know what happened?

[Giallo 550]

Tyres were not in the shape you'd expect them to be after going 9 laps beyond what Pirelli recommended. The drop off was as intended; Seb was managing the rubber--even more so when Kimi went out. Also, and this is oddly coming from Toto, Seb was saving fuel. I think an improved engine was the key to the quali pace and I think it's an overlooked aspect of the Bahrain victory. That Ferrari was killing it on the straights.

I have to laugh at all the talk about Mercedes's horsepower gains over the winter. The Ferrari was killing it in the straights and it felt so good to see.

[brawnydog]

I have a feeling that Alonso enjoyed driving for Ferrari and the adoration he received from the fans, especially at Monza. The breaking point was really 2014, when Ferrari had the worst season of this decade. That car was so bad...Agree he was frustrated. He had no choice I think and in the end both parties had to turn a new page. I think now he has to stop chasing the "winning" team and stick it out with McLaren as they can only go up from here ...... I think.

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[ss-89]

Didn't know Seb had to change CE in Bahrain. Would you know what happened?

Yes it was a precautionary move following the electronics issue he had in FP3. The 1st CE unit may still be salvageable and put back into rotation but nothing has been said.

[enjaybel3]

I have to laugh at all the talk about Mercedes's horsepower gains over the winter. The Ferrari was killing it in the straights and it felt so good to see.
This is a great point. In Bahrain's penultimate lap, with Bottas close enough to pass, we can be absolutely sure of a few things:-
1) Bottas would have been using the max power mode on his PU
2) Bottas had DRS
3) Bottas's tires would have given him greater traction coming onto the main straight (getting his power down faster)
4) The Ferrari PU down that main straight still had too much grunt for the Merc to pass :-D

[mwk360]

if our next engine upgrade also includes some better fuel management regardless of mercs bad or good weekends we could take some fight to them on race days

[Ferrarichamp]

If Mercs fail to win again on Sunday it will be crisis mode not party mode :-D

[Vettel165]

if our next engine upgrade also includes some better fuel management regardless of mercs bad or good weekends we could take some fight to them on race days

What do you mean? There was an article about that on FIAT page. What happened in Bahrain I will tell you. Ferrari was a little bit faster than Mercedes on the beginning of each tyre stint, Mercedes at the end of it. Bottas was on average slower than Seb on the same SS tyres. Hamilton was a little bit faster than Seb because he had an pure race setup, because he knew that he will start out of top 5 because of his penalty. I think our pure pace like we saw in qualy was this time better than Mercedes, with being equal to them in the race. Still the rain is expected for friday, but mainly light rain, hope our cars will go out and get many new data (our new floor) even on wet or intermediate tyres. I hope for a good Chinese GP for our guys. We will see. Its gonna be interesting to watch if our car will be still the fastest at the end of that (1200 m) straight in China.

http://www.f1analisitecnica.com/2018/04/gp-bahrain-analisi-gara-vettel-ha.html

[jragona]

If Mercs fail to win again on Sunday it will be crisis mode not party mode :-D

If that happens, we will start to see Ferrari's Party mode :rotfl

[mardyrt]

I have to laugh at all the talk about Mercedes's horsepower gains over the winter. The Ferrari was killing it in the straights and it felt so good to see.

Its not just the engine, the smaller sidepod design and efficient aero is what is really helping our car. We gained some HP, but our aero is more efficient than mercedes.

[jgonzalesm6]

guys arriving at the airport earlier

https://pbs.twimg.com/media/DaeuC0RW4AAEfti.jpg

https://pbs.twimg.com/media/DaeuC0MX0AESHrJ.jpg

https://pbs.twimg.com/media/DaeoiTYWAAEN6pF.jpg

https://pbs.twimg.com/media/Dae52SbUwAA_ukM.jpg

https://pbs.twimg.com/media/Dae2yGbVwAA42lR.jpg

https://pbs.twimg.com/media/Dae-ceRX4AA-Omg.jpg

https://pbs.twimg.com/media/Dae-ceRX0AUDXQZ.jpg

https://pbs.twimg.com/media/DaeKne5V4AAME85.jpg


pit lane photos

https://pbs.twimg.com/media/Dafg-MtXkAIQROp.jpg

https://pbs.twimg.com/media/Dafg_fmWAAE0bDO.jpg

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

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

[jgonzalesm6]

FIA confirms no changes to DRS zones in Shanghai. An experiment with a longer zone on the pit straight worked pretty well in Bahrain - especially for those who managed to get a triple tow!

[FerrariSteve]

If Mercs fail to win again on Sunday it will be crisis mode not party mode :-D

LOL, please yes! :D

[Giallo 550]

Its not just the engine, the smaller sidepod design and efficient aero is what is really helping our car. We gained some HP, but our aero is more efficient than mercedes.

If that's truly the case, then that means Ferrari has a more sophisticated car than them. If they can improve the chassis a bit to lose more time in the turns, Mercedes will be in a lot of trouble.

People can say what they want about Sergio Marchionne, but I believe he had a lot to do with getting this team to really fire on all cylinders.

[mardyrt]

If that's truly the case, then that means Ferrari has a more sophisticated car than them. If they can improve the chassis a bit to lose more time in the turns, Mercedes will be in a lot of trouble.

People can say what they want about Sergio Marchionne, but I believe he had a lot to do with getting this team to really fire on all cylinders.

I agree with you on Sergio Marchionne.
About the car, I also think our car is designed with a low drag with a lot of emphasis on the high rake, diffuser, floor to generate downforce, with the car being longer, it takes some time to get the set up right. Our car is designed well, outside the box thinking, they have gone completely the different way. For me, Mercedes have been complacent. They thought they won it so easy last year, and they came to a conclusion their car was so much better. But, we have a huge advantage with our sidepods. Also, look at Red Bull, they have decent top speed compared to other renault teams, because they copied our design a bit.
With the upgrade package that will come in China, hope it gives us a couple tenths, if its the rumored .6, then we will have a good chance to be at front.
I am glad that we took two early wins, its two wins that should have gone to Mercedes but we managed to get it and this is a good foundation for a championship.

[Vettel165]

I agree with you on Sergio Marchionne.

With the upgrade package that will come in China, hope it gives us a couple tenths, if its the rumored .6, then we will have a good chance to be at front.
.

Where did you see that?

[FerrariF60]

Where did you see that?

You can’t believe rumours as nothing really correlates 100% from wind tunnel, CFD to actual track running
So this o.6 tenths could only be taken with a grain of salt

If we gain .2 to .4 from this combination of new floor and diffusor I’ll be more then happy

Only time will tell folks

[mwk360]

You can’t believe rumours as nothing really correlates 100% from wind tunnel, CFD to actual track running
So this o.6 tenths could only be taken with a grain of salt

If we gain .2 to .4 from this combination of new floor and diffusor I’ll be more then happy

Only time will tell folks

Yup samething last year with our engine upgrades which were all supposed to give us giant increases in time that motorsport.it and some Italy papers claimed too and that never happen. so wouldn't put any expectations over 0.2s especially since it seems its going to be unfortunately raining on friday and poor seb and the guys won't beable to get proper data and setup for Quali and race.

[ScuderiaBuckeye]

Ferrari's entire engine development last year was compromised when FIA clamped down on oil burn.

[barzini77]

It's about time that Kimmo wins a race

Ferrari 1-2 would be nice

[Aberracus]

It's about time that Kimmo wins a race

Ferrari 1-2 would be nice

It’s about time he win it on merit, yes
For that he will need to take pole and defend it without messing with the other Ferrari driver.

1-2 will be excellent, I don’t care such one of our guys finish first as long as bot of them finish 1-2.


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[mwk360]

Ferrari's entire engine development last year was compromised when FIA clamped down on oil burn.

That is a good point i forgot about that fiasco around canada too when things started going bad. but 0.6s gain for ferrari i think is a stretch and a half, maybe if they included everything ferrari brought to bahrain/modified plus the possible gains from the floor but even that seems too big gain.

I certainly hope to be proven wrong! :-D please prove me wrong ferrari lol give us a 0.6s or more gain

[Vettel165]

That is a good point i forgot about that fiasco around canada too when things started going bad. but 0.6s gain for ferrari i think is a stretch and a half, maybe if they included everything ferrari brought to bahrain/modified plus the possible gains from the floor but even that seems too big gain.

I certainly hope to be proven wrong! :-D please prove me wrong ferrari lol give us a 0.6s or more gain

0,6s of a gain with updates would mean a total domination from Ferrari. I doubt it that this floor is worth 0,6s, my guessing is maybe 0,2-0,3s of a gain is possible, which would be already pretty cool. James Alison said that Mercedes had the best tyre wear in Bahrain, which means his effect is there. His cars were always very easy on the tyres, but had a lot of trouble with warming them up, remember the Lotus years, and when he was by us. I am very confident in our new team. But still we have to stay humble. :-)

[PURE PASSION]

Αccording to F1AT, new floor arrived already on Friday evening in Bahrain (there were pictures of it in boxes) but they decided not to use it because both drivers reported positive feedback with modified one so it was postponed for China.

[mwk360]

Our tyre allocation for the chinese gp seems like we put ourselves in a disadvantage for the race strategy only 3 softs compared to mercs 5/6

If it does rain friday then it might equalise tyre options. We've seen how much better it is to stick with a lower stop strategy.Supposedly highest degrees will be very cold 15'c. which tyre compounds does that cold weather benefit? softer or harder? hopefully softer

[mwk360]

0,6s of a gain with updates would mean a total domination from Ferrari. I doubt it that this floor is worth 0,6s, my guessing is maybe 0,2-0,3s of a gain is possible, which would be already pretty cool. James Alison said that Mercedes had the best tyre wear in Bahrain, which means his effect is there. His cars were always very easy on the tyres, but had a lot of trouble with warming them up, remember the Lotus years, and when he was by us. I am very confident in our new team. But still we have to stay humble. :-)

Well said Ferrari are much more humble this year too :-) even though they won. mercs having the best tyre wear seems correct, Mercs will be looking to overcut as much as they can. We need both cars trying to get between both mercs if possible so they don't checkmate us with their tyre wear and pit strategies.

[Vettel165]

Our tyre allocation for the chinese gp seems like we put ourselves in a disadvantage for the race strategy only 3 softs compared to mercs 5/6

If it does rain friday then it might equalise tyre options. We've seen how much better it is to stick with a lower stop strategy.Supposedly highest degrees will be very cold 15'c. which tyre compounds does that cold weather benefit? softer or harder? hopefully softer

Cool conditions= Better softs than mediums, the car is sliding less around the track, and there is more grip available from the rubber.
Hot conditions= Mediums better on tracks that eat tyres (Spa, Spain...), Softs graining more.
Hot conditions= (on tracks that dont eat the tyres, Sochi, Canada, Monaco)= softs better in race conditions than mediums.

A new weather forecast from yr.no (usually a very reliable website) which gets its data from ECMWF weather (used by european meteorologist) model is showing now no rain for FP1,FP2. Hope it stay like this.

https://s9.postimg.cc/5okit70wf/Brez_naslova.png (https://postimages.org/)

[mwk360]

Cool conditions= Better softs than mediums, the car is sliding less around the track, and there is more grip available from the rubber.
Hot conditions= Mediums better on tracks that eat tyres (Spa, Spain...), Softs graining more.
Hot conditions= (on tracks that dont eat the tyres, Sochi, Canada, Monaco)= softs better in race conditions than mediums.

A new weather forecast from yr.no (usually a very reliable website) which gets its data from ECMWF weather (European and very good) model is showing now no rain for FP1,FP2. Hope it stay like this.

https://s9.postimg.cc/5okit70wf/Brez_naslova.png (https://postimages.org/)

nice thank you!, uhmm is ultra softs worst in the cold weather ?:'( we have the most ultrasofts

[Vettel165]

nice thank you!, uhmm is ultra softs worst in the cold weather ?:'( we have the most ultrasofts

Good point, I didnt think about the US as a race tyre. Maybe in cool conditions the tyre deg will be lower as expected and people will start on softs and then swich to the US. Dont know really, but US should work better than softs in cool conditions. Maybe some teams (Merc,Ferrari,RBR) might try to make it through Q2 on softs, which would be a major tyre advantage for the race and then go to mediums until the very end. It will all depends on track conditions and tyre deg, usually China is a tyre eating track. So the most likely strategy will be to start on US and then go to mediums until the end. Its gonna be interesting.

[mwk360]

Good point, I didnt think about the US as a race tyre. Maybe in cool conditions the tyre deg will be lower as expected and people will start on softs and then swich to the US. Dont know really, but US should work better than softs in cool conditions. Maybe some teams (Merc,Ferrari,RBR) might try to make it through Q2 on softs, which would be a major tyre advantage for the race and then go to mediums until the very end. It will all depends on track conditions and tyre deg, usually China is a tyre eating track. So the most likely strategy will be to start on US and then go to mediums until the end. Its gonna be interesting.

If its tyre eating track, i think mercs have advantage, they have 6 softs if i remember and ferrari just 3. Not sure how seb and kimi will space those out during race sims and have any for the race. In hindsight from what we've seen at bahrain it looks like having the harder tyre doesn't lose much less speed but provides plenty of laps extra. Maybe Kimi and Seb can split duties and reserve some softs and the mediums. :-).

China will be front tyre heavy so mercs will have advantage but crossing fingers this new floor helps ferrari with downforce to enable even less drag needed elsewhere with that nice looong straight

[brawnydog]

What upgrades are Mercedes bringing?

Sent from my LG-H812 using Tapatalk

[Tifoso]

If we can do well here, I am really liking our chances. :-)

[SilverSpeed]

What upgrades are Mercedes bringing?

Sent from my LG-H812 using Tapatalk

Party Mode 2.0 and new software :rotfl.

[brawnydog]

Party Mode 2.0 and new software :rotfl.Sounds about right. Lol

Sent from my LG-H812 using Tapatalk

[brawnydog]

If we can do well here, I am really liking our chances. :-)Can't wait. I'm quietly optimistic.

Sent from my LG-H812 using Tapatalk

[ScuderiaBuckeye]

Party Mode 2.0 and new software :rotfl.

Naw...it's gonna be Hangover mode.

:lol

[Aberracus]

This are the tyre choices

We have to save 1 soft and 1 medium

I think we will be ok

https://uploads.tapatalk-cdn.com/20180411/34409f3ed027accb768597a8825d6dac.jpeg


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

[FerrariSteve]

Not sure if I like this track or not tbh, quite frankly that long back straight scares me, I think the Mercs are going to be very strong there.
That said, I'll be crossing my fingers and wishing Ferrari the best! Can Seb win again? that would be awesome and a huge blow to goldenboy, I'd like to see Kimi win too but I'm not sure if that's going to happen. Not meaning to be too harsh on him but I know he performs well in Qually but he seems to go to sleep during the races.

[brawnydog]

Not sure if I like this track or not tbh, quite frankly that long back straight scares me, I think the Mercs are going to be very strong there.
That said, I'll be crossing my fingers and wishing Ferrari the best! Can Seb win again? that would be awesome and a huge blow to goldenboy, I'd like to see Kimi win too but I'm not sure if that's going to happen. Not meaning to be too harsh on him but I know he performs well in Qually but he seems to go to sleep during the races.I would love to see Vettel and Raikkonen scrapping it out for 1st. [emoji3] We need Raikkonen to have a good strong points finish.

Sent from my LG-H812 using Tapatalk

[Vettel165]

I see Ferrari again at the top of the speed (top) charts of that main straight.

Look at other Ferrari engine-powered cars! Ferrari has done an amazing job this winter by leapfrogging all of the Mercedes-engine powered cars on pure power. This was already seen in Barcelona (testing). Ferrari car philosphy is for me the best this year. The car has a high rake (RBR style) with low drag ,the car is having in my opinion even less drag than Mercedes. I wouldnt be suprised if Ferrari is having a better aero efficiency in medium-high speed corners with that car than Mercedes. This was a big weak factor by Ferrari last year.

With than new evolution of a car, the car should only get better from race to race. It wasnt just setup changes that brought Ferrari much closer to Mercedes in Bahrain, but they slightly changed many things in the car, front wing, floor, and that did the difference. The car looked glued to the track and with better stability in the corners as Red Bull or Mercedes. Of course we will need some time to really find the right setup for every track, high-downforce,low-downforce, but when they do, they could be very fast.

We will see, I as a Ferrari fan will stay humble. I think its gonna be interesting season until the end. I could be of course wrong, everything I did say its just a speculation and my own opinion.

[mwk360]

Wolff:"So we started to analyse what went wrong in Bahrain in order to improve for China and come back stronger. We're quite happy that this is a back-to-back race as that means that we won't have to wait long to get racing again”.

Hope we are ready to counter mercs

[Ferrarichamp]

sounds like Wolffie is getting desperate for that first win :lol

[mardyrt]

One thing is for sure, Mercedes does well on Mediums, its their favorite tyre.
We can save a 1 medium, and 1 soft, we have 3 sets of softs, and 2 mediums.
We can use 3 sets of ultras, and still have 5 left, and you would use only 4 sets in qualifying, usually.
Also, for cooler conditions in Spain, a lot of pundits said that Mediums were the faster tyre, because the tyre would slide, generating heat and it would not blister, but ultrasofts would slide too and generate heat but because of the softness of the compound, it would blister.
So, we will see in China. Hope we get a good step from the upgrades, and they can raise the rear ride height, and have the car how it was designed for, and it will give good front end because of the lower front wing due to higher rear ride height.

[mardyrt]

I see Ferrari again at the top of the speed (top) charts of that main straight.

Look at other Ferrari engine-powered cars! Ferrari has done an amazing job this winter by leapfrogging all of the Mercedes-engine powered cars on pure power. This was already seen in Barcelona (testing). Ferrari car philosphy is for me the best this year. The car has a high rake (RBR style) with low drag ,the car is having in my opinion even less drag than Mercedes. I wouldnt be suprised if Ferrari is having a better aero efficiency in medium-high speed corners with that car than Mercedes. This was a big weak factor by Ferrari last year.

With than new evolution of a car, the car should only get better from race to race. It wasnt just setup changes that brought Ferrari much closer to Mercedes in Bahrain, but they slightly changed many things in the car, front wing, floor, and that did the difference. The car looked glued to the track and with better stability in the corners as Red Bull or Mercedes. Of course we will need some time to really find the right setup for every track, high-downforce,low-downforce, but when they do, they could be very fast.

We will see, I as a Ferrari fan will stay humble. I think its gonna be interesting season until the end. I could be of course wrong, everything I did say its just a speculation and my own opinion.

We had only a very slight change to the diffuser, no other changes. Even Seb said it, car was the same as Australia, and that they did a lot of set up work with all the data they gathered in Australia. There was no new floor, the front wing was the launch spec with a very minor addition.
So, the China floor and diffuser should help us, I really hope. If we can get 2 to 3 tenths, it would be amazing.

[killer]

Yes it was a precautionary move following the electronics issue he had in FP3. The 1st CE unit may still be salvageable and put back into rotation but nothing has been said.

Cheers, mate. :-)

[paolo lalli]

WHY THE DOUBT WITH OUR STRAIT LINE SPEED FERRARI WILL SURPRISE THE PRESSURE IS MOUNTING ON MERCEDES I WOULD LIKE TO SEE THERE A GAME THEY HAVE NO CHOICE THEN FERRARI CAN PLAN THE ATTACK LONG TERM .

[mwk360]

Is CE penalty 10 place grid penalty??? i seen few people mention that on twitter some said 5.

Seb has the funny hairstyle back lol, feel it's going to be tough at this GP,track plays to every merc strength (engine speed, front tyres, cold weather, harder tyres, rain). Hoping seb can get another podium.

[Kristof_F40]

Is CE penalty 10 place grid penalty??? i seen few people mention that on twitter some said 5.

Seb has the funny hairstyle back lol, feel it's going to be tough at this GP,track plays to every merc strength (engine speed, front tyres, cold weather, harder tyres, rain). Hoping seb can get another podium.

RBR was also good at this track last year, even though it has the longest straight. This year they are stronger than last year...

[mwk360]

RBR was also good at this track last year, even though it has the longest straight. This year they are stronger than last year...

you right if i remember Dani and Max breezed passed kimi?or maybe that was canada..? RB are very good with braking and with drs (weve seen they could pass mercs on a straight line too at bahrain with drs) they will definitely be a threat or party pooper for ferrari and mercs


Some good insight and speculation about messed up pitstops of Haas and Ferrari from good reliable source.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=pKu9xOJ_vqQ

5:10

speculative(most likely) Haas had cross thread issues, same as kimi at FP, but at the race Kimi's gun man couldnt get the nut off and in the panic hit the switch to tell the system that the tyre was sorted. green light, mechanic injured. the wheel nuts and guns are the same for Ferrari and Haas so there's an issue that still remains.

[Vettel165]

Which factor should play into Ferraris hands and which to Mercedes this weekend.
Cool weather: Mercedes
Q3 tyres (US): Ferrari
Tyre pressures: dont know them /
High tyre wear: Ferrari
Front-limited circuit: Mercedes
Power of the engine (main straight): both are likely equal

FP1 should be at least dry tomorrow, the entire rain has moved to the night to saturday, maybe a shower is possible for FP2, but nothing big.

[mwk360]

Which factor should play into Ferraris hands and which to Mercedes this weekend.
Cool weather: Mercedes
Q3 tyres (US): Ferrari
Tyre pressures: dont know them /
High tyre wear: Ferrari
Front-limited circuit: Mercedes
Power of the engine (main straight): both are likely equal

FP1 should be at least dry tomorrow, the entire rain has moved to the night to saturday, maybe a shower is possible for FP2, but nothing big.

Nice :-)

I would put high tyre wear as equal - mercs take longer to get onto the pace(hamilton stint 1 bahrain, bottas on mediums)but they lasted longer and both had pace at the end of the stint, ferrari fall off much quicker end of stint(Seb melbourne first stint and bahrain end of both stints)

Hoping it stays dry, crofty reading poems about how beautiful hamilton and max look in the rain will be sickening

[Vettel165]

Nice :-)

+

Hoping it stays dry, crofty reading poems about how beautiful hamilton and max look in the rain will be sickening

Seb is very strong usually in rainy and damp China GP. Remember 2007?
Kimi is also very good there.

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

And that pass.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=aK6dlPPdhS4

[jgonzalesm6]

Chinese pics

Ferrari

https://pbs.twimg.com/media/DakWEXSXcAA-iYN.jpg

https://pbs.twimg.com/media/DakWFDEW4AA0N6n.jpg

https://pbs.twimg.com/media/DakV4mMX0AUTKop.jpg

https://pbs.twimg.com/media/DakV4v6XUAAM_3h.jpg

https://pbs.twimg.com/media/DakY5kmWkAE_fLW.jpg

https://pbs.twimg.com/media/DakRM-mW4AA7cn-.jpg

https://pbs.twimg.com/media/DakKP42VQAAJQBV.jpg

https://pbs.twimg.com/media/DakKQ8OU8AEfu4V.jpg

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

https://pbs.twimg.com/media/DakKT2MVMAE3tBY.jpg


Alfa

https://pbs.twimg.com/media/DakVUtcW4AA4kBU.jpg

https://pbs.twimg.com/media/DakVVOdXkAACze-.jpg

https://pbs.twimg.com/media/DakVVQYXcAA9Wnr.jpg

https://pbs.twimg.com/media/DakVWQ2X0AAjjpw.jpg

https://pbs.twimg.com/media/DakV74LXkAAngrO.jpg

https://pbs.twimg.com/media/DakV7WZXUAAy8RL.jpg

https://pbs.twimg.com/media/DakVxluXkAAnZ-s.jpg

https://pbs.twimg.com/media/DakVxDIW0AEt8f8.jpg



RedBull

https://pbs.twimg.com/media/DakWQd1XkAA1ZEp.jpg

https://pbs.twimg.com/media/DakWRA6WsAAknSJ.jpg

https://pbs.twimg.com/media/DakWRl-W0AAvHMJ.jpg

https://pbs.twimg.com/media/DakWYlmW4AASYLm.jpg

https://pbs.twimg.com/media/DakWZIhW0AAVvYf.jpg

https://pbs.twimg.com/media/DakWZtvWsAEYS1e.jpg


Mercedes

https://pbs.twimg.com/media/DakWwctXkAAJZ08.jpg

https://pbs.twimg.com/media/DakWw1nW0AApF4_.jpg

https://pbs.twimg.com/media/DakWxcXX4AAJWyN.jpg

https://pbs.twimg.com/media/DakW6pKW4AA0Fit.jpg

https://pbs.twimg.com/media/DakW7TgW0AEM4Ap.jpg



HAAS

https://pbs.twimg.com/media/DakXGyBX4AELg3T.jpg

https://pbs.twimg.com/media/DakXHUZWAAA1qcj.jpg

https://pbs.twimg.com/media/DakXIF1XUAAnT00.jpg

https://pbs.twimg.com/media/DakXRowW4AEgXwZ.jpg

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

https://pbs.twimg.com/media/DakXS6VXcAAJjfl.jpg

https://pbs.twimg.com/media/DakXbu2XcAET4Ue.jpg

https://pbs.twimg.com/media/DakXcN6WkAAh8ki.jpg

https://pbs.twimg.com/media/DakXczIW4AAN7mm.jpg




Williams

https://pbs.twimg.com/media/DakXojzXkAAQ0a0.jpg

https://pbs.twimg.com/media/DakXpDfX4AE5Njj.jpg

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

https://pbs.twimg.com/media/DakXsxgX0AATWS_.jpg

https://pbs.twimg.com/media/DakX4TsXUAAkbJi.jpg

https://pbs.twimg.com/media/DakX42MXcAADMs1.jpg

https://pbs.twimg.com/media/DakX52wXUAAdcxg.jpg

https://pbs.twimg.com/media/DakYGLwW4AEC7Rc.jpg

https://pbs.twimg.com/media/DakYGt7WkAAXCHs.jpg

https://pbs.twimg.com/media/DakYHqoW4AAQkfd.jpg



Force India

https://pbs.twimg.com/media/DakYa2VW4AUipLc.jpg

https://pbs.twimg.com/media/DakYbaHWkAYPAp4.jpg

https://pbs.twimg.com/media/DakYcGMX4AAhkKG.jpg

https://pbs.twimg.com/media/DakYi8QW0AA7mab.jpg

https://pbs.twimg.com/media/DakYjgGW0AATu81.jpg

https://pbs.twimg.com/media/DakYkVGW0AAonng.jpg



STR

https://pbs.twimg.com/media/DakYr2LXcAA3wox.jpg

https://pbs.twimg.com/media/DakYsYOW4AEbf7f.jpg

https://pbs.twimg.com/media/DakYs_jW0AAjk6p.jpg

https://pbs.twimg.com/media/DakYtj5WAAE7ADb.jpg

https://pbs.twimg.com/media/DakY1OGW4AEFwfP.jpg

https://pbs.twimg.com/media/DakY1yvXkAEsJM7.jpg

https://pbs.twimg.com/media/DakY2QCWAAAEG0v.jpg

[jgonzalesm6]

At the drivers signing autographs......they're good.

https://pbs.twimg.com/media/Dakx4mwX4AIFHgw.jpg

[mardyrt]

At the drivers signing autographs......they're good.

https://pbs.twimg.com/media/Dakx4mwX4AIFHgw.jpg

From the picture, it looks like its cold!!!
Not good for us, we need it warmer, in the 20s at least.

[mwk360]

Kimi Q3 2017 China
https://vk.com/video399766228_456239088?list=197c62a4ef6eb1380b


The Seb Q3 2017 China
https://vk.com/video399766228_456239087?list=800e393ef3767ddef0


Kimi looks quick on straights, Seb looks like a master on the braking and cornering, so planted i thought it was a video game first.

Predict that ferrari will have to sacrifice some straight line speed for Q1 and Q2. watching the bahrain onboards and compared to last year, still have some understeering, lazy looking entry to sharp corners but the straight line and acceleration ferrari had is impressive to make up for what they lack.

[mwk360]

From the picture, it looks like its cold!!!
Not good for us, we need it warmer, in the 20s at least.

YES! hope the team does a sun dance, let it shine!

The more it cools down and closer to rain it gets the worse it will become, lol hopefully a gust of wind blows the cold weather far away

[icedeepan]

YES! hope the team does a sun dance, let it shine!

The more it cools down and closer to rain it gets the worse it will become, lol hopefully a gust of wind blows the cold weather far away

Why are we assuming that? We havent even seen what the new car can do in these conditions.

[Vettel165]

Why are we assuming that? We havent even seen what the new car can do in these conditions.

I agree only time will tell. I really hope for a dry FP1,FP2, so we can really test our brand new floor, that should bring us some further rear stability in the corners.

[mwk360]

Why are we assuming that? We havent even seen what the new car can do in these conditions.

i think its my fear from last year and the unknown, mercs love cold weather. Plus if ferrari do have anything to bring and it starts raining it will be hard to get setup right

[Vettel165]

http://formula1.ferrari.com/en/2018-f1-chinese-gp-press-conference/

Seb and Kimi ahead of China: a demanding track, a different challenge

Shanghai, April 12 – Preliminaries to the third round of the 2018 championship took place under cloudy skies and lower temperatures than expected. Scuderia Ferrari drivers Sebastian Vettel and Kimi Raikkonen reflect on the challenge ahead, before the action starts on Friday morning at the Shanghai International Circuit.

“I think we should be alright here in China” says Seb, “even if it is difficult to know. So far there have been only two races and both were very good in terms of results, but they were quite different and here, the track is quite different too. Conditions are not the same as in Bahrain and Australia either. So, we’ll see how it goes, but I am quite confident. I believe that if we have the right balance, then we should be competitive, I just don’t know how much yet. However, we’ll try to win. After this race I think we’ll be able to tell a little bit more, but overall the car is in good shape and it is working, so I know we can be competitive.

This track is quite demanding for tires, so in terms of strategy you try to make all of them work, to understand which one has the best chances. It will be an interesting challenge, so we’ll see. Temperatures are very important here too, because it is colder and it changes the balance of the car, and the limit of the tires. But it is difficult to predict and we need to be patient. We always try to do ourjob well and even if the first two races were ok, they are behind us now. We keep learning and look ahead”.

Kimi’s comments are on the same page as his teammate’s: “This track is completely different, and the layout and the surface of a circuit make a bigger difference than any other factor. Whether this is going to favour someone, or it is the same for everybody, we don’t know yet. We have had good speed at both tracks so far, so I don’t see why it shouldn’t be the same here. We’ll start tomorrow, see how it is and do our normal program. Let’s see how it is going to play out over the weekend, if it will be raining or not. The weather can be a bit tricky here, it’s a bit hard to predict what will happen. It will be interesting to see where we are”.

[mwk360]

http://formula1.ferrari.com/en/2018-f1-chinese-gp-press-conference/

Seb and Kimi ahead of China: a demanding track, a different challenge

Shanghai, April 12 – Preliminaries to the third round of the 2018 championship took place under cloudy skies and lower temperatures than expected. Scuderia Ferrari drivers Sebastian Vettel and Kimi Raikkonen reflect on the challenge ahead, before the action starts on Friday morning at the Shanghai International Circuit.

“I think we should be alright here in China” says Seb, “even if it is difficult to know. So far there have been only two races and both were very good in terms of results, but they were quite different and here, the track is quite different too. Conditions are not the same as in Bahrain and Australia either. So, we’ll see how it goes, but I am quite confident. I believe that if we have the right balance, then we should be competitive, I just don’t know how much yet. However, we’ll try to win. After this race I think we’ll be able to tell a little bit more, but overall the car is in good shape and it is working, so I know we can be competitive.

This track is quite demanding for tires, so in terms of strategy you try to make all of them work, to understand which one has the best chances. It will be an interesting challenge, so we’ll see. Temperatures are very important here too, because it is colder and it changes the balance of the car, and the limit of the tires. But it is difficult to predict and we need to be patient. We always try to do ourjob well and even if the first two races were ok, they are behind us now. We keep learning and look ahead”.

Kimi’s comments are on the same page as his teammate’s: “This track is completely different, and the layout and the surface of a circuit make a bigger difference than any other factor. Whether this is going to favour someone, or it is the same for everybody, we don’t know yet. We have had good speed at both tracks so far, so I don’t see why it shouldn’t be the same here. We’ll start tomorrow, see how it is and do our normal program. Let’s see how it is going to play out over the weekend, if it will be raining or not. The weather can be a bit tricky here, it’s a bit hard to predict what will happen. It will be interesting to see where we are”.

Love that humble attitude from seb. Kimi just needs to be feisty against mercs in races as he is very good this year in quali, praying for a good setup for them :-)

[jgonzalesm6]

something new on Kimi's car?????

https://pbs.twimg.com/media/DalB2J8WkAEfBky.jpg


Good to see Lewis and Max are friends again.:-D

https://pbs.twimg.com/media/DalDp81W4AAtjQo.jpg



Ferrari Shanghai 2018 poster

https://pbs.twimg.com/media/DaklEfMWkAAJ73E.jpg



Vettel and Kimi signing auto's

https://pbs.twimg.com/media/DakmSMVWAAEGPL4.jpg

https://pbs.twimg.com/media/Dakl0WkXkAUlD7h.jpg

https://pbs.twimg.com/media/DaklO7LX4AAa2ue.jpg (Vettel and Arami)

https://pbs.twimg.com/media/DakQwHwX0AA5vvw.jpg (Vettel in the pits)

[PURE PASSION]

something new on Kimi's car?????

https://pbs.twimg.com/media/DalB2J8WkAEfBky.jpg



We had it in Bahrain!!

[tifosi1993]

https://www.formule1.nl/app/uploads/2018/04/China-Voorbereiding-8.jpg

[nani_s23]

https://youtu.be/_PPhfA5XNaE
Out of context.... seb’s nailing it off the track.:rotfl

[Vettel165]

Teams again playing with oil.

https://www.auto-motor-und-sport.de/formel-1/ferrari-mercedes-red-bull-am-limit-dreikampf-wird-haerter/

"Fuel consumption has risen significantly in all this year. Because the drive units deliver the same amount of power despite the longer running times . And the cars have up to five percent more downforce. As a rule, this also means more air resistance. The top speeds have dropped compared to last year. This means more time on the straights, more time under full load and thus a higher consumption.

The engine technicians have calculated that on the critical routes would need 109 instead of 105 kilograms to get through carefree.

So far it is not clear who is affected. Renault seems to hit hardest. The Renault drivers had in Melbourne even after seven laps under safety-car conditions to take the foot off the gas. In Bahrain even Honda made a better figure. Ferrari operated in Bahrain more lift and coast than Mercedes. However, an engineer from the silver camp warns: "We drove there most of the time in the slipstream. This helps."

Mercedes has another problem, you can hear under the hand. The cars with Mercedes engines are not as fast on the straights as they should be. This has supposedly to do with the oil specification. We hear that Petronas dug up a 2016 oil grade to be on the safe side with oil consumption. Until the beginning of the season, the oil consumption of Mercedes and Ferrari was only 0.01 liters below the permitted limit of 0.6 liters per 100 kilometers.

After the oil correction, Mercedes should be on the safe side when it comes to oil consumption. But that also costs power . Ferrari is obviously still full risk just below the pain threshold. And it benefits relative to the competition. No wonder that Mercedes engine chief Andy Cowell says: "In qualifying Ferrari and we are on par." So far, this was the domain of the Mercedes engine.

The oil theme could boil up soon. The opponents of Ferrari are trying to find out why the Ferrari engine in the factory car smokes so much when starting. And even when driving smokes more than the other Ferrari teams. Should not all engines of a manufacturer be the same this year ?

Some suspect some trick behind that will allow Ferrari to add oil to the combustion process. Meanwhile, it is also known how the oil tricksters have practiced in the past. A gasket in the compressor of the turbocharger was carefully constructed "leaking" so that a pre-calculated amount of oil could enter the combustion chamber."

[512 TR]

With that many US tyres the team obviously intends to race on them at the start and at the same time going for a front row lock-out. But then what? A two stopper seems to be the slower strategy so far but on the other hand China has other characteristics than Australia and Bahrain. A one-stopper with an ever longer stint on mediums than the softs in Bahrain? Maybe the US can hold up as the SS if it's colder? A two-stopper like US-S-US? Well, both teams have a very different approach?

[nani_s23]

Mercs will go for softs in quali & race with mediums.

[mwk360]

Mercs will go for softs in quali & race with mediums.

We took too little soft tyres :( , ham has 6 so i can easily see him starting on softs one stopping on mediums and he'l probably have the best race tyres

Ferrari most likely 2 stopping, waaay too many ultra softs in the allocation and i think it'l be US to Softs to US

[PURE PASSION]

https://it.motorsport.com/f1/news/vettel-aggressivi-con-la-scelta-gomme-forse-e-conservativa-la-mercedes-1025145/

[ScuderiaBuckeye]

Teams again playing with oil.

https://www.auto-motor-und-sport.de/formel-1/ferrari-mercedes-red-bull-am-limit-dreikampf-wird-haerter/

"Fuel consumption has risen significantly in all this year. Because the drive units deliver the same amount of power despite the longer running times . And the cars have up to five percent more downforce. As a rule, this also means more air resistance. The top speeds have dropped compared to last year. This means more time on the straights, more time under full load and thus a higher consumption.

The engine technicians have calculated that on the critical routes would need 109 instead of 105 kilograms to get through carefree.

So far it is not clear who is affected. Renault seems to hit hardest. The Renault drivers had in Melbourne even after seven laps under safety-car conditions to take the foot off the gas. In Bahrain even Honda made a better figure. Ferrari operated in Bahrain more lift and coast than Mercedes. However, an engineer from the silver camp warns: "We drove there most of the time in the slipstream. This helps."

Mercedes has another problem, you can hear under the hand. The cars with Mercedes engines are not as fast on the straights as they should be. This has supposedly to do with the oil specification. We hear that Petronas dug up a 2016 oil grade to be on the safe side with oil consumption. Until the beginning of the season, the oil consumption of Mercedes and Ferrari was only 0.01 liters below the permitted limit of 0.6 liters per 100 kilometers.

After the oil correction, Mercedes should be on the safe side when it comes to oil consumption. But that also costs power . Ferrari is obviously still full risk just below the pain threshold. And it benefits relative to the competition. No wonder that Mercedes engine chief Andy Cowell says: "In qualifying Ferrari and we are on par." So far, this was the domain of the Mercedes engine.

The oil theme could boil up soon. The opponents of Ferrari are trying to find out why the Ferrari engine in the factory car smokes so much when starting. And even when driving smokes more than the other Ferrari teams. Should not all engines of a manufacturer be the same this year ?

Some suspect some trick behind that will allow Ferrari to add oil to the combustion process. Meanwhile, it is also known how the oil tricksters have practiced in the past. A gasket in the compressor of the turbocharger was carefully constructed "leaking" so that a pre-calculated amount of oil could enter the combustion chamber."

Frankly my only concern w/ the Ferrari I've seen so far. Last year we were caught out by oil burn clampdown and I believe the timing of when other teams went to the FIA about it was specifically to hinder the Ferrari engine. Merc as we all saw gamed the system mightily when the introduced that new unit before Spa.

Similar to how Ferrari went to the FIA at the last minute in pre-season 2017 to get FRIC clamped down on in Merc and RB, which is why I believe Merc's car was a "diva" in the early going last year. It was designed to use the FRIC and Merc had to redo their car once the suspension was outlawed. Turnabout is fair play, as they say.

If Ferrari is smart they will make sure that smoke is gone when their next engines hit the grid.

[mwk360]

https://it.motorsport.com/f1/news/vettel-aggressivi-con-la-scelta-gomme-forse-e-conservativa-la-mercedes-1025145/

bravissimo Seb :-P, Ilike his mentality this year, not saying we are now equal or we are better, he knows the truth Mercs are the favorites and the fastest but there are ways to beat them as we've seen as melbourne and bahrain. developments will be the biggest factor in who wins the championship alongside reliability.



Frankly my only concern w/ the Ferrari I've seen so far. Last year we were caught out by oil burn clampdown and I believe the timing of when other teams went to the FIA about it was specifically to hinder the Ferrari engine. Merc as we all saw gamed the system mightily when the introduced that new unit before Spa.

Similar to how Ferrari went to the FIA at the last minute in pre-season 2017 to get FRIC clamped down on in Merc and RB, which is why I believe Merc's car was a "diva" in the early going last year. It was designed to use the FRIC and Merc had to redo their car once the suspension was outlawed. Turnabout is fair play, as they say.


If Ferrari is smart they will make sure that smoke is gone when their next engines hit the grid.


Im worried about our oil consumption and the smoke thing now, hopefully ferrari have gotten it checked and cleared by fia for the rest of the year already

[nani_s23]

We took too little soft tyres :( , ham has 6 so i can easily see him starting on softs one stopping on mediums and he'l probably have the best race tyres

Ferrari most likely 2 stopping, waaay too many ultra softs in the allocation and i think it'l be US to Softs to US

No..!! Ferrari going for quali, track position, 2 stop by the looks of tyre allocation.
Track position gonna be the key here for Ferrari. I hope seb or Kimi get pole position n manage pace from there on.

[mwk360]

No..!! Ferrari going for quali, track position, 2 stop by the looks of tyre allocation.
Track position gonna be the key here for Ferrari. I hope seb or Kimi get pole position n manage pace from there on.

Do you think the delta difference between compounds and laps will be worth it though? mercs on mediums might even be faster than they are on softs .

I hope seb gets pole because kimi loses places and doesn't fight back, either way i dont mind kimi getting pole but i prefer seb for the sake of fighting the merc domination. no offence to anyone.

Do you think the rain will hamper us too badly?

[nani_s23]

Frankly my only concern w/ the Ferrari I've seen so far. Last year we were caught out by oil burn clampdown and I believe the timing of when other teams went to the FIA about it was specifically to hinder the Ferrari engine. Merc as we all saw gamed the system mightily when the introduced that new unit before Spa.

Similar to how Ferrari went to the FIA at the last minute in pre-season 2017 to get FRIC clamped down on in Merc and RB, which is why I believe Merc's car was a "diva" in the early going last year. It was designed to use the FRIC and Merc had to redo their car once the suspension was outlawed. Turnabout is fair play, as they say.

If Ferrari is smart they will make sure that smoke is gone when their next engines hit the grid.

Remember it was former Ferrari engineer who passed the info & raised a complaint to FIA.
But this time around, if Ferrari using any such trick teams needs to figure out what sort of thing it is.
I think Ferrari is adhering the rule book. Just hats off to them. Even if they found at fault, I applaud to their creativeness

[mwk360]

Anyone see the comments from ricciardo this weekend so far, he is trying so desperately to get mercedes seat lol

[nani_s23]

Do you think the delta difference between compounds and laps will be worth it though? mercs on mediums might even be faster than they are on softs .

I hope seb gets pole because kimi loses places and doesn't fight back, either way i dont mind kimi getting pole but i prefer seb for the sake of fighting the merc domination. no offence to anyone.

Do you think the rain will hamper us too badly?

First thing, mercs didnt use US & HS under cool conditions in pre-season testing. So it’s no wonder they did choose hard compounds over Super softs. On other side it’s opposite Ferrari did see US performance in Barcelona testing.

If you look at that testing closely mercs did 1.19’s on mediums too which was eye-raising.
Quali & race conditions would be cooler but not much similar to Barcelona. But still mercs will be strong of mediums more than softs too.

Coming to performance difference between tyre compounds. It isn’t much Pirelli predicting .4ths. So it’s down to which teams switch easily n gain much on US.

[nani_s23]

Anyone see the comments from ricciardo this weekend so far, he is trying so desperately to get mercedes seat lol

RB’s are always after Ferrari. They forgot that they need to beat mercs to claim title.
I personally feel Lewis would retire at 2020. If he doesn’t win title this year.

[mwk360]

RB’s are always after Ferrari. They forgot that they need to beat mercs to claim title.
I personally feel Lewis would retire at 2020. If he doesn’t win title this year.

Lol he was giving bottas flack saying he would've won in mercedes of bottas or atleast make attempts, he was talking about how aggressive he's driving is and that he is here to win all or nothing, now he's saying verstappen squeezed hamilton outside the track ,after the issue was put to rest lol.

[mwk360]

First thing, mercs didnt use US & HS under cool conditions in pre-season testing. So it’s no wonder they did choose hard compounds over Super softs. On other side it’s opposite Ferrari did see US performance in Barcelona testing.

If you look at that testing closely mercs did 1.19’s on mediums too which was eye-raising.
Quali & race conditions would be cooler but not much similar to Barcelona. But still mercs will be strong of mediums more than softs too.

Coming to performance difference between tyre compounds. It isn’t much Pirelli predicting .4ths. So it’s down to which teams switch easily n gain much on US.


Do you think two US stints = 1 Medium stint?

Also is cold weather around 15C or lower good or bad for tyres like US and why? thank you for trying to explain stuff lol

[nani_s23]

Do you think two US stints = 1 Medium stint?

Also is cold weather around 15C or lower good or bad for tyres like US and why? thank you for trying to explain stuff lol

About your first question. Well I don’t know variables literally when even fp1 isn’t started yet.
2nd question US this year are 1step further. I think Ferrari would be fine on these tyres.

But ultimately mercs would be good on mediums as we saw in preseason testing. So the question is Ferrari US tyre performance vs mercs mediums & softs.
We need to check during practice sessions

[mwk360]

About your first question. Well I don’t know variables literally when even fp1 isn’t started yet.
2nd question US this year are 1step further. I think Ferrari would be fine on these tyres.

But ultimately mercs would be good on mediums as we saw in preseason testing. So the question is Ferrari US tyre performance vs mercs mediums & softs.
We need to check during practice sessions

lol from testing i remember them doing only like 6 laps on us stints at a time so i got worried. Ooo Quali will be so important but we need both cars up there. otherwise they will play bottas as Ham's bride and have him keep ferrari's away. Might think being ham's wing guy will be his best bet at staying at merc

[nani_s23]

lol from testing i remember them doing only like 6 laps on us stints at a time so i got worried. Ooo Quali will be so important but we need both cars up there. otherwise they will play bottas as Ham's bride and have him keep ferrari's away. Might think being ham's wing guy will be his best bet at staying at merc

Most important thing for this year is.. Kimi’s form. If he’s consistent similar to last two races, then game on.

[Aberracus]

lol from testing i remember them doing only like 6 laps on us stints at a time so i got worried. Ooo Quali will be so important but we need both cars up there. otherwise they will play bottas as Ham's bride and have him keep ferrari's away. Might think being ham's wing guy will be his best bet at staying at merc

Merc didn’t got or use Softer tyres than SS in Barcelona tests. And they really didn’t did super times on softer tires, I remember all the usual suspects (journos) saying with the difference of 2.5 seconds from medium to US merc is faster than Ferrari.
And we all know that there isn’t such difference and that Merc is not faster than Fer on the softer compound.


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[jgonzalesm6]

First thing, mercs didnt use US & HS under cool conditions in pre-season testing. So it’s no wonder they did choose hard compounds over Super softs. On other side it’s opposite Ferrari did see US performance in Barcelona testing.

If you look at that testing closely mercs did 1.19’s on mediums too which was eye-raising.
Quali & race conditions would be cooler but not much similar to Barcelona. But still mercs will be strong of mediums more than softs too.

Coming to performance difference between tyre compounds. It isn’t much Pirelli predicting .4ths. So it’s down to which teams switch easily n gain much on US.


lol from testing i remember them doing only like 6 laps on us stints at a time so i got worried. Ooo Quali will be so important but we need both cars up there. otherwise they will play bottas as Ham's bride and have him keep ferrari's away. Might think being ham's wing guy will be his best bet at staying at merc


Merc didn’t got or use Softer tyres than SS in Barcelona tests. And they really didn’t did super times on softer tires, I remember all the usual suspects (journos) saying with the difference of 2.5 seconds from medium to US merc is faster than Ferrari.
And we all know that there isn’t such difference and that Merc is not faster than Fer on the softer compound.


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Merc's ate their tyres(softer compounds) during Barcelona 2018 as witnessed in thes photos

https://pbs.twimg.com/media/DXxuyp-WAAE5yWV.jpg

https://pbs.twimg.com/media/DXxuyp-WAAE5yWV.jpg


stints on the W09

https://pbs.twimg.com/media/DX20S0WW0AMCYRr.jpg


and

F1 testing: Bullish Mercedes has soft-tyre doubts from Barcelona

But having not run the fastest hypersoft tyre all week, and having suffered some blistering on the soft compound, Valtteri Bottas says that there remain some question marks about its performance in certain circumstances.

"We got the medium and the hard tyres to work quite well I think," said the Finn.

"We still have issues with blistering on the softer compounds.

"Hopefully it will be different in Melbourne, but on the new track surface here in Barcelona we had some difficulties."

Last year's Mercedes W08 had a similar characteristic for performing on the harder tyres, but Pirelli has played down the evidence of blistering in testing as anything to be worried about.

"Blisters is not a surprise considering the energy the new cars are putting on the new tyres," said Pirelli's head of car racing Mario Isola.

https://www.autosport.com/f1/news/134760/bullish-mercedes-has-softtyre-doubts

[Aberracus]

But now they have talked Pirelli into changing the tires for Barcelona and other resurfaced tracks.

Very bad


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[FerrariF60]

But now they have talked Pirelli into changing the tires for Barcelona and other resurfaced tracks.

Very bad


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its ONLY 3 tracks.....and who knows, it may be in our benefit too...

[Aberracus]

its ONLY 3 tracks.....and who knows, it may be in our benefit too...

Yes that’s possible too


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[SilverSpeed]

https://wtf1.com/post/alonso-thinks-people-are-expecting-too-much-from-mclaren/

No really Fonzo how should this come...:rotfl

[brawnydog]

Bad day for Ferrari, great day for racing. What a race. Congrats to Danny. However, this doesn't take away from the fact that the safety once again completely changed the outcome of the race. This time Vettel got the worst of luck. We still have a good car. Let's not forget that. Looking forward to next race. I think Ferrari will be charged up. Still potential in our car.

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[jgonzalesm6]

Bad day for Ferrari, great day for racing. What a race. Congrats to Danny. However, this doesn't take away from the fact that the safety once again completely changed the outcome of the race. This time Vettel got the worst of luck. We still have a good car. Let's not forget that. Looking forward to next race. I think Ferrari will be charged up. Still potential in our car.

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Lap 21...Vettel pitted Bottas takes the lead due to the undercut by Mercedes. Under the SC they(Ferrari) pit late cuz they could not react due to the timing of the SC. Then Vettel lights up the rears excessively after the hit by Max(lap43) degrading his tyres even more to the point that the last laps Vettel was struggling to hold position....looses to Hulk and Alonso...Vettel ends up P7

Yes, both cars and drivers have potential to win this 2018 season.