Spanish GP 2013 - Qualifying thread

**radosav** · 11th May 2013, 20:21

So, Fernando is in a Lotus sandwich ! If he attempts to overtake Kimi he will puncture his rear tyre, and if he doesnt , Romain will obliterate him and everyone in the way! Not so great choices!

**redkid** · 11th May 2013, 23:14

Pretty simple fact, we are not there yet on a single lap pace.

Im very much optimistic though for this race...the last laugh will be ours after the race.

Forza Ferrari!

**Ferrari Man** · 11th May 2013, 23:22

Not too worried about merc. Hopin they still have an apeitite for rubber.pettlle and Raikkonen are the concerns. We need to beat them bot
h to keep our year alive.

**sagi58** · 11th May 2013, 23:45

Originally Posted by Nero Horse

Felipe really got that penalty for nothing...

Does anyone have video for this? I haven't been able to find anything!!

**FrankAlfa** · 11th May 2013, 23:46

My fears of the ability of Aldo Costa and his team of Mercedes Engineers is a very real reality and one to not dismiss! I said a long time ago that Aldo Costa, is an Engineer out for Revenge and Driven to Prove Ferrari Wrong to have Fired Him!!!!!!!! Ferrari chose to Fire Aldo Costa 2 years ago and I see Aldo Costa as an Engineer that feels that he has been humiliated in his Country, The sport of Formula One and all the world to see. I see Aldo Costa with the Engineering Team and the Finanical Might and Support that is Mercedes! Today's One, Two qualifying result should not be taken lightly and it is a serious hit to Ferrari. Ferrari was striving to carry the march and lead the field in Qualifying and the Race! Now Ferrari are finding themselves on the back foot and out qualified and lacking the pace they need to beat not only Vettel but Kimi and BOTH Mercedes Drivers who qualified 1st & 2nd on the grid.

My concern grows with each race and as Ferrari applies more development parts and pieces to advance the race cars, they remain behind and are NOT qualifying 1st and 2nd. Ferrari is close to the front but still have several drivers in front of them. This is troubling and Ferrari are NOT in the strong position they were in the Schumacher days and the fact is they are still playing catch-up. Massa is still hurting the team by lagging to far behind Alonso. Ferrari still have quite a bit of work to do to lead the field.

I have disappointment and concern for Ferrari.

Ciao,

Forza Ferrari!!!!

**Alonsomaniac** · 11th May 2013, 23:47

The fingerboy is right in front of Fernando....he won't know what side to look at right from the start

Don't worry Seb, he'll come, one side or the other!

**Ferrari Man** · 11th May 2013, 23:57

Originally Posted by FrankAlfa

Massa is still hurting the team by lagging to far behind !!!

By a full 0.001 seconds today. I could drive better.

**Jose Lorca** · 12th May 2013, 00:19

I expect to see plenty of overtakes from Alonso tomorrow!

Speed trap
Alonso - 318.5
Raikkonen - 313.1
Hamilton - 312.6
Rosberg - 312.1
Vettel - 306.2

**shamim179** · 12th May 2013, 01:16

Seems like lotus has traded off a bit of their race pace for qualifying. They were as fast as us in the speed traps in previous circuits. This may actually be our method of winning. Start close enough to the front 1st to 3rd row gain some positions at the start overtake cars that are ahead be able to pit later than most. Not ideal but the weaknesses in our car put us into this position in the first place but our strengths will overcome it during the race. A bit like last year but faster both in qualifying and race. I think we won't want to sacrifice our race pace to improve qualifying pace. We have fast starts so starting in the 2nd or 3rd rows is good enough to win.

**shamim179** · 12th May 2013, 01:25

If we can consistently fight for the win or the podium by being just 5th or 6th at worst we are going to be difficult to beat. Of course with this method of winning we are prone to a contact with another car ahead. Exact opposite of red bull way of winning. They qualify in the front and try to pull away and maintain a gap. We qualify a little lower but know we can catch up with high straight line speed good DRS and superior race pace.

**FrankAlfa** · 12th May 2013, 02:11

How about Massa's penalty???

**vae32** · 12th May 2013, 03:34

Hey everyone, a pit dissappointed...but not overly because i still believe we have performance in the f138 to get pole and to win races, the problem is not the car, it's getting heat into the tyre's in order to bring out there optimum grip, there's 2 team's that's got that problem and is also easy on there tyres, Lotus and ferrari...the opposite is mecedes, they only need a out lap to get maximum heat to there's that is why they got out the maximum grip out of there tyres, but if they keep on going say 3 to 4 more lap's there tyre's will quickly go off because they overheat there tyre's. When i heard 1 of the commentators saying that Alonso was fueled for a 2 lap run, i was very excited that the ferrari team has worked it out or trying something different, i 100% believe that i'm going to finally see pole for either our driver's, but it fell short Alonso came in for new pairs of medium. If the ferrari team can't figure this out soon or try this 2 lap run on medium, it will be very unlikely that will be seeing some pole possition's from our boy's this season. The team's has got to try everything, for the race kimi for me will be a sitting duck at the start of race after the 2 laps his tyres will come to him, the 2 mecedes won't be to much of a problem as there tyre's would go off...the fight i'm longing to see is between vettel and Alo, hope for problem's free for our car's today, some of our question's today maybe answered. Good luck to the team and the boy's.

**vae32** · 12th May 2013, 04:16

Originally Posted by redkid

Pretty simple fact, we are not there yet on a single lap pace.

Im very much optimistic though for this race...the last laugh will be ours after the race.

Forza Ferrari!

Your right for single pace, what the team hasn't learned yet, is because the car is so easy on it's tyre's, the f138 has got a 2 lap pace for pole....i rather start them at the front with 1 lap dissadvantage to the other's then being starting behind them. I worked out that the only team that our team would be disadvantage to is lotus, that is if when the team do decide to do a 2 lap run on mediums on q3. I just don't want them to work too hard on the car, and head the wrong direction e.g like the second half of last year. The car is fast proven to us by the race pace....the team hasn't tryed everything yet, and that is to do a 2 lap run for quali q3. The f10 is another car that the team have, that had the same problem....easy on the tyres, quali low on grid and most importantly cant get heat on to the tyres, but good on race pace...i have noted down the same comment's then for the team's to do a 2 lap run on quali q3. And again same problem.

**Poltergeistes** · 12th May 2013, 04:16

didn't understand Massa's punishment, it was q2, and it was not like he was doing it as a team game to get any benefit from it.

and yes, kudos to webber, he didn't whine about it, he knows this kind of thing happens.

so i wonder, if this is the criterion, that means that everyone will be punished and lose positions when we go to monaco?

**Hornet** · 12th May 2013, 04:54

Originally Posted by Nero Horse

Felipe really got that penalty for nothing. I mean yes, he was impeding Webber but where was he supposed to go then? If he had suddenly moved to the left then maybe Webber would've also moved to the left at the same time and ended up crashing into the back of Massa's car. I can understand why Gutierrez got his penalty but Massa really didn't deserve such a harsh penalty. But oh well, hopefully this injustice will make Felipe angry and then he can use that anger to drive a fantastic race tomorrow.

Normally the team will inform the driver that there's a car on hot lap behind him, and the driver need to drop his pace to let the other car catch up and pass him. So the idea is that Ferrari should have told Massa to let Webber past BEFORE going into that long corner.

Another point is the driver on hot lap has the rights to the racing line, so Webber will not move to the left because that's not the racing line. The slowing driver will always move out of the racing line. This is the arrangement that all drivers automatically follow to avoid problems.

Although I do agree that a grid penalty is harsh. It should have been a reprimand.

**Rishu** · 12th May 2013, 07:46

Don't understand why people are thinking we are too much behind in single lap pace? A tenth & half & Alonso or Massa would have been P3 , then everybody wold have been happy & saying that Mercs will be sitting ducks come race day. I think we have closed that the gap to the best & improved a lot. Race day will be our playing field.

Forza Ferrari

**Cozza** · 12th May 2013, 08:18

I don't see it as bad. Could be better but 3rd row isn't bad (Well 1 on third row now) We usually have good starts off the grid. and with Catalunya being the longest distance to the first corner. We might see Alonso challenging Vettel into the first corner. If Mercedes can hold off Beiber, Hopefully we see Alonso challenging him 1st or 2nd lap.

**Rob** · 12th May 2013, 08:24

Originally Posted by Rishu

Don't understand why people are thinking we are too much behind in single lap pace? A tenth & half & Alonso or Massa would have been P3 , then everybody wold have been happy & saying that Mercs will be sitting ducks come race day. I think we have closed that the gap to the best & improved a lot. Race day will be our playing field.

Forza Ferrari

**Kristof_F40** · 12th May 2013, 09:29

What are you guys tinking in terms of strategy? ROS, HAM, VET have 3 new sets of hards, ALO has 2 new hards, the Lotus guys only 1. So Lotus will probably do a M-H-M(-M) and therefore they need to try to extend their 2nd stint, because they could end up in trouble at the end (?) ALO can use a hard in stead of a medium in the third stint and therefore can push a bit harder against the lotus (?) which could make them vulnerable (?) The Mercs will probably only use hards because they can onyl do a few laps on the mediums.. But what about Vet?

**Nero Horse** · 12th May 2013, 09:58

Originally Posted by Hornet

Normally the team will inform the driver that there's a car on hot lap behind him, and the driver need to drop his pace to let the other car catch up and pass him. So the idea is that Ferrari should have told Massa to let Webber past BEFORE going into that long corner.

Another point is the driver on hot lap has the rights to the racing line, so Webber will not move to the left because that's not the racing line. The slowing driver will always move out of the racing line. This is the arrangement that all drivers automatically follow to avoid problems.

Although I do agree that a grid penalty is harsh. It should have been a reprimand.

Yea okay mate, I see your point and I agree.

**scuderiafan** · 12th May 2013, 10:07

I'm not so sure the car lacks single lap pace. In Q1, we obliterated all the hard tyre runners. On the mediums, it looks a little less fast compared to the others.

Also, it just seems to me that our drivers might not be as good at getting those hundredths out in crunch time as guys like Vettel, Hamilton etc/may be focusing on the race.

**Ferrarichamp** · 12th May 2013, 10:35

Originally Posted by scuderiafan

Also, it just seems to me that our drivers might not be as good at getting those hundredths out in crunch time as guys like Vettel, Hamilton etc/may be focusing on the race.

I dunno. Remember Massa got pole in Monaco in '08, and Monaco is a drivers' circuit.

**stefa** · 12th May 2013, 10:42

Originally Posted by sagi58

Does anyone have video for this? I haven't been able to find anything!!

SKY Germany showed replay of that moment, and to be honest FM was way to slow I think it was turn 10, and got MW behind him.

**anuragiyer8989** · 12th May 2013, 10:49

Originally Posted by Kristof_F40

What are you guys tinking in terms of strategy? ROS, HAM, VET have 3 new sets of hards, ALO has 2 new hards, the Lotus guys only 1. So Lotus will probably do a M-H-M(-M) and therefore they need to try to extend their 2nd stint, because they could end up in trouble at the end (?) ALO can use a hard in stead of a medium in the third stint and therefore can push a bit harder against the lotus (?) which could make them vulnerable (?) The Mercs will probably only use hards because they can onyl do a few laps on the mediums.. But what about Vet?

Good thinking but all of this will only happen if we get past turn 1 in one piece and our DRS doesn't fail!

**Kristof_F40** · 12th May 2013, 11:07

Originally Posted by anuragiyer8989

Good thinking but all of this will only happen if we get past turn 1 in one piece and our DRS doesn't fail!

Sure, but still.. If Lotus will do a 2 stopper, I think they really need to look afther their tyres, if we do a 2 stopper as well we have hards in stead of mediums, so perhaps we can push a bit harder, is we do a 3 stopper, we can push much more, and fight for positions.. Don't know what's the best strategy is for us, will probably depend on the first stint.. But what is Vettel going to do, a 3 stopper with 3 times hard seems strange, doesn't it?

**vae32** · 12th May 2013, 11:42

Originally Posted by scuderiafan

I'm not so sure the car lacks single lap pace. In Q1, we obliterated all the hard tyre runners. On the mediums, it looks a little less fast compared to the others.

Also, it just seems to me that our drivers might not be as good at getting those hundredths out in crunch time as guys like Vettel, Hamilton etc/may be focusing on the race.

I have to disagree with you my friend where is your fact to that, if 1.22 is an obliteration time for you than what you call a 1.20 time from the mecedes. And secondly our driver's is alrite is nothing wrong with them, our boy's would have extracted the same amount of time out of that mecedes car for the like's of hamil&rosberg....and likewise hamil and rosberg will suffer the same when qualifying on our f138, it's nothing wrong with the driver's or the car, it's the team's strategy toward's qualifying full stop.

**scuderiafan** · 12th May 2013, 11:49

Originally Posted by vae32

I have to disagree with you my friend where is your fact to that, if 1.22 is an obliteration time for you than what you call a 1.20 time from the mecedes. And secondly our driver's is alrite is nothing wrong with them, our boy's would have extracted the same amount of time out of that mecedes car for the like's of hamil&rosberg....and likewise hamil and rosberg will suffer the same when qualifying on our f138, it's nothing wrong with the driver's or the car, it's the team's strategy toward's qualifying full stop.

It could be that also. I just want to see a lockout, it hasn't been done for a long time.