2015 Spanish GP race thread

**Winter** · 10th May 2015, 16:55

Originally Posted by RedRebel40

Gg seb maximised, kimi underperformed this weekend. His car was able to finish 4th

Not his fault that tire heaters ruined his Q3 set.

**f412** · 10th May 2015, 17:34

Once i read from one of ferrari's twitter guy that there will be a new fuel mix for canada..that would give extra 20-30 hp...then it was about braking hp ...which one is it?

**Winter** · 10th May 2015, 18:01

Originally Posted by superwonderboy

Im afraid i get the feeling for every gp race weekend, the mercs are managing their sandbagging from p1 to race. They are simply toying with everybody else. Im afraid they still have more in the bag, but they are hiding it. Scary....

It is what it is. Mercs are faster, but not enough to play any sandbag games. This was probably the best track for them last year and hard/medium combination made their cards even stronger.

**tifosi1993** · 10th May 2015, 18:09

Originally Posted by Winter

Not his fault that tire heaters ruined his Q3 set.

His poor Q3 lap was done on new options.

**evo_spook** · 10th May 2015, 18:32

Originally Posted by f412

Once i read from one of ferrari's twitter guy that there will be a new fuel mix for canada..that would give extra 20-30 hp...then it was about braking hp ...which one is it?

If every story about gaining 20-30 hp with new fuel, oil or engine improvements was true ferrari would now be onto about 1,500hp!!

**The Hajj** · 10th May 2015, 18:37

Originally Posted by Winter

It is what it is. Mercs are faster, but not enough to play any sandbag games. This was probably the best track for them last year and hard/medium combination made their cards even stronger.

LH finished nearly 30 seconds ahead of Vettel while making an extra pit stop.
If that's not enough pace to play sandbagging games, I can't imagine what is enough pace.

**KimiBot** · 10th May 2015, 18:45

Originally Posted by tifosi1993

His poor Q3 lap was done on new options.

his poor Q3 lap was done on used mediums. new set mediums was destroyed.

but, it does not matter, poor weekend anyway

**Winter** · 10th May 2015, 19:14

Originally Posted by f412

But i stil have my hopes high for monaco....what about you guys

Monaco should be good for Mercs. They have the mechanical grip, down force and power delivery.
Canada and Austria is where we start our attack with updated engine and softest compounds available.

**Stormy** · 10th May 2015, 19:43

I didn't saw any progress since Bahrain. I hope the new PU that will be installed for Canada will make some remarkable progress.
Did Mercedes had any new components for this race?

**cokata** · 10th May 2015, 19:48

Originally Posted by Stormy

I didn't saw any progress since Bahrain. I hope the new PU that will be installed for Canada will make some remarkable progress.
Did Mercedes had any new components for this race?

It's mostly just the track layout. This track rewards pure downforce and Mercs advantage is at least 70% in that. The PU advantage that they have is not that big, but the chassis is much better. We will see for sure how things stand in Canada and Austria.

**Rob** · 10th May 2015, 19:48

mmmmmm...

Lots of reports from track in BCN saying Ferrari slower due to new FIA fuel flow mesurment.

.

**Stormy** · 10th May 2015, 19:50

Originally Posted by cokata

It's mostly just the track layout. This track rewards pure downforce the most and Mercs advantage is at least 70% in that. The PU advantage that they have is not that big, but the chassis is much better. We will see for sure how things stand in Canada and Austria.

Good to hear this, i guess in Canada we wont be a force to be reckoned with.

**PURE PASSION** · 10th May 2015, 20:02

Maurizio Arrivabene: “The comparison of the two aerodynamic configurations in the race clearly shows that Sebastian’s car was going very well versus Kimi’s. But we need to improve. The gap to Mercedes is there and we need to analyze our data to understand the reasons. We’re not blind to the fact that we were losing about half a second in T3 only, which puts a premium on traction, and we must find out whether this depends on the nature of the track or on our faults. Strategy-wise, we took an aggressive approach by having Seb stop only twice for tyres. If we had gone for a three-stopper, things wouldn’t have changed or would have been even worse. The numbers tell us that the new solutions are good, the reality shows that they are not good enough. We did make a step forward, but it was supposed to be a jump. I am not blaming anyone in particular, I am taking my own responsibilities. We need to work harder”.

Ι really really like this guy!!!!He always speaks truly and from hart!!!!!!This TP is a true leader and i believe whatever he says!!!!

**stefa** · 10th May 2015, 20:04

Lots of reports from track in BCN saying Ferrari slower due to new FIA fuel flow mesurment.

Damn it!!

How come this didn't affected Mercedes?!?!?

**Rob** · 10th May 2015, 20:11

Originally Posted by stefa

Lots of reports from track in BCN saying Ferrari slower due to new FIA fuel flow mesurment.

Damn it!!

How come this didn't affected Mercedes?!?!?

what i hear be next race they will be checked.

**Rob** · 10th May 2015, 20:15

Vettel – Best result on a right strategy

Sebastian Vettel: “All in all, I think third is the best we could do for the pace we had. I don’t think there’s anything wrong, it think it was just something coming together and maybe this is not the best week end for us in terms of competitiveness, but I believe it’s probably more down to conditions rather then something being wrong with the car.

For some reasons we didn’t find the same rhythm of the last two events, but I’m sure that in a couple of races we’ll come back stronger. In terms of strategy, we went for two stops because we thought it would have been the best choice for the race: we have to be fair and accept the fact that Mercedes was the best team today. I think we’re going in the right direction.

We know that there is a gap, but we’re fighting very hard to close it. Unfortunately we didn’t make a big step this race, but I’m pretty confident we’ll make it soon”.

Raikkonen – The weekend taught us something

Kimi Raikkonen: “Overall, it has been a difficult weekend, but non a disaster and we learned a lot. In the race today we gained a few places, but I was not very comfortable with my car, as it was sliding around.

Besides that, and for whatever reason, we are able catch the Williams but it’s very difficult to overtake them: they are very fast down the straights and once we get behind them, our car starts to be difficult to handle, much more than when you’re following other lapped cars. About the choice of going back to the ‘old’ aero package, I think it was good for all of us to be able to compare them on the circuit and I was prepared to run the risk.

Maybe it would have been better with the new bits, that is probably the case, but at least now we know about it. So, for the next races, we have to do a better job and we need to have more clean weekends, without any issue, even a small one, to make sure that everything works. We know where we have to improve”.

**cokata** · 10th May 2015, 20:16

Originally Posted by Rob

what i hear be next race they will be checked.

I don't think this is true. First of all Barca isn't a power track, there is only one straight really no mattar how long it is overall it has a small impact on total laptime. Secondly Bottas was pulling away from Vettel in Bahrain too like he was doing today with Kimi. In general Willams run lower drag/downforce than the rest and Merc always had a slight power advantage.

**Rob** · 10th May 2015, 20:18

Originally Posted by cokata

I don't think this is true. First of all Barca isn't a power track, there is only one straight really no mattar how long it is overall it has a small impact on total laptime. Secondly Bottas was pulling away from Vettel in Bahrain too like he was doing today with Kimi. In general Willams run lower drag/downforce than the rest and Merc always had a slight power advantage.

what i hear is Merc will be fuel flow checked at Monaco.

**Fireblade** · 10th May 2015, 20:18

"Lots of reports from track in BCN saying Ferrari slower due to new FIA fuel flow mesurment."

I'm not sure what that means. We were not slower compared to Williams, for example, so I don't see that we took a performance hit. We were slower than Mercedes, as we have been all along.

**Greig** · 10th May 2015, 20:19

Originally Posted by Fireblade

"Lots of reports from track in BCN saying Ferrari slower due to new FIA fuel flow mesurment."

I'm not sure what that means. We were not slower compared to Williams, for example, so I don't see that we took a performance hit. We were slower than Mercedes, as we have been all along.

A Williams beat us.....

**zike** · 10th May 2015, 20:28

Originally Posted by Greig

A Williams beat us.....

Botas said that they are a lot closer, even if they only bought small updates

**Fireblade** · 10th May 2015, 20:30

Originally Posted by Greig

A Williams beat us.....

Which does not indicate that we got any "slower", since a Williams also split our two drivers in the previous race before the new fuel flow checks existed. Just as with Seb last time, and Lewis getting stuck behind Seb today, that fact that a driver/car cannot overtake another driver/car does not say much about the driver or car in question, it simply shows that the aerodynamics of this years cars make it very difficult to overtake even when the car in front is slower.

**Red is Best** · 10th May 2015, 20:33

Originally Posted by stefa

Lots of reports from track in BCN saying Ferrari slower due to new FIA fuel flow mesurment.

Damn it!!

How come this didn't affected Mercedes?!?!?

Great, exactly what we needed.

**darkchild** · 10th May 2015, 20:34

IMO that fuel flow affected Ferrari is just not true. Looking at speed traps in sectors as well as top speed, there was no difference with last 4 races and going by what Arrivabene said about about S3 and loaing half a second its all about traction and grip.

This is just jurnos trying to be smart and explain why Ferrari hasnt been able to be closer.

**Tofarati** · 10th May 2015, 20:34

Arrivabene: "The new package has many development possibilities"

He'll say that won't he?. He's not only the chief cheer leader, he is the chassis and aero developer too.

**Greig** · 10th May 2015, 20:34

Originally Posted by Fireblade

Which does not indicate that we got any "slower", since a Williams also split our two drivers in the previous race before the new fuel flow checks existed. Just as with Seb last time, and Lewis getting stuck behind Seb today, that fact that a driver/car cannot overtake another driver/car does not say much about the driver or car in question, it simply shows that the aerodynamics of this years cars make it very difficult to overtake even when the car in front is slower.

Maybe you think we got faster then. I don't.

**Greig** · 10th May 2015, 20:35

Originally Posted by darkchild

IMO that fuel flow affected Ferrari is just not true. Looking at speed traps in sectors as well as top speed, there was no difference with last 4 races and going by what Arrivabene said about about S3 and loaing half a second its all about traction and grip.

This is just jurnos trying to be smart and explain why Ferrari hasnt been able to be closer.

speed traps and top speed really shows nothing worth analysing.

**darkchild** · 10th May 2015, 20:36

Originally Posted by Greig

A Williams beat us.....

Williams beat us in Bahrain too. Cmon if there is one place we didnt have problem its the power on straights.

**darkchild** · 10th May 2015, 20:38

Originally Posted by Greig

speed traps and top speed really shows nothing worth analysing.

Really? And what does? There is simply no evidence Ferrari was slower duo to fuel flow cheating. TS and speed traps through the sectors are pretty much spot on as last 4 races for Sauber and Ferrari. There is evidence however that Ferrari lost .5s in last sector of track that is all traction and little power related.