US GP Austin Practice&qualifying thread 2016

[Rob]

First of all, like to wish Mark and rest of Denver Ferrari club an amazing weekend, looks like you already having good time.

Kimi: “We keep improving to get the results we deserve”

I like the race in Austin: it’s a nice town and people are very polite. I think it’s good for F1 and for Ferrari that we come to the US, and hopefully we can have a good weekend. But it’s hard to say who is going to be the fastest here and what we are going to get on Sunday. Tomorrow we’ll start as any other race weekend, doing our things and we’ll see where we are. The circuit is interesting, quite a new one and the design is nice. Usually there’s quite a good racing here, which is good for us as drivers and also for the spectators. Last year it was a pity for the weather conditions, this year it looks ok so let’s see what happens. We keep working all the time and obviously in some races we have been strong and in others not as strong as we hoped. We are doing things right and we are improving, but we still have a lot of work to do, it’s a never-ending work in progress. Last race was good but did not give us the result we should have got, so we are there to try again.

Seb: the US market one of the biggest for Ferrari

The US is one of the biggest markets for Ferrari. Last year we had a very good race, a great first race for me with Scuderia Ferrari here. Also, we enjoy always having lots of Ferrari Fans.
There is always a chance in the four remaining races. In Japan we did some progress, the most important thing is that we keep fighting. The result could have been better in Japan but it wasn’t: our main focus was in getting second we tried out something different and it didn’t work. Yet we keep trying and improving: the new parts we had in the car in Japan gave us good performance. Everything we bring to the car makes sense. We are confident that we are doing the right thing. As for the track itself, you may say that here in Austin the first sector somehow resembles Suzuka, even though the final sector is quite a bit slower, so we’ll see.

[WS6TransAm01]

At least its not a downpour like last time. Let's see what happens. My expectations are low.

[FerrariF60]

At least its not a downpour like last time. Let's see what happens. My expectations are low.

mine too....pretty much as it's been all season or more or less after 2-3 races in when i knew we woldn't have a chance at anything this year.

it'd be nice if we can crawl back SECOND place in WCC....but i'm not expecting much there either

[Nova]

Cheerful happy and positive. Thats what I like about this forum.
Im expecting us to win, so my expectations are a bit higher than yours.

30 minutes in here is the running order: HAM, ROS, VET, RAI, MAS, BOT, VER, RIC, HUL, GRO

[FerrariF60]

Cheerful happy and positive. Thats what I like about this forum.
Im expecting us to win, so my expectations are a bit higher than yours.

30 minutes in here is the running order: HAM, ROS, VET, RAI, MAS, BOT, VER, RIC, HUL, GRO

what's the gap between the mercs and US??? the usual ONE second +???? or we seem closer here??

not that it matters; the Merc's will turn up the wick in QUALI anyways and pull a huge gap as ususl....:(

[WS6TransAm01]

what's the gap between the mercs and US??? the usual ONE second +???? or we seem closer here??

not that it matters; the Merc's will turn up the wick in QUALI anyways and pull a huge gap as ususl....:(

1.287 seconds from Ham to Vet. May have been diff tire, not sure.

[Nova]

On a side note, I find it weird that this will be it for Massa and Button.
Enjoyed Massa quite a bit while he was at Sauber n Ferrari. Button
seems like a good ole chap. Id better check the names of some of
these new drivers.

[zike]

On a side note, I find it weird that this will be it for Massa and Button.
Enjoyed Massa quite a bit while he was at Sauber n Ferrari. Button
seems like a good ole chap. Id better check the names of some of
these new drivers.

Are we really 2 sec off pace? RB is faster on Mediums.......this season is getting worst by the race

[Nova]

Kimi only 2/10's off mv, but everyone is 2 sec behind merc.
The last 3 years merc has been a pinabutt, love to see them leave the sport.
Then again, Id love to hear a real F1 engine again.

[hakanabi]

It looks as if Mercedes is showing their real pace for the first time. 2 seconds to the non Mercedes powered car. They have been toying and fooling everyone all this time.

[FerrariF60]

It looks as if Mercedes is showing their real pace for the first time. 2 seconds to the non Mercedes powered car. They have been toying and fooling everyone all this time.

yeah so much for them having the "same identical" motors for all other supplied teams....YEAH RIGHT!!! they;re doing something clever there whatever they're doing

so the engines may OR may not be the same accross the board, but where they're getting the extra power that nobody else can touch them, is form teh ERS system, mguh, mguk....something REALLY clever there

[superwonderboy]

I totally agree! They have made the entire field look like fools and all because they had a head start to this hybrid era. Hats of to them for putting in the hard yards but the fia should know when certain engine capacity or power output should belong in a different class. I believe due to this we were robbed to see real wheel to wheel racing. Win or loose, i will always stay positive and support the team and drivers.

[MAD_Junior]

Kimi only 2/10's off mv, but everyone is 2 sec behind merc.
The last 3 years merc has been a pinabutt, love to see them leave the sport.
Then again, Id love to hear a real F1 engine again.

Kimi was on softs. MV was on mediums.

[fronaldo]

RB faster than us

[stefa]

PRACTICE TWO TIMES:

POS DRIVER CAR TIME GAP LAPS
1 Nico Rosberg Mercedes 1m37.358s - 33
2 Daniel Ricciardo Red Bull/Renault 1m37.552s 0.194s 33
3 Lewis Hamilton Mercedes 1m37.649s 0.291s 32
4 Sebastian Vettel Ferrari 1m38.178s 0.820s 35
5 Max Verstappen Red Bull/Renault 1m38.258s 0.900s 27
6 Nico Hulkenberg Force India/Mercedes 1m38.508s 1.150s 32
7 Sergio Perez Force India/Mercedes 1m38.568s 1.210s 31
8 Jenson Button McLaren/Honda 1m38.713s 1.355s 29
9 Fernando Alonso McLaren/Honda 1m38.801s 1.443s 30
10 Kimi Raikkonen Ferrari 1m38.865s 1.507s 31
11 Carlos Sainz Toro Rosso/Ferrari 1m38.971s 1.613s 31
12 Kevin Magnussen Renault 1m39.159s 1.801s 23
13 Felipe Nasr Sauber/Ferrari 1m39.189s 1.831s 28
14 Valtteri Bottas Williams/Mercedes 1m39.197s 1.839s 34
15 Daniil Kvyat Toro Rosso/Ferrari 1m39.202s 1.844s 36
16 Felipe Massa Williams/Mercedes 1m39.281s 1.923s 30
17 Jolyon Palmer Renault 1m39.455s 2.097s 34
18 Romain Grosjean Haas/Ferrari 1m39.554s 2.196s 24
19 Esteban Ocon Manor/Mercedes 1m40.086s 2.728s 27
20 Esteban Gutierrez Haas/Ferrari 1m40.114s 2.756s 26
21 Marcus Ericsson Sauber/Ferrari 1m40.219s 2.861s 28
22 Pascal Wehrlein Manor/Mercedes 1m41.131s 3.773s 31

[Tifoso]

RB faster than us

This season can not end soon enough for me.

[ForzaFerrariGo!]

We will fight for the 5th and 6th place

[IulianFerrari]

This track doesnt seem to suit our car, it looks unstable and hard to drive. We are miles away from Mercs and quite far behind RBR also. I think in normal conditions 5th and 6th would be a decent result. Mexico should suit us much better. Anyway, nice to see racing again and those beautiful red cars going around the circuit.

[stefa]

This track doesnt seem to suit our car, it looks unstable and hard to drive. We are miles away from Mercs and quite far behind RBR also. I think in normal conditions 5th and 6th would be a decent result. Mexico should suit us much better. Anyway, nice to see racing again and those beautiful red cars going around the circuit.

Which one does?!

[Rob]

Kimi Raikkonen: “It was a tricky day: in the first session, we struggled to find the right set up, and in the second practice I went off with new tires and couldn’t set a lap time. Apart from that it was a normal Friday, it looks worse than it is. We did a normal set up work and sometimes it goes like this. We did not have any major issue, we just tried to make a sense out of it and get the car exactly where we wanted. Now we have some work to do on the set up and make it correct for tomorrow. The Mercedes look very strong as they have been all year, but we’ll do our best.”

Sebastian Vettel: “To be fair, It was a tough day. This morning we had some problems with a little wing that failed and came off, so we lost some track time, which was a bit “costy” for the afternoon because we couldn’t re-balance the car. We are a bit on the backfoot today and I am not entirely happy with the car balance yet; it is a little bit too nervous, but I think for tomorrow we can improve. On Friday usually you don’t see the full picture, so hopefully tomorrow we will be a lot stronger. Today the Red Bulls were very quick, there is no doubt, but I still think we have a chance. It’s Friday and I wouldn’t worry too much. You never know what the others are doing, we knew about ourselves, but we didn’t have the best day. For sure it will be very close with them and it will be difficult to match them tomorrow with the speed that they showed today, but I think the Ferrari you saw today is not the Ferrari you will see tomorrow.”

[FerrariF60]

Which one does?!

when you have a TURD of a car mate, NO track will suit US....SAD BUT TRUE!!!!

[Nova]

Here we go kids..lets hope we have a great day!

[stefa]

when you have a TURD of a car mate, NO track will suit US....SAD BUT TRUE!!!!

Exactly! Question of mine was rhetorically one!

[stefa]

Apparently SV reported gearbox problem

[stefa]

Here we go kids..lets hope we have a great day!

Red Bull for sure has one!

[IulianFerrari]

Which one does?!

I said in the same phrase that mexico would suit us better. Others: malaesia, hungary. We did not win, but the car looked better than it does here, thats for sure

[Nova]

What Id like to know is where is RB getting all of this speed?
I havent read about any engine upgrades, yet they are faster every race..??..
Sure they have any excellent chassis, but where did this new found
power come from? So, Reno has done a miracle?

[wisepie]

What Id like to know is where is RB getting all of this speed?
I havent read about any engine upgrades, yet they are faster every race..??..
Sure they have any excellent chassis, but where did this new found
power come from? So, Reno has done a miracle?

My thoughts too, just like Merc being able to turn the wick up to prevent anyone else getting on the front row, it now seems that RB have a magic button too. I despair that these two teams seem able to develop so much better than Ferrari, it's soul-destroying. Although FP3 shows something slightly more hopeful, at least for Kimi.

[bondilad]

Any news on seb's gearbox?

[FerrariF60]

Apparently SV reported gearbox problem

i wouldn't be surprised if he gets another penalty again this weekend; Ferrari seems to have done a good job on the engine side, yet the transmission lacks BIG time this season, it's so fragile it's NOT even funny....it's like its made out of cardboard....it's that sensitive and crappy built taht even going over bumps seems to affect it....

oh well, let's hope ferrari has learned from this season and built a lot stronger and more reliable transmission come 2017