2019 Bahrain GP: Practices & Qualifying

[mwk360]

Binotto warns his Ferrari team:

"It may well be that Mercedes has chosen more downforce [could explain the lack of power on the straights] and that pays off in the race. If so, we'll laugh today and Mercedes tomorrow."

[Rob]

[mwk360]

[512 TR]

One interesting thing Seb said to the stewards was that he had to go that slow back to the pits because of him flat-spotting his tyres and therefor had a lot of vibrations when trying to go faster. That could indicate that the characteristics of the SF90 are that it has a very stiff natural suspension. Meaning it should be great on smooth circuits and not so good on bumby ones. Up until right now that's exactly how it has been this year. Maybe nothing, maybe something.

[PURE PASSION]

I read all this ,and they have a point that I fear. BUT the thing is that while Mercs are loosing about 4 tenths on the 3 straights ,they gain only 1 in all 15 corners. IF they've gone with so more down force witch can make a difference in the race, why they gain so little in the corners??!!
On the other hand I remember back in testing when some people analyzing our aero efficiency concept (small air scoop, engine cover etc) they where saying that we could run more downforce and still not lose straight line speed!! This could also make sense!!!
We will learn tomorrow.

[mardyrt]

I read all this ,and they have a point that I fear. BUT the thing is that while Mercs are loosing about 4 tenths on the 3 straights ,they gain only 1 in all 15 corners. IF they've gone with so more down force witch can make a difference in the race, why they gain so little in the corners??!!
On the other hand I remember back in testing when some people analyzing our aero efficiency concept (small air scoop, engine cover etc) they where saying that we could run more downforce and still not lose straight line speed!! This could also make sense!!!
We will learn tomorrow.

Yes, with the smaller roll hoop/air scoop will give better (cleaner) air to the rear wing, which will make the rear wing work more efficiently. Therefore, you need to run less wing to get the same downforce. I think we are running less wing, but I think our race pace is not bad, yesterday, Mercedes had not so good race pace, as they had worse tire deg. Hamilton in particular had worse tire deg. We will see tomorrow. I think our car is very efficient. In long straights and more flowing circuits, we will do really well.

[jgonzalesm6]

I read all this ,and they have a point that I fear. BUT the thing is that while Mercs are loosing about 4 tenths on the 3 straights ,they gain only 1 in all 15 corners. IF they've gone with so more down force witch can make a difference in the race, why they gain so little in the corners??!!
On the other hand I remember back in testing when some people analyzing our aero efficiency concept (small air scoop, engine cover etc) they where saying that we could run more downforce and still not lose straight line speed!! This could also make sense!!!
We will learn tomorrow.

Merc's are playing the long game. They just have to be close to us. Come the 2nd half of the season, if they have to they'll turn up the engines to win by a close margin.

Honda's the rabbit in the race-->turning up their engines early or longer to stay up with MB & Ferrari. Eventually the reliabilty kicks in.

Renault is still behind for the moment.

I've figured the Merc's out and not for once do I believe ANYTHING that comes out of that camp. Nothing!!!

[mardyrt]

Is it me or is Lando Norris a tool? Where the hell did he get Vettel's name for the block that Crashjean did? Vettel was not even close, and that guy Crashjean should look in the mirrors more or ask his team if anyone is coming behind him doing a quali lap! Mr. Lando Norris needs to just shut up and just drive a bit better or put more time into making himself better than investigating about
who screwed somebody elses lap or just imaginary Ferraris on the track. They have stewards for that job, unless he is already practicing to be a steward because maybe he saw that his time in F1 might be short lived.

[Cavallino]

My takeaways are such:

1. Where is Crashtappen and Red Fools when you need them? At our bad circuits they cause us problems, they're no where near a position to cause Mercedes problems.
2. No reason to get too excited, the qualifying gaps in the end, in these first 2 races, are very similar to last season.
3. Is Mercedes Q3 Party Mode worth 5 tenths? They were closer to a second off until Q3. We need a better party mode. This would mean we need to be atleast 5 tenths faster in FP sessions to have a shot a pole. And we need more poles.
4. LeClerc is a stud muffin.

[Deephouse]

Merc's are playing the long game. They just have to be close to us. Come the 2nd half of the season, if they have to they'll turn up the engines to win by a close margin.

Honda's the rabbit in the race-->turning up their engines early or longer to stay up with MB & Ferrari. Eventually the reliabilty kicks in.

Renault is still behind for the moment.

I've figured the Merc's out and not for once do I believe ANYTHING that comes out of that camp. Nothing!!!

If Mercs are waiting for the second half of the season we need to win a good majority of the races from now until the end of the European season. At worst we need both cars on the podium. That way we can build a gap by summer and just be consistently on the podium in the second half of the season if they out develop us again.

Think of it like Brawn in 2009. Stellar first half but fell of in the second half. They still won because Jenson won a lot of the early races.

[From Treviso]

I'm relieved of a few things:

Obviously, Ferrari's preseason testing pace has been validated by the one-two grid lock-out.

That Redbull is definitely not faster than Ferrari and is also not the best chassis as initially presumed.

That the brand new engine Mercedes is not the class of the field as initially feared - not yet anyway.

That Leclerc can run alongside Vettel at the start of a race and can use his better judgement to back off for the sake of the team, rather than taking out his teammate (a la Kimi).

That Ferrari no longer has to solely rely on Vettel to push at the front - we now have Leclrec to vindicate Ferrari's speed as being true rather than thinking it's been compensated by one brilliant driver.

We now have a greater chance of finishing more often with both drivers in front of Mercedes, taking away potential championship points away from them.

That Ferrari has calmly regrouped and reacted to the Australian GP fiasco with a great level of calmness and professionalism.

Best of luck from Australia :)

[darkchild]

I watched Leclerc vs Ham onboard. We are faster on straights, fast corners (means we have ton of DF) and corner exit. We are slower in slow and medium corners. Them getting less then 0.1s in 15 corners means we are great, considering our straight line speed.

[doublesixes]

Bravo Charles, well done Seb! Now give us the 1-2 we desperately want.

[PURE PASSION]

I watched Leclerc vs Ham onboard. We are faster on straights, fast corners (means we have ton of DF) and corner exit. We are slower in slow and medium corners. Them getting less then 0.1s in 15 corners means we are great, considering our straight line speed.

Is there a video with Lec vs Ham ?

[darkchild]

Is there a video with Lec vs Ham ?

Here

https://youtu.be/ob__u0N-zns

[PURE PASSION]

Here

https://youtu.be/ob__u0N-zns

Thanks!!

[From Treviso]

I'm relieved of a few things:

Obviously, Ferrari's preseason testing pace has been validated by the one-two grid lock-out.

That Redbull is definitely not faster than Ferrari and is also not the best chassis as initially presumed.

That the brand new engine Mercedes is not the class of the field as initially feared - not yet anyway.

That Leclerc can run alongside Vettel at the start of a race and can use his better judgement to back off for the sake of the team, rather than taking out his teammate (a la Kimi).

That Ferrari no longer has to solely rely on Vettel to push at the front - we now have Leclrec to vindicate Ferrari's speed as being true rather than thinking it's been compensated by one brilliant driver.

We now have a greater chance of finishing more often with both drivers in front of Mercedes, taking away potential championship points away from them.

That Ferrari has calmly regrouped and reacted to the Australian GP fiasco with a great level of calmness and professionalism.

Best of luck from Australia :)

Forgot to add that, on this track, that Haas is closer to Redbull than Redbull is to Ferrari and, going by Gasly's poor showing and the consistent good pace from the Haas, that it would appear that the Redbull is being dragged up forward by its driver and that Haas is most likely the much better car out of the two on this track and is probably being under-driven by its drivers - not sure? Then imagine the Haas with Max at the wheel!

[da_one]

I've learnt to read Hamilton's body language over the years and while he always tries to put on a "happy" face there are some things he can't hide. He looks somewhat worried compared to when he knows Merc is in complete control. It's a look here and there and some body moves. I think he knows this season might be closer than last year. Merc themselves are closer here than last year but Hamilton is thinking about the complete season and both packages.

Yeah I noticed that too. For instance last year when our cars were leading the field you can see in his body language that he is worried. However during and after the Spa race I knew that Mercedes has something up their sleeve for the 2nd half of the season because of Lewis' patented Ferrari are mighty speech and we all knew what happened in Monza and onwards.

[da_one]

Vettel need to stay calm & look for the chance (either by strategy or start). If he’s doesn’t find any chance to win then he should be able to hold that 2nd place.

It’s all about race start & managing tyres for the first stint. At the other end Lec can go for the win.

Too early for the season to employ team orders. Even Lewis let Bottas win for a change. Yes, Lewis decides who is boss at Mercedes lol.

[da_one]

"Just running higher engine modes in FP", eh? "Merc is just sandbagging", eh? "We are not fast enough", eh?

Well, Ferrari sure proved all the doubters and naysayers wrong today in style. Great performance by the team and fantastic pole for Charles. That kid is truly a special talent and I'm so happy that he got his chance to be a Ferrari driver at such a young age. His arrival to Ferrari and his talent reminds me a lot of the great Gilles Villeneuve.

After that big disappointment in Melbourne this result feels so amazing and what a relief it is. Hopefully there won't be any more blips like the one in Oz.

LOL at the doom ang gloom gang in this forum.

[Nero Horse]

62nd! Equals all time record held by McLaren and Williams

Actually Ferrari now has 77 front-row lockouts. I don't know where that 62 came from but that's completely false info.

You can check the real numbers from here: https://www.statsf1.com/en/statistiq...le/double.aspx

[ALO]

intresting.

https://youtu.be/1uOQoxw-GuA

[nani_s23]

1) Mercs went with high DF, which would give better tyre wear. While ferrari with opposite.

2) if mercs looking for 1stop with better the wear, ferrari will go for 2stop. As they have extra set of medium tyre, that’s the advantage for ferrari.

3) ferrari are fast on the straights, mercs loose .3ths. That is big.

[stefa]

Actually Ferrari now has 77 front-row lockouts. I don't know where that 62 came from but that's completely false info.

You can check the real numbers from here: https://www.statsf1.com/en/statistiq...le/double.aspx

https://i.imgur.com/PBP1Wil.jpg

Thank you

[Brembo]

I can't be more happy for Charles! That's one way of holding off team orders. I wish him a 2 sec. lead from the go!

[nani_s23]

RB outqualified by Haas (ferrari B team) wowww
K-Mag almost knocked off Mad max 5th position.

McLaren did a great job ... shows their aero is getting strong.

[Ferrarichamp]

One thing i don't really get, is if a point is awarded for FL then why not one also for pole?

[nani_s23]

One thing i don't really get, is if a point is awarded for FL then why not one also for pole?

I think there’s a reward I mean a trophy at the end of the season for the driver with most no.of poles.

[Kristof_F40]

intresting.

https://youtu.be/1uOQoxw-GuA

Indeed interesting.
It seems VET faster is most of the corners, LEC faster on straights..

[nani_s23]

Indeed interesting.
It seems VET faster is most of the corners, LEC faster on straights..

May be vet carrying more wing than Lec.