F1 Thread

[Mito Man]

I don’t think it’s a question of the Ferrari being extremely quick, more a question of Mercedes having to learn to set up this car to get the tyres to temperature for quali. Hamilton’s Q3 lap was slower than his 2017 lap and Bottas only managed to match Hamilton’s pole time from last year. So it’s no surprise that the Mercedes can match the Ferrari on race day.

I reckon as we get into the thick end of the European races Mercedes will sort it out and really ramp up the development whilst Ferrari, as we’ve seen countless times will falter and then suffer from reliability issues.

[NotoriousREV]

What a great race. Red Bull as a team we’re on fire, Ricciardo drove brilliantly, Max needs to learn some patience and I enjoyed seeing Vettel do badly.

I loved the interview between Toto Wolff and the Sky guys.

Simon: “You should have pitted”
Toto: [looks at watch] “Yes, 30 minutes after the race has ended, you’re right”

No matter how charming Toto can be in interviews, they fucked up. Merc could have won, but even without hindsight they really should have at least split the strategies. RB did a better job.

They literally had a few seconds to make the decision, they made the wrong call and they know it. I spent a long time playing Nascar 98, I know for sure that the strategy should always be come in for tyres under a safety car.

[Rich B]

What a great race. Red Bull as a team we’re on fire, Ricciardo drove brilliantly, Max needs to learn some patience and I enjoyed seeing Vettel do badly.

I loved the interview between Toto Wolff and the Sky guys.

Simon: “You should have pitted”
Toto: [looks at watch] “Yes, 30 minutes after the race has ended, you’re right”

No matter how charming Toto can be in interviews, they fucked up. Merc could have won, but even without hindsight they really should have at least split the strategies. RB did a better job.

They literally had a few seconds to make the decision, they made the wrong call and they know it. I spent a long time playing Nascar 98, I know for sure that the strategy should always be come in for tyres under a safety car.

They always tell us how sophisticated their systems are and that they constantly model every scenario in real time - there would have been a big red flashing sign somewhere that the engineer chose to ignore, even without the NASCAR 98 lessons.

I think they need to start thinking of themselves as a bit more vulnerable this year - the last few seasons they’ve been so dominant that track position was everything. That’s not the case any more!

[NotoriousREV]

I think that's possibly true. Rosberg was going on about how Mercedes have the best strategy team in the business, but I can remember a few times where they've thrown results away on bad strategy decisions. I think RB being less corporate are just much more able to react to stuff. In Merc I can imagine that a strategist has to tell the Head of Strategy, who tells the Head of Racetrack Activities, who signs it off, who then tells the...oh, he's passed the pitlane entrance.

[Marv]

Looking at the Ferraris outright pace this year (at a track at which Hamilton has won 5 times) I can’t help but think that another title might be heading pointy fingers way.

Ferrari just need to keep up with the pace of development - don't forget, Hamilton was really far behind on points compared to Vettel at the early stages of last years F1 championship, but with Mercedes stepping up the development of their car and Ferrari seemingly not progressing much, Hamilton easily won the championship in the end.

[ShockDiamonds]

I say this every year but I must watch some this season.

[DaveE]

That was a great race - loved it.

Some brilliant passing etc - and so good to see someone go out and take the win, rather than just start on the front row and not lose places.

I loved that DR had to make some great passes to win - he totally nailed those - and fair play to those he passed for giving him (just enough) room.

It's great that Merc is struggling this year - it's making things interesting again.

[Rich B]

Hamilton knew straight away that he was fucked when he radioed in to ask why he had cars with brand new tyres behind him during the safety car period.

Maybe we need some old school petulant Lewis who would probably have just gone for the pitlane without being told!

[McSwede]

Brundles comments about oil pouring out the back of the Ferraris in Bahrain may be determinative though if they start to suffer reliability issues.

Isn't this just Ferrari getting around the fuel regs by burning a little oil with the fuel to make more power.

[NotoriousREV]

Brundles comments about oil pouring out the back of the Ferraris in Bahrain may be determinative though if they start to suffer reliability issues.

Isn't this just Ferrari getting around the fuel regs by burning a little oil with the fuel to make more power.

It's definitely deliberate and not knackered rings

[McSwede]

Brundles comments about oil pouring out the back of the Ferraris in Bahrain may be determinative though if they start to suffer reliability issues.

Isn't this just Ferrari getting around the fuel regs by burning a little oil with the fuel to make more power.

It's definitely deliberate and not knackered rings

I'd heard that their engine is just 1.5 RD500 motors glued together hence the smoke!

[NotoriousREV]

I wish that were true!

[jamcg]

Brundles comments about oil pouring out the back of the Ferraris in Bahrain may be determinative though if they start to suffer reliability issues.

Isn't this just Ferrari getting around the fuel regs by burning a little oil with the fuel to make more power.

I think it’s the turbo lubricating oil, they used to run it back into the engine via the air intake side of the turbo I believe, but under the new regs they can’t do that so it just gets spat out of the wastegate. So much for hybrid engines environmentally friendly credentials

[integrale_evo]

I don't know if it's just me getting old + Sunday afternoons, or there's something about the tone of the current engines which makes me want to fall asleep. Even during yesterday's race my eyes were getting heavy at points

[Orange Cola]

I don’t think it’s a question of the Ferrari being extremely quick, more a question of Mercedes having to learn to set up this car to get the tyres to temperature for quali. Hamilton’s Q3 lap was slower than his 2017 lap and Bottas only managed to match Hamilton’s pole time from last year. So it’s no surprise that the Mercedes can match the Ferrari on race day.

I reckon as we get into the thick end of the European races Mercedes will sort it out and really ramp up the development whilst Ferrari, as we’ve seen countless times will falter and then suffer from reliability issues.

I hope you're right, it made for a decent season last year watching Merc over haul Ferrari.

[Delphi]

I thought it was an excellent race. I particularly enjoyed Alonso's overtake of Vettel near the end!

[integrale_evo]

Yesterday they were projecting a virtual dashboard on the halo on the in car shots which looked pretty good and moved the clutter out of the way so you could see what the driver was doing.

Not sure if it was a trial thing or only certain cars as they don't seem to be using it today.

[Zonda_]

Yesterday they were projecting a virtual dashboard on the halo on the in car shots which looked pretty good and moved the clutter out of the way so you could see what the driver was doing.

Not sure if it was a trial thing or only certain cars as they don't seem to be using it today.

I saw that in practise 3 earlier today

[Mito Man]

Just seen it in qualifying and can see the teams making a fuss as they were told they could advertise on the Halo and now the graphics on the virtual dash is hiding the adverts. Also the brake graphic must be wrong as it kept showing the drivers fully on the brakes which would cause them all to lock up surely.

In other news Kimi continues his trend of getting everyone excited and then disappointing at the last second.

[Mito Man]

Well that race had a bit of everything!

Must be the most exciting season start since the beginning of the hybrid era.