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Re: 2019 Australian Grand Prix Free Practice & Qualifying Th

Posted: Sat Mar 16, 2019 7:10 am
by pokerman
sandman1347 wrote:
lucifers wrote:what happened to Ferrari
Their only hope is that this is just not their circuit. If last year is anything to go by, they might be on it in Bahrain. If this gap persists through the second race we can start the 2020 threads because it's over.
Ferrari brought major upgrades to Bahrain last year.

Re: 2019 Australian Grand Prix Free Practice & Qualifying Th

Posted: Sat Mar 16, 2019 7:10 am
by pokerman
mcdo wrote:
UnlikeUday wrote:
sandman1347 wrote:Embarrassing performance from Gasly.
Marko already making plans to replace him with Kvyat??????
Nah it would be Albon!
He out qualified Kvyat.

Re: 2019 Australian Grand Prix Free Practice & Qualifying Th

Posted: Sat Mar 16, 2019 7:14 am
by sandman1347
I was happy to see Max perform as well as he did. Lando was also brilliant. For a 19 year old in his first weekend he showed poise and pace. Every lap he did was solid.

Haas are possibly best of the rest and it's high time they started to consider bringing in better drivers. My gut feeling is that their car is very close to the Red Bull at the moment. Kimi did a great job in the Alfa as well and the Ferrari customers seem to have retained their superiority over Mercedes' customers.

I'm a bit baffled by Ferrari. They were not even close! I pointed out that this might be like last year where they just didn't perform well in Melbourne but then had the best car for the next three rounds. It doesn't feel like that though. They had the best winter. Things were going smoothly and the car seems a lot more planted than the Mercedes from the onboards. The thing I noticed though was that the Merc is noticeably more aggressive on turn-in. It bites hard and it looks like a handful to drive but sometimes that's what speed looks like.

Hamilton delivered yet again in the final lap and he's made an art form of that. Bottas, for me, was the man of the session though. He needed a strong start to the season and he got one. Very solid and easily out-performed the #2 drivers for both Ferrari and Red Bull. Mercedes look absolutely ferocious to start the year.

Re: 2019 Australian Grand Prix Free Practice & Qualifying Th

Posted: Sat Mar 16, 2019 7:15 am
by Jezza13
UnlikeUday wrote:
sandman1347 wrote:Embarrassing performance from Gasly.
Marko already making plans to replace him with Kvyat??????
Should be looking at replacing the strategist, not Gasly.

Gasly's not that bad a driver.

Re: 2019 Australian Grand Prix Free Practice & Qualifying Th

Posted: Sat Mar 16, 2019 7:16 am
by UnlikeUday
Norris & Albon shining on their debuts.

Re: 2019 Australian Grand Prix Free Practice & Qualifying Th

Posted: Sat Mar 16, 2019 7:18 am
by j man
Herb wrote:Just a reminder Ferrari were 6 or 7 tenths off Mercedes last year, but still had at least the joint best car over the season.

One swallow does not a summer make...
:thumbup:

We'd have been looking at a very similar result this time last year if Bottas hadn't crashed.

Re: 2019 Australian Grand Prix Free Practice & Qualifying Th

Posted: Sat Mar 16, 2019 7:20 am
by sandman1347
On a side note; not too impressed with Leclerc in the end. Vettel bested him easily in Q3. It's just one race and he had a slow start last year too but I'd keep an eye on that. Not to put too much pressure on him. Vettel is a beast and a very experienced champion but I actually expected more from Charles.

Re: 2019 Australian Grand Prix Free Practice & Qualifying Th

Posted: Sat Mar 16, 2019 7:21 am
by pokerman
UnlikeUday wrote:Norris & Albon shining on their debuts.
All the Brit novices out qualified their teammates (I'm including Albon).

Re: 2019 Australian Grand Prix Free Practice & Qualifying Th

Posted: Sat Mar 16, 2019 7:26 am
by pokerman
sandman1347 wrote:On a side note; not too impressed with Leclerc in the end. Vettel bested him easily in Q3. It's just one race and he had a slow start last year too but I'd keep an eye on that. Not to put too much pressure on him. Vettel is a beast and a very experienced champion but I actually expected more from Charles.
Vettel is an elite driver.

Re: 2019 Australian Grand Prix Free Practice & Qualifying Th

Posted: Sat Mar 16, 2019 7:26 am
by KingVoid
What is worrying is that Vettel said the car felt good, but Ferrari are still slower than Mercedes. At least last year there were clear problems with the car in Melbourne.

Re: 2019 Australian Grand Prix Free Practice & Qualifying Th

Posted: Sat Mar 16, 2019 7:28 am
by sandman1347
KingVoid wrote:What is worrying is that Vettel said the car felt good, but Ferrari are still slower than Mercedes. At least last year there were clear problems with the car in Melbourne.
My gut tells me this is not like last year where Ferrari just didn't have it together for Australia. I hate to say it but this almost feels like 2014-2016.

Re: 2019 Australian Grand Prix Free Practice & Qualifying Th

Posted: Sat Mar 16, 2019 7:32 am
by pokerman
sandman1347 wrote:
KingVoid wrote:What is worrying is that Vettel said the car felt good, but Ferrari are still slower than Mercedes. At least last year there were clear problems with the car in Melbourne.
My gut tells me this is not like last year where Ferrari just didn't have it together for Australia. I hate to say it but this almost feels like 2014-2016.
I agree with what you say about last year but Melbourne itself is an unusual track which may be flattering Mercedes?

Re: 2019 Australian Grand Prix Free Practice & Qualifying Th

Posted: Sat Mar 16, 2019 7:35 am
by sandman1347
pokerman wrote:
sandman1347 wrote:
KingVoid wrote:What is worrying is that Vettel said the car felt good, but Ferrari are still slower than Mercedes. At least last year there were clear problems with the car in Melbourne.
My gut tells me this is not like last year where Ferrari just didn't have it together for Australia. I hate to say it but this almost feels like 2014-2016.
I agree with what you say about last year but Melbourne itself is an unusual track which may be flattering Mercedes?
That's possible. Bahrain is a strong circuit for Ferrari so we'll know by the end of the second race whether this year will be competitive.

Re: 2019 Australian Grand Prix Free Practice & Qualifying Th

Posted: Sat Mar 16, 2019 7:36 am
by UnlikeUday
But when it comes to race, weren't Ferrari the best team when it came to race pace? With a good strategy, Vettel can still win provided he's atleast ahead of Bottas.

Re: 2019 Australian Grand Prix Free Practice & Qualifying Th

Posted: Sat Mar 16, 2019 7:38 am
by UnlikeUday

Re: 2019 Australian Grand Prix Free Practice & Qualifying Th

Posted: Sat Mar 16, 2019 7:38 am
by sandman1347
UnlikeUday wrote:But when it comes to race, weren't Ferrari the best team when it came to race pace? With a good strategy, Vettel can still win provided he's atleast ahead of Bottas.
If you're referring to last year then no, not really. They just took advantage of the VSC. If not for that, Hamilton had the race in the bag last year.

Re: 2019 Australian Grand Prix Free Practice & Qualifying Th

Posted: Sat Mar 16, 2019 7:51 am
by UnlikeUday
sandman1347 wrote:
UnlikeUday wrote:But when it comes to race, weren't Ferrari the best team when it came to race pace? With a good strategy, Vettel can still win provided he's atleast ahead of Bottas.
If you're referring to last year then no, not really. They just took advantage of the VSC. If not for that, Hamilton had the race in the bag last year.
I'm referring to 2019.

Re: 2019 Australian Grand Prix Free Practice & Qualifying Th

Posted: Sat Mar 16, 2019 7:51 am
by BlackMist
I think I said after the first test session that Lewis will put 0.7 seconds between him and a Ferrari in W3 at Melbourne.

That is a massive gap. Last year Ferrari came into Melbourne knowing they didn’t have the package but this year I think they were quietly confident that they were ahead of Mercedes.

Ferrari race pace isn’t great too. Red Bull are quicker in race trim.

For Vettel, I think finishing on the podium should be considered a good result.

Re: 2019 Australian Grand Prix Free Practice & Qualifying Th

Posted: Sat Mar 16, 2019 7:53 am
by mikeyg123
pokerman wrote:
mikeyg123 wrote:
pokerman wrote:
mikeyg123 wrote:Perez is the 5th best driver out there at the moment.
Only a tenth quicker than Stroll? :?
And Hamilton has been out qualified by Bottas on occasion whats your point?
I'm wondering how you judge Perez has the 5th best driver?
I think he's currently better than all of the other proven drivers apart from 4? a judgement made from observing his performances over his career.

Re: 2019 Australian Grand Prix Free Practice & Qualifying Th

Posted: Sat Mar 16, 2019 7:55 am
by mikeyg123
sandman1347 wrote:On a side note; not too impressed with Leclerc in the end. Vettel bested him easily in Q3. It's just one race and he had a slow start last year too but I'd keep an eye on that. Not to put too much pressure on him. Vettel is a beast and a very experienced champion but I actually expected more from Charles.
I think you may need to be a bit fairer in your expectations.

Re: 2019 Australian Grand Prix Free Practice & Qualifying Th

Posted: Sat Mar 16, 2019 7:59 am
by FormulaFun
BlackMist wrote:I think I said after the first test session that Lewis will put 0.7 seconds between him and a Ferrari in W3 at Melbourne.

That is a massive gap. Last year Ferrari came into Melbourne knowing they didn’t have the package but this year I think they were quietly confident that they were ahead of Mercedes.

Ferrari race pace isn’t great too. Red Bull are quicker in race trim.

For Vettel, I think finishing on the podium should be considered a good result.
100% they were quietly confident, they were very silly shocked during quali and they clearly thought they were ahead, I think they thought that they were around 0.5 ahead as well even, so basically are suddenly 1.2 seconds off where they thought they'd be. Seems they have been duped by Merc who has been really downplaying performance.

Re: 2019 Australian Grand Prix Free Practice & Qualifying Th

Posted: Sat Mar 16, 2019 8:01 am
by TheGiantHogweed
mikeyg123 wrote:
sandman1347 wrote:On a side note; not too impressed with Leclerc in the end. Vettel bested him easily in Q3. It's just one race and he had a slow start last year too but I'd keep an eye on that. Not to put too much pressure on him. Vettel is a beast and a very experienced champion but I actually expected more from Charles.
I think you may need to be a bit fairer in your expectations.
Given how much hype Leclerc had and most expected him to clearly be better than Kimi, i think that fair. If we allow him time, he shouldn't be as highly rated as he is. I personally expected him to be no better than kimi for a good deal of this season, but think he will improve. At this moment in time, I think Bottas will be the strongest number 2 driver in the top 3 teams until some way through this season.

Re: 2019 Australian Grand Prix Free Practice & Qualifying Th

Posted: Sat Mar 16, 2019 8:01 am
by Laz_T800
UnlikeUday wrote:
sandman1347 wrote:
UnlikeUday wrote:But when it comes to race, weren't Ferrari the best team when it came to race pace? With a good strategy, Vettel can still win provided he's atleast ahead of Bottas.
If you're referring to last year then no, not really. They just took advantage of the VSC. If not for that, Hamilton had the race in the bag last year.
I'm referring to 2019.
Not according to this?
https://www.formula1.com/en/latest/arti ... V5EfM.html
RACE PACE

Red Bull boss Christian Horner conceded that the one-lap pace of the Mercedes in FP2 “looked pretty impressive” but added “the car looks stiff and difficult to drive, so whether that’s sustainable for a Grand Prix, I don’t know”. After digging into the data, it suggests it may well be...

Long-run pace deficit (seconds per lap)

1 Mercedes
2 Alfa Romeo +0.9s/lap
3= Red Bull +1.0s/lap
3= Ferrari +1.0s/lap
5 Racing Point +1.3s/lap
6= McLaren +1.4s/lap
6= Renault +1.4s/lap
6= Haas +1.4s/lap
9 Toro Rosso +1.5s/lap
10 Williams +3.4s/lap

Even Hamilton moved to downplay Mercedes’ pace, but the data suggested the W10 had pace across both soft and medium tyres as well as on one lap and long runs. Next best was Alfa Romeo. Obviously, Kimi Raikkonen didn’t give anything away, but the fact there were few complaints bodes well.

It’s unlikely they will have the pace to outqualify Ferrari and Red Bull, and with the latter two so close in terms in long-run pace, it’s likely they would lead the pack in terms of best of the rest.

From there, it’s pretty close between Racing Point, McLaren, Renault, Haas and Toro Rosso – as was the case in terms of one-lap pace. According to the data, Williams are way off and face the prospect of being lapped at least once, probably more, in Sunday’s race. No wonder Russell and team mate Robert Kubica were so downbeat.

Re: 2019 Australian Grand Prix Free Practice & Qualifying Th

Posted: Sat Mar 16, 2019 8:07 am
by Clarky
mcdo wrote:
lucifers wrote:what happened to Ferrari
They were miles off in Australia qualy last year too. And look how quickly that turned as the season wore on
The weird thing is their car looks so planted and the Merc twitchy.

Re: 2019 Australian Grand Prix Free Practice & Qualifying Th

Posted: Sat Mar 16, 2019 8:17 am
by Invade
Herb wrote:Just a reminder Ferrari were 6 or 7 tenths off Mercedes last year, but still had at least the joint best car over the season.

One swallow does not a summer make...
True but it feels different to me, because last year Merc weren't really 6-7 tenths better but Vettel barely improved his performance with the extra Q3 power and put in a mediocre lap by his standards despite being generally faster than Kimi. Vettel barely improving his time made the gap look huge and Kimi just wasn't very quick. This year, Vettel made the expected gains in Q3 and put something together and is still 7 or so tenths behind the leading Merc, despite Hamilton probably not putting in a lap as good as in 2018. Now it just feels like Mercedes quickly extracted a lot of extra performance out of the car not through sandbagging in the second test as such but because they only tested their real car for 4 days and had way more to get out of it!

Also it seems like Mercedes were very focused on getting it right specifically for Australia and also that on such a circuit with so many medium speed and slower corners that they are simply superior, which is something that testing revealed should well be the case anyway. This does create a bit of an illusion and so I expect Ferrari to be much more competitive in qualifying in the following races but the actual gap itself in Melbourne feels far more real to me this time than it did last year.

Re: 2019 Australian Grand Prix Free Practice & Qualifying Th

Posted: Sat Mar 16, 2019 8:21 am
by shay550
Those last two days of testing for Ferrari were rough and judging their gap to Red Bull I think there is a little extra there to be extracted.

Re: 2019 Australian Grand Prix Free Practice & Qualifying Th

Posted: Sat Mar 16, 2019 8:48 am
by BMWSauber84
The very specific nature of Melbourne and means it's a mugs game to draw too many conclusions. But I am a mug and I will.

There was a telling clip of Binotto shaking his head when he saw Hamilton's Q2 lap. A lap that was strong despite a mistake and traffic.

It doesn't mean they can't win tomorrow. This is a circuit where something often seems to go wrong for Hamilton.

Re: 2019 Australian Grand Prix Free Practice & Qualifying Th

Posted: Sat Mar 16, 2019 9:26 am
by Siao7
So Vettel was right calling the Merc's bullshit!

I didn't expect this gap to be honest, I thought it would be closer. Oh well, on to the race

Re: 2019 Australian Grand Prix Free Practice & Qualifying Th

Posted: Sat Mar 16, 2019 9:29 am
by Invade
Given the car characteristics, Mercedes might reverse the trend at all their traditional weaker tracks. Apparently, the car is superb through lower speed corners.

Re: 2019 Australian Grand Prix Free Practice & Qualifying Th

Posted: Sat Mar 16, 2019 10:04 am
by Alex53
*sigh*

Call me when other teams stand a chance in this sport.

Re: 2019 Australian Grand Prix Free Practice & Qualifying Th

Posted: Sat Mar 16, 2019 10:24 am
by mikeyg123
Worth noting the gap to the midfield has closed massively. and Haas are actually closer to Ferrari than Ferrari are to Merc. That bodes well.

Re: 2019 Australian Grand Prix Free Practice & Qualifying Th

Posted: Sat Mar 16, 2019 10:26 am
by Covalent
mikeyg123 wrote:Worth noting the gap to the midfield has closed massively. and Haas are actually closer to Ferrari than Ferrari are to Merc. That bodes well.
That bodes well for Mercedes.

Re: 2019 Australian Grand Prix Free Practice & Qualifying Th

Posted: Sat Mar 16, 2019 10:36 am
by Black_Flag_11
I'll wait until Spain personally. We saw this last year too, whatever the reasons.

If Mercedes are genuinely that far ahead Hamilton is pretty shameless with how much he was lying in the run up to this event, for little to no reason, so I doubt today was a true reflection.

Re: 2019 Australian Grand Prix Free Practice & Qualifying Th

Posted: Sat Mar 16, 2019 11:09 am
by FormulaFun
Black_Flag_11 wrote:I'll wait until Spain personally. We saw this last year too, whatever the reasons.

If Mercedes are genuinely that far ahead Hamilton is pretty shameless with how much he was lying in the run up to this event, for little to no reason, so I doubt today was a true reflection.
It's sport not a freaking crime scene there is no shame in lying

Re: 2019 Australian Grand Prix Free Practice & Qualifying Th

Posted: Sat Mar 16, 2019 11:18 am
by Clarky
Black_Flag_11 wrote:I'll wait until Spain personally. We saw this last year too, whatever the reasons.

If Mercedes are genuinely that far ahead Hamilton is pretty shameless with how much he was lying in the run up to this event, for little to no reason, so I doubt today was a true reflection.
Really...???

Re: 2019 Australian Grand Prix Free Practice & Qualifying Th

Posted: Sat Mar 16, 2019 11:27 am
by UnlikeUday
Image
Source - www.imgur.com

Image
Source - www.imgur.com

Re: 2019 Australian Grand Prix Free Practice & Qualifying Th

Posted: Sat Mar 16, 2019 11:31 am
by AravJ
Normality has resumed with Lewis 7th tenths faster than the competition after all the yearly hopes and hypes of them having some competition.
RBR did well to close the gap to Ferrari in qualy but serious strategy mistake with Gasly.
McLaren seems to be in the middle or better part of the mid field which as great for them, even better than Renault works team. Cyril complaining about B teams, he should be focused on beating his customer with a rookie driver. Awesome qualy by Noris. Hope the starting on used tires does not put him at too much of a disadvantage.
Leclerc did not seem his usual calm self at the post quali interview. Guess that's the pressure of driving a Ferrari

Re: 2019 Australian Grand Prix Free Practice & Qualifying Th

Posted: Sat Mar 16, 2019 11:34 am
by Mr-E
Norris was star of the day! Very impressive!

Re: 2019 Australian Grand Prix Free Practice & Qualifying Th

Posted: Sat Mar 16, 2019 11:35 am
by Covalent
So Williams don't even have the straight line speed going for them... in fact they're slowest of the bunch.

Re: 2019 Australian Grand Prix Free Practice & Qualifying Th

Posted: Sat Mar 16, 2019 11:38 am
by Black_Flag_11
Clarky wrote:
Black_Flag_11 wrote:I'll wait until Spain personally. We saw this last year too, whatever the reasons.

If Mercedes are genuinely that far ahead Hamilton is pretty shameless with how much he was lying in the run up to this event, for little to no reason, so I doubt today was a true reflection.
Really...???
Well yeah, if he said Mercedes were half a second behind and they are half a second ahead he would clearly be aware he was telling the media nonesence, the whole of Mercedes in fact.

So like I said I very much doubt that we saw a reflective showing today, I don't see why Mercedes would say that when it's so far off the truth.