2015 Spanish Grand Prix Qualifying Thread

[Option or Prime]

I don't think Lewis will back off at turn 1 or anywhere on the track, IF he is behind Nico he will harass him until Nico looses his nerve. This race will be a battle of confidence and mental strength, Lewis will be looking to break Nico's.

Would be a terrific battle if Vettel gets to split the Mercs though !

[cmax]

The way Lewis has been on recent race starts, I see him leading the race into turn 1

Spain is certainly a track that gives plenty of room into turn one for that scenario, doesn't it?

It surely does. We have seen how cautious Nico gets during race starts. He has to be aggressive or he might lose more than more hsn one position st the stsrt.

[Need4Naiim]

By the fifth race you'd think they could find a pair of overalls for Vettel that fit.

He has always gone more towards the "Jacques Villeneuve Fit" for his overalls.

I like them both <JV and SV>, and not surprisingly, i like to wear loose and comfortable clothes too since 6 years of age.

[Option or Prime]

I don't think Lewis will back off at turn 1 or anywhere on the track, IF he is behind Nico he will harass him until Nico looses his nerve. This race will be a battle of confidence and mental strength, Lewis will be looking to break Nico's.

Would be a terrific battle if Vettel gets to split the Mercs though !

[Bacus]

Great lap from Rosberg! If he can keep the lead into T1 it will be very difficult for Hamilton to do anything about him in the race. A couple of other revelations from this weekend thus far:

1. Raikkonen's performance in qualifying is shocking at times. What a horrific lap to be a full second down from Vettel. Sure Kimi is still quick on race day but he stands no chance to beat Vettel with qualifying performances this poor.
2. The perfromance between the Ferrari and Mercedes power units is pretty much identical. When you look at the numbers from Williams or FI and compare them to Sauber, there is no indication of any substantial difference in bhp. Indeed it seems that the difference between the Ferrari and Mercedes teams is actually the chassis.

It was quite noticeable from a long time, but people get stuck into "We need a big, wide fact for everything".

[F1Tyrant]

I don't think Lewis will back off at turn 1 or anywhere on the track, IF he is behind Nico he will harass him until Nico looses his nerve. This race will be a battle of confidence and mental strength, Lewis will be looking to break Nico's.

There has to be a compromise. Lewis is sensible enough to realise he isn't quite on it this weekend and if he doesn't take the lead at the start, he will have to be patient and put Nico under pressure without hurting his tyres or try an alternative strategy and pass Nico on the mediums at the end.

Would be a terrific battle if Vettel gets to split the Mercs though !

I want this to happen but Mercedes want another 1-2 which will put them on 14 one-twos (2014-2015) compared to Red Bulls 16 one-twos (2009-2013). It would be a risk by Hamilton as if his hard tyre pace isn't great compared to Seb's soft stint, he might have to pass Vettel and Rosberg in the 3rd stint but would make for a great spectacle.

[Need4Naiim]

Great lap from Rosberg! If he can keep the lead into T1 it will be very difficult for Hamilton to do anything about him in the race. A couple of other revelations from this weekend thus far:

1. Raikkonen's performance in qualifying is shocking at times. What a horrific lap to be a full second down from Vettel. Sure Kimi is still quick on race day but he stands no chance to beat Vettel with qualifying performances this poor.
2. The perfromance between the Ferrari and Mercedes power units is pretty much identical. When you look at the numbers from Williams or FI and compare them to Sauber, there is no indication of any substantial difference in bhp. Indeed it seems that the difference between the Ferrari and Mercedes teams is actually the chassis.

It was quite noticeable from a long time, but people get stuck into "We need a big, wide fact for everything".

Since it is chassis and "quite noticable", why Mercedes GP was incapable of producing a decent chassis since their entrance to the sport in 2010? (a different team with same engine <V8> won races and challenged titles consistently 3 seasons). Mercedes with a V8 was struggling heavily with chassis. But when V6-Turbo PU arrived in 2014, Mercedes started to produce a "decent chassis" suddenly?

Something HUGE does not add up if it is chassis that is noticable after 2014 February. It was no different for 2015 Barcelona too. Same story since 2014 March;

Mercedes V6-Turbo for qualifying.

[F1Tyrant]

Mercedes with a V8 was struggling heavily with chassis. But when V6-Turbo PU arrived in 2014, Mercedes started to produce a "decent chassis" suddenly.

Mercedes had a better chassis than Red Bull in qualifying in 2013. The only struggles they had was a defect that caused excessive rear tyre wear. It was only a matter of time before Mercedes refined the concepts and improved rear tyre wear.

The problems at Malaysia were eye opening. This shows that the rear-tyre eating concept is a side effect of their aerodynamic philosophy. They may have cracked into an innovative evolution by persisting throughout 2013.

[mikeyg123]

Great lap from Rosberg! If he can keep the lead into T1 it will be very difficult for Hamilton to do anything about him in the race. A couple of other revelations from this weekend thus far:

1. Raikkonen's performance in qualifying is shocking at times. What a horrific lap to be a full second down from Vettel. Sure Kimi is still quick on race day but he stands no chance to beat Vettel with qualifying performances this poor.
2. The perfromance between the Ferrari and Mercedes power units is pretty much identical. When you look at the numbers from Williams or FI and compare them to Sauber, there is no indication of any substantial difference in bhp. Indeed it seems that the difference between the Ferrari and Mercedes teams is actually the chassis.

It was quite noticeable from a long time, but people get stuck into "We need a big, wide fact for everything".

Since it is chassis and "quite noticable", why Mercedes GP was incapable of producing a decent chassis since their entrance to the sport in 2010? (a different team with same engine <V8> won races and challenged titles consistently 3 seasons). Mercedes with a V8 was struggling heavily with chassis. But when V6-Turbo PU arrived in 2014, Mercedes started to produce a "decent chassis" suddenly?

Something HUGE does not add up if it is chassis that is noticable after 2014 February. It was no different for 2015 Barcelona too. Same story since 2014 March;

Mercedes V6-Turbo for qualifying.

It is not the same chassis as 2010.

[Banana Man]

If it wasn't for poor laps by Kimi and Massa they would all be lining up 2 by 2.

Merc
Ferrari
Williams
STR
RBR
Lotus
McLaren
Sauber
FI
Manor

[Bacus]

Great lap from Rosberg! If he can keep the lead into T1 it will be very difficult for Hamilton to do anything about him in the race. A couple of other revelations from this weekend thus far:

1. Raikkonen's performance in qualifying is shocking at times. What a horrific lap to be a full second down from Vettel. Sure Kimi is still quick on race day but he stands no chance to beat Vettel with qualifying performances this poor.
2. The perfromance between the Ferrari and Mercedes power units is pretty much identical. When you look at the numbers from Williams or FI and compare them to Sauber, there is no indication of any substantial difference in bhp. Indeed it seems that the difference between the Ferrari and Mercedes teams is actually the chassis.

It was quite noticeable from a long time, but people get stuck into "We need a big, wide fact for everything".

Since it is chassis and "quite noticable", why Mercedes GP was incapable of producing a decent chassis since their entrance to the sport in 2010? (a different team with same engine <V8> won races and challenged titles consistently 3 seasons). Mercedes with a V8 was struggling heavily with chassis. But when V6-Turbo PU arrived in 2014, Mercedes started to produce a "decent chassis" suddenly?

Something HUGE does not add up if it is chassis that is noticable after 2014 February. It was no different for 2015 Barcelona too. Same story since 2014 March;

Mercedes V6-Turbo for qualifying.

What's this got to do with what happened a few years ago? It's just a statement based on pure observation on how the cars behave since the beginning of the season, also backed up by facts if you look on the relative performance in conjunction to the type of the corners, tracks. I don't know how they end up there but that's how the result seems to be.
Why do we need to complicate things if you can look at them directly, paying attention to details.

[pokerman]

Seb awesome as always.

??????????

[nixxxon]

Sainz 5th! second coming of jesus!!

Oh wait, thats verstappen, it must have been luck from sainz

[pokerman]

Sainz 5th! second coming of jesus!!

Oh wait, thats verstappen, it must have been luck from sainz

Yes indeed but he is only 17 and it's only his second season of car racing

[Need4Naiim]

Seb awesome as always.

??????????

Seb out-qualified his teammate 5 times and out-qualified MUCH faster Mercedes cars 2 times out of 5.

Seb's first 5 qualifying with Ferrari produced an average of 2.8

[VDV23]

Seb awesome as always.

??????????

Seb out-qualified his teammate 5 times and out-qualified MUCH faster Mercedes cars 2 times out of 5.

Fernando Alonso's first 5 qualifying performances with Ferrari produced an average of 6.4

Seb's first 5 qualifying with Ferrari produced an average of 2.8

Long story short, Seb is showing why he is a quadruple champ.

I'm trying to resist so hard, the troll bait is real.

[w1Y!]

I think it's a little embarrassing that vettel has only won one race in that car. The car is an absolute beast.

[ZeroG]

Well done Nico. Should be a good race tomorrow.

[Covalent]

I think it's a little embarrassing that vettel has only won one race in that car. The car is an absolute beast.

Not as embarrassing as your post.

[kleefton]

Great from Rosberg but I still have Hamilton leading into T1. Lewis has been starting better all season.

Hamilton has to be very careful. Rosberg needs to try and make up a lot of points so will force Hamilton off the track into turn 1 if he gets a better start than him.

If I was Hamilton, I wouldn't try and force anything into turn 1 unless it's a superb start and he gets a little air between him and Rosberg. I would cruise in 2nd place and try and attack at the start of the 2nd stint on the brand new softs.

Lewis has to bear in mind that 2nd is a good result as Spain is one of his weaker tracks unless he nails the set-up like in 2012. Patience and a 8 or 9 race podium streak will win him the championship.

Im pretty sure whoever is second after lap one will get the hard tires for the second stint. Unless ferrari is close...which they dont appear to be here. Lewis' opportunity will likely cme at the start and during the last stint.

[pokerman]

Seb awesome as always.

??????????

Seb out-qualified his teammate 5 times and out-qualified MUCH faster Mercedes cars 2 times out of 5.

Seb's first 5 qualifying with Ferrari produced an average of 2.8

Oh so we are forgetting last year?

[j man]

Great lap from Rosberg! If he can keep the lead into T1 it will be very difficult for Hamilton to do anything about him in the race. A couple of other revelations from this weekend thus far:

1. Raikkonen's performance in qualifying is shocking at times. What a horrific lap to be a full second down from Vettel. Sure Kimi is still quick on race day but he stands no chance to beat Vettel with qualifying performances this poor.
2. The perfromance between the Ferrari and Mercedes power units is pretty much identical. When you look at the numbers from Williams or FI and compare them to Sauber, there is no indication of any substantial difference in bhp. Indeed it seems that the difference between the Ferrari and Mercedes teams is actually the chassis.

It was quite noticeable from a long time, but people get stuck into "We need a big, wide fact for everything".

Since it is chassis and "quite noticable", why Mercedes GP was incapable of producing a decent chassis since their entrance to the sport in 2010? (a different team with same engine <V8> won races and challenged titles consistently 3 seasons). Mercedes with a V8 was struggling heavily with chassis. But when V6-Turbo PU arrived in 2014, Mercedes started to produce a "decent chassis" suddenly?

Something HUGE does not add up if it is chassis that is noticable after 2014 February. It was no different for 2015 Barcelona too. Same story since 2014 March;

Mercedes V6-Turbo for qualifying.

It's the same reason Red Bull "suddenly" turned up with a great chassis in 2009 after languishing in the midfield for four years. It's just a combination of it taking time to build a race-winning team, and an overhaul of the technical regs giving everyone the chance to start from scratch.

[F1Tyrant]

Im pretty sure whoever is second after lap one will get the hard tires for the second stint. Unless ferrari is close...which they dont appear to be here.

Will Mercedes chance it though? It is slightly risky as it may surrender track position to Seb if Ferrari race pace is faster than expected. It wouldn't be the first time this season Vettel has caught out Mercedes.

It will be interesting to see that if Vettel tries to undercut Hamilton whether they give Hamilton an undercut to Rosberg. Nico got an undercut in China and Bahrain, maybe Lewis will receive an undercut this time out.

Lewis' opportunity will likely cme at the start and during the last stint.

If Hamilton doesn't do a hard tyre middle stint, I can't see him hanging back if he gets a run. I'd rather Lewis be patient and conserve his tyres given the overtaking difficulty.

[Black_Flag_11]

I think it's a little embarrassing that vettel has only won one race in that car. The car is an absolute beast.

Not as embarrassing as your post.

I took it to be sarcasm? Maybe I was wrong, but it seems odd to make the comment when the two Ferrari cars were 0.7 and 1.7 seconds of pole respectively if it wasn't.

[Schumacher forever#1]

I think Mclaren will just about squeeze into the points tomorrow. There's bound to be at least one Renault failure, and theyre always a good chunk off everyone else in quali because of their inability to turn the wick up. They might be battling the Lotus', and, if they get ahead of them, and a Renault blows up, that's a tenth place.

Rosberg looked close to perfect on his flying lap today. Hopefully he'll start to perform better from now on, even from the lack of forum posting, we can tell this Hamilton supremity is turning off fans.

[Asphalt_World]

So, Kimi's final set of tyres were reportedly overcooked in the tyre blankets, hence the bad time.

[sandman1347]

Looking forward to seeing Lewis start P2 behind Nico. It has been 5 races since we have had Lewis behind in a race, the races are always a lot more interesting when Nico is in front.

What is Lewis' best option if he is behind in the first stint? Run alternative tyres to Nico. Medium-Hard-Medium. I assume the lead Mercedes will run Medium-Medium-Hard.

He seems to have the advantage on the hard tyre. Running the hard for the middle stint means he could keep in touch with Nico, use his good hard tyre pace in clean air as Nico will pull away on the medium. Then come the end he will get the advantage. Also if there is a SC in the 2nd or 3rd stint it favours the guy who runs Hard earlier.

I don't think Hamilton has to use an alternate strategy to be honest. As you said, he seems to have an advantage with the harder tires. He might be able to use that to overtake Nico on the same tire. Using an alternate strategy might be a bit risky in that he could lose touch with Nico or perhaps even create an opportunity for the cars behind (though the latter is unlikely).

[pokerman]

So, Kimi's final set of tyres were reportedly overcooked in the tyre blankets, hence the bad time.

Not really he still had one good set of tyres I believe for Q3?

[Mr-E]

Seb awesome as always.

??????????

Seb out-qualified his teammate 5 times and out-qualified MUCH faster Mercedes cars 2 times out of 5.

Seb's first 5 qualifying with Ferrari produced an average of 2.8

Source: infullgear.com

[bourbon19]

Seb awesome as always.

??????????

Seb out-qualified his teammate 5 times and out-qualified MUCH faster Mercedes cars 2 times out of 5.

Seb's first 5 qualifying with Ferrari produced an average of 2.8

Oh so we are forgetting last year?

What has last year got to do with it? Are we supposed to snare at Hamilton's pole's this season merely because he got out-qualified by Nico 12-7 last season?

On to 2015...

[mikeyg123]

Seb awesome as always.

??????????

Seb out-qualified his teammate 5 times and out-qualified MUCH faster Mercedes cars 2 times out of 5.

Seb's first 5 qualifying with Ferrari produced an average of 2.8

Oh so we are forgetting last year?

What has last year got to do with it? Are we supposed to snare at Hamilton's pole's this season merely because he got out-qualified by Nico 12-7 last season?

On to 2015...

The comment was about Seb being "awesome as always". Not just awesome in 2015. The word always kind of implies all the time.

To be honest I think you would be stretching things to say 3rd place in the second best car is awesome. In fact its about par.

[Option or Prime]

Simple really, if you say "Seb as Always" it has to be always, or say instead "Seb this season" or similar. The post is being questioned as it is not factual.

[moby]

"old Lewis" would have needed to be in front of Nico coming out of the first corner. I think "New Lewis" will be content to stay behind, and if he does not get an easy gap, wait for "hammer time" and build up a lead to come from the pits in the lead. or undercut and hammer?

This is assuming that he is in second, and that Seb is not crawling over him, which wil need a different approach.

He seems more a thinking driver than a gung-Ho now

[F1Tyrant]

"old Lewis" would have needed to be in front of Nico coming out of the first corner. I think "New Lewis" will be content to stay behind, and if he does not get an easy gap, wait for "hammer time" and build up a lead to come from the pits in the lead. or undercut and hammer?

Lewis has yet to Schumacher-shift Rosberg in the pits. It was close in Brazil but no cigar after his spin. The overcut has only really worked in one race after re-fuelling was banned in 2010 - Germany 2011.

He seems more a thinking driver than a gung-Ho now

I want him to prove it today. I will be gutted if he crashes attempting an ambitious overtake on Nico.

[lamo]

In the races Nico has started on pole with Lewis P2, 7 of them I think, Nico has won once. Lewis 5 times.

As a side note, what is a good site to look at year by year statistics. Formula1.com is useless now.

[F1Tyrant]

As a side note, what is a good site to look at year by year statistics. Formula1.com is useless now.

I use Stats F1 which is a french site with frenglish throughout but you can work it out.

[dogboy]

Inappropriate post removed.

[Aussie Grit]

Spain: 2014 Q3
Ricciardo 1.26.285

Spain: 2015 Q3
Ricciardo 1.26.770

Thought this was interesting.

[F1Tyrant]

Spain: 2014 Q3
Ricciardo 1.26.285

Spain: 2015 Q3
Ricciardo 1.26.770

Jeez, Newey who?