2019 Singapore Grand Prix Free Practice & Qualifying Thread

Jezza13 · Post by **Jezza13** » Sat Sep 21, 2019 2:07 pm

pokerman wrote:So we're looking to get rid of qualifying?

Ridiculous isn't it poker but we know it's not because there's a problem with Saturday.

Invade · Post by **Invade** » Sat Sep 21, 2019 2:08 pm

Seb's lap was very good but Leclerc still put a couple of tenths on him. Judging from Leclerc's self appraisal his lap was on the ragged edge, as was Hamilton's, with him claiming he might have hit the wall. Ferrari needed the mega lap to stop Hamilton and they got it from Leclerc.

kleefton · Post by **kleefton** » Sat Sep 21, 2019 2:09 pm

So surprised at the Ferrari pace. Leclerc is a boss. What a special talent.

pokerman · Post by **pokerman** » Sat Sep 21, 2019 2:09 pm

So did Mercedes only have 1 set of new tyres for Q3?

kleefton · Post by **kleefton** » Sat Sep 21, 2019 2:12 pm

pokerman wrote:So we're looking to get rid of qualifying?

Just when we are starting to have legitimate fights for pole between multiple teams.
That was a cracking session!

Jezza13 · Post by **Jezza13** » Sat Sep 21, 2019 2:24 pm

kleefton wrote:So surprised at the Ferrari pace. Leclerc is a boss. What a special talent.

I've said it before. I'll say it again.

Charles Leclerc........... DOTY.

FormulaFun · Post by **FormulaFun** » Sat Sep 21, 2019 2:27 pm

Jezza13 wrote:
kleefton wrote:So surprised at the Ferrari pace. Leclerc is a boss. What a special talent.
I've said it before. I'll say it again.

Charles Leclerc........... DOTY.

Really? Way too many mistakes to be considered for doty but he is ecclipsing & exposing vettel

UnlikeUday · Post by **UnlikeUday** » Sat Sep 21, 2019 2:34 pm

Source - Imgur

pokerman · Post by **pokerman** » Sat Sep 21, 2019 2:34 pm

FormulaFun wrote:
Jezza13 wrote:
kleefton wrote:So surprised at the Ferrari pace. Leclerc is a boss. What a special talent.
I've said it before. I'll say it again.

Charles Leclerc........... DOTY.
Really? Way too many mistakes to be considered for doty but he is ecclipsing & exposing vettel

Yeah I've already mentioned that it's also forgetting how many times he struggled for race pace earlier in the season which Leclerc himself admitted.

Jezza13 · Post by **Jezza13** » Sat Sep 21, 2019 2:54 pm

pokerman wrote:
FormulaFun wrote:
Jezza13 wrote:
kleefton wrote:So surprised at the Ferrari pace. Leclerc is a boss. What a special talent.
I've said it before. I'll say it again.

Charles Leclerc........... DOTY.
Really? Way too many mistakes to be considered for doty but he is ecclipsing & exposing vettel
Yeah I've already mentioned that.

All you negative people. I dunno.

21 yrs old, 2nd season in the sport in arguably the most difficult seat in the most high profile team F1 against a 4x WC who's led the team for 4 yrs, including getting favorable strategy calls earlier in the year & he's got 2 wins, should've / could've been 4, both wins under enormous pressure, 5 pole positions to his name & 13 point ahead of his team-mate.

Weighing up his results & how he's driven this year against his age, experience, the pressure & focus that's on him? Yeah, i'm happy to make that call.

Who else, all things considered, has driven better this year?

froze · Post by **froze** » Sat Sep 21, 2019 3:00 pm

Jezza13 wrote:
pokerman wrote:
FormulaFun wrote:
Jezza13 wrote:
kleefton wrote:So surprised at the Ferrari pace. Leclerc is a boss. What a special talent.
I've said it before. I'll say it again.

Charles Leclerc........... DOTY.
Really? Way too many mistakes to be considered for doty but he is ecclipsing & exposing vettel
Yeah I've already mentioned that.
All you negative people. I dunno.

21 yrs old, 2nd season in the sport in arguably the most difficult seat in the most high profile team F1 against a 4x WC who's led the team for 4 yrs, including getting favorable strategy calls earlier in the year & he's got 2 wins, should've / could've been 4, both wins under enormous pressure, 5 pole positions to his name & 13 point ahead of his team-mate.

Weighing up his results & how he's driven this year against his age, experience, the pressure & focus that's on him? Yeah, i'm happy to make that call.

Who else, all things considered, has driven better this year?

I'd say it's between him and Verstappen. Hard to say who has driven better.

FormulaFun · Post by **FormulaFun** » Sat Sep 21, 2019 3:02 pm

Jezza13 wrote:
pokerman wrote:
FormulaFun wrote:
Jezza13 wrote:
kleefton wrote:So surprised at the Ferrari pace. Leclerc is a boss. What a special talent.
I've said it before. I'll say it again.

Charles Leclerc........... DOTY.
Really? Way too many mistakes to be considered for doty but he is ecclipsing & exposing vettel
Yeah I've already mentioned that.
All you negative people. I dunno.

21 yrs old, 2nd season in the sport in arguably the most difficult seat in the most high profile team F1 against a 4x WC who's led the team for 4 yrs, including getting favorable strategy calls earlier in the year & he's got 2 wins, should've / could've been 4, both wins under enormous pressure, 5 pole positions to his name & 13 point ahead of his team-mate.

Weighing up his results & how he's driven this year against his age, experience, the pressure & focus that's on him? Yeah, i'm happy to make that call.

Who else, all things considered, has driven better this year?

Well of the young drivers Verstappen has clearly driven better than leclerc this year..and Hamilton is ahead of them both. You're getting way too carried away, i'm a leclerc fan and have been since he entered gp2 but there's no way he should be considered driver of the year.

Sainz is s having a better year than leclerc, granted its a totally different scenario. But to just cherry pick it to say well Ferrari is high pressure and he's a new driver so he should be given a tonne of leeway on his costly errors this season is not really fair on the other drivers who have been way more consistent

UnlikeUday · Post by **UnlikeUday** » Sat Sep 21, 2019 3:05 pm

Based on who has been in F1 longer & in the same team longer, I'd say Leclerc as he was in Alfa Romeo in his debut year, got a surprise promotion, handled & embraced pressure of being in Ferrari & Vettel's team mate!

Jezza13 · Post by **Jezza13** » Sat Sep 21, 2019 3:06 pm

froze wrote:
Jezza13 wrote:
pokerman wrote:
FormulaFun wrote:
Jezza13 wrote:
I've said it before. I'll say it again.

Charles Leclerc........... DOTY.
Really? Way too many mistakes to be considered for doty but he is ecclipsing & exposing vettel
Yeah I've already mentioned that.
All you negative people. I dunno.

21 yrs old, 2nd season in the sport in arguably the most difficult seat in the most high profile team F1 against a 4x WC who's led the team for 4 yrs, including getting favorable strategy calls earlier in the year & he's got 2 wins, should've / could've been 4, both wins under enormous pressure, 5 pole positions to his name & 13 point ahead of his team-mate.

Weighing up his results & how he's driven this year against his age, experience, the pressure & focus that's on him? Yeah, i'm happy to make that call.

Who else, all things considered, has driven better this year?
I'd say it's between him and Verstappen. Hard to say who has driven better.

Verstappen's been in F1 for half a decade, has an entire team built around him & is still mistake prone ( although I will admit a hell of a lot less than he was).

Invade · Post by **Invade** » Sat Sep 21, 2019 4:32 pm

froze wrote: I'd say it's between him and Verstappen. Hard to say who has driven better.

Well this one is easy. I'm not interested in performance "relative to" but rather in absolute performance. Max is more experienced and it shows, as he has been more consistently quick and has made less errors than Leclerc.

It's actually between Verstappen and Hamilton. Leclerc has plenty more to do to seriously put himself in contention for producing the actual best performance of the year in sheer terms... or whatever.

pokerman · Post by **pokerman** » Sat Sep 21, 2019 4:35 pm

Jezza13 wrote:
pokerman wrote:
FormulaFun wrote:
Jezza13 wrote:
kleefton wrote:So surprised at the Ferrari pace. Leclerc is a boss. What a special talent.
I've said it before. I'll say it again.

Charles Leclerc........... DOTY.
Really? Way too many mistakes to be considered for doty but he is ecclipsing & exposing vettel
Yeah I've already mentioned that.
All you negative people. I dunno.

21 yrs old, 2nd season in the sport in arguably the most difficult seat in the most high profile team F1 against a 4x WC who's led the team for 4 yrs, including getting favorable strategy calls earlier in the year & he's got 2 wins, should've / could've been 4, both wins under enormous pressure, 5 pole positions to his name & 13 point ahead of his team-mate.

Weighing up his results & how he's driven this year against his age, experience, the pressure & focus that's on him? Yeah, i'm happy to make that call.

Who else, all things considered, has driven better this year?

Lewis Hamilton the guy with 8 wins and Max Verstappen who also has 2 wins despite for the most part driving an inferior car to the Ferrari.

UnlikeUday · Post by **UnlikeUday** » Sat Sep 21, 2019 4:46 pm

Ricciardo's MGUK exceeded the maximum power limit of 120 kW in Q1. His times could be deleted.

mpls2 · Post by **mpls2** » Sat Sep 21, 2019 5:05 pm

Ferrari looks gret one 1 lap with everything turned up. Lets see how they handle the tyres and brakes over the distance in tomorrows race.. I think Leis will win..

Jezza13 · Post by **Jezza13** » Sat Sep 21, 2019 5:49 pm

Invade wrote:
froze wrote: I'd say it's between him and Verstappen. Hard to say who has driven better.
Well this one is easy. I'm not interested in performance "relative to" but rather in absolute performance. Max is more experienced and it shows, as he has been more consistently quick and has made less errors than Leclerc.

It's actually between Verstappen and Hamilton. Leclerc has plenty more to do to seriously put himself in contention for producing the actual best performance of the year in sheer terms... or whatever.

Hold on. You say your'e only interested in absolute performance & not relative performance yet you also say the DOTY is between Hamilton & Verstappen. Where does Bottas fit into your equation then?

Surely if your rankings are purely performance based omitting all other variables & factors then Bottas should be #2 in your ranking, followed by Verstappen then Leclerc. After all he's scored more points than Verstappen, has just as many wins & double the amount of podiums & quadruple the pole positions.

Of course if Leclerc wins on Sunday, i'd imagine he'd move then ahead of Verstappen in your DOTY ranking on account of having more points, wins, higher finishes & pole positions then Verstappen.

sandman1347 · Post by **sandman1347** » Sat Sep 21, 2019 5:51 pm

Invade wrote:Seb's lap was very good but Leclerc still put a couple of tenths on him. Judging from Leclerc's self appraisal his lap was on the ragged edge, as was Hamilton's, with him claiming he might have hit the wall. Ferrari needed the mega lap to stop Hamilton and they got it from Leclerc.

No Ferrari were simply faster. At least over a single lap, Ferrari have the fastest car every race since the break. It's time people started to recognize that. Hamilton qualified 7 tenths quicker than Bottas and Max qualified 6 tenths faster than Albon so I don't think either of them left much on the table. Ferrari are just extremely quick. They were gaining 3-5 tenths on the first sector alone and the new upgrade package seems to be helping them through the corners massively.

Invade · Post by **Invade** » Sat Sep 21, 2019 5:55 pm

Jezza13 wrote:
Invade wrote:
froze wrote: I'd say it's between him and Verstappen. Hard to say who has driven better.
Well this one is easy. I'm not interested in performance "relative to" but rather in absolute performance. Max is more experienced and it shows, as he has been more consistently quick and has made less errors than Leclerc.

It's actually between Verstappen and Hamilton. Leclerc has plenty more to do to seriously put himself in contention for producing the actual best performance of the year in sheer terms... or whatever.
Hold on. You say your'e only interested in absolute performance & not relative performance yet you also say the DOTY is between Hamilton & Verstappen. Where does Bottas fit into your equation then?

Surely if your rankings are purely performance based omitting all other variables & factors then Bottas should be #2 in your ranking, followed by Verstappen then Leclerc. After all he's scored more points than Verstappen, has just as many wins & double the amount of podiums & quadruple the pole positions.

Of course if Leclerc wins on Sunday, i'd imagine he'd move then ahead of Verstappen in your DOTY ranking on account of having more points, wins, higher finishes & pole positions then Verstappen.

There is no performance in a vacuum to be bargained with, but from what is available for judgment it can be easily surmised as to who has been more consistently quick and made less errors out of Leclerc and Verstappen.

Invade · Post by **Invade** » Sat Sep 21, 2019 5:58 pm

sandman1347 wrote:
Invade wrote:Seb's lap was very good but Leclerc still put a couple of tenths on him. Judging from Leclerc's self appraisal his lap was on the ragged edge, as was Hamilton's, with him claiming he might have hit the wall. Ferrari needed the mega lap to stop Hamilton and they got it from Leclerc.
No Ferrari were simply faster. At least over a single lap, Ferrari have the fastest car every race since the break. It's time people started to recognize that. Hamilton qualified 7 tenths quicker than Bottas and Max qualified 6 tenths faster than Albon so I don't think either of them left much on the table. Ferrari are just extremely quick. They were gaining 3-5 tenths on the first sector alone and the new upgrade package seems to be helping them through the corners massively.

Judging from fastest sectors, Ferrari has about two tenths on Mercedes. Hamilton was close to maximising performance, ergo a wicked sick lap. Leclerc arguably performed likewise, producing his own wicked sick lap to deny Hamilton -- also this corroborates with my initial reaction in this thread to their qualifying performance. Apparently, both had moments during their laps judging by some comments by them after qualifying but until onboards of both laps surface it's difficult to come to any conclusion on if the Ferrari advantage was actually substantially more than two or maybe three tenths, though I doubt it given the sector data.

sandman1347 · Post by **sandman1347** » Sat Sep 21, 2019 6:04 pm

Invade wrote:
sandman1347 wrote:
Invade wrote:Seb's lap was very good but Leclerc still put a couple of tenths on him. Judging from Leclerc's self appraisal his lap was on the ragged edge, as was Hamilton's, with him claiming he might have hit the wall. Ferrari needed the mega lap to stop Hamilton and they got it from Leclerc.
No Ferrari were simply faster. At least over a single lap, Ferrari have the fastest car every race since the break. It's time people started to recognize that. Hamilton qualified 7 tenths quicker than Bottas and Max qualified 6 tenths faster than Albon so I don't think either of them left much on the table. Ferrari are just extremely quick. They were gaining 3-5 tenths on the first sector alone and the new upgrade package seems to be helping them through the corners massively.
Judging from fastest sectors, Ferrari has about two tenths on Mercedes. Hamilton was close to maximising performance, ergo a wicked sick lap. Leclerc arguably performed likewise, producing his own wicked sick lap to deny Hamilton -- also this corroborates with my initial reaction in this thread to their qualifying performance. Apparently, both had moments during their laps judging by some comments by them after qualifying but until onboards of both laps surface it's difficult to come to any conclusion on if the Ferrari advantage was actually substantially more than two or maybe three tenths, though I doubt it given the sector data.

I'm not saying that Charles didn't do a great lap. His lap was very strong but pole was Ferrari's to lose today. They have the fastest car now quite clearly. When you are fastest at Spa, Monza and Singapore, you have basically proven yourself in all circumstances. I still think Mercedes has an edge with the tires but that only comes into play during the races and they will have a hard time passing the Ferraris in a race if they start behind. Ferrari have well and truly left Mercedes behind in the engine department. This is where Merc will need to close the gap otherwise 2020 might be Ferrari's year.

Invade · Post by **Invade** » Sat Sep 21, 2019 6:09 pm

sandman1347 wrote:
Invade wrote:
sandman1347 wrote:
Invade wrote:Seb's lap was very good but Leclerc still put a couple of tenths on him. Judging from Leclerc's self appraisal his lap was on the ragged edge, as was Hamilton's, with him claiming he might have hit the wall. Ferrari needed the mega lap to stop Hamilton and they got it from Leclerc.
No Ferrari were simply faster. At least over a single lap, Ferrari have the fastest car every race since the break. It's time people started to recognize that. Hamilton qualified 7 tenths quicker than Bottas and Max qualified 6 tenths faster than Albon so I don't think either of them left much on the table. Ferrari are just extremely quick. They were gaining 3-5 tenths on the first sector alone and the new upgrade package seems to be helping them through the corners massively.
Judging from fastest sectors, Ferrari has about two tenths on Mercedes. Hamilton was close to maximising performance, ergo a wicked sick lap. Leclerc arguably performed likewise, producing his own wicked sick lap to deny Hamilton -- also this corroborates with my initial reaction in this thread to their qualifying performance. Apparently, both had moments during their laps judging by some comments by them after qualifying but until onboards of both laps surface it's difficult to come to any conclusion on if the Ferrari advantage was actually substantially more than two or maybe three tenths, though I doubt it given the sector data.
I'm not saying that Charles didn't do a great lap. His lap was very strong but pole was Ferrari's to lose today. They have the fastest car now quite clearly. When you are fastest at Spa, Monza and Singapore, you have basically proven yourself in all circumstances. I still think Mercedes has an edge with the tires but that only comes into play during the races and they will have a hard time passing the Ferraris in a race if they start behind. Ferrari have well and truly left Mercedes behind in the engine department. This is where Merc will need to close the gap otherwise 2020 might be Ferrari's year.

Yeah I think it's quite clear they had at least approx. two tenths on Mercedes. I have that same feeling also regarding your closing comment. Ferrari have a driver with great talent who is learning quickly, and an operation which now appears to be improving, delivering effective updates in pretty much all areas. We've heard it plenty that recent years might be Ferrari's year either after testing or early on in the season, but with Leclerc and the absurd power advantage Ferrari now clearly have over everyone else titles finally look on the cards for 2020 in a sustained season-long challenge, probably in a colossal struggle with Mercedes.

Asphalt_World · Post by **Asphalt_World** » Sat Sep 21, 2019 6:15 pm

What's a wicked sick lap? Asking for a friend who may be behind on F1 lingo!

Jezza13 · Post by **Jezza13** » Sat Sep 21, 2019 6:16 pm

pokerman wrote:

Lewis Hamilton the guy with 8 wins and Max Verstappen who also has 2 wins despite for the most part driving an inferior car to the Ferrari.

You wouldn't exactly say those 2 wins were on merit though surely. They were opportunistic. Yeah Kudos to him for bring in the right place at the right time but lets be honest, luck did play at least some part in both his wins.

He won in Austria thanks to overheating Mercs, a dubious pass on Leclerc & sympathetic stewards plus, i'll admit, a superior tyre strategy, while his win in Germany was basically last man standing.

Option or Prime · Post by **Option or Prime** » Sat Sep 21, 2019 6:22 pm

Asphalt_World wrote:What's a wicked sick lap? Asking for a friend who may be behind on F1 lingo!

Tell your friend it means "he smashed it out of the park" or "he bowled a ripper" or"he was frightfully quick old chap!"

M44 · Post by **M44** » Sat Sep 21, 2019 6:44 pm

I've tried searching and cant seem to find an answer.

Is Ferraris advantage being delivered by the ICE or the ERS systems and there subsequent deployment? I was astounded at Leclercs traction and deployment off the parabolica in Monza..
Also cant find much chat in relation to what Mercedes found from the failures in their customer team engine failures from Spa. Are Mercedes running the PU conservatively?

Mercedes, Lewis in particularly looked suprised to see a red car in the number one spot today! I guess we all did.

KingVoid · Post by **KingVoid** » Sat Sep 21, 2019 7:00 pm

KingVoid wrote:
ReservoirDog wrote:Hamilton pole to win this GP. Bottas will not finish second.
This probably

Bottas was properly humiliated by Hamilton around Singapore in both 2017 and 2018. The difference in qualifying both years was around 7 tenths, and the race pace gap was even more embarrassing.

A hattrick for Hamilton.

He put 7 tenths on Bottas around Singapore in 2017, 2018 and now 2019.

I wonder if the race pace difference between the two will once again be a humiliating margin.

Asphalt_World · Post by **Asphalt_World** » Sat Sep 21, 2019 7:18 pm

Option or Prime wrote:
Asphalt_World wrote:What's a wicked sick lap? Asking for a friend who may be behind on F1 lingo!
Tell your friend it means "he smashed it out of the park" or "he bowled a ripper" or"he was frightfully quick old chap!"

So, the lap was 'bae' then.

Option or Prime · Post by **Option or Prime** » Sat Sep 21, 2019 7:22 pm

Asphalt_World wrote:
Option or Prime wrote:
Asphalt_World wrote:What's a wicked sick lap? Asking for a friend who may be behind on F1 lingo!
Tell your friend it means "he smashed it out of the park" or "he bowled a ripper" or"he was frightfully quick old chap!"
So, the lap was 'bae' then.

Much better than anyone else!

Asphalt_World · Post by **Asphalt_World** » Sat Sep 21, 2019 7:25 pm

Danny Ric excluded from Quali. Back of the grid for him.

Option or Prime · Post by **Option or Prime** » Sat Sep 21, 2019 7:41 pm

Link for mgu-k infingement: Daniel Ricciardo excluded from qualifying

pokerman · Post by **pokerman** » Sat Sep 21, 2019 9:49 pm

sandman1347 wrote:
Invade wrote:
sandman1347 wrote:
Invade wrote:Seb's lap was very good but Leclerc still put a couple of tenths on him. Judging from Leclerc's self appraisal his lap was on the ragged edge, as was Hamilton's, with him claiming he might have hit the wall. Ferrari needed the mega lap to stop Hamilton and they got it from Leclerc.
No Ferrari were simply faster. At least over a single lap, Ferrari have the fastest car every race since the break. It's time people started to recognize that. Hamilton qualified 7 tenths quicker than Bottas and Max qualified 6 tenths faster than Albon so I don't think either of them left much on the table. Ferrari are just extremely quick. They were gaining 3-5 tenths on the first sector alone and the new upgrade package seems to be helping them through the corners massively.
Judging from fastest sectors, Ferrari has about two tenths on Mercedes. Hamilton was close to maximising performance, ergo a wicked sick lap. Leclerc arguably performed likewise, producing his own wicked sick lap to deny Hamilton -- also this corroborates with my initial reaction in this thread to their qualifying performance. Apparently, both had moments during their laps judging by some comments by them after qualifying but until onboards of both laps surface it's difficult to come to any conclusion on if the Ferrari advantage was actually substantially more than two or maybe three tenths, though I doubt it given the sector data.
I'm not saying that Charles didn't do a great lap. His lap was very strong but pole was Ferrari's to lose today. They have the fastest car now quite clearly. When you are fastest at Spa, Monza and Singapore, you have basically proven yourself in all circumstances. I still think Mercedes has an edge with the tires but that only comes into play during the races and they will have a hard time passing the Ferraris in a race if they start behind. Ferrari have well and truly left Mercedes behind in the engine department. This is where Merc will need to close the gap otherwise 2020 might be Ferrari's year.

In qualifying trim I wouldn't be surprised that the Ferrari has generally been the fastest car over the season, let's not forget this special 1 lap boost that they are able to use that gives them about 50hp more than their main rivals.

pokerman · Post by **pokerman** » Sat Sep 21, 2019 9:54 pm

Jezza13 wrote:
pokerman wrote:

Lewis Hamilton the guy with 8 wins and Max Verstappen who also has 2 wins despite for the most part driving an inferior car to the Ferrari.
You wouldn't exactly say those 2 wins were on merit though surely. They were opportunistic. Yeah Kudos to him for bring in the right place at the right time but lets be honest, luck did play at least some part in both his wins.

He won in Austria thanks to overheating Mercs, a dubious pass on Leclerc & sympathetic stewards plus, i'll admit, a superior tyre strategy, while his win in Germany was basically last man standing.

Well you've just backed up what I've said regarding Verstappen having an inferior car to Leclerc but still having the same amount of wins but beyond that there are the points to consider as well.

pokerman · Post by **pokerman** » Sat Sep 21, 2019 9:56 pm

KingVoid wrote:
KingVoid wrote:
ReservoirDog wrote:Hamilton pole to win this GP. Bottas will not finish second.
This probably

Bottas was properly humiliated by Hamilton around Singapore in both 2017 and 2018. The difference in qualifying both years was around 7 tenths, and the race pace gap was even more embarrassing.
A hattrick for Hamilton.

He put 7 tenths on Bottas around Singapore in 2017, 2018 and now 2019.

I wonder if the race pace difference between the two will once again be a humiliating margin.

Good question, I would be guessing 5th place will be the most Bottas can achieve in the race all things being equal.

TheGiantHogweed · Post by **TheGiantHogweed** » Sat Sep 21, 2019 10:09 pm

KingVoid wrote:
KingVoid wrote:
ReservoirDog wrote:Hamilton pole to win this GP. Bottas will not finish second.
This probably

Bottas was properly humiliated by Hamilton around Singapore in both 2017 and 2018. The difference in qualifying both years was around 7 tenths, and the race pace gap was even more embarrassing.
A hattrick for Hamilton.

He put 7 tenths on Bottas around Singapore in 2017, 2018 and now 2019.

I wonder if the race pace difference between the two will once again be a humiliating margin.

But is it actually representative as much this time? He looked matched or extremely close every other run. Hamilton just was better and Bottas messed up the final attempt. His pace looked better than the last 2 years, but admittedly he failed to perform when it mattered. I think he will be a fair bit slower than Hamilton during the race, but better than the last 2 seasons.

Asphalt_World · Post by **Asphalt_World** » Sat Sep 21, 2019 10:14 pm

pokerman wrote:
sandman1347 wrote:
Invade wrote:
sandman1347 wrote:
Invade wrote:Seb's lap was very good but Leclerc still put a couple of tenths on him. Judging from Leclerc's self appraisal his lap was on the ragged edge, as was Hamilton's, with him claiming he might have hit the wall. Ferrari needed the mega lap to stop Hamilton and they got it from Leclerc.
No Ferrari were simply faster. At least over a single lap, Ferrari have the fastest car every race since the break. It's time people started to recognize that. Hamilton qualified 7 tenths quicker than Bottas and Max qualified 6 tenths faster than Albon so I don't think either of them left much on the table. Ferrari are just extremely quick. They were gaining 3-5 tenths on the first sector alone and the new upgrade package seems to be helping them through the corners massively.
Judging from fastest sectors, Ferrari has about two tenths on Mercedes. Hamilton was close to maximising performance, ergo a wicked sick lap. Leclerc arguably performed likewise, producing his own wicked sick lap to deny Hamilton -- also this corroborates with my initial reaction in this thread to their qualifying performance. Apparently, both had moments during their laps judging by some comments by them after qualifying but until onboards of both laps surface it's difficult to come to any conclusion on if the Ferrari advantage was actually substantially more than two or maybe three tenths, though I doubt it given the sector data.
I'm not saying that Charles didn't do a great lap. His lap was very strong but pole was Ferrari's to lose today. They have the fastest car now quite clearly. When you are fastest at Spa, Monza and Singapore, you have basically proven yourself in all circumstances. I still think Mercedes has an edge with the tires but that only comes into play during the races and they will have a hard time passing the Ferraris in a race if they start behind. Ferrari have well and truly left Mercedes behind in the engine department. This is where Merc will need to close the gap otherwise 2020 might be Ferrari's year.
In qualifying trim I wouldn't be surprised that the Ferrari has generally been the fastest car over the season, let's not forget this special 1 lap boost that they are able to use that gives them about 50hp more than their main rivals.

Do you have proof of the boost and that it's been there all season?

pokerman · Post by **pokerman** » Sat Sep 21, 2019 10:25 pm

Asphalt_World wrote:
pokerman wrote:
sandman1347 wrote:
Invade wrote:
sandman1347 wrote: No Ferrari were simply faster. At least over a single lap, Ferrari have the fastest car every race since the break. It's time people started to recognize that. Hamilton qualified 7 tenths quicker than Bottas and Max qualified 6 tenths faster than Albon so I don't think either of them left much on the table. Ferrari are just extremely quick. They were gaining 3-5 tenths on the first sector alone and the new upgrade package seems to be helping them through the corners massively.
Judging from fastest sectors, Ferrari has about two tenths on Mercedes. Hamilton was close to maximising performance, ergo a wicked sick lap. Leclerc arguably performed likewise, producing his own wicked sick lap to deny Hamilton -- also this corroborates with my initial reaction in this thread to their qualifying performance. Apparently, both had moments during their laps judging by some comments by them after qualifying but until onboards of both laps surface it's difficult to come to any conclusion on if the Ferrari advantage was actually substantially more than two or maybe three tenths, though I doubt it given the sector data.
I'm not saying that Charles didn't do a great lap. His lap was very strong but pole was Ferrari's to lose today. They have the fastest car now quite clearly. When you are fastest at Spa, Monza and Singapore, you have basically proven yourself in all circumstances. I still think Mercedes has an edge with the tires but that only comes into play during the races and they will have a hard time passing the Ferraris in a race if they start behind. Ferrari have well and truly left Mercedes behind in the engine department. This is where Merc will need to close the gap otherwise 2020 might be Ferrari's year.
In qualifying trim I wouldn't be surprised that the Ferrari has generally been the fastest car over the season, let's not forget this special 1 lap boost that they are able to use that gives them about 50hp more than their main rivals.
Do you have proof of the boost and that it's been there all season?

You've not heard of it?

https://www.motorsportmagazine.com/opin ... les-rivals

Ruste13 · Post by **Ruste13** » Sat Sep 21, 2019 10:37 pm

Asphalt_World wrote:Danny Ric excluded from Quali. Back of the grid for him.

That will make everyone that flew up from Perth happy :/