Re: 2021 Saudi Arabian Grand Prix Free Practice & Qualifying Thread
Posted: Thu Dec 02, 2021 11:09 am
At night:
I watched most of it. The track looks fairly unforgiving in places, which could lead to some incidents, even for the F1 drivers. Reminds me of the faster parts of Baku and Singapore in places.UnlikeUday wrote: ↑Fri Dec 03, 2021 12:59 pmDid anyone see the F2 cars in action? What's Your initial opinion now?
Its sector 1. Early analysis is showing that lot of lap time can be made in S1, and the straights on S2 and S3 wont be enough to overcome the deficit. The curves in S1 favor Red Bull, especially if they get their medium DF wing to work, which they were not able to in Qatar.
He looked elite against Vettel, now he's in discussion for the best of the rest behind Hamilton and Max.Schermerhorn wrote: ↑Fri Dec 03, 2021 6:25 pm
For a supposedly elite driver he sure does crash alot.
IMO, if he loses that Ferrari (political) support he will burn out very fast.
Charles LeCrash, you might say.Schermerhorn wrote: ↑Fri Dec 03, 2021 6:25 pm
For a supposedly elite driver he sure does crash alot.
IMO, if he loses that Ferrari (political) support he will burn out very fast.
pokerman wrote: ↑Fri Dec 03, 2021 6:39 pmHe looked elite against Vettel, now he's in discussion for the best of the rest behind Hamilton and Max.Schermerhorn wrote: ↑Fri Dec 03, 2021 6:25 pm
For a supposedly elite driver he sure does crash alot.
IMO, if he loses that Ferrari (political) support he will burn out very fast.
Yeah I agree with you that Horner sounded confident when he was on Sky afterwards.Delphic wrote: ↑Fri Dec 03, 2021 8:23 pmTraffic is going to cause headaches for many cars tomorrow. I am sure Max and Lewis would want to get their laps as soon as the window opens
Hamilton almost 1 sec over Max in race pace? I am taking this with a grain of salt as based on Max's radio it looks like he gave preferred qualy sims over race sims in FP2. Understandable as it looks like passing is going to be hard and whoever is on pole has a huge advantage.
So far Merc advantage. I am just hoping they don't fumble this weekend away due to silly mistakes or errors. That being said Horner sounded pretty confident after today, so maybe he knows that Red Bull have something saved for tomorrow. He thinks the cars are too close, and the track won't provide the advantage to Merc the way Brazil did.
This may seem a stupid question, but if traffic is such a problem, why can't cars go out across the session more evenly rather than all at once. I know slipstream can sometimes be beneficial, but the risk involved at times so often ruins the attempt entirely. The mess is avoidable, but teams chose to go out all at once a bit too often IMO.JN23 wrote: ↑Fri Dec 03, 2021 9:22 pmYeah I agree with you that Horner sounded confident when he was on Sky afterwards.Delphic wrote: ↑Fri Dec 03, 2021 8:23 pmTraffic is going to cause headaches for many cars tomorrow. I am sure Max and Lewis would want to get their laps as soon as the window opens
Hamilton almost 1 sec over Max in race pace? I am taking this with a grain of salt as based on Max's radio it looks like he gave preferred qualy sims over race sims in FP2. Understandable as it looks like passing is going to be hard and whoever is on pole has a huge advantage.
So far Merc advantage. I am just hoping they don't fumble this weekend away due to silly mistakes or errors. That being said Horner sounded pretty confident after today, so maybe he knows that Red Bull have something saved for tomorrow. He thinks the cars are too close, and the track won't provide the advantage to Merc the way Brazil did.
Not sure where you’ve got the 1 second advantage on race pace from but my friend who listened to practice on five live said that Mercedes were a lot ahead too.
Interestingly as well, the circuit isn’t as power sensitive as simulations predicted: https://the-race.com/formula-1/mark-hug ... advantage/
Yeah I agree with you. In practice it doesn’t make a huge amount of sense but in qualifying they don’t want to go out too early and set times too early before the track speeds up as more grip is put down on the track.TheGiantHogweed wrote: ↑Fri Dec 03, 2021 9:31 pmThis may seem a stupid question, but if traffic is such a problem, why can't cars go out across the session more evenly rather than all at once. I know slipstream can sometimes be beneficial, but the risk involved at times so often ruins the attempt entirely. The mess is avoidable, but teams chose to go out all at once a bit too often IMO.JN23 wrote: ↑Fri Dec 03, 2021 9:22 pmYeah I agree with you that Horner sounded confident when he was on Sky afterwards.Delphic wrote: ↑Fri Dec 03, 2021 8:23 pmTraffic is going to cause headaches for many cars tomorrow. I am sure Max and Lewis would want to get their laps as soon as the window opens
Hamilton almost 1 sec over Max in race pace? I am taking this with a grain of salt as based on Max's radio it looks like he gave preferred qualy sims over race sims in FP2. Understandable as it looks like passing is going to be hard and whoever is on pole has a huge advantage.
So far Merc advantage. I am just hoping they don't fumble this weekend away due to silly mistakes or errors. That being said Horner sounded pretty confident after today, so maybe he knows that Red Bull have something saved for tomorrow. He thinks the cars are too close, and the track won't provide the advantage to Merc the way Brazil did.
Not sure where you’ve got the 1 second advantage on race pace from but my friend who listened to practice on five live said that Mercedes were a lot ahead too.
Interestingly as well, the circuit isn’t as power sensitive as simulations predicted: https://the-race.com/formula-1/mark-hug ... advantage/
Read it online. Not exactly 1 sec, but almost. So could be .7 or 0.8.JN23 wrote: ↑Fri Dec 03, 2021 9:22 pmYeah I agree with you that Horner sounded confident when he was on Sky afterwards.Delphic wrote: ↑Fri Dec 03, 2021 8:23 pmTraffic is going to cause headaches for many cars tomorrow. I am sure Max and Lewis would want to get their laps as soon as the window opens
Hamilton almost 1 sec over Max in race pace? I am taking this with a grain of salt as based on Max's radio it looks like he gave preferred qualy sims over race sims in FP2. Understandable as it looks like passing is going to be hard and whoever is on pole has a huge advantage.
So far Merc advantage. I am just hoping they don't fumble this weekend away due to silly mistakes or errors. That being said Horner sounded pretty confident after today, so maybe he knows that Red Bull have something saved for tomorrow. He thinks the cars are too close, and the track won't provide the advantage to Merc the way Brazil did.
Not sure where you’ve got the 1 second advantage on race pace from but my friend who listened to practice on five live said that Mercedes were a lot ahead too.
Interestingly as well, the circuit isn’t as power sensitive as simulations predicted: https://the-race.com/formula-1/mark-hug ... advantage/
Yeah that was my thinking too on Horner being happy. The softs seemingly not being faster than the mediums is a bit of a curveball.Delphic wrote: ↑Fri Dec 03, 2021 9:56 pmRead it online. Not exactly 1 sec, but almost. So could be .7 or 0.8.JN23 wrote: ↑Fri Dec 03, 2021 9:22 pmYeah I agree with you that Horner sounded confident when he was on Sky afterwards.Delphic wrote: ↑Fri Dec 03, 2021 8:23 pmTraffic is going to cause headaches for many cars tomorrow. I am sure Max and Lewis would want to get their laps as soon as the window opens
Hamilton almost 1 sec over Max in race pace? I am taking this with a grain of salt as based on Max's radio it looks like he gave preferred qualy sims over race sims in FP2. Understandable as it looks like passing is going to be hard and whoever is on pole has a huge advantage.
So far Merc advantage. I am just hoping they don't fumble this weekend away due to silly mistakes or errors. That being said Horner sounded pretty confident after today, so maybe he knows that Red Bull have something saved for tomorrow. He thinks the cars are too close, and the track won't provide the advantage to Merc the way Brazil did.
Not sure where you’ve got the 1 second advantage on race pace from but my friend who listened to practice on five live said that Mercedes were a lot ahead too.
Interestingly as well, the circuit isn’t as power sensitive as simulations predicted: https://the-race.com/formula-1/mark-hug ... advantage/
Anyway, in terms of one lap pace it looks like a coin flip, pretty close. Thats why maybe Lewis was not too happy or Horner was confident. He may be thinking if Max gets pole he can win with the right strategy given overtaking will be hard.
and we know merc strategy leaves alot to be desiredDelphic wrote: ↑Fri Dec 03, 2021 9:56 pmRead it online. Not exactly 1 sec, but almost. So could be .7 or 0.8.JN23 wrote: ↑Fri Dec 03, 2021 9:22 pmYeah I agree with you that Horner sounded confident when he was on Sky afterwards.Delphic wrote: ↑Fri Dec 03, 2021 8:23 pmTraffic is going to cause headaches for many cars tomorrow. I am sure Max and Lewis would want to get their laps as soon as the window opens
Hamilton almost 1 sec over Max in race pace? I am taking this with a grain of salt as based on Max's radio it looks like he gave preferred qualy sims over race sims in FP2. Understandable as it looks like passing is going to be hard and whoever is on pole has a huge advantage.
So far Merc advantage. I am just hoping they don't fumble this weekend away due to silly mistakes or errors. That being said Horner sounded pretty confident after today, so maybe he knows that Red Bull have something saved for tomorrow. He thinks the cars are too close, and the track won't provide the advantage to Merc the way Brazil did.
Not sure where you’ve got the 1 second advantage on race pace from but my friend who listened to practice on five live said that Mercedes were a lot ahead too.
Interestingly as well, the circuit isn’t as power sensitive as simulations predicted: https://the-race.com/formula-1/mark-hug ... advantage/
Anyway, in terms of one lap pace it looks like a coin flip, pretty close. Thats why maybe Lewis was not too happy or Horner was confident. He may be thinking if Max gets pole he can win with the right strategy given overtaking will be hard.
The drivers closest to the limit of their own talent and the adhesion of their vehicle. In that regard I’d say other my well be closer and more erratic in how close they get to those limits.Alienturnedhuman wrote: ↑Fri Dec 03, 2021 7:38 pmBoth Hamilton and Verstappen have had a lot of meetings with walls at Monaco and Baku (at least 3 significant each) - the drivers closest to the limit are the ones most likely to have these incidents.
What is going on at Ferrari is pretty interesting. It seems that Sainz is slowly stealing the team away from Leclerc. Rumor has it (Peter Windsor) for some reason Ferrari likes Sainz a lot and there also talks that he is steering car development towards his driving style. Fact is he has outqualified Charles 3 times in a row and this weekend so far he is ahead again. Leclerc putting it in the wall perhaps shows he is trying to find pace he does not have. I think the dynamic might change over there quickly and Sainz might end up the #1 driver, especially if he ends up beating him in their first year as teammates.Schermerhorn wrote: ↑Fri Dec 03, 2021 6:25 pm
For a supposedly elite driver he sure does crash alot.
IMO, if he loses that Ferrari (political) support he will burn out very fast.
kleefton wrote: ↑Sat Dec 04, 2021 1:56 amWhat is going on at Ferrari is pretty interesting. It seems that Sainz is slowly stealing the team away from Leclerc. Rumor has it (Peter Windsor) for some reason Ferrari likes Sainz a lot and there also talks that he is steering car development towards his driving style. Fact is he has outqualified Charles 3 times in a row and this weekend so far he is ahead again. Leclerc putting it in the wall perhaps shows he is trying to find pace he does not have. I think the dynamic might change over there quickly and Sainz might end up the #1 driver, especially if he ends up beating him in their first year as teammates.Schermerhorn wrote: ↑Fri Dec 03, 2021 6:25 pm
For a supposedly elite driver he sure does crash alot.
IMO, if he loses that Ferrari (political) support he will burn out very fast.
I have always heard that engineers value Sainz's feedback more than most. So it's not really surprising to me. Let's see what happens.
Makes sense, Sainz is older and has more F1 experience and has been with various teams so will have picked up a trick or two and make it part of his repertoire.kleefton wrote: ↑Sat Dec 04, 2021 1:56 amWhat is going on at Ferrari is pretty interesting. It seems that Sainz is slowly stealing the team away from Leclerc. Rumor has it (Peter Windsor) for some reason Ferrari likes Sainz a lot and there also talks that he is steering car development towards his driving style. Fact is he has outqualified Charles 3 times in a row and this weekend so far he is ahead again. Leclerc putting it in the wall perhaps shows he is trying to find pace he does not have. I think the dynamic might change over there quickly and Sainz might end up the #1 driver, especially if he ends up beating him in their first year as teammates.Schermerhorn wrote: ↑Fri Dec 03, 2021 6:25 pm
For a supposedly elite driver he sure does crash alot.
IMO, if he loses that Ferrari (political) support he will burn out very fast.
I have always heard that engineers value Sainz's feedback more than most. So it's not really surprising to me. Let's see what happens.
The more time this partnership develops the more it looks like Hamilton-Button at McLaren. Leclerc is the clearly faster and superior driver in both qualifying and race finishes but Sainz is the better schmoozer and diplomat. His advantage over Jenson is his technical feedback.