2023 Abu Dhabi Grand Prix - Yas Marina, Nov 24 - 26

[avantman]

Yeah russell looking good for pole, and for the win even if he's got enough pace advantage to negate usual RB race pace.

Are Mercedes looking the fastest PU, even faster than Ferrari again ?

so far RB easily fastest on straights

Wasn't Max comfortably slower than Russell on S2? are you referring to the time spent on the straight or the top speed alone? I saw the main loss came from slow S3 though...

[Juzh]

Are Mercedes looking the fastest PU, even faster than Ferrari again ?

so far RB easily fastest on straights

Wasn't Max comfortably slower than Russell on S2? are you referring to the time spent on the straight or the top speed alone? I saw the main loss came from slow S3 though...

I just checked top speeds where RB is 330+, fer close to 330 and RUS around 324. Quali will give more clear picture so i'm not gonna go too deep in the numbers

[organic]

With track temps changing significantly I can imagine maybe the competitive order can change. But a weak RB this weekend wouldn't be the worst

[_cerber1]

[mendis]

How is Russell half a second faster than most cars in S3!!! Even Lewis wasn't getting anywhere near. Track evolution helped other cars later, but like for like, Russell was half a second faster.

[avantman]

[avantman]

[Juzh]

How is Russell half a second faster than most cars in S3!!! Even Lewis wasn't getting anywhere near. Track evolution helped other cars later, but like for like, Russell was half a second faster.

dude simply dialled in with the car. look at the graphs, he's faster in what looks like very corner

[Cassius]

How is Russell half a second faster than most cars in S3!!! Even Lewis wasn't getting anywhere near. Track evolution helped other cars later, but like for like, Russell was half a second faster.

You could already see it yesterday that Russell nailed the setup in the warmer temps. He was similarly fast in s3 in fp1.

Is Merc running new suspension parts? I heard something on the radio yesterday and it was mentioned by one of the commentators.

[AR3-GP]

Norris's lap was even quicker than Russell's, but Norris made a mistake in the last corner:

[avantman]

I already saw that both in 2020 and 2021, when Mercedes lost a lot of performance going into Q3, when the track cooled down significantly. Russell looks still too fast, to not be considered genuine contender for pole, but I bet it will be closer in Q3. Even if Red bull won't figure their way out of that, Ferrari for sure must be a lot closer . I made a bet on Leclerc pole before the start of the weekend, stand by it now after FP3. Max still for the win though.
I think both Mercedes and Mclaren carried less fuel. and Williams won't be anywhere near positions they were in FP3.

[atanatizante]

Yeah russell looking good for pole, and for the win even if he's got enough pace advantage to negate usual RB race pace.

Usually, RUS particularly set up his car more towards qualy after summer break when he was out-qualified by HAM in the first part of the season. This means he can manage to heat up qualy especially the front tyres giving him more front bite thus he is 7 tenths faster in the slow S3 sector here. But this setup will throw him into a faster tyre deg & ware which will force him to do a 2-stop race.

On the other side, due to W14 has been relatively kind on tyre deg and wear and particularly HAM being better in race pace and tyre management he tends to set up his car more towards the race, hence the problems in qualy due to mostly the front tyres slow warmup phase. That's why he needs 2 cool-down laps (compared to RUS` one lap) in order to steadily get them into the optimal working window.

In race strategy terms the HAM`s one is a little bit faster but implies to be spot on in the race pace and have some risks at the start of the race. On the other hand, RUS` strategy would been more flexible and better had there been an SC/VSC phase that would have given him a free or faster tyre change ...

[CaribouBread]

Whats the aero config difference between Mercs and Mcls this weekend? Norris is absolutely mugging Geroge on the straights there.

[search]

Tire situation before qualifying: same for everyone but Alfa Romeo

[stephen]

Is Red Bull facing the same issues as in Singapore? It is not looking great for them. But I am sure, it will be all good for them in the race.