2014 Spanish Grand Prix - Barcelona

[SamH123]

If quali is wet, we will see a battle imo
RB lost too much time on the straights in Malaysia and China but in Australia, Ricciardo almost took pole.

I think you have Australia and Malaysia mixed up. Ricciardo was 0.3 off pole in Australia; Vettel almost took pole in Malaysia (0.055 seconds).

Ah, I remembered Australia to be less than 3 tenths sorry. I guess you could speculate that Ricciardo would have been quicker on the same tires as the top 2 or Vettel would have been quicker than Ricciardo (with a working car) but hard to say either way.

How long is the start/finish straight in Spain? I've seen a few speculating that shorter straights will tighten things up but I remember the straight in Spain as fairly long on the games

[mikeerfol]

If quali is wet, we will see a battle imo
RB lost too much time on the straights in Malaysia and China but in Australia, Ricciardo almost took pole.

I think you have Australia and Malaysia mixed up. Ricciardo was 0.3 off pole in Australia; Vettel almost took pole in Malaysia (0.055 seconds).

Ah, I remembered Australia to be less than 3 tenths sorry. I guess you could speculate that Ricciardo would have been quicker on the same tires as the top 2 or Vettel would have been quicker than Ricciardo (with a working car) but hard to say either way.

How long is the start/finish straight in Spain? I've seen a few speculating that shorter straights will tighten things up but I remember the straight in Spain as fairly long on the games

It's long enough, around 1 km. If I remember correct, this circuit has the longest distance between the grid and T1 apex in the F1 calendar.

[Töm87]

What was actually the reasonthey changed the last corner a couple of years ago?
Don't see any reason behind it?
The track was much cooler with the fast last corner imo. Did they think the chicane type of corner would help overtaking?
If so, no in the days of DRS they really could go back to the old layout.

[mikeerfol]

Maybe they did it for safety reasons? I have no idea. Fortunately the MotoGP layout is the old one..

[beelsebob]

Maybe they did it for safety reasons? I have no idea. Fortunately the MotoGP layout is the old one..

They changed it because the very fast corner into the start/finish straight meant that there were nearly no overtaking zones on the track, because you couldn't follow closely onto the main straight.

[NathanOlder]

Spot on Beelsebob.

so how many laps will Hamilton lead in spain? When his car isnt broken he has led all but 3 laps. 3 races and only 3 laps not led. Other than Lewis only Nico has led a lap this year. So maybe I should be asking , when will another car lead a lap. The Hulk has come closest so far.

[Waywardism]

Spot on Beelsebob.

so how many laps will Hamilton lead in spain? When his car isnt broken he has led all but 3 laps. 3 races and only 3 laps not led. Other than Lewis only Nico has led a lap this year. So maybe I should be asking , when will another car lead a lap. The Hulk has come closest so far.

Seeing as the Merc seems to be able to make it's tyres last longer than the others for now, and their performance gap means they don't have to think about using the undercut to stay ahead, it could be quite a while.

[astracrazy]

I can only see Lewis for this race as well prob by 10sec at least again.

Rosberg seemed pretty determined in Bahrain to win the next race and then in China he wasn't close. I think his confidence might be a bit low at the moment compared to Lewis who seems to be getting boost after boost - Win after win, pole after pole, record after record.

I said after Lewis's first win he will hit another gear now that Rosberg can't match and I think we are seeing this now.

[Mandrake]

I like the way that Seb is said to need a stable rear. Better lay off the twerking lessons then.

There was an article on Amus about Vettel's problems this season. It's not a stable rear he needs, it's stable behavior, something that behaves the same which he likes to perform on the level he has done the last years.

Due to the energy harvesting, energy release and general software issues with the Renault engine, the car behaves differently in every braking area, under acceleration and mid turn. The brake balance depends on the harvesting and changes all around, the energy supply is unregular etc. All this makes Vettel not feel comfortable in the car and he has obviously more problems adapting to it than Ricciardo has. Similar to 2012, where Vettel only became superior to Webber when the car was behaving predictably again. He seems to be only able to use his extra "magic" when he can rely on the car his way. Then he is truly outstanding.

For Barcelona I believe the new upgrades to the RedBull and Renault Package will add a bit of driveability. Together with the nature of the course I believe they will be closer to the Mercs, in front of the Ferraris. Rosberg will win the intra team battle with lewis, Ricciardo will beat seb for podium again and Fernando has a scrap for 5th place with the Hulk again

[ringo]

I can only see Lewis for this race as well prob by 10sec at least again.

Rosberg seemed pretty determined in Bahrain to win the next race and then in China he wasn't close. I think his confidence might be a bit low at the moment compared to Lewis who seems to be getting boost after boost - Win after win, pole after pole, record after record.

I said after Lewis's first win he will hit another gear now that Rosberg can't match and I think we are seeing this now.

I'll say the same for ricciardo in the redbull camp. Chances are he'll be ahead of vettel in spain too.

[monsi]

Due to the energy harvesting, energy release and general software issues with the Renault engine, the car behaves differently in every braking area, under acceleration and mid turn. The brake balance depends on the harvesting and changes all around, the energy supply is unregular etc. All this makes Vettel not feel comfortable in the car and he has obviously more problems adapting to it than Ricciardo has. Similar to 2012, where Vettel only became superior to Webber when the car was behaving predictably again. He seems to be only able to use his extra "magic" when he can rely on the car his way. Then he is truly outstanding.

I actually hope it works out that way, in spite of my earlier joshing. Reminds me of the issues that Lewis had last year. It would be great to see Vettel at his best again this year.

[astracrazy]

Due to the energy harvesting, energy release and general software issues with the Renault engine, the car behaves differently in every braking area, under acceleration and mid turn. The brake balance depends on the harvesting and changes all around, the energy supply is unregular etc. All this makes Vettel not feel comfortable in the car and he has obviously more problems adapting to it than Ricciardo has. Similar to 2012, where Vettel only became superior to Webber when the car was behaving predictably again. He seems to be only able to use his extra "magic" when he can rely on the car his way. Then he is truly outstanding.

This just shows he isn't the driver some people make out....the best drivers can still perform without the car 100% to there needs

His good, his won 4 championships. But this to me is proof that he needs the car 100%.

[turbof1]

I'm wondering how the tyres will hold up. This is arguably the most punishing circuit concerning tyre wear, very abrasive. The tyres are harder, but still issues could arise.

There's always the tiny chance mercedes gets the set up wrong. Infact we've seen mercedes this year getting it wrong in the first 2 practice sessions, to get it right in the last one. If the setup isn't correct, tyre wear could be excessive, to the point it might not matter what your ultimate performance advantage is.

[Mandrake]

Similar to 2012, where Vettel only became superior to Webber when the car was behaving predictably again. He seems to be only able to use his extra "magic" when he can rely on the car his way. Then he is truly outstanding.

This just shows he isn't the driver some people make out....the best drivers can still perform without the car 100% to there needs

His good, his won 4 championships. But this to me is proof that he needs the car 100%.

The last sentences are my own assertion, so please do not take it as something from a qualified source

However I do not agree with your best driver 100% statement. If you have a car that does not do what you want it to do, no driver is gonna get it to 100%. Ricciardo is most likely not driving the car at the limit at the moment, it's only that he is closer to it at the moment than Vettel is. Maybe, when the car has matured it can happen that Ric is only getting it to 98% whereas Vettel gets to 100% again.

@ Mods, please do not delete move this post. Although it's entirely offtopic this time, it refers to my previous post which was 50/50 on and offtopic

[NathanOlder]

Id say Lewis and Fernando are more capable of getting 100% from a car that doesn't do what they want it to do. It may not do what they want it to do, but they will still extract 100% from it. Thats why Lewis was better than Jenson when the far wasn't performing. I put Vettel in Jensons type of driver. Only great when the car is great. And thats certainty what were seeing right now