J0rd4n wrote: Lewis's lack of FP1 running probably cost them a bit data-wise. Both drivers said the balance wasn't right.
FP1 is run on a green track and has relatively few run, anyway, even with the extra set of Primes. Raikkonen missed most of FP2 iirc, so that would have cost Ferrari way more
Shrieker wrote:
Merc probably had the pace (maybe at least Hamilton) to keep Vettel in check if he had kept track position. They wasted whatever speed advantage they had in traffic.
In the end of the day, Hamilton was 10s behind Vettel by lap 10, when he had cleared the slower cars on old tyres and got to 2nd. Afterwards, Vettel had to progress on older Mediums and took 2 pit stops using Medium and Hard. Hamilton also did 2 pit stop afterwards and also used Medium and Hard.
In the end, Lewis finished the same 10s behind(penultimate lap as Vettel cruised on finish line). So no significant pace advantage by Mercedes. Albeit Lewis was on Hards after the SC, it was fresher than Vettel's Mediums, so that kind of evens things a bit.
You can end with the Hamilton hype, though. After Rosberg cleared more cars, among them the faster Ricciardo and Massa(on fresh rubber too) he was 9s behind Hamilton, by lap 14. Rosberg brought it down to 7,2s(got to 7,7 when Vettel passed and then back to 7,5s) untill Hamilton pit.
Both drivers used the same combination of compounds, although in reverse order. By the end, Rosberg reduced the gap even further to less than 4s
Rosberg finished, in Australia, 1s behind and now had a faster race pace. Hamilton's race advantage seems to be gone
