2015 Chinese Grand Prix - Shanghai, April 10-12

[SectorOne]

Q3 Aus was super close. I expect to see that more given everything runs smooth for both drivers in Qualifying and Race.
Maybe China will give us exactly this.

[ME4ME]

Obviously Ferrari are the big talking point of this race, but equally I'm wondering how Red Bull will perform.
Renault took a step forwards (ironically by taking a step backwards) by improving driveability in Malaysia. Besides Redbull were troubled by brake issues. If they go back to the brakes they knew, solve some of their main issues and can bring the big upgrade packages everybody talks about, they could potentially make a big step. Possibly even hauling in on Williams.

[Artur Craft]

I expect Merc to have a 0.5 to 0.9 sec/lap advantage again, assuming they do away with the multiple tactical errors they made in Malaysia.

I always find these kind of posts amazing.. is it wishfull thinking or based on facts?
It doesn't contribute anything relevant..

0,5 or 0,9 that is almost a difference of 200%
Than why not say that you expect the Merc to have a 0,1 to 1,0 sec/lap advantage..?

Not only this but Mercedes didn't lose on Malaysia solely due to "multiple tactical errors". Vettel's overall race pace was pretty much on par with Hamilton(to be precise, from lap 10 to the penultimate, Vettel was 1 tenth faster) and only 3s slower than Rosberg's.

China have some very long tyre destroying corners like turns 1, 7,8 and 13. Lower temp heps to preserve the tyres but long fast corners don't and, because of the tyre choices(Mediums and Softs), I think tire wear will be an issue again.

Remember on 2012,2013... the HUGE amount of marbles off the track on the back straight?

I think Williams will be no match for Ferrari ever more this year. Worst case scenario, I think Ferraris will finish 20s behind the winner but maybe they could be very close if the track layout suits their car and degradation turns out to be a real concern, imho.

The most important part being that you don't loose the gap we saw in Australia (a pretty strait forward race) over night.

2008 Season: Ferrari slower than Mclaren and BMW on Melbourne. Then, on the following race, also in Sepang, they were clearly the best car and Kimi won with almost 20s over Kubica

[f1316]

You can talk what you want, at the moment LH is outperforming Nico again. High time for Nico to do something special or it will be too late.

I expect Mercedes will be strong here, but Ferrari won't be far away.

I expect Ferrari half a second behind the Mercs.

Mark Hughes' take on the pace difference between Mercedes and Ferrari :

http://www1.skysports.com/f1/news/12433 ... we-thought

As he implies, conditions in China may not favour Ferrari as much as Malaysia (Bahrain might), but if the pace difference is only 0.2-0.3 per lap then they can still make it hard.

[Manoah2u]

though i expect lewis to be very strong in China, imho it looks a bit like Mercedes is having more difficulty in managing the tires this year compared to last year. It was thought they'd solved it last year after a long period of having much tire deg problems [high deg or not able to get heat into them], but it pops up again this year though not so violently as it has been in the past.

Nevertheless, Ferrari seems to be able to use their tires very good, and they're in a uplift position. Vettel is strong and Ferrair said they'll be investing another 100 million this year to make it count. That's a lot of money and can count for a lot of results. Mercedes might not have shown their full potential, but Ferrari just as well can be able to show even more performance.

I could see a re-ignition of inner team battles. Despite Mercedes claiming they need to be 'united' to beat the Ferrari's, I just don't see Nico in a cooperative mood if he gets his *ss handed to him again by Lewis. I wouldn't be surprised to see Nico not letting lewis pass after first pitstop series, and Vettel getting the good of it during the pitstops.

How is kimi in China?

I'm expecting this as a China Grid;

1. Lewis Hamilton
2. Kimi Raikkonen
3. Nico Rosberg
4. Sebastian Vettel
5. Felipe Massa
6. Max Verstappen
7. Carlos Sainz
8. Felipe Nasr
9. Fernando Alonso
10. Daniel Ricciardo

[Artur Craft]

Hey guys, the objective of my post was to see if others here will also miss it.

Is it only me that prefers WEC, Indycar and MotoGP over F1? I didn't check the schedules yet, but I guess Chinese GP will clash with Moto3/2 and, even if it didn't, it would be a little exhausting to watch it given there will be 6h of racing on Silverstone, then another 2 with Indycar and the few hours of bike racing too

But I'll likely watch FPs/QLF, so you guys are not 100% free of my drivel, yet

http://www.f1technical.net/news/20001

If they aren't a considerable gap ahead of STR, as have been the case so far, it will remain very bad, I dare say.

Another thing I'm curious is by how much they will improve the Friday times from last year(Saturday was wet). Sepang suggests they gained very few on the aero side(2015's Q2 time was slower than 2014's FP3).

Manoah2u, is that your qualifying prediction? I always though grid meant starting position but I suppose your prediction would be more like someone's race result guess

[Silent Storm]

How is kimi in China?

I'm expecting this as a China Grid;

1. Lewis Hamilton
2. Kimi Raikkonen
3. Nico Rosberg
4. Sebastian Vettel
5. Felipe Massa
6. Max Verstappen
7. Carlos Sainz
8. Felipe Nasr
9. Fernando Alonso
10. Daniel Ricciardo

If Kimi misses a practise session then he might struggle in China if he is comfortable then he can split the Merc drivers.
Surprised not to see Bottas in your top 10? Is it because of his back injury?

[Montyinct]

I expect Williams and Toro Rosso to be 3rd and 4th best respectively, I. Not sure where RBR will be I this race they might struggle a bit.
Between Merc and Ferrari I think with Mercedes ahead, that would be my guess

[f1316]

Lose track of the amount of times I speculated that Mercedes might have more trouble with tyres comparative with competitors. No, everyone said, last year proves that they've overcome it. Does it? I asked. Or were last year's tyres more durable compared to the performance of the cars and that masked it?

Anyway, hate to say I told you so...

Prediction for the race (based on nothing but a hunch)

1. Rosberg
2. Raikkonen
3. Ricciardo

Vettel and Hamilton come together at the start.

[Jordan44]

Lose track of the amount of times I speculated that Mercedes might have more trouble with tyres comparative with competitors. No, everyone said, last year proves that they've overcome it. Does it? I asked. Or were last year's tyres more durable compared to the performance of the cars and that masked it?

Anyway, hate to say I told you so...

Prediction for the race (based on nothing but a hunch)

1. Rosberg
2. Raikkonen
3. Ricciardo

Vettel and Hamilton come together at the start.

Well, I assume people were going by what Paddy Lowe said. He said they'd done extensive research into understanding the tyres.

It still looks no where near as bad as 2013 but that may be their pace masking it as you say. But I think it's far too early to say I told you so.

[Manoah2u]

How is kimi in China?

I'm expecting this as a China Grid;

1. Lewis Hamilton
2. Kimi Raikkonen
3. Nico Rosberg
4. Sebastian Vettel
5. Felipe Massa
6. Max Verstappen
7. Carlos Sainz
8. Felipe Nasr
9. Fernando Alonso
10. Daniel Ricciardo

If Kimi misses a practise session then he might struggle in China if he is comfortable then he can split the Merc drivers.
Surprised not to see Bottas in your top 10? Is it because of his back injury?

I've noticed Bottas struggles more the past 2 races compared to last season. I personally think that's a combination of both his back injury aswell as last year's car suited him better. Felipe seems to be better adapted to this car compared to Valterri now.

[Raleigh]

I like Felipe and he's still a fast driver but Valtteri has the edge on him. Lost ground at the start (seriously, what happened to Williams' flying starts from last year?), got shuffled down into the back of the pack but came back through, caught and passed Massa near the end of the race even though Massa had no problems and had been running in clean air most of the race.

[ChrisDanger]

I've noticed Bottas struggles more the past 2 races compared to last season. I personally think that's a combination of both his back injury aswell as last year's car suited him better. Felipe seems to be better adapted to this car compared to Valterri now.

He's only really raced once this year. It will be interesting to see how he performs in China, but it might be a bit premature to make any predictions on his performance.

[Manoah2u]

I've noticed Bottas struggles more the past 2 races compared to last season. I personally think that's a combination of both his back injury aswell as last year's car suited him better. Felipe seems to be better adapted to this car compared to Valterri now.

He's only really raced once this year. It will be interesting to see how he performs in China, but it might be a bit premature to make any predictions on his performance.

well that goes for any driver any team and any possibility yet. but that's why we can discuss on this forum.
Alonso had a smack and it resulted in predictions on his performance more then 50 pages long, so i think it's safe to say

Meanwhile, in Australia during Qualy, Felipe classified before Valterri, whom 'only' had his back strain during Q3.
Same in Malaysia, Felipe Qualified before Valterri.

Meanwhile, the last 3 races in 2014 season Felipe ended in front of Valterri and Felipe has been in better form.
so let's just theorise away as we could and should.

[Chene_Mostert]

Starting Grid:

1. LH
2. SV
3. KR
4. NR
5. DK
6. VB
7. FM
8. FN
9. ME
10. DR

DR ends up 10th due to PU issues in Q3.

RACE:
Lewis struggles to hold off SB in first part of race, SB passes on lap 8, Lewis drops 0.7sec per lap to SV as he tries to hold off KR. After plenty of Hamilton complaining about tyres, team decides to pit him at end of lap 12. Joins behind FM and damages front suspension in failed overtaking attempt into turn 3. Massa continues with damage.
NR instructed by team to "save fuel, save tyres, maintain gap at 15sec to KR and we will attack on last corner of the last lap".

1. SV
2. KR
3. NR
4. VB
5. FN
6. DR
7. DK
8. ME
9. FM
10. JB first points for Mclaren Honda partnership.
On F1technical:
GPR-A will work some "numbers" showing that Merc was actually faster and that the Ferrari win was purely hypothetical.