2015 Chinese Grand Prix - Shanghai, April 10-12

[evered7]

Qualifiers:
Rosberg
Hamilton
Vettel

Race
Hamilton
Vettel/Kimi
Rosberg

Vettel has been taking the spotlight in the first couple of races for Ferrari. But I think Kimi will come to the fore in China. His race pace along with degradation is impressive. Just needs to stick the car to the correct slot in the grid and ensure all parts of the car are in place in the opening couple of laps, for a strong race

[henra]

On F1technical:
GPR-A will work some "numbers" showing that Merc was actually faster and that the Ferrari win was purely hypothetical.

I won't indulge into the prediction games but that one really made me chuckle.

[Shrieker]

H

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

Well, motogp is in Austin so they won't be overlapping. You seem to have forgotten the WSBK races in Aragon

[Juzh]

Q
vet
rai
ric

R
vet
rai
ric

ez life

[Racer X]

Qualifiers:
Rosberg
Hamilton
Vettel

Race
Hamilton
Vettel/Kimi
Rosberg

Vettel has been taking the spotlight in the first couple of races for Ferrari. But I think Kimi will come to the fore in China. His race pace along with degradation is impressive. Just needs to stick the car to the correct slot in the grid and ensure all parts of the car are in place in the opening couple of laps, for a strong race

I do agree except I don't think Kimi is better then Ross Vettel is a better driver tho.

[Silent Storm]

Qualifiers:
Rosberg
Hamilton
Vettel

Race
Hamilton
Vettel/Kimi
Rosberg

Vettel has been taking the spotlight in the first couple of races for Ferrari. But I think Kimi will come to the fore in China. His race pace along with degradation is impressive. Just needs to stick the car to the correct slot in the grid and ensure all parts of the car are in place in the opening couple of laps, for a strong race

I do agree except I don't think Kimi is better then Ross Vettel is a better driver tho.

How are you concluding that Vettel is better then Kimi after 2 races where Kimi did not have a clean weekend. He made some mistakes in Qualifying but you need atleast 7-8 races to compare both drivers pace.

Or maybe that won't be enough to compare as Massa showed last year where he was faster than Bottas last 2-3 races.

[Racer X]

Well Alonso showed last year hes way better then Kimi. I wouldnt be surprised if Vettel is better too then Kimi. I just dont think Kimi is better then Ross or Vettel just an opinion is all.


I think this basically:


1.Vettel
2.Ross
3.Kimi

[Earnard Beccelstone]

This is the race that we'll see whether Malaysia was a false dawn or the start of an actual fight for the season between Ferrari and Mercedes.

My feeling is that Ferrari were lucky in Malaysia, and Mercedes unlucky, and that the silver cars will resume the service they delivered for most of 2014.

I'd dearly love to see Williams in the mix for this race, but I suspect that's a forlorn hope.

My other great hope is the McLaren Honda has made some more steps forward. Within 1.5 seconds of the pole time would be nice.

[kebab]

This is the race that we'll see whether Malaysia was a false dawn or the start of an actual fight for the season between Ferrari and Mercedes.

My feeling is that Ferrari were lucky in Malaysia, and Mercedes unlucky, and that the silver cars will resume the service they delivered for most of 2014.

I'd dearly love to see Williams in the mix for this race, but I suspect that's a forlorn hope.

My other great hope is the McLaren Honda has made some more steps forward. Within 1.5 seconds of the pole time would be nice.

I believe Ferrari has set their target of getting only a couple of wins this season and they are fully aware of the gap with Merc. One win in Malaysia wont change the game and of course their target. James is a realistic man. I won't be surprised if Merc win in Shanghai but do expect Merc to work hard for it.

[henra]

Well Alonso showed last year hes way better then Kimi.

I would be more precise: Fernando was way better in a beasty car the F14t was than Kimi.
Kimi seems to be quite sensitive regarding traits of his car. He can be quick if everything fits. If not he seems to lose Motivation quickly and thereby lots of Speed.
The same appears to apply to Seb. Plus they seem to largely prefer similar traits of a car. Which is probably a plus for Ferrari. I expect both to perform well this year since the car seems to suit both.
Kimi had some bad luck so far but bad luck doesn't last forever. The pace and race craft of him looked good so far. Seb seems to struggle a bit when he's stuck in traffic not being able to overtake and killing his tyres in the process. That's where he lost to Ricciardo last year and where he might be inferior to Kimi as well. Seb is a Free Air Driver ( ) while Kimi seems to like to dogfight...
So I'm looking forward to an intra- Team battle between him and Seb this year with Seb having probably the edge in single lap pace and Kimi shining in tyre conservation and strategy/race craft.

[Jonnycraig]

Merc admit that after being beaten in Malaysia, they may have to enforce 'multi 21' at times this season.

http://www.speedweek.com/formel1/news/7 ... ettel.html

Cue carnage if/when it happens.

[gray41]

^^^
Wow, that could gift Lewis the title later in the season.

[Phil]

I wouldn't think too much of it. Fair play is very important to Mercedes, because they are not only a race-team, but their part in Formula 1 has a lot to do with image too. And them being a German car manufacturer, I'm not sure they would count Nico out too quickly.

What Toto I believe is refering to, is not out right number 1 or dedicated number 2 driver, but perhaps that they as a team need to consider putting both drivers on different strategies, even if both of them are challenging one another on the track. Take Malaysia; they had a great opportunity to gamble by pitting one driver under the safety car and leaving the other out. Logically, this would have had to have been to leave Lewis out (he was in front of Vettel) and pit Rosberg. Doing this, and they may have been able to challenge for the win. The fact that they didn't, slightly compromised Nico's race (he was lined up behind Lewis in the pits), but it put both of them on the same strategy. Fair to both of them fighting each other, but perhaps not the best thing from the team perspective.

[iotar__]

I would be more precise: Fernando was way better in a beasty car the F14t was than Kimi.
Kimi seems to be quite sensitive regarding traits of his car. He can be quick if everything fits. If not he seems to lose Motivation quickly and thereby lots of Speed.
The same appears to apply to Seb. Plus they seem to largely prefer similar traits of a car. Which is probably a plus for Ferrari. I expect both to perform well this year since the car seems to suit both.
Kimi had some bad luck so far but bad luck doesn't last forever.

What can be worse than Ham (greastest) vs Rosb (worthless)? This. Car and change of rules affected both drivers as Allison put it, one was simply much better. How is dealing badly with a a good car (podium capable!) acceptable excuse, how can be dealing with it better not considered a proof of a bigger talent? Vettel had 5 years of experience with a team and Ricciardo 0, Raikkonen couldn't nail a start and qualifying constantly in a tailor-made Lotus, now he is 2 years slower and 36. If they are so "sensitive" what kind of a miracle car can "suit" them both at the same time? The answer: second best or the best and a situation when they are put against each other with little competition kind of car . Similar style? I bet we will hear soon enough about something that doesn't suit one of them.

Fair play important? Mercedes will lie about letting them race and change their approach 10 times like in 14 (Hungary). What they say and do is completely different: "save fuel to attack on the last lap" and strategy of staying longer and different tyres combo to separate them like in Malaysia15 or Barelona14. It should be the opposite of course now, equal chances of getting results in case of for example reliability. They can't afford to play games now but must focus on performance for both. For a change to more on topic: picture about tyres and circuit, including numbers (nice!) and strategy which should be the same:

[GPR-A duplicate2]

At some point in time, this was to happen. They cannot run forever in the front, without any other team challenging them. Like Phil pointed above, I don't think they are looking at a number 1/number 2 situation, but more so looking at altering strategies to maximize one of their drivers getting the best possible results. It would actually be fun to allow both their drivers to choose whatever strategies they want, based on whatever information is provided by pit wall, instead of a pre-determined strategy.