2015 Chinese Grand Prix - Shanghai, April 10-12

[ecapox]

What FOM could do better with their time than hunting down "unauthorized" videos for things THAT THEY WONT PROVIDE!

[Moose]

Haven't read every single post, so apologies if already mentioned: but coulthard just pointed out on bbc how Rosberg's been consistently slower in s1 and 2 but quicker in s3 with higher top speed- as it proved in q3 ultimate laps.

If so, he may have been looking with an eye to the race, much as Hamilton did many times last year.

The person with an eye on the race would tend to be faster in the downforce sectors, not in the straight sectors. A race setup makes you tend towards preserving tires, not towards straight line speed.

[windwaves]

Fernando looked slower than his teammate all weekend. First time I see him in such position.

I'm not defending his performance (no need), Button was faster but with a car at such a low level all driver vs driver discussions are a bit pointless. Wasn't someone here (rather optimistically I thought) expecting McL Lotus fight?

really guys, with that car a discussion comparing the perf. of the two drivers is quite meaningless.

[Juzh]

Speed trap from Q:
http://www.fia.com/sites/default/files/speed_trap_0.pdf

Maximum speeds:
http://www.fia.com/sites/default/files/ ... eeds_0.pdf

Incredible what utter sh*t the renault PU is at this stage compared to mercedes and ferrari. Unbelievable really. They deserve every inch of blame they're getting. And more.

[Lorenzo_Bandini]

Ferrari will not one stopping.

Allison said it will be a classic two stopper tomorrow.

The difference will come from the use of the option tyres. Vettel said during the PC that having a extra set of soft tyres will be an advantage for the race. For me it's mean that Ferrari will have the same strategy than at Sepang, only one sting with the prime, and two stints with the option tyre.

Vettel need to be close to Mercedes during the first stint and then he could have a big chance for the win.
I think Ferrari have to do O-O-P with one driver, and O-P-O with the second one.

[ME4ME]

Speed trap from Q:
http://www.fia.com/sites/default/files/speed_trap_0.pdf

Maximum speeds:
http://www.fia.com/sites/default/files/ ... eeds_0.pdf

Incredible what utter sh*t the renault PU is at this stage compared to mercedes and ferrari. Unbelievable really. They deserve every inch of blame they're getting. And more.

Thanks for the links. I fully agree, Renault should be ashamed of themselves. It's beyond me how they can be this utter cr@p.

They are getting beaten (both RB and TR) by all 2015 Ferrari and Mercedes power unit propelled cars. The only cars they are in front of are the Mclarens with sick Honda engines, and Manor with their 2014 spec PU.

[Blackout]

Renault simply cant be compared with Merc and Ferrari if we look at the whole story so your whining is pathetic. They havent a chassis and cant rely on a real open/cooperative anough chassis team. That makes a huge difference even regarding the PU's power.
Yes Renault made some mistakes and deserves to be blamed, mainly for the reliability but RBR must be blamed too fo rmany reasons.

Renault has more tokens left compared to the others + the current Renault spec runs far from it's real limits
http://www.auto-motor-und-sport.de/form ... 32811.html

[Jano11]

Renault simply cant be compared with Merc and Ferrari if we look at the whole story so your whining is pathetic. They havent a chassis and cant rely on a real open/cooperative anough chassis team. That makes a huge difference even regarding the PU's power.
Yes Renault made some mistakes and deserves to be blamed, mainly for the reliability but RBR must be blamed too fo rmany reasons.

Renault has more tokens left compared to the others + the current Renault spec runs far from it's real limits
http://www.auto-motor-und-sport.de/form ... 32811.html

Exactly!
The faster Renault gets their own team, the better. Then they can stick a finger up to RedBull, who see themselves as being perfect, for whatever reason that I am missing.

[FoxHound]

Renault simply cant be compared with Merc and Ferrari if we look at the whole story so your whining is pathetic. They havent a chassis and cant rely on a real open/cooperative anough chassis team. That makes a huge difference even regarding the PU's power.
Yes Renault made some mistakes and deserves to be blamed, mainly for the reliability but RBR must be blamed too for many reasons.

Renault has more tokens left compared to the others + the current Renault spec runs far from it's real limits
http://www.auto-motor-und-sport.de/form ... 32811.html

Absolutely bang on.
This chastising of Renault is ridiculous, it works on the assumption that Red Bull are blameless and that top speed is the absolute be all and end all of fastest lap time.
The most idiotic thing of this whole episode, ironically, is that Red Bull's 4 title winning years...they also did not have the highest top speeds.

Pointing to it as the reason for Red Bull's woes, in such lascivious fashion, so often, is not for this website IMO.

[Juzh]

Renault simply cant be compared with Merc and Ferrari if we look at the whole story so your whining is pathetic. They havent a chassis and cant rely on a real open/cooperative anough chassis team. That makes a huge difference even regarding the PU's power.
Yes Renault made some mistakes and deserves to be blamed, mainly for the reliability but RBR must be blamed too fo rmany reasons.

Renault has more tokens left compared to the others + the current Renault spec runs far from it's real limits
http://www.auto-motor-und-sport.de/form ... 32811.html

No, your excuses are pathetic. If they can't be compared for whatever reason then they should publicly admit they're unable to come up with a competitive PU, so we can give this discussion a rest.
I've given you cold, hard numbers. Even the supposedly "slick" designed TR is nowhere trough the traps. Ferrari has almost the same amount of tokens left, yet they are far and beyond renault's performance and pretty much matching mercedes. On both, sauber and ferrari cars.

[Juzh]

This chastising of Renault is ridiculous, it works on the assumption that Red Bull are blameless and that top speed is the absolute be all and end all of fastest lap time.

Did you even check my links, or are you intentionally dismissing parts you don't like? It's not just top speed. It's intermediate traps as well.

The most idiotic thing of this whole episode, ironically, is that Red Bull's 4 title winning years...they also did not have the highest top speeds.

They did not have top speeds most of the time, but had THE HIGHEST sector speed traps of anyone, most of the time. Now they have nothing. See the difference there?

[bonjon1979]

Would Ferrari one stopping be an option?

I think they could. Although it would have to be orchestrated perfectly in order to not fall back at the end to those running fresh tires. Its a gamble that maybe one of the two Ferraris would try.

20-25 laps on soft
30 laps on medium

They're not going to one stop. They're going to run two stints on the faster option.

[FoxHound]

Would Ferrari one stopping be an option?

I think they could. Although it would have to be orchestrated perfectly in order to not fall back at the end to those running fresh tires. Its a gamble that maybe one of the two Ferraris would try.

20-25 laps on soft
30 laps on medium

I think so too....Ferrari were very coy when asked what strategy they would run. No firm answers.
But, it is a possibility.
And to split the strategy would create a headache for Mercedes.

[ME4ME]

Allison said after qualifying that a 1-shop would be unrealistic (don't recall the exact phrase he used), and that a 2-stop seems probable for most teams to use.

[Manoah2u]

Would Ferrari one stopping be an option?

I think they could. Although it would have to be orchestrated perfectly in order to not fall back at the end to those running fresh tires. Its a gamble that maybe one of the two Ferraris would try.

20-25 laps on soft
30 laps on medium

I think so too....Ferrari were very coy when asked what strategy they would run. No firm answers.
But, it is a possibility.
And to split the strategy would create a headache for Mercedes.

Not sure whether it works because i haven't calculated the time a pitstop in china costs and the benefit over one tire over another, but....Ferrari can still cause Mercedes a headache with a 2-stop strategy that is more or less like a 1,5 stop strategy; if they really are better on the tires during the china race, they can do one very long stint and one very short stint. As in, 60-lap race, a two-stop strategy would generally imply stopping at lap 20 and lap 40; 3 stints in total.
A one-stop strategy would generally imply stopping at lap 30 half-way, 2 long stints.

They can also try and do their first stop at lap 30, and their next stop at lap 45 or even 50. IF they can get a good enough advantage from the benefit of fresh tires and their relative compounds, then they can do a more 'easy' strategy on the first stint, and an agressive strategy on the 2nd and last stint.

however, this seemed to get Merc in trouble in the first place in Malaysia, so i kinda doubt they'd do that.

Ferrari probably will do a 2-stop strategy, where their benefit of lower tire wear compared to Mercedes will see them having an advantage over Mercedes at the end of the first and last stint. They're close enough, but on their own power, just a very tiny bit short on being able to engage them in a 'fistfight'. Pressuring them into making mistakes is what Ferrari will be trying to do during the race.

So expect them first of all to try and seperate the 2 mercs at the start, and try and keep within the DRS range to keep the pressure on the Mercs. Not because they'll be able to beat them in that way, but to have them wear their tires more, which will in the end be beneficial to the Scuderia.

Hope for traffic and varying strategies to get the mercedesses in the wake of hot cars and cause them even more tire wear.

That's the only way for Ferrari to win or get 2nd.

In all reality though, I think that Mercedes will feel a bit pressure, but Hamilton is going to win this one without much sweat - unless a SC pops up. Rosberg, is another story. He's extremely frustrated and in a very non-positive mindset, and when he is in such a mindset, his performance dwindles. Vettel has a strong and very happy mindset and this boosts his capacity. I expect a Vettel-Rosberg fight on track towards the middle and the end of the race, with Vettel winning in the end when Rosberg hits traffic and Vettel finds a gap.

1. Hamilton
2. Vettel
3. Rosberg
4. Raikkonen
5. Massa