2015 Spanish Grand Prix - Circuit de Catalunya - 8-10 May

[Moose]

Tires:
Medium & Hard

2014 Results:



2013/14 Pole laps:
[youtube]wt83YtQ83xQ[/youtube]

[Moose]

For me, this is a clear Mercedes circuit. They've dominated the high downforce sectors so far this year. That, and Spain is a very front tire limited circuit.

[raymondu999]

I'm not 100% convinced that front vs rear limited is a key differentiator. Malaysia is still pretty front-limited. The tyre saving of the Ferrari could yet see them in good stead. I remember the 2013 race when everyone was pretty much restricted to a 4-stopper OOPPP (or some permutation of that) - and the Lotus could do OOOP, where a Lotus P stint could equal the length of another's OO, and their O stints could equal the others' P.

In fact - they were so light on their tyres that while other cars were quicker on the primes, the Lotus was the only car quicker on the options.

[giantfan10]

For me, this is a clear Mercedes circuit. They've dominated the high downforce sectors so far this year. That, and Spain is a very front tire limited circuit.

yea they have dominated high downforce sectors and have not been ahead in the speed traps which indicates to me they are running more downforce than anybody else. then we have that engine producing all that horsepower so yea this should be a mercedes track along with all the rest of them on the calender .
it is a high downforce track and then there is turn 3 which eats front left tires for breakfast.its also a very abrasive track with more than 2 pit stops likely for the race.
we shall see who upgrades what come spain

[SectorOne]

I expect the Merc to really come into it´s own here, only threat would be the start of the race with possibly two Ferrari´s ready to pounce.
Will be interesting to see if Mercedes keeps the high-med-DF package or revert back to a more normal DF package.

[Vasconia]

This track usually offers quite boring races but at least its interesting to see how the new updates work.

I expect Mercedes dominance in this race, my only hope is if the temperatures are quite high so Ferrari could be pressing Mercedes with its great tyre management.

[WaikeCU]

The cars have been making miles throughout Winter testing on this circuit, but back then they could have been hiding from their competitors, so we didn't see the true potential of the cars, but now there's no way to hide anymore. This circuit will confirm the ranking of each team for the whole season.

[Silent Storm]

The cars have been making miles throughout Winter testing on this circuit, but back then they could have been hiding from their competitors, so we didn't see the true potential of the cars, but now there's no way to hide anymore. This circuit will confirm the ranking of each team for the whole season.

I remember Lotus qualified ahead of the both the Ferrari's last year and would have finished ahead of them if not for the engine problem.
Was the Lotus better than the Ferrari last year? No.
The rate of development is so high nowadays that no circuit can confirm the ranking for the whole season.

[dren]

I'm quite excited to see how the Honda/McLaren package performs with the updates at this track. I wonder if Mercedes will have as many updates on their car as planned. I'm guessing they have already attached some of the parts a bit early.

[SectorOne]

edited

[Silent Storm]

Another thing worth thinking about is that now they´re introducing the hard compound for 2014.
That could throw a wrench in the plans for some.

Did you mean 2015? They were using hard compound before 2014.

[Sevach]

I expect the Merc to really come into it´s own here.

You always expect that... but yeah this track plays to their strengths.
Ferrari will need a monster improvement to stay in touch here.

If Nico finds his qualy groove he might surprise here, despite the long straight it's a bad track for overtaking.

[Moose]

I expect the Merc to really come into it´s own here.

You always expect that... but yeah this track plays to their strengths.
Ferrari will need a monster improvement to stay in touch here.

If Nico finds his qualy groove he might surprise here, despite the long straight it's a bad track for overtaking.

Yep, the entry corner to the straight is wrong - it requires good aero, and forces the cars out of the slip stream before they can even get started.

[SectorOne]

Did you mean 2015? They were using hard compound before 2014.

My mistake, i thought it was the first time this year Hard was going to be used, not realizing it was used in Malaysia.
...and now i realize i wrote 2014....long day is my excuse

But apart from my own stupidity, i guess in a way it will be new territory as i don´t think Spain will provide the same kind of temps we saw in Malaysia.

[giantfan10]

i predict massive understeer at turn 16 right before the straight for following cars