elf341 wrote:Well, it's not so much about the downforce, but Barcelona is one of the real tracks that rewards aerodynamic efficiency, those able to run more downforce per unit drag. The W06's real problem is the same as in Bahrain, Barcelona is a very abrasive track - not as much as Bahrain, but still they will probably have the same issues with stint length.
I only just realised that last year the W05 ran many of the abrasive tracks: Malaysia, Bahrain, Barcelona, Silverstone with FRIC - this may be why in the space of just one year we've gone from utterly dominant 1-2 to battling to get the win in these tracks so far.
No, the reason is simple - Ferrari's car was solid other than the ERS unit. Now they've fixed the ERS, and it's demonstrating just how good it (plus upgrades) are.
Merc are still the same distance ahead of the other teams (roughly).