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

[SectorOne]

Good in my opinion.

[lebesset]

very disappointing that hamiltopn got stuck behind vettel at the start

I was really looking forward to seeing a battle between the merc drivers , I know that it would have been almost impossible for hamilton to get past , but if anyone could do it at this track it was him

[Juzh]

very disappointing that hamiltopn got stuck behind vettel at the start

I was really looking forward to seeing a battle between the merc drivers , I know that it would have been almost impossible for hamilton to get past , but if anyone could do it at this track it was him

He couldn't get past vettel, how could he get passed rosberg in a much faster car?

[f1316]

I suppose they might have had them both on 3 stops with contrary strategies; traffic could have played a part...still, didn't happen so who cares.

I'm interested in the fact that nearly all Ferrari's time was lost in the last sector and Arrivabene has been quoted after the race mentioning traction as a primary cause. This makes sense to me given that they've had issues with traction since 2012 (the last Ferrari with good traction was designed by Aldo Costa...) and also gives encouragement that the aero updates were effective (which Ferrari still insist is the case) and high speed corner performance is up there with Mercedes.

Still, traction needs a lot of work (perhaps on mechanical side).

Nevertheless,

[Edax]

Not sure if they are not working. Theyve been 1-1.5 second behind in testing on this track. 7-8 tenths is alot, bu considering how much they lost in final sector (traction and slow corners) maybe problems are not solely on chassis side.

My point is that bringing that kind of update doesnt just mean progress without problems. Horner said the same thing yesterday. I guess Ferrari is agressive here in Barca so they can test updates on the two testing days as well. I just wouldnt be jumping the gun saying updates didnt work when Marc Gene and Vettel both said they did.

They bolted parts when they were finished. Merc changed FW and RW in China, Ferrari made no changes for first 4 races.

I'm also not sure. I think in terms of car performance that this was not the easiest weekend to judge. To me it seems that under the current conditions the tires have a very narrow performance window. Maybe not in terms of degradation but in terms of traction and lateral grip. Even so that it is difficult to set up a car so that it performs on the option and prime. A lot of drivers had hugely varying performance on the hards and the mediums.

Then it is more about finding a sweet spots where the car and the tires work together on a particular set of tires at a particular fuel load, not so much about intrinsic car performance. A job made difficult by the varying conditions over the past few days and the fact that this is a track where it is extremely hard to get the balance right anyway.

I think there is still a gap between Mercedes and Ferrari, but I don't think it is possible to say the ferrari went backwards or the Mercedes went forwards and where they stand relative to each other.

[Jordan44]

very disappointing that hamiltopn got stuck behind vettel at the start

I was really looking forward to seeing a battle between the merc drivers , I know that it would have been almost impossible for hamilton to get past , but if anyone could do it at this track it was him

He couldn't get past vettel, how could he get passed rosberg in a much faster car?

We don't know if Mercedes would have let Lewis run the strategy he did had they not been racing Vettel, but it seemed quicker. I feel he would have got Rosberg on that strategy without being stuck behind Vettel in the first stint. Although, would have, could have, should have, as Seb likes to say.

This race showed to me what I believed. Ferrari's tyre conservation is little better than Mercs. A combination of things lead to what happened in Malayisa, including Merc loosing valuable long run data. They still have nothing to fear regarding tyres.

[SectorOne]

He couldn't get past vettel, how could he get passed rosberg in a much faster car?

The Ferrari is faster in a straight line. That was the problem here.
And Ferrari ran into the same problem with Williams, which is a bullet on the straights.

So equal cars the leading car would not be further up the road but rather closer.
Now it´s not certain a pass would have been possible but the chance of overtaking would have been greater.

Hamilton messed it up himself though at the start so he only has himself to blame.

[Jordan44]

It would have been interesting to see what would have happened if Hamilton hadn't had that bad pitstop and ended up stuck behind Vettel on his second stint. Fair play to Nico, he did a great job and didn't put a foot wrong. Lewis ended up where he did ultimately through his own poor start.

What exactly would have happened? Nothing, he couldn't touch Vettel why would you expect him to challenge Rosberg in the same car? Race was over after five laps, nothing to discuss here.

- The most dominant win of the season. If before the race Lauda said Hamilton was driving like an alien and Lowe that he was in the best form ever I don't know what they will say now about Rosberg. My guess: nothing like that.
- Another Ferrari driver made Bottas look good this season at least they take turns.
- I liked Ericsson's polite "we're being compromised" Yes you were Marcus, good point.
- Lotus had the pace to beat Red Bull but who needs two drivers prepared and car that works? Selling free practice sessions for results they were lucky they have team player Grosjean and a bunch of overrated Red Bull drivers behind.

Most dominant win of the season a track where 93% of poles are converted to wins. Not that impressive. Rosberg has won one race to Lewis's three, so no they won't be talking about form just yet. He's still got a far way to go. I agree that Lauda and Lowe are Lewis fanboys but it's overstated. Lewis still deserves credit for drastically beating his team mate so far.

[iotar__]

very disappointing that hamiltopn got stuck behind vettel at the start

I was really looking forward to seeing a battle between the merc drivers , I know that it would have been almost impossible for hamilton to get past , but if anyone could do it at this track it was him

Pity he wasn't the only one to overtake Vettel and barely got in front through strategy, it's much more difficult against a slower car though. It had nothing to do with top speed, simply not close enough.

I missed Red Bull's chosen ones tripping over each other and FIA's long-winded weird explanation after a long delay promises something interesting

[SiLo]

Would have liked to have seen Hamilton at least have a go at Rosberg for maybe 4-5 laps to see what he had in him. Kind of bummed they didn't at least let him have a go.

Race made slightly exciting by the tire strategies and poor starts from faster cars. But still, this track is just boring. I wish they would go elsewhere really (NOT VALENCIA)

[Unc1eM0nty]

This track was always going to favour the Mercs, I'm a bit surprised over the gap though, it was no contest today.

I keep forgetting what a bore fest of a race this track produces, never mind - it's Monaco next, oh wait.......

[gray41]

We'll have to hope Canada brings the excitement back.

[Jordan44]

We'll have to hope Canada brings the excitement back.

With the way it's been going I fear we will see most races this year won from pole. Brundle made the point in Australia that these new noses could make overtaking more difficult for closely matched cars and we've seen a lot of evidence of that being true so far. I hope I'm wrong.

[Regle]

It would have been interesting to see people's reactions had it been Nico ruling out overtaking Vettel and desperately asking his team to find some other way past him…

[Chuckjr]

This formulae is completely jacked. Another meaningless championship second year in a row.