iotar__ wrote:
How did Lotus end up in comparison with Ferrari? They haven't had any big updates and not that many smaller ones because they can't afford it. Hell they can't even afford a spare gearbox and shouldn't be in the same universe. Ferrari was the second fastest car (the usual position) especially in light of weaker than usual Williams. Qualifying: smaller gaps and obvious reason. Race: on top of other factors I think relative lack of running in Q3 made it a bit of an unknown which sometimes is enough when gaps are smaller and track allows it.
Monza requires unique aero (Lotus can't afford it) and there's less to gain from tyres and top-speed vs downforce compromises. I expected Williams to be more competitive but I forgot they went with soft and medium which should help Ferrari.
Raises a very good point: how does an underfunded team like lotus end up racing/beating the works Ferrari? Answer: by using what it's clear is still by far the best PU.
Lotus and FI's performance in spa and Canada are big indications that - since Canada reliability upgrade particularly - the Mercedes pu is still the class of the field. Mercedes being so far ahead of them is proof of how good their chassis is.
Seems like the Ferrari chassis is pretty decent in the slow/mid speed stuff, judging by Hungary and Monaco, but less so in high speed and not enough to compensate for lack of power (red bull's middle sector in spa with monza spec wing shows they're better able to compensate for a much bigger power deficit).
So yeah, unless the use of only a small amount of tokens is all a bluff, I don't see a podium in monza; maybe top five is doable but possibly even lower. Singapore I'm expecting much better though