2016 Australian Grand Prix - Melbourne, March 18-20

[dot235]

I think the only way to bring everybody up to Mercedes performance engine wise is to ban the split turbine or make everybody use the split turbine. Having these different engine layouts is proving too lopsided to overcome.

If you wanna go down that route, why not just simply limit the maximum power then. Say, 900HP (by the looks of it Merc is close to 1000HP).

My point is either do nothing that's against the fair competition or do something that is guaranteed to make the difference. F1 had enough of experimenting for now.

[justmoi]

The saddest thing about that qualifying, there were some intra team battles (Werhlein/Haryanto Q1, Sainz/Vestapen Q3, etc) and also pace improvements we didn't get to see because drivers were 'timing out'. Most simply had no time to do a second run.

Ironically at the end of Q3, even after pole was decided, there was still ample time left on the clock.

Quite farcical

[giantfan10]

These numbers are completly pointless because while Mercedes is fastest. Ferrari did no dry running whatsoever so nobody knows where their pace is and neither did Williams. Only Hamilton, Both Red Bull Dani's, Hulkenberg and Verstappen did a relevant dry time and Kyvat was only 0.4 seconds off Hamilton on the same tyre. Danny ric did his time on a medium tyre in the first session. If it is dry in Melbourne today you will have your answer then.

What I will say is that the RB12 looks to have a huge amount of downforce and the new engine seems to be good enough to let the drivers push although slightly slower then Mercedes in dry conditions. The merc looks better with the old wing then the new s duct wing.

The Torro rosso and Force india look almost identical in speed. I don't think you can glean much from any of the other teams except that Mclaren is faster then the Renault which looks awful and Wehrlein could trouble the Sauber purely on his speed alone.

none of the points you made are based on any solid evidence either : ) changing conditions in practice when half the field refuses to run is not the place to make conclusions about which team is faster than the other... one more day and we will at least have a few things we will be able to hang our hat on....they all have to push in qualifying... there will be no excuses then

I didn't make any points. I made some observations from watching the sessions. Now that qualifying is over we can see all of the cars are a hell of a lot faster this year and Hamilton's new track record is proof of that. The Mercedes engine is clearly the most powerful again. This HP advantage would be the only reason the Williams and Force India's are anywhere near Red Bull or Torro rosso. If either of those cars had a Mercedes engine they would be beating Ferrari for best of the rest.

I think the only way to bring everybody up to Mercedes performance engine wise is to ban the split turbine or make everybody use the split turbine. Having these different engine layouts is proving too lopsided to overcome.

hamilton didnt have a track record and the split turbo is not why Mercedes is ahead..... wrong on both counts.
the only 2 cars that showed their ultimate pace were the 2 mercedes who did their final runs in Q 3, as far as i'm concerned the grid is not a good representation of the true pecking order with the exception of mercedes so i'm not really sure what youre talking about
if wishes were horses beggars would ride lol thats my response to your torro rosso and red bull guess

the Mercedes engine is the one with the best qualy mode as far as we know at this point.

[dot235]

none of the points you made are based on any solid evidence either : ) changing conditions in practice when half the field refuses to run is not the place to make conclusions about which team is faster than the other... one more day and we will at least have a few things we will be able to hang our hat on....they all have to push in qualifying... there will be no excuses then

I didn't make any points. I made some observations from watching the sessions. Now that qualifying is over we can see all of the cars are a hell of a lot faster this year and Hamilton's new track record is proof of that. The Mercedes engine is clearly the most powerful again. This HP advantage would be the only reason the Williams and Force India's are anywhere near Red Bull or Torro rosso. If either of those cars had a Mercedes engine they would be beating Ferrari for best of the rest.

I think the only way to bring everybody up to Mercedes performance engine wise is to ban the split turbine or make everybody use the split turbine. Having these different engine layouts is proving too lopsided to overcome.

hamilton didnt have a track record and the split turbo is not why Mercedes is ahead..... wrong on both counts.
the only 2 cars that showed their ultimate pace were the 2 mercedes who did their final runs in Q 3, as far as i'm concerned the grid is not a good representation of the true pecking order with the exception of mercedes so i'm not really sure what youre talking about
if wishes were horses beggars would ride lol thats my response to your torro rosso and red bull guess

the Mercedes engine is the one with the best qualy mode as far as we know at this point.

Vettel said he was happy with his lap so delta is at least 0.5sec either way.

[justmoi]

hamilton didnt have a track record and the split turbo is not why Mercedes is ahead..... wrong on both counts.
the only 2 cars that showed their ultimate pace were the 2 mercedes who did their final runs in Q 3, as far as i'm concerned the grid is not a good representation of the true pecking order with the exception of mercedes so i'm not really sure what youre talking about
if wishes were horses beggars would ride lol thats my response to your torro rosso and red bull guess

the Mercedes engine is the one with the best qualy mode as far as we know at this point.

Just curious. Mercedes only use their 'max quali modes' for pole runs in Q3. So from watching all the sessions who do you then think has the best 'non quali mode' engine?

[AnthonyG]

Oh dear. That qualy was forgettable. Still not sure where all the teams are pace wise as I think more than a few are out of position due to the new format. Looking forward to a dry race and seeing where everyone is.

If a driver is ahead or behind his teammate, then there's a big chance the car is where it's supposed to be. Mercedes domination all over again.

[GPR-A duplicate2]

the only 2 cars that showed their ultimate pace were the 2 mercedes who did their final runs in Q 3, as far as i'm concerned the grid is not a good representation of the true pecking order with the exception of mercedes so i'm not really sure what youre talking about
if wishes were horses beggars would ride lol thats my response to your torro rosso and red bull guess

the Mercedes engine is the one with the best qualy mode as far as we know at this point.

Do you realize, if the same qualifying format continues, per your argument you will then never see anyone's potential, ever. On a given day, what you see is what remains the reality and that is what the records would show.

I hope they change this farce.

[diego.liv]

Good job Patrick Jane, i mean, giantfan10..true i simpatize for Mercs but I like neither their driver (big miss by you, odd don't you agree?) plus I'm quite objective.. The problem is with tire life, stop blaming a system used for the first time. Since we can't change tyre's structure, teams are able to order what and how many per compound that wish.
Glad Mercs got the 1-2 mainly because it's in Bernie's face

[dot235]

Oh dear. That qualy was forgettable. Still not sure where all the teams are pace wise as I think more than a few are out of position due to the new format. Looking forward to a dry race and seeing where everyone is.

If a driver is ahead or behind his teammate, then there's a big chance the car is where it's supposed to be.

That's not entirely true. There was a big gap ahead AND BEHIND Ferrari.

[CHT]

Bernie might have to get Merc to tune down their engine in order not to demoralize the rest of the grid.

[SectorOne]

Q1 and Q2 were really good. No more waiting for slower teams to clean the track in Q1, everybody was out shitting bricks as soon as the light went green.
But Q3 was a total disaster, they should just revert Q3 back to the old way where everyone got two runs each.

[atanatizante]

Guess who was winning every session : FP1, FP2, FP3, Q1, Q2 and pole? You`re right! Ma men!

Regarding qualy system I think the ideea was good but it needs some tweaks :
- for instance in Q1&2 after 4 or 5 min. they must eliminate the last 3 drivers
- and for Q3 they should keep the last format for the best 6 drivers but get a mandatory 6 laps with at least 2 quick runs and 2 sets of softest tyres available, provided only for this session

My two cents

[ripper]

Haas is probabily better than Sauber. If I remember correctly GUT's Second lap was more than enough to pass in Q2, but he didn't finish it in time

[Rikhart]

Hugely disappointed by both magnussen and werlein. Top job by Verstappen.

[flickerf1]

Ted's Qualifying Notebook: http://www.skysports.com/f1/news/12433/ ... g-notebook