2016 Australian Grand Prix - Melbourne, March 18-20

[Mr.G]

Last years times-actual

Ham: 1:26.327 --- 1:23.837 Diff: ~ 2.5 sec
Vet: 1:27.757 --- 1:24.675 Diff: ~ 3.1 sec
Mas: 1:27.718 --- 1:25.458 Diff: ~ 2.3 sec
Ric: 1:28.329 --- 1:25.589 Diff: ~ 2.7 sec
Sai: 1:28.510 --- 1:25.512 Diff: ~ 3.0 sec

Huge progress over the winter break for all teams, maybe some new track records this year.

Different tires, last year wad on Softs, this on Super Softs

[Tauri_J]

probably different tyre pressures too

[GPR-A duplicate2]

Last years times-actual

Ham: 1:26.327 --- 1:23.837 Diff: ~ 2.5 sec
Vet: 1:27.757 --- 1:24.675 Diff: ~ 3.1 sec
Mas: 1:27.718 --- 1:25.458 Diff: ~ 2.3 sec
Ric: 1:28.329 --- 1:25.589 Diff: ~ 2.7 sec
Sai: 1:28.510 --- 1:25.512 Diff: ~ 3.0 sec

Huge progress over the winter break for all teams, maybe some new track records this year.

Isn't this interesting?
Over the last full season, the cars would have improved by at least a second?
Let's take Sauber Vs Mercedes case.
Aus GP 2015 --- Sauber - 1:28.800 --- Mercedes 1:26.327 --- Gap - 2.473
Abu Dhabi 2015 --- Sauber - 1:43.838 --- Mercedes 1:40.237 --- Gap - 3.601
Over the season, Mercedes gained 1.128 seconds over Sauber
-----------
Aus GP 2016 --- Sauber - 1:27.435 --- Mercedes 1:23.837 --- Gap - Gap - 3.598 !!!
-----------
Mercedes and Sauber have developed the cars at the same level !!! Is it? Despite grave financial struggles, where Sauber hasn't paid salaries to the staff, they have managed to keep up with Mercedes in development pace over the winter! How real !!!

In 2015, Manor ended the season with a 6 seconds gap to Mercedes with a 2014 Ferrari PU and 2014 Chassis. Astonishingly, they are still 6 seconds behind in Aus GP this year with a 2016 Mercedes PU. Again, Mercedes didn't gained anything over Manor, through the Winter !!! 2014 Ferrari PU OR 2016 Mercedes PU, no difference there to Manor.

Curiously, Manor ended last year with a deficit of 3.401 seconds to Sauber. At Australian gp this year, the difference is 2.192 seconds !!! So, Manor has made up 1.2 seconds on Sauber. And as we know, the customer PU is almost 2-3 tenths slower than Factory team; If the Manor would be using Mercedes' factory PU, then the step would be 1.5 seconds. Then how is it that the difference between Mercedes and Sauber has remained the same over winter?

[NutritionFact]

Damned, forgot the tires...,

Too enthusiastic

[search]

has anyone read something about the tire life and the predicted fastest strategy for tomorrow? SS/S/S?! Will anyone use the medium at all?

[Juzh]

add ~1s to all 2016 times (supersoft vs soft)

[Juzh]

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=eXfD2bOthlk

That's the best there is?

[Tauri_J]

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=td96hsLXVMM

[Juzh]

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=td96hsLXVMM

thanks

[miguelalvesreis]

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.

Totaly Agree!!

For Q1 and Q2 due to high number of runners it works pretty well
For Q3, last year format shall work better

[Phillyred]

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=td96hsLXVMM

Hamilton's hands tell the story.. Much smoother/confident input as compared to Rosberg's IMHO.

[Stargazer]

Toto said Ferrari have run quali in a downtuned engine.

Maurizio Arrivabene: "We still have something up our sleeve. I am happy with the performance, very happy ..."

Looks like Ferrari either had quali mode problems or is hiding its pace.

[Moose]

I'm not sure that he really gained anything much in the corners though. To me, it looks like the corners were very similar, but that he gained on the two significant straights. That suggests to me that he managed to keep the same apex speeds as Rosberg, despite having a lower downforce setup.

Rosberg might come back at him in the race if that's true - Hamilton'll be using the tyres faster.

[GrizzleBoy]

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=td96hsLXVMM

Hamilton's hands tell the story.. Much smoother/confident input as compared to Rosberg's IMHO.

Nico was searching for grip all the time and had no confidence in what the car was going to do.

I originally thought the reason for that was Nico having less down force for race setup but Lewis was all kinds of faster through every speed trap.

I wonder if the ban on radio messages will increase the gap between team mates this year.

[Sniffit]

Anyone know what came of the Bottas situation that Ted was going on about?