Nico Rosberg continued to dominate at Singapore's Marina Bay by comfortably taking pole position in today's qualifying session, having half a second in hand over second placed Daniel Ricciardo. Lewis Hamilton set the third fastest time after another few difficult qualifying laps.
So which strategies are you expecting?
I expect a US-SS-SS or US-US-SS for Ferrari and RedBull. Giving the low number of SS I think Ferrari needs to go for US-US-SS.
Looking at the data from last year, where Sauber stopped for S in lap 28 and the fact that SS were good for over 20 laps, I think Merc might use a SS-S similar to what they did in Monza. This implies, of course, that Merc will overcome the problems of last year and will have the usual dominance, so that they can go through Q2 on SS.
I love this GP! A real highlight on the calendar for me. The Las Vegas atmosphere, the gruel, the close walls, the sparks, the grit, the clear visors, the heat.. nice.
Hmm tire wear is going to be greater than we think. The US will probably only make it 10-12 laps, the SS will make it 5-6 laps more, and the S will probably be able to go 1/3 distance. The problem is the rears start going off and make driving the circuit very hard. It's imperative both cars function without flaw during free practice so that they can evaluate different strategies, account for the balance change as the tires go off. And also to fine tune the setup because qualifying is extremely important here. Pole is going to be between 1:42 and a high 1:41.
Hopefully there's a better showing from Alonso here, it's always sad to see him give up.
Ideal strategy will be a 3 stopper, 12 laps on the ultra soft, then 15 + 15 on the SS and finish the race on S. Or alternately you can do a two stopper US S S, you cannot two stop without the soft tire, and you cannot 3 stop without the SS and S. Using only the US and SS will force you to 4 stop and that's too much time lost in the pits, the only way such a strategy would work is with the luck of the safety car. There's usually a high probability of a safety car, or VSC, but it's not guaranteed. Also, it almost never rains at the time of the race, but it does rain quite a bit during the afternoon, who knows we may actually get a night rain race, could be 'interesting'.
Godlameroso, I love your tyre analysis in anticipation to the race. Better would be only if you put the text into some sort of simple graphic form to help visualise.
Yeah safety car is not guaranteed but honestly I can't remember not having one, maybe a strategy with more stops can take advantage of that fact. This seems like a race that can have trouble sticking to the new 2h max time rule, and also it seems the total tyre number can be very limiting in such track. Maybe teams with more softs are planning on using them just to get more mileage out of FP's.
godlameroso wrote:
Ideal strategy will be a 3 stopper...
Do you really think this is reasonable, giving the fact, that it was a clear 2-stop last year and we see less stops this year than last year on nearly every track?
godlameroso wrote:
Ideal strategy will be a 3 stopper...
Do you really think this is reasonable, giving the fact, that it was a clear 2-stop last year and we see less stops this year than last year on nearly every track?
I said you can two stop, the problem is the ultra soft. If you start on it you've resigned yourself to a 3 stopper. If you start on SS you can follow last year's strategy all night.
Juzh wrote:Ez win for ricciardo. Mercs 5-6 if lucky.
yes please! [-o<
I've been waiting for this GP all year to see whether Mercedes have gotten on top of their issues with Singapore last year and whether we can have a truly competitive race with all the players involved.
FI will be strong here, along with Red Bull their chassis favours street circuit. But it will be interesting to see the manor, their tyre strategy is very much similar to FI, they will be in mix with Renault and Torro Rosso here.
But I want Mercs guys to fail and RB to grab the opportunity.
My prediction for race :
RIC
VER
VET
RAI
ROS
PER
HAM
HUL
BOT
MAS
ALO
BUT
then rest of the field...
Why do you have the Williams and Force Indias ahead of the McLaren's? Top speed around the circuit is around 310kph with DRS wide open maybe 314 with a good tow. Since Silverstone the Mclaren's chassis has overtaken those teams, they were already faster in Germany and Hungary, they should be even more ahead after their Spa upgrade seeing as Williams and FI have basically stopped developing this year's car.
I'd like to see Riccardo get his first win of the season, will make the shooey worth it. I think it'll be very close between Mercedes and Ferrari, Red Bull will be ahead, and McLaren will be slightly more respectable, then everyone else.