2017 Chinese Grand Prix - Shanghai 07-09 April

[Vanja #66]

Should we expect Seb shadowing Lewis again in first stint?

[Morteza]

[Godius]

Painful showing from the Red Bull guys, the gap has grown to 1,4 seconds now. Renault works-team looks like they are on their way up, that's promising.

[dans79]

I do remember that the regulations somewhat freeze the car setup after Qualifying. As we expect the weather to get worse again for tomorrow, how do the teams react on it?

Will they sacrifice some speed for Q to have a decent (rain) race setup, even if it means to give away some positions at the grid or will they only look to get the maximum out of Q and hope for good weather on Sunday?

Thank you.

The teams can modify the cars for a wet start.

[f1316]

Mercedes Qualy mode still gives them something of an edge.
Unbelievably close between Bottas and Vettel.
Red Bull nowhere.

Palmer shouldn't be in F1.

Yeah I think the quali mode shows in the sectors - Merc faster on the long straight (and Bottas actually best S3 time); otherwise less than a tenth between Lewis and Seb in S1 and S2.

Bodes well for the race though because I think Lewis is going to struggle to protect his lead - better for a spectacle to have the fastest race car off Pole.

Of course all bets are off in the rain though.

[Fulcrum]

I think Mercedes qualifying engine mode is the only thing preventing a Ferrari 1-3, rather than the current 2-4.

If Vettel jumps Hamilton at the start, I expect him to pull out a small gap throughout the race. Look for the pit stops for an understanding of who is under pressure, earlier stops being a sign of weakness. If not, much the same as last week. Bottas to slowly fall away from Hamilton?

I expect Raikkonen to be closer to Bottas. I also expect Ferrari won't be as conservative with Raikkonen's tyre allocation. They really should have put him onto SS for the final stint in Melbourne.

All of the above assuming it is dry. If it is wet, I guess the Red Bulls will be more competitive, and Raikkonen won't keep company as closely with the Mercedes and Vettel.

Looking forward to a potentially excellent race.

[Sevach]

https://twitter.com/Gianludale27/status ... 8524749824

[ema00]

Did someone have the best sectors of each driver?

[GPR-A duplicate2]

Lewis did not have a good start to his final flier as he had to back off on the straight to stay clear of some of the midfield cars. That explains why he was slower in S1, compared to Bottas and Vettel, as the tires were probably not in the right temperature window.

[Phil]

Earlier pitstop would also be a sign of lack of FP running and understanding of the tires (if dry). Somehow, i expect an unpredictable race, especially if wet, which might be dictated by additional factors. Depending on how chaotic the race is, we might get a less predictable result...

Re: Vettels team radio about him having 2 tenths, i think Hamilton had at least another tenth given Bottas was the quickest in S3 (faster than a tenth than LH). Assuming of course both Mercedes had very similar setups.

[Morteza]

Did someone have the best sectors of each driver?

Refer to Juzh's post on the previous page.

[giantfan10]

Should we expect Seb shadowing Lewis again in first stint?

I fully expect that, Mercedes has 2 tenths in qualifying and no advantage in the race based on the last race.Only difference is that passing is a lot more likely on this track. guess we will find out tomorrow.
Vettel says he mucked up the last turn and chickened out braking a little early...Lewis said he had a perfect lap....Taking both of them at face value tells me there is nothing between the 2 cars and the race should be epic : )

[AMG.Tzan]

I expected Ferrari to beat Mercedes to pole by 2-3 tenths after seeing Q1! But WOW to both Mercedes and Hamilton for finding so much performance between Q1 and Q3! And you'll have to remember that Bottas is also very fast in quali but Hamilton...these last laps this year where he finds these last 2 tenths over the others are just unbelievable...you'll have to put it down not only on Mercedes's quali mode but also on Hamilton's ability to find this kind of performance on the last lap of quali!! Anyway nice close session =D> ...and I still expect Ferrari to win tomorrow! Their car is much better throughout the race after what we saw in Australia! Let's see...maybe rain will change everything tomorrow!

[atanatizante]

Had they have a dry start Vettel will be starting on the back foot for that second place usually here in China, isn`t it?

[Sevach]

Had they have a dry start Vettel will be starting on the back foot for that second place usually here in China, isn`t it?

Shanghai is one of those tracks where the final corner and T1 are in opposite directions, normally those tracks minimize the concept of clean side and dirty side...

Wet standing start should cool though.