2017 Azerbaijan Grand Prix - Baku, 23-25 June

[Sieper]

Max should've had P3 already, gear sync problems caused him a good few tenths in S2, he had been much quicker there already. Such a shame, he really deserved P3 this weekend.

[Silent Storm]

It's not the 1st ICE they reverted back to, it's probably the Canadian GP ICE.
With new ICE he could have been a tenth quicker than Kimi, still long way off Merc.

I think it's likely more than a tenth. With a used ICE they probably can't run the most agressive engine mode as those have already been used up. That explains why he was slower than Raikonnen by 0.1s, when he's usually 0.3 ahead. The Q mode usually gives them 0.5sec.

His ICE is not that old to run a conservative setting and he lost less than a tenth in S3, Vettel was overdriving in FP2 and the 7 laps he did in FP3 he couldn't get tyre temperatures up, also he didn't lose much to kimi in FP3 because Kimi did 13 laps, probably to look after the engine.

[ringo]

I hope the discussion about which PU is stronger, settles here. Not based on the Mercedes factory team, but based on the customer teams. Both the customer teams are so far ahead of the Ferrari customer team.

Expecting Max to jump both Ferraris at the start tomorrow.

Yeah that was obvious after Canada to me. Mercedes power unit is still ahead by a meaningful amount.
Austria will be Mercedes again. Hungary is when Ferrari can strike back.

Redbull's performance clouds the whole debate; i guess we see in the race when tyres can come up to temperature properly and maybe at Monza?

Anyhow another stunning lap by Hamilton; clearly hiding tricks for the last Q3 runs. He should be able to claw back the deficit from Vettel this race if redbull cause ferrari some trouble. Using last years odd performance was unwise to predict how good or Hamilton would be at this track. Any driver can be good at any track once their car is setup properly for it without any technical issues.
I want to see if Ferrari will do the old switcheroo with kimi again or Maurizio sends the wifi brake lock up signal over the airwaves to put vettel in front of Kimi going into turn 1.

[ClarkBT11]

It's not the 1st ICE they reverted back to, it's probably the Canadian GP ICE.
With new ICE he could have been a tenth quicker than Kimi, still long way off Merc.

The broadcasters definitely said Ferrari reverted back to the first engine of the season. Fingers crossed for Vettel it doesn't go pop in the race tomorrow reliability is going to be a big factor in the championship being so close.

[dans79]

It's not the 1st ICE they reverted back to, it's probably the Canadian GP ICE.
With new ICE he could have been a tenth quicker than Kimi, still long way off Merc.

The broadcasters definitely said Ferrari reverted back to the first engine of the season. Fingers crossed for Vettel it doesn't go pop in the race tomorrow reliability is going to be a big factor in the championship being so close.

I heard the same, and you have to think the engine letting go on the long main strait is a real possibility.

[atanatizante]

So the tow here worth some 16km/h or so in case of Red Bull (between Ricci and Verstappen) and only 11km/h in case of FI between Ocon and Perez ...
On another note Ferrari are 2-4km/h slower than Merc on the big straight and Honda are just 15km/h down on speed comparing with K.Mag as a reference car having the highest speed but no tow ...

[iotar__]

- How did the tyres affect this qualifying ?

- Vettel behind Raikkonen and fourth, excellent performance. Good starting position for yet another '17 Vettel - Hamilton classic
Baiting comment removed. And do not forget that Vettel is using an older pu and kimi is using the new updated unit.

[GPR-A duplicate2]

Fourth time in a row that Max is outqualifying Ricciardo. Only bad luck fror Max has kept Ric in front on points. If Max gets his luck going, Ric is going to suffer huge reputation damage. Can Ric do something about qualifying?

[jericho]

Fourth time in a row that Max is outqualifying Ricciardo. Only bad luck fror Max has kept Ric in front on points. If Max gets his luck going, Ric is going to suffer huge reputation damage. Can Ric do something about qualifying?

Don't forget the results in the FP's, for most of them, he was fastest of the RB drivers.

I think it's fair to say he is faster than Daniel.

[ringo]

Fourth time in a row that Max is outqualifying Ricciardo. Only bad luck fror Max has kept Ric in front on points. If Max gets his luck going, Ric is going to suffer huge reputation damage. Can Ric do something about qualifying?

I think daniel is taking a philosophical approach this year. He doesn't seem to be pushing and seems like he lost his edge. Maybe he just wants to collect points and try finish the races ahead of Max?
I don't know but he doesnt seem to be trying very hard. Max may just push him out of the team like he pushed out vettel.

[Phil]

Maybe max with his aggressive all or nothing driving is just quicker? No shame in that...

[PlatinumZealot]

I hope the discussion about which PU is stronger, settles here. Not based on the Mercedes factory team, but based on the customer teams. Both the customer teams are so far ahead of the Ferrari customer team.

Expecting Max to jump both Ferraris at the start tomorrow.

Look at renault vs redbull and haas vs ferrari it is not so easy to campare. All we can observe is that bottas had similar sector two times to both ferraris but a faster sector one. I think sector threes were abou the same.. I say the Ferrari engine is still close in qualifying. They just couldn't turn on the tyres.

[ENGINE TUNER]

Do any of the front runners have unused yellow softs for the race? Will scrubbed soft's get up to temp faster?

How many laps did HAM put on his set of Q2 tires? He put an extra timed lap on them that was unnecessary.

Which PU is VET running for the race? Didn't he have a leak on a barely used unit in Barcelona?

Looks like a 1 stop race. Any SC around the pit stops could cause a double stacking in the pits for the front runners who will probably stay out longer.

[Sevach]

I hope the discussion about which PU is stronger, settles here. Not based on the Mercedes factory team, but based on the customer teams. Both the customer teams are so far ahead of the Ferrari customer team.

Expecting Max to jump both Ferraris at the start tomorrow.

Look at renault vs redbull and haas vs ferrari it is not so easy to campare. All we can observe is that bottas had similar sector two times to both ferraris but a faster sector one. I think sector threes were abou the same.. I say the Ferrari engine is still close in qualifying. They just couldn't turn on the tyres.

Ferrari looses in S3 was well, S3 is effectively 1 corner.

Keep in mind that both Vettel and Raikkonen had very old and not updated ICEs

[Shrieker]

Wow...Didn't expect Merc to be so strong. They just monstered this track. I guess that puts to sleep which PU is better..