2017 Austrian Grand Prix, Spielberg 7-9 Jul

[Stormy]

Pole should go to Lewis of course. Merc can just get a lot of extra power from the engine in one lap, maybe that's how Bottas was also way faster the last lap in Baku and managed to overtake Stroll just before the finish line?
Nevertheless, at least Ferrari's race pace is solid. Overall, it will be a lot harder for Ferrari, that's for sure.

[godlameroso]

Might be a wet race after all. Friday dry for sure, Saturday likely to be dry but possible light rain, Sunday is still a question mark.

[NathanOlder]

If the race was this weekend, id take notice of the forecast, but 10 days away.... they never seem to get it right.

[Vasconia]

Pole should go to Lewis of course. Merc can just get a lot of extra power from the engine in one lap, maybe that's how Bottas was also way faster the last lap in Baku and managed to overtake Stroll just before the finish line?
Nevertheless, at least Ferrari's race pace is solid. Overall, it will be a lot harder for Ferrari, that's for sure.

The magic botton seems to be back so yes, they have an extra power which makes easy to achieve the pole.

[godlameroso]

If the race was this weekend, id take notice of the forecast, but 10 days away.... they never seem to get it right.

I'm not going by their forecast

[Stormy]

Pole should go to Lewis of course. Merc can just get a lot of extra power from the engine in one lap, maybe that's how Bottas was also way faster the last lap in Baku and managed to overtake Stroll just before the finish line?
Nevertheless, at least Ferrari's race pace is solid. Overall, it will be a lot harder for Ferrari, that's for sure.

The magic botton seems to be back so yes, they have an extra power which makes easy to achieve the pole.

And Ferrari have lost their magic way of burning oil so...yeah.

[Vasconia]

Pole should go to Lewis of course. Merc can just get a lot of extra power from the engine in one lap, maybe that's how Bottas was also way faster the last lap in Baku and managed to overtake Stroll just before the finish line?
Nevertheless, at least Ferrari's race pace is solid. Overall, it will be a lot harder for Ferrari, that's for sure.

The magic botton seems to be back so yes, they have an extra power which makes easy to achieve the pole.

And Ferrari have lost their magic way of burning oil so...yeah.

A PU update is expected in Silverstone so I hope they can close the gap again.

[GPR-A duplicate2]

The magic botton seems to be back so yes, they have an extra power which makes easy to achieve the pole.

And Ferrari have lost their magic way of burning oil so...yeah.

A PU update is expected in Silverstone so I hope they can close the gap again.

They better be, as Renault has said that they have enhanced the reliability of their PU and with that comes the performance from the new parts too. With Red Bull having fixed their correlation issues, which has resulted in better car performance on one of their worst circuits, they are hoping to make a jump on Ferrari. With the engine failure that Max has suffered, he stands to get a new PU for next races and that might just allow him jump over the two Ferrari drivers.

Link -> Renault confident of more F1 power and better reliability

Renault says it is finally hitting its reliability targets on the dyno with new components that will also unleash more power from its Formula 1 engines over the remainder of the campaign.

But with the recent engine failures being linked to older specification parts that were introduced before Renault had answers to its issues, more positive news from its dyno in recent days has left it upbeat for when new specification parts will come on board.

Read a report somewhere that Mercedes ran a new specification fuel in qualifying that offered boost but did not run in race due fears of high temperature. And they ran up to 80% capability of their most aggressive PU mode. If that is true then the relatively colder temperatures in some of the upcoming races should enable them to unleash full power. So yeah, Ferrari better bring some good upgrade.

[Vasconia]

And Ferrari have lost their magic way of burning oil so...yeah.

A PU update is expected in Silverstone so I hope they can close the gap again.

They better be, as Renault has said that they have enhanced the reliability of their PU and with that comes the performance from the new parts too. With Red Bull having fixed their correlation issues, which has resulted in better car performance on one of their worst circuits, they are hoping to make a jump on Ferrari. With the engine failure that Max has suffered, he stands to get a new PU for next races and that might just allow him jump over the two Ferrari drivers.

Link -> Renault confident of more F1 power and better reliability

Renault says it is finally hitting its reliability targets on the dyno with new components that will also unleash more power from its Formula 1 engines over the remainder of the campaign.

But with the recent engine failures being linked to older specification parts that were introduced before Renault had answers to its issues, more positive news from its dyno in recent days has left it upbeat for when new specification parts will come on board.

Read a report somewhere that Mercedes ran a new specification fuel in qualifying that offered boost but did not run in race due fears of high temperature. And they ran up to 80% capability of their most aggressive PU mode. If that is true then the relatively colder temperatures in some of the upcoming races should enable them to unleash full power. So yeah, Ferrari better bring some good upgrade.

Renault really needs this to betrue because their job is far from good. We all talk about Honda but Renault has also done a terrible taking into account that they began alongside Ferrari and Mercedes working on the new PU.

[GPR-A duplicate2]

Renault really needs this to betrue because their job is far from good. We all talk about Honda but Renault has also done a terrible taking into account that they began alongside Ferrari and Mercedes working on the new PU.

Renault (read Red Bull) are now in a situation where they are not fighting for championship, but the package is getting to a state where they can spoil the championship fight. Specifically for Renault, they have nothing to lose with another reliability failure and can push some grunt in that PU and throw it on the back of the cars. That is the danger for Ferrari. So Ferrari need (like I said, they better bring) a similar type of step that they brought in Spain with which they were on par with Mercedes' visible big upgrade. That W08 is waking up and Ferrari need to push!

[SiLo]

I'm wondering if we are going to see Ferrari drop back and be challenged by Red Bull like we have seen in the past. Whilst the Merc looks hugely complex, they continue to bring visible updates to it so they clearly have great correlation on and off track.

[Ana]

If the race was this weekend, id take notice of the forecast, but 10 days away.... they never seem to get it right.

We never know how the weather turns up? 10 days before is a big gamble.

[Vasconia]

Renault really needs this to betrue because their job is far from good. We all talk about Honda but Renault has also done a terrible taking into account that they began alongside Ferrari and Mercedes working on the new PU.

Renault (read Red Bull) are now in a situation where they are not fighting for championship, but the package is getting to a state where they can spoil the championship fight. Specifically for Renault, they have nothing to lose with another reliability failure and can push some grunt in that PU and throw it on the back of the cars. That is the danger for Ferrari. So Ferrari need (like I said, they better bring) a similar type of step that they brought in Spain with which they were on par with Mercedes' visible big upgrade. That W08 is waking up and Ferrari need to push!

Indeed, the PU update seems to be important so I hope they will help them. Silverstone and Hungary should be good tracks for their car.

[Vasconia]

I'm wondering if we are going to see Ferrari drop back and be challenged by Red Bull like we have seen in the past. Whilst the Merc looks hugely complex, they continue to bring visible updates to it so they clearly have great correlation on and off track.

Ferrari was a mess in 2016 with Allison almost out of the team, in the last part of the season the team showed a better focus which has been confirmed in 2017. I am cautiously optimistic, the updates will come, but no one knows if they will be good enough.

[marvin78]

The problem is, I think the Mercedes was by far the best car from the beginning of the season but they din't understand it right. Mercedes is so good in these things. Not only did they understand the car and it's fragile setup, they even mastered it and they have by far the best PU (we could see that in Baku in a very clear light on the last stint). The theory is: The Ferrari is a good car, but the Mercedes is far better. As it was the 3 seasons before. I don't see how Ferrari can beat that.