2017 Austrian Grand Prix, Spielberg 7-9 Jul

[ChrisDanger]

Well, Accuweather is saying thunderstorms from 13h00 and from 16h00 but intermittent clouds (no rain) between 14h00 and 16h00. Hopefully there's a bit of error on that, as the dry window is quite narrow. But it at least looks like it might be a damp start.

[Wass85]

What people keep forgetting his Hamilton got two laps in on his first Q3 run, he was slower than Bottas plain and simple for whatever reason. Surprising as Bottas and Massa were neck and neck here, I expect more from Lewis quite frankly.

[atanatizante]

Well, Accuweather is saying thunderstorms from 13h00 and from 16h00 but intermittent clouds (no rain) between 14h00 and 16h00. Hopefully there's a bit of error on that, as the dry window is quite narrow. But it at least looks like it might be a damp start.

1. Friday it was a 80% chance of rain in FP2 and it didn`t ... now its a 58% therefore less chance than Friday ...

2. Nevertheless, had it will rain and the race will start on a dry tarmac SS tyre should have an advantage being a tyre which works in the lower range of temp operation window ... and worth to mention that after the rain track will be cleaned of rubber and Merc has the upper hand on a green track as we saw in all FP1`s over the year ...

3. In Q3 almost every driver had a moment on turn 1, but Lewis had understeer in turn 4 and also in turn 6 which backs up Phil`s theory they setup his car for the SS tyre ... you should review back to back his laps on Q2 and Q3 to see the understeery car he got in order to held his rears for more in the race, where I think he could do a one stop race with ~40 laps on SS and ~30 laps on US tyre at the end ...

4. Is it me or knowing Lewis will have a 5 grid penalty they setup his car more towards the race and Botas` car more towards the qualy and that in order to stop Vettel running into the clean air equal to a clean and easy victory?

5. Regarding the start, even though I don`t have a crystal ball, I foresee a slow Bottas getaway and Vettel diving into turn 1 unsettling the car and having a wobble moment forcing Bottas to run wide to avoid collision hence making way for Kimi passing through in the lead ... then a close battle in turn 3 between Bottas and Vettel won by the first one coz Vettel couldn`t afford to ruin his car ... so after 8-10 laps drivers on US tyre are struggling with temps in the working window and that was helping Lewis to catch up Vettel which he will prevail after an epic battle ... afterwards Bottas and Kimi are sitting ducks having worn tyres ... and that was the key for the win today ...

[atanatizante]

Someone knows how many laps Lewis did on FP1,FP2 and FP3 on the SS tyre?

[DarkSurferZA]

I'm pretty sure that Hamilton is betting that they'll all be starting on blue ringed tyres, not yellow, red or purple.

Don't think so, otherwise why do Q2 on the SS? I think he is hoping for the rain though. Oh, and also for max to have a technical failure cause ain't nobody gonna put one up the inside of Max, and nobody is dumb enough to assume he'll leave space for racing on the outside

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[iotar__]

I'm pretty sure that Hamilton is betting that they'll all be starting on blue ringed tyres, not yellow, red or purple.

Don't think so, otherwise why do Q2 on the SS? I think he is hoping for the rain though. Oh, and also for max to have a technical failure cause ain't nobody gonna put one up the inside of Max, and nobody is dumb enough to assume he'll leave space for racing on the outside

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- What kind of a "set up" that loses you 0,17s or 0,13 s over one lap is worth two(one) positions at the grid with 5 places penalty in Austria '17?
- if you expect world of driver's fiction to admit that he wasn't quick enough instead of ploughing through with set up excuse than don't hold your breath. They think that voting on the internet changes reality .

[Sieper]

Hamilton just couldn,T get it together, just like verstappen and even Vettel a bit, it is a hard track to get the most out, Bottas just did a great job, just like in Russia. I also expected Hamilton to get pole.

[marvin78]

Bottas did a fantastic job in a great car. All these drivers make errors from time to time. Bottas just did it better than the others in the best cars. There might be setup differences but for all we know, Bottas was fastest. That's it.

[SiLo]

To be honest Hamilton looked like he should have stayed with the supersoft. His lap on those was incredibly quick but incredibly smooth.

[ChrisDanger]

From FP1, below. It seemed strange that Hamilton set the fastest time on softs. Does this, combined with being relatively slow on ultras, suggest a different set up, or what else could be the reason?

[seezung]

Cloud situation at the moment;

[Vasconia]

Just to recap: Hamilton will start 8th, which would be behind the two redbulls, Grosjean in the Haas in 6th and Perez in 7th. Perez could be tricky with the Mercedes engine.

I will predict Hamilton to be conservative at the start. He is starting on a harder tire too, so in theory will be worse on the brakes than everyone around him. I hope he will not lose any positions, but it will be most important to survive lap 1 clean...

Running with the supersofts will force him to drive cautiously, he could even loose some positions in the start due to the lack of grip.

[Mansell89]

Anyone got an hourly forecast for the Red Bull ring?

From those pictures the cloud looks pretty ominous but there's still an hour and a half to go.

%chance of rain anyone?

[seezung]

There has been some rain already.. Loads of darkclouds at the moment, no blue to be seen. Currently not raining though

[SchuMassa]

Set for a damp start?