2017 Japanese Grand Prix - Suzuka, 6-8 October

[siskue2005]

Where are you supposed to brake for degner1?

Just at 10 to 15 meters before the turn. Just a tap on the brake and one gear down and turn simultaneously (trial braking)

[Santozini]

Where are you supposed to brake for degner1?

Flat!

Well, maybe Alonso can do it flat but that might confuse the McHonda's ERS

[Fulcrum]

Last year, Rosberg hit the brakes while travelling at 300kph in 8th gear; he hit the apex at 240 kph in 6th. The lap was conducted using soft tyres.

Last year, Hamilton went through the turn 5/6 complex of Malaysia at roughly 240kph in 6th gear using soft tyres; this year, he managed an average of 265kph in 7th gear using supersoft tyres.

This year, pole will be set on the supersoft tyres. I'm going to suggest the pole lap will involve a shift down to 7th, with an apex speed of 260-270kph.

On heavier fuel loads some drivers might even be able to lift and coast, without braking, into Degner 1.

[Kaneda]

http://www.jma.go.jp/en/week/330.html
This is the most reliable source for Japan weather forecast.
So it's likely to be rainy Friday/Saturday and sunny race day.

This weekend, Sato will drive Honda RA300, and Damon Hill will drive Williams FW11 during pre-race show in Suzuka.

hope it'll be a dry qualifying, coz i wanna see a new pole lap record. It's gonna be somewhere between 1:27.5 and 1:28.5

[godlameroso]

I was just going to chime in with the weather but you beat me to it, I too see Friday as largely a washout, since it's very unlikely for it to rain Saturday or Sunday this could be a perfect group wet weather test for Pirelli. It'll also make Saturday more fun in the sense that people won't know what a dry track is like until FP3, and some people can qualify out of position despite having a fast car, like the Williams, or Force India, or at the lead, Vettel can outqualify Hamilton, who then fends him off all race, while Raikkonen is behind the Bottas/Verstappen train.

[TAG]

Ruh-Roh rumblings already. Doubt Ferrari would tip its hand until Saturday but asking if they could replace it as a freebie is not a good sign.

F1Fanatic -The rules state teams can fit a new gearbox if the original is damaged “for reasons which the technical delegate accepts as being beyond the control of the team or driver”. Ferrari has already requested to take a penalty-free gearbox change, according to The Times, but the FIA has turned them down.

Ferrari may have made the request purely as a precaution. But if, as seems likely, Vettel does need a new gearbox, the subsequent penalty will mean he will not be able to start higher than sixth on the grid at Suzuka this weekend, a circuit where overtaking is particularly difficult.

[ChrisDanger]

But if, as seems likely, Vettel does need a new gearbox...

This is 2nd-hand information, and if the weird phrasing is just a poor grasp of English, then this may be a good result from the tests performed on the gearbox at Maranello.

[media]https://twitter.com/Gianludale27/status ... 8424741888[/media]

[Phil]

As i just posted in the Ferrari thread, it would make strategic sense to only come forward with the gearbox change last minute, like Mercedes did with Hamilton in Austria, to not tip their hand and what they could otherwise focus on in Fp1 and 2...

[TAG]

As i just posted in the Ferrari thread, it would make strategic sense to only come forward with the gearbox change last minute, like Mercedes did with Hamilton in Austria, to not tip their hand and what they could otherwise focus on in Fp1 and 2...

It's what Mercedes did when they had to replace Hamilton's. Definitely advantaged knowledge to have knowing how much you have to throw at your set up and race prep and not being able to practice around that on Friday.

[godlameroso]

It'll be tricky since it's expected to rain on Friday only.

[Phil]

IMHO this would be bad for Mercedes, as they probably need more running to assess the updates and proper setup for the track...

[TAG]

IMHO this would be bad for Mercedes, as they probably need more running to assess the updates and proper setup for the track...

It's the same for everyone. Ferrari had an abysmally bad Monza and no one expected that.

[AnthonyG]

IMHO this would be bad for Mercedes, as they probably need more running to assess the updates and proper setup for the track...

It's the same for everyone. Ferrari had an abysmally bad Monza and no one expected that.

When was the last time Ferrari had the fastest car in Monza?

[cooken]

Eh, I tend to agree this is mostly bad news for Merc. They are the most sensitive to track conditions and setup, so if Friday running is meaningless and they show up Sat and are in the woods with tires and pace, there will be far less time to experiment and rectify for qualy. Given that Ferrari seemingly keep trying to hand the titles over via blunders, this is great news to keep things spicy. Last thing we want is clean weekend with one team walking it.

[WaikeCU]

It's the same for everyone I think. Look at Singapore. Merc was nowhere on Friday and Sunday, but when it poured and when it dried up, Lewis was still the fastest of them all even though the pace of Ricciardo on Friday and Sunday would have suggest otherwise.