2018 Australian Grand Prix - Melbourne, 22 -25 March

[komninosm]

Would Vettel have benefited more or less if there was no VSC period and only a direct SC instead?
What about the timing of the call for a VSC/SC. Would it make a difference if it was called for 10-20 seconds earlier or later?
What differences are there in the speed limits and time deltas (I assume per sector? how do they measure sectors in pits?) between VSC and SC?
Should Grosjean have "parked" his car a few(5?) meters ahead so it would be in less dangerous an area? There would have been a SC (given the track has no car exit there), but it would have been somewhat safer for him and other drivers.

[LM10]

The likelyhood of another SC AFTER the VSC was very small. Hence Vettel was massively disadvantaged and Hamilton was able to sustain the lead after the first round of pitstops.

The pendulum always swings both ways, sometimes you win, sometimes you lose.

It does ndeed swing both ways, In China last year you could maybe say it swung both ways in the same race. Yesterday it swung 1 way, very big one way.

Going back to China I remember a few cars stopping for slicks under the VSC when Vettel did, most spun off and one put it in the wall causing a SC. SO it was arguably the wrong tyre to be on, so Vettel may in fact have lost a lot of time in 2-3 laps while the track still wasn't ready for slicks. So it could be argued that the SC helped Vettel most as it bunched them all up again.

In China SC was deployed 2 laps after VSC and then all other drivers also went for slicks, including Hamilton. This shows that Vettel was right by already going to the pits under VSC. The track didn't dry out after just 2 laps for other drivers to change their minds. They just realized it was good enough for slicks. So in fact it was Hamilton who got lucky. Otherwise he would have stopped later and lost much more time.
The only wet place on the track was the straight unter the bridge. Giovanazzi went over a bumpy area on this wet straight and then put it in the wall. I don't think that this accident by a rookie was evident that all drivers got it wrong by changing to slicks.

I'm not trying to do a discussion on which driver was luckier. That would be childish. I just don't understand why a big deal is being made out of yesterday's race. It was not the first time we saw such an incident and it will not have been the last time either.

[DVB]

Would Vettel have benefited more or less if there was no VSC period and only a direct SC instead?
What about the timing of the call for a VSC/SC. Would it make a difference if it was called for 10-20 seconds earlier or later?
What differences are there in the speed limits and time deltas (I assume per sector? how do they measure sectors in pits?) between VSC and SC?
Should Grosjean have "parked" his car a few(5?) meters ahead so it would be in less dangerous an area? There would have been a SC (given the track has no car exit there), but it would have been somewhat safer for him and other drivers.

SC would have benefitted Vettel less because Hamilton would be driving the pace he wanted until he reached the safety car (which would be waiting for the 1st rider at the end of the pitlane on track).

[Wass85]

One thing that leaves me optimistic is how better the Mercedes looked in dirty air compared to last year.

[komninosm]

What about Bottas and others who also pitted during VSC, how much time did they gain compared to Hamilton and others?

[i70q7m7ghw]

Would Vettel have benefited more or less if there was no VSC period and only a direct SC instead?
What about the timing of the call for a VSC/SC. Would it make a difference if it was called for 10-20 seconds earlier or later?
What differences are there in the speed limits and time deltas (I assume per sector? how do they measure sectors in pits?) between VSC and SC?
Should Grosjean have "parked" his car a few(5?) meters ahead so it would be in less dangerous an area? There would have been a SC (given the track has no car exit there), but it would have been somewhat safer for him and other drivers.

SC would have benefitted Vettel less because Hamilton would be driving the pace he wanted until he reached the safety car (which would be waiting for the 1st rider at the end of the pitlane on track).

That's not true, they still have a lap delta to stick to. I don't think there's any real issue with what happened, it's all part of racing and nothing can or should be done to change that. Hamilton seems to be suggesting that it was avoidable if he had known Vettel was pitting he could have been quick enough to keep Vettel behind while staying under the VSC delta.

It is what it is, I don't think Hamilton will be too upset considering how much more speed he had in hand over the Ferrari, he had no problem closing up behind Vettel multiple times on older tyres.

[misterbeam]

I still think Merc have the upper hand with their car (with Lewis behind it). It's because of the nature of this track that an overtake seems pretty impossible with these speeds carrying in and out of corners and with the turbulent air. Why Merc still have the upper hand? Because Lewis was setting fastest lap after fastest lap with tires that were older than Seb's. Even when Lewis made a little mistake, which opened the gap to 2.5sec, Lewis managed to close it back down, but then probably had to give up the hunt because of cooling issues that were mentioned.

To me at the moment, it's just another repeat of last year tbh. I hope I'm wrong.

It's really hard to judge this year, because with this ridiculous 3 engines per season rule they gonna have to save a lot, and just give up if they can't overtake quickly.

The differences though are:

- DR on much fresher tyres
- DR’s lap a few later, so lower fuel
- I think he may have purposely dropped back from Kimi prior to his fastest lap, in order to save tyres and further emphasise his offset in tyre wear; so I think he was saving something for this one big push, whereas Lewis only dropped back because of a mistake

I'm not sure but i think he was on supersofts too, and keep in mind that Red Bull has 4 engines this year, so they don't have to save as much as Ferrari or Merc.

[CriXus]

Vettel's win was pure luck and after yesterday press conference it goes to show that sometime is better to be more humble and not so arrogant.

I found Vettel both on the radio as well as in the PC very much humble and knowing that it wasn't based on superior Ferrari pace. Care to elaborate or was it just the average rant?

I was talking about Hamilton words toward Vettel (about his smile). Hamilton should have been more humble and not so arrogant.

[Sieper]

Interestingly, Vettel isn't so sure: [...]
This might be Vettel trying to play mental games with Hamilton - blowing smoke up his doo-dah - but it doesn't read that way.

Lewis did not do a 2nd run in Q2 and his first Q3 run wasn't quicker than his first run in Q2 so he improved his time massively in one step - the others improved in several steps

You drive the cleanest laps when you have no competition and pole is guaranteed, who cares about Q2, not sandbagging again.

Verstappen: 'As a viewer I would have turned the TV off" (F1i.com). Very self critical of him , after:
- underperforming in q & losing the start to much slower car
- going off and let's say destroying slightly the car, still his fault.
- not copying with it and spinning. He was fine for all the other laps and the main feedback was overheating tyres: no you lost X and Y amount of DF be careful. It was go for it.
- getting away with breaking the rules once again courtesy of Charlie Whiting; I would have turned it off as well.

- This no penalty shows how you can openly cheat in F1. You gamble on breaking the rules, if you make it you're in front, if you don't and FIA likes you - no costs.

- Imagine SC restart and gambling on a line like Magnussen in Canada (penalty). You do it -1 mm, Whiting says so close give back position, second time -1 mm, Whiting: the same, third +1 mm you're in front. This is how consistent and fair application of this rule would look like.

OK, I'll bite, most of your points are more or less valid but you really seem set on slamming him so let me try to give some background, or the way I see it:

"Verstappen: 'As a viewer I would have turned the TV off" (F1i.com). Very self critical of him "

There is no relation to this comment and being self critical, those are two separate entities. I do feel that races on tracks were it is very hard to overtake are overall less exciting to watch.

"- underperforming in q & losing the start to much slower car" Yes he made a mistake in final lap Q3 still underperforming better then his teammate. Also, RedBull still has (quite a lot) less HP then both Ferrari and especially Mercedes, this will require them to run with less downforce so a mistake is more likely to happen when in a RB then in a Merc or Ferr. And even then, Had Hamilton made a 0.2 second mistake (he did not make a mistake, it was a brilliant lap) he would still have pole. Vettel made a similar mistake, also cost him P2. But yes a very big impact to not have P2, with the red tires that would have been a big advantage. Now (from P4) the red tires weren't worth much, or even a hindrance. Then yes he lost at the start a position, in fact he was a tad quicker (even when on reds instead of purples) then Vettel but Vettel was able to shut the door and this then allowed K mag passed. that can happen. You can't control everything. It is also the mindset of Verstappen to try, he could have defended P4 but tried to gain P3. You will say this is bad, but RB wants to hunt, their racepace is there.

"- going off and let's say destroying slightly the car, still his fault." He went wide in turn 12 (lap 3 or 4 I believe) and the diffusor broke. It wasn't massively wide nor is this a high kerb, that can happen when chasing on red tires with high fuel load, offcourse he broke it, who else? But to me this is a concern, will the diffusor break on every kerb? I hope RB can find a solution, you must be able to go a bit wide every now and then.

" not copying with it and spinning. He was fine for all the other laps and the main feedback was overheating tyres: no you lost X and Y amount of DF be careful. It was go for it." Not entirely sure what you mean here, I think you mean Verstappen is a very bad driver right? He was asked by the team to push, and he tried, Horner post race said that with the diffusor damage he had he couldn't believe Max was still capable of chasing Kmag and Alonso. On high fuel load with the red tires in the wake of the Haas it was just to much to ask, so yes he should perhaps had given up on the chase but again, he was trying to keep the pressure on per team request. Next time maybe just let go despite of that.

"- getting away with breaking the rules once again courtesy of Charlie Whiting" You know Max would try to be in front of Alonso, I knew it. Apparently the difference and the end of the white line was 0,1 second (to the advantage of Alonso) so it was very very close, impossible to tell who was in front. The team was so clever to ask whiting (before any action from their side) and he said, no Alonso was in front, so they gave back the position. You know what, last race last year in Abu Dhabi it was Hulkenberg I believe who passed Massa of track and they simply refused to give back the position. You then get a 5 sec penalty. If Max was a "dirty" (not saying Hulkenberg was) they could have done the same (and gain 20 seconds on Alonso in the last 28 laps) like Ricci (OK without diffusor damage) did. But they gave back the Position, which is the right thing to do. Also Alonso inherited that position (just like Vettel with Hamilton) because of the pit stop under VSC so I guess that also plays a part in the "leniency" Max received. Did you see who was in front at the end of the white line? Alonso did not even complain (or at least no such radio message was aired (or I missed it) so to say Max clearly breaks the rules is a bit of a push.

Also, have you heard me (or any Max fan Or Ricci Hater) say anything about the redflag penalty Ricci received. I agree with Ricci that it was a bit shithouse actually 9allthough everybody must treat a red flag with the respect it deserves). But let me ask you, If it were Max who speeded under red, Would it have been included in your list?

It is fair to critique Verstappen, or every other driver you feel the need to critique for (Bottas?), but to me it seems more like you are singling him out a little bit. That is fine, why not, but you will also get a reaction (which is also a bit what you were looking for right ) and now that I have bitten you can make further points about how stupid both me as a fan and Max as a driver are, be my guest!

[Mandrake]

I feel for Kimi as i think this bad luck will have already relegated him to No 2 driver, i hope that's not the case as for the first time in years he seems comfortable with the softest tyre and had the pace on Vettel all weekend.

I don't think Kimi is being put no2 driver after today just yet. But again as last year he fails to get himself into a position to make a difference. He was too far away from Hamilton to actually challenge him. The undercut was not going to work either. His only chance was to try and see if he can be better on the other tire vs. Hamilton and try a pass there.

Vettel on the other hand was able to go quicker on the used tires which had still some life in them. So he stayed out. How much time did he lose compared to Kimi after Kimi's stop?

I think the original plan for Vettel was to stay out as long as possible until the rest of the field pits and then go the rest of the distance on the SuperSofts to try and make up places by the faster compound. He was then helped by the VSC as well all know. No way for Kimi to try anything like it this race.

I was talking about Hamilton words toward Vettel (about his smile). Hamilton should have been more humble and not so arrogant.

Understood

[Wass85]

I feel for Kimi as i think this bad luck will have already relegated him to No 2 driver, i hope that's not the case as for the first time in years he seems comfortable with the softest tyre and had the pace on Vettel all weekend.

I don't think Kimi is being put no2 driver after today just yet. But again as last year he fails to get himself into a position to make a difference. He was too far away from Hamilton to actually challenge him. The undercut was not going to work either. His only chance was to try and see if he can be better on the other tire vs. Hamilton and try a pass there.

Vettel on the other hand was able to go quicker on the used tires which had still some life in them. So he stayed out. How much time did he lose compared to Kimi after Kimi's stop?

I think the original plan for Vettel was to stay out as long as possible until the rest of the field pits and then go the rest of the distance on the SuperSofts to try and make up places by the faster compound. He was then helped by the VSC as well all know. No way for Kimi to try anything like it this race.

I was talking about Hamilton words toward Vettel (about his smile). Hamilton should have been more humble and not so arrogant.

Understood

That's not true from what i remember. Kimi had the legs on Vettel and was pulling away before they decided to pit him and put Hamilton under pressure. The only reason they left Vettel out is because he would have come out behind traffic. Kimi was massively unfortunate and deserved better IMO.

[Vasconia]

One thing that leaves me optimistic is how better the Mercedes looked in dirty air compared to last year.

Having the best car in qualy and race is not enough optimistic for you? man, you are quite demanding.

[Nonserviam85]

Only 5 overtakes, not a very promising start for the season

[marvin78]

But very normal for Melbourne.

[TAG]

Melbourne apparently needs 7 DRS sections.