2018 Chinese Grand Prix - Shanghai, April 13-15

[Vasconia]

fp1 lewis by 2 tenths, 37 mins to go

Rai was on ultra on his fastest lap vs softs for Hamilton.

Or the difference between Mercedes and the rest is enormous or they simply prefer those tyres because they can make them work much better.

[LM10]

https://pbs.twimg.com/media/DaohbsBW4AE74pg.jpg:large

Vettel has already used 2 of 3 Softs for his weekend? Does this show us that he might do Q2 on Softs? If yes, it also means he won't use any Softs for the remaining practice time and Q1.
Or is one of the Softs here the tyre you give back to Pirelli after 40 minutes?

[DiogoBrand]

I know I'm probably late to ask this, but why has the SuperSoft tyre been skipped? I don't remember any instance of the 3-compound-per-weekend rule where they skipped a compound.

[Sevach]

https://pbs.twimg.com/media/DaohbsBW4AE74pg.jpg:large

Vettel has already used 2 of 3 Softs for his weekend? Does this show us that he might do Q2 on Softs? If yes, it also means he won't use any Softs for the remaining practice time and Q1.
Or is one of the Softs here the tyre you give back to Pirelli after 40 minutes?

I'm pretty sure the graphics aren't showing used tires like they used to.

Vettel used 1 soft compound and 1 US.

[Vettel165]

Many test items for Ferrari for FP2, dont expect a fast lap-time from them. Ted Cravitz (Sky-sport)
Thank god there is no rain for FP1,FP2, Ferrari are getting big amounts of data. Remember that we are also analysing our new floor and what is the difference comparing with the old one

[DiogoBrand]

Wow. I never noticed how different Honda's sound is this year. Really high pitched and rough, almost sounds like a motorcycle.

[Phil]

The only thing that goes Mercedes way in China is the cooler temperatures because Mercedes can turn on the tyres faster than other teams, they might choose to run the mediums again in the race in the cold conditions.

Ferrari it seems that have the upper hand in the 2 straights in China, but might struggle in the twisty section.

So in essence there are reasons to feel upbeat about Hamilton this week, but I would start praying they bring updates when the European Season starts since they are lacking behind Ferrari in fast circuits where top speed is important.

Needless to say that if Hamilton fails to convert this race into a win or worse to end up behind Vettel... then his championship chances are dropping.

Last but not least let us no forget that Hamiltons last DNF was in 2 October 2016 at Sepang and as time and each race passes the DNF monster will start hunting you down, even so, Hamilton has been extremely lucky in 2017 to have no mechanical, tyre failures or collisions... believe me his luck will eventually run out. ( i am looking at you MAX )

I think the whole “struggling in the twisty section” is a red herring. Ferrari were consistently fastest in the middle sector in Bahrain, which is similar in its characteristics to China - some fast chicanes, two stop/starts.

Apart from the info coming out of redbull which is that Ferrari loses out through “every corner” - Ferrari seem pretty well suited to the characteristics of this track. Lots of mid and high speed stuff, two giant straights.

As you say, the main factors favouring Mercedes is the temperature and the medium compound tyres, and the fact this track has historically suited them.

I still have no idea what’s going to happen, which is why I’m loving this season so much so far!

RB is (Horner actually) saying they are fastest through pretty much every corner as deficit on the engine side was about 0.5s in Bahrain.

They also said Merc has 0.5s on engine side to Ferrari, but 2 weeks later they changed their tune. Would not trust them with anything they say.

Fuel consumption.

[F1NAC]

Many test items for Ferrari for FP2, dont expect a fast lap-time from them. Ted Cravitz (Sky-sport)
Thank god there is no rain for FP1,FP2, Ferrari are getting big amounts of data. Remember that we are also analysing our new floor and what is the difference comparing with the old one

Floor modified from Bahrain or new one arrived? didn't see any pics online

[Vettel165]

Vettel and Bottas on medium tyres with equal lap times. Dont know about the new floor sorry.

[kalinka]

I know I'm probably late to ask this, but why has the SuperSoft tyre been skipped? I don't remember any instance of the 3-compound-per-weekend rule where they skipped a compound.

http://www.gptoday.com/full_story/view/ ... _GP_tyres/

[LM10]

https://pbs.twimg.com/media/DaohbsBW4AE74pg.jpg:large

Vettel has already used 2 of 3 Softs for his weekend? Does this show us that he might do Q2 on Softs? If yes, it also means he won't use any Softs for the remaining practice time and Q1.
Or is one of the Softs here the tyre you give back to Pirelli after 40 minutes?

I'm pretty sure the graphics aren't showing used tires like they used to.

Vettel used 1 soft compound and 1 US.

Alright, thank you.

[Restomaniac]

I know I'm probably late to ask this, but why has the SuperSoft tyre been skipped? I don't remember any instance of the 3-compound-per-weekend rule where they skipped a compound.

http://www.gptoday.com/full_story/view/ ... _GP_tyres/

They should just go the whole hog and let teams have total free choice.

If they want to go stupidly soft and fast but pit more, let them.
If they want to go hard and slow but pit less, let them.

[Juzh]

US tire looks completely useless. Everyone's sliding even on a single lap runs. I Expect everyone who possibly can afford it to qualify on soft tires in Q2.

[Vasconia]

Only 0,100 seconds between Lewis(1) and Vettel(4th), while Kimi is second only 0,007 seconds from the best time! that was close!

There was also a fierce competence with softs. The race is looking great!

Lets see how fast are the cars on the long runs.

[Vettel165]

Kimi had traffic in s2, otherwise he should be the fastest in fp2. Seb with less rear wing(less downforce), Kimi with more. They are comparing which solution of a rear wing is better for the race, like we see now solution with more rear wing is for now the faster solution. Ferrari looked very stable in the corners, Mercedes was more sliding in s2 on US tyre than Ferrari. RBR losing at least 0.3 in S3.