2018 Spanish Grand Prix - Catalunya, May 11-13

[gargour87]

Any idea whats Williams doing with that strategy ?

This is not their circuit and already they are behind Saubers in terms of raw pace. Are they racing to please their investors here or what ??

Mercedes and SFI looks very conservative as well.

Tire choices don't mean anything. they will end up with the same tires after Q3

[F1NAC]

Any idea whats Williams doing with that strategy ?

This is not their circuit and already they are behind Saubers in terms of raw pace. Are they racing to please their investors here or what ??

Mercedes and SFI looks very conservative as well.

Maybe they are more focused on qualis, and later in the race doing a stop less with mediums

[Phil]

Tire choices don't mean anything. they will end up with the same tires after Q3

Tire choices doesnt mean anything? You think teams are running tires in FP for the fun of it? Really?

[GPR-A duplicate2]

Tire choices don't mean anything. they will end up with the same tires after Q3

Tire choices doesnt mean anything? You think teams are running tires in FP for the fun of it? Really?

Regardless of what they test, they end up with qualifying on the softest rubber.
Based on track and conditions, the leading teams gamble in Q2, regarding the starting tyres when there is a two step difference in compounds, like we saw in China. (It was so predictable).
Otherwise, all the top 10 drivers start on the same set of softest compound.
Couple of sets of middle compound and one OR two, based on selection, teams would have the hardest compound.

That has been the story, always.

[F1NAC]

It will be interesting to follow which team can go full throttle through T9.

[Vasconia]

In many ways due to safety cars, we’re still waiting in a clean race to determine a winner based on who is actually fastest. Ferrari appear to be fastest right now, but lost China in the pits and Baku... well.

This could be the one. Expecting merc to be 100% back so hopefully ferrari has used the first 4 to understand their car and make it a close one

Barcelonna is a track that Mercedes likes and they can use the medium tyre so Lewis should be strong here. If Ferrari is still faster(clearly faster I mean) they should start to be seriously worried.

[Phil]

Tire choices don't mean anything. they will end up with the same tires after Q3

Tire choices doesnt mean anything? You think teams are running tires in FP for the fun of it? Really?

Regardless of what they test, they end up with qualifying on the softest rubber.
Based on track and conditions, the leading teams gamble in Q2, regarding the starting tyres when there is a two step difference in compounds, like we saw in China. (It was so predictable).
Otherwise, all the top 10 drivers start on the same set of softest compound.
Couple of sets of middle compound and one OR two, based on selection, teams would have the hardest compound.

That has been the story, always.

The implication gargour87 was making, is that "it doesn't make a difference what tire allocations teams go for prior to the GP weekend because they'll end up having the same after Q3".

This is clearly over simplified. Tire allocations matter. While it may be true that after Q3 many end up with a very similar allocation of tires available for the race, the intel gathered on what they did bring to the weekend varies greatly.

Williams:
Stroll has 3 medium tires, 1 set of softs and 9 sets of SS.
Sirotikin has 2 medium tires, 1 set of softs and 10 sets of SS.

Sauber:
Ericsson has 2 medium tires, 4 sets of softs and 7 sets of SS.
Leclerc has 3 medium tires, 3 sets of softs and 7 sets of SS.

Force-India:
Perez/Ocon have 4 medium tires, 3 sets of softs and 6 sets of SS.

What this means is that Williams have no scope to test the soft tire and race the tire in the GP. They could run it on one car and save it on the other, but that would compromise one of their drivers. If they don't use the soft tire during free practice, then they risk running that tire during that race without having a single shred of data from this weekend and that compound.

This can lead to a case like in Baku when Kimi Raikkönnen was sent out in Q2 on a set of SS he had never driven on that track. He got the braking wrong and ruined his set for the race. Tire wasted.

Formula 1 is data driven. Tire allocations are crucial. Getting it wrong and you may not be able to run them at all. I listed the allocations of Williams, Sauber and Force-India above to illustrate the 3 teams differing allocations and their implications. Having only 1 set of a tire compound means you will have little to no data on that tire. Sauber and Force-India have more leeway. How is this important?

In the case of Williams, lets say they save a set of medium tires for each driver for the race. That means they can use 2+1 sets during practice. With the new track surface, perhaps the soft tire is the better tire though. But how would/could they know for sure if they never run it during practice? And if they do, they won't have any left for the race.

[JPBD1990]

In many ways due to safety cars, we’re still waiting in a clean race to determine a winner based on who is actually fastest. Ferrari appear to be fastest right now, but lost China in the pits and Baku... well.

This could be the one. Expecting merc to be 100% back so hopefully ferrari has used the first 4 to understand their car and make it a close one

Barcelonna is a track that Mercedes likes and they can use the medium tyre so Lewis should be strong here. If Ferrari is still faster(clearly faster I mean) they should start to be seriously worried.

Agree, and that’s what I was getting at. If Ferrari are fastest here, they are the fastest. Having said that, I think merc will be fastest with Ferrari close.

Now having said THAT, as a Ferrari fan - I’m hoping I’m wrong

[djones]

I expect Ferrari to be fastest, certainly in qualifying.

The tyres have changed to stop them over heating. Which might help in the race, but in Baku the Merc issue was they could not get heat into them quick enough?

So actually the change might make it even harder for them.

[Vasconia]

In many ways due to safety cars, we’re still waiting in a clean race to determine a winner based on who is actually fastest. Ferrari appear to be fastest right now, but lost China in the pits and Baku... well.

This could be the one. Expecting merc to be 100% back so hopefully ferrari has used the first 4 to understand their car and make it a close one

Barcelonna is a track that Mercedes likes and they can use the medium tyre so Lewis should be strong here. If Ferrari is still faster(clearly faster I mean) they should start to be seriously worried.

Agree, and that’s what I was getting at. If Ferrari are fastest here, they are the fastest. Having said that, I think merc will be fastest with Ferrari close.

Now having said THAT, as a Ferrari fan - I’m hoping I’m wrong

+1.

It will be interesting to see if fuel consumption is a problem here like it was in february. If not it could a pole for Ferrari, a first stint where they build a 3-4 seconds gap and then with medium tyres Mercedes makes a "full attack mode" during the last stint.

[Sieper]

Red Bull is also said to bring a significant update package, I am waiting to see if indeed they are now fully in the mix (which so far they have (only just om some tracks) not been yet. The last years they have also consistently been able to develop quite strongly during the season (although of a poorer base last year it has to be said). This race (the qualy as well) will again keep me on the point of my seat to see if we will have a three horse race or if RBR keep trailing.

[GPR-A duplicate2]

Red Bull is also said to bring a significant update package, I am waiting to see if indeed they are now fully in the mix (which so far they have (only just om some tracks) not been yet. The last years they have also consistently been able to develop quite strongly during the season (although of a poorer base last year it has to be said). This race (the qualy as well) will again keep me on the point of my seat to see if we will have a three horse race or if RBR keep trailing.

I think RB is all smoke. As usual, they will be either faster than Merc and Ferrari in practice, or on par. Once it gets to qualifying, they will take a back seat and decorate the 3rd best team position. RB was the worse of the top three on the tyres in Baku.

[Wouter]

Red Bull is also said to bring a significant update package, I am waiting to see if indeed they are now fully in the mix (which so far they have (only just om some tracks) not been yet. The last years they have also consistently been able to develop quite strongly during the season (although of a poorer base last year it has to be said). This race (the qualy as well) will again keep me on the point of my seat to see if we will have a three horse race or if RBR keep trailing.

I agree with that. Everybody is talking about Merc and Ferrari, but RBR will have also a significant update package in Barcelona. For sure it will be a three horse race.

[Wouter]

Once it gets to qualifying, they will take a back seat and decorate the 3rd best team position. RB was the worse of the top three on the tyres in Baku.

Fortunately Barcelona does not have a 2.1 km long straight.

[Sieper]

Red Bull is also said to bring a significant update package, I am waiting to see if indeed they are now fully in the mix (which so far they have (only just om some tracks) not been yet. The last years they have also consistently been able to develop quite strongly during the season (although of a poorer base last year it has to be said). This race (the qualy as well) will again keep me on the point of my seat to see if we will have a three horse race or if RBR keep trailing.

I think RB is all smoke. As usual, they will be either faster than Merc and Ferrari in practice, or on par. Once it gets to qualifying, they will take a back seat and decorate the 3rd best team position. RB was the worse of the top three on the tyres in Baku.

That could very well be (although Ferrari is so far the smokiest of the 3) but my hopes are raised for this weekend. I'll gladly wait before being disappointed again / being very happy!