2018 Canadian Grand Prix, Montreal June 8-10

[NathanOlder]

Very good point, If Max hadn't spun in Oz and wrecked his race, he may have tried to pass K.Mag (who is well known for his dodgy defensive moves) Max could have had an Alonso style crash in to T3 and broke his arm.
So actually if Max DIDNT make any mistakes , he would probably have 0 points where he has missed 5 races. That theory is also a possibility they overlooked


More importantly, this race has now been thrown WIDE OPEN

Mercedes (Williams, F.India) are not bringing an engine upgrade, and are running PU No.1.

https://www.pitpass.com/61943/Mercedes- ... ne-upgrade

[f1316]

http://www.skysports.com/f1/news/12433/ ... til-france

You’ve got to think this swings the balance towards Ferrari for Canada - Mercedes having to run the same PU for a 7th race means they’ll likely have to be careful with settings vs. what’s rumoured to be a brand new PU inc 12 more horses in Seb’s car.

Albeit, if Mercedes make it work, they’ll be in a good position to go to the end of the year without penalties.

[Bill_Kar]

http://www.skysports.com/f1/news/12433/ ... til-france

You’ve got to think this swings the balance towards Ferrari for Canada - Mercedes having to run the same PU for a 7th race means they’ll likely have to be careful with settings vs. what’s rumoured to be a brand new PU inc 12 more horses in Seb’s car.

Albeit, if Mercedes make it work, they’ll be in a good position to go to the end of the year without penalties.

That's a major drawback IMO. Haven't anything like this happened during Hybrid era for Mercedes?
Only hope for Mercedes; Tyres & Hamilton.

[SiLo]

I would like to know what sort of HP loss there is over 7 grand prix.

On the one hand, a new PU might have been handy for getting the win, potentially a 1-2.

On the other, damage limitation at this circuit for the Merc + Hamilton will be one of the easier ones.

[Vasconia]

http://www.skysports.com/f1/news/12433/ ... til-france

You’ve got to think this swings the balance towards Ferrari for Canada - Mercedes having to run the same PU for a 7th race means they’ll likely have to be careful with settings vs. what’s rumoured to be a brand new PU inc 12 more horses in Seb’s car.

Albeit, if Mercedes make it work, they’ll be in a good position to go to the end of the year without penalties.

It´s probably one of the few times that Mercedes has this sort of problem during the hybrid era. To have a good competitor putting some pressure is good for F1 as we can see that even Mercedes can have some problems. But its true that if they can collect good points during these races they could have an advantage during the last part of the season, we will see.

[Vasconia]

This race will be a good comparison between Baku, where Ferrari comfortably had the fastest car. Whether upgrades brought in Spain really have changed the order or if it was just characteristics. The fact that Ferrari engines were leading all speed traps until Spain, then struggle to trouble the top half in Spain, could stem from their FIA investigation and further oil burning directives. Perhaps this is just a very fluid season for form, as it seems a constant flow of updates, Ferrari most aggressive in the first flyaway saga.

This is a very important point. If Ferrari has been really affectd but this change we Will see it in Canada, and this could be a crucial factor during the rest of the season.

[BwajSF]

http://www.skysports.com/f1/news/12433/ ... til-france

You’ve got to think this swings the balance towards Ferrari for Canada - Mercedes having to run the same PU for a 7th race means they’ll likely have to be careful with settings vs. what’s rumoured to be a brand new PU inc 12 more horses in Seb’s car.

Albeit, if Mercedes make it work, they’ll be in a good position to go to the end of the year without penalties.

even Mercedes can have some problems.

Mercs are not chariots of Gods.. they are also just a team which managed to do the best turbo engines and run away till last year with sufficient advantage in the front.. and always had thier engines turned down half way down the race.. now that they are coming under real pressure they are pushing the limits more and cracking..

its not "Even Mercs".. its juts Mercs....

[Wynters]

Maybe it's the pressure, maybe it's a choice. It does mean that, for every GP after Canada, the Mercedes teams will have fresher, more advanced engines than their opponents.

[f1316]

Maybe it's the pressure, maybe it's a choice. It does mean that, for every GP after Canada, the Mercedes teams will have fresher, more advanced engines than their opponents.

Right, and who’s to say their update won’t be bigger than Ferrari’s (which apparently isn’t the full step they were targeting, due to not wanting to risk reliability) and hence serve them better for the rest of the season.

But for Canada specifically, this seems to favour Ferrari.

[Fulcrum]

I don't think this is a 'pressure' related decision at all, quite the opposite. In fact, I think it has more to do with the fact that Mercedes are extremely strong around this circuit and they know it. So strong, that they don't feel the need to upgrade.

Maybe this will prove to be a mistake, but I'd still put money on Hamilton. If he does win, having an edge on engine life for the remainder of the season will be a big advantage.

I expect Mercedes to be thoroughly average in FP1 and FP2, top 6 in FP3, and making a timely appearance at the top in Quali2 and Quali3.

[GPR-A duplicate2]

http://www.skysports.com/f1/news/12433/ ... til-france

You’ve got to think this swings the balance towards Ferrari for Canada - Mercedes having to run the same PU for a 7th race means they’ll likely have to be careful with settings vs. what’s rumoured to be a brand new PU inc 12 more horses in Seb’s car.

Albeit, if Mercedes make it work, they’ll be in a good position to go to the end of the year without penalties.

even Mercedes can have some problems.

Mercs are not chariots of Gods.. they are also just a team which managed to do the best turbo engines and run away till last year with sufficient advantage in the front.. and always had thier engines turned down half way down the race.. now that they are coming under real pressure they are pushing the limits more and cracking..

its not "Even Mercs".. its juts Mercs....

There should be a crash course for newbees on this forum. "Understanding Competitive Landscape: A historic perspective". Or maybe "How you can't win championships with just a good engine : A Williams Perspective".

I suggest you look at how fragile the engines were in 2014 and where were in 2016 and where they are in 2018.

[Wynters]

Maybe it's the pressure, maybe it's a choice. It does mean that, for every GP after Canada, the Mercedes teams will have fresher, more advanced engines than their opponents.

Right, and who’s to say their update won’t be bigger than Ferrari’s (which apparently isn’t the full step they were targeting, due to not wanting to risk reliability) and hence serve them better for the rest of the season.

But for Canada specifically, this seems to favour Ferrari.

Very true. This should be a really good test for both manufacturers' title aspirations. I suspect the GP itself will be relatively 'boring' but, strategically, it should be fascinating.

[Just_a_fan]

now that they are coming under real pressure they are pushing the limits more and cracking..

Er, no. They have a possible quality issue with PU2. Not a technical issue, a quality issue. Now, that might be that they think the quality issue increases the risk of something failing so they're giving themselves time to sort it out.

People cracking under pressure don't react in a calm and considered way like this. They flail about aimlessly. They sack people and reorganise - a bit like Ferrari has done in the past, in fact.

The real talking point here is that Mercedes are confident enough that the PU1 units will all be able to do an extra event over and above the expected "life" of the units.

[turbof1]

The real talking point here is that Mercedes are confident enough that the PU1 units will all be able to do an extra event over and above the expected "life" of the units.

It actually isn't. Most of the components have to do 7 race weekends, some components 10.5 race weekends, which means this PU would have been reused anyway, probably allocated to FP1 and FP2, possibly even FP3 of the next 7 race weekends. Mercedes is just shifting around with the run time it would be still doing anyway. The mileage they will doing now is replacing mileage they would be doing later on. So no, this is not above the expected life of the units.

The bigger issue is they will be somewhat down on settings (there is still wear and tear on that PU, within expectations) on an already older spec PU. There's a reason why manufacturers prefer to introduce a new spec on this circuit even if on average one race early on schedule: it is a power-dependant circuit. Having a fresh and updated spec PU here brings the most value.

I wouldn't say either Mercedes are panicking or in trouble. Although something as vague as "a quality issue" can really be interpreted in a lot of ways, ranging from a bad batch out of production to a design mistake (using too few material to strengthen a particular part). In my opinion, mercedes having production errors on a total of 6 PUs doesn't sound like Merc. I think something broke on the dyno test, sending the whole thing back to the design department to iron out the issue. It's only a delay of one race, so Mercedes probably have gotten rid of the issue by now. That doesn't look like a cause for panick, probably a cause for irritation and a bad mood on the work floor, but nothing else.

[Big Mangalhit]

The real talking point here is that Mercedes are confident enough that the PU1 units will all be able to do an extra event over and above the expected "life" of the units.

It actually isn't. Most of the components have to do 7 race weekends...

True, but it is common to change the first PU before the average time because it has to do all the FP and races whist the second and third will have an old PU's to help them do the FP's. So I guess it is not optimal to have one PU for 7 races but instead have the first PU for less races (lets say 6) then the other two for 7/8 races each but resting during all the FP. I think the first PU of the season is always the one with most mileage if it doesn't break.

I remember a tweet last year with the mileage of the first Ferrari PU and with was unbelievable, probably because it did so many FP after introducing the second.

EDIT: found the tweet [media]https://twitter.com/andihaupt1/status/8 ... 1508097024[/media]