2018 French Grand Prix, Le Castellet, June 22-24

[dans79]

Vettel seemed to be quite happy and to think they would be strong in the race, so let’s see.

Definitely advantage Mercedes.

He should be worried, he has Max next to him and Ric behind. If the get away is clean, he might get jumped during the stops.

It's quite a drag to the first corner. Are you sure?

It's definetly long enough to get swamped if you don't have a good get away. It's also narrow, so going through it two wide is a no go as well.

[atanatizante]

I don`t understand why Ferrari wanna start on US tyres? Unless they did know that they don`t have a chance for the pole and thus opting for a grippier tyre are trying to beat Merc out of the line at the start of the race …

But the downsides of this tactics are far greater:
1. According to Christian Horner, US tyre has more deg than SS tyre, so Ferrari is forced to do a 2 stop race, which is a slower strategy than a one stop …
2. Although both US and SS tyre are designed to have a low working range, only the SS tyre could work “especially” in cold weather, as Pirelli site says (https://www.pirelli.com/tires/en-us/mot ... omepage-f1). And according to weather for tomorrow we could face that one at the start of the race …
…
Now back to the qualy here are the top speeds: Lewis, Vettel and Bottas did the same 330km/h in the speed trap, with Kimi doing 334km/h, Max did a 328km/h and Ricci 326km/h.

Merc was faster in S1 and S3 – particular Lewis – which are sectors with a mix of high and low-speed corners. And according to the top speeds, it seems that both Merc and Ferrari were setups with the same downforce levels, although I don`t see their AoA RW levels. But as Ricci implied on Sky interview, he and RB opted for a higher downforce setup than both Merc and Ferrari. And another proof is Ted Kravitz telling the same down the pitlane …

So, based on those above I don`t think Merc advantage is down to having a higher downforce setup than Ferrari, hence mark 2.1 Merc PU is more powerful than Ferrari one. And my money goes to the fact that the new Merc PU has more drivability and more torque at the lower RMP range, cuz on the Skypad we could see clearly that Lewis gets sooner out the corners due to better traction …

But I would like to see 2 pictures first having both Merc and Ferrari RW in order to see their AoA, hence downforce levels and maybe someone could help me with that …

[z.topoln]

I wonder if Ferrari chanced Q2 on US because they’re expecting rain tomorrow anyway? Seb seemed bullish on the car for the race... will be a boring race without rain I fear.

Boring race if it rains? It's the one thing that brings the best drivers to the front. Personally I'd love to see a wet race with Verstappen and Hamilton going at it for the win.

I dont like hamilton, but if Rain falls there will be no max vs lewis fight. Lewis is just in a class of his own in wet. Alot was made out of max and that brazil 2016 race, but rarely did people notice that lewis led that race from front, never put a foot wring and always had best pace in field.

Max ia very good. But lewis is stand out wet weather driver of this field.

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[f1316]

Vettel seemed to be quite happy and to think they would be strong in the race, so let’s see.

Definitely advantage Mercedes.

He should be worried, he has Max next to him and Ric behind. If the get away is clean, he might get jumped during the stops.

Given he’s on the US and the others are all on SS, he should have an advantage off the start - more likely to be fighting Bottas than Max, all things being equal.

Beyond that, Seb had this to say:

“For tomorrow I think we have a good car. Yesterday looked really good, we have a little bit different strategy on tyres, so let’s see.”

Hopefully - for the sake of the race - Ferrari have consciously sacrificed tyre performance in quali for better management in the race.

[epo]

I wonder if Ferrari chanced Q2 on US because they’re expecting rain tomorrow anyway? Seb seemed bullish on the car for the race... will be a boring race without rain I fear.

Boring race if it rains? It's the one thing that brings the best drivers to the front. Personally I'd love to see a wet race with Verstappen and Hamilton going at it for the win.

I dont like hamilton, but if Rain falls there will be no max vs lewis fight. Lewis is just in a class of his own in wet. Alot was made out of max and that brazil 2016 race, but rarely did people notice that lewis led that race from front, never put a foot wring and always had best pace in field.

Max ia very good. But lewis is stand out wet weather driver of this field.

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You can think that but mr Hamilton has always had the best car on the grid, that still matters even in the rain.

Now here they have a brilliant new engine which I think passed the 1000pk line. So that engine and
their custom made Pirelli tyre is doing the trick here in France.

[TAG]

You can think that but mr Hamilton has always had the best car on the grid, that still matters even in the rain.

Now here they have a brilliant new engine which I think passed the 1000pk line. So that engine and
their custom made Pirelli tyre is doing the trick here in France.

Whatever the advantage is I'll take it. We had Ferrari with their custom ERS and Turbo oil for most of the season... see how that goes?

[epo]

You can think that but mr Hamilton has always had the best car on the grid, that still matters even in the rain.

Now here they have a brilliant new engine which I think passed the 1000pk line. So that engine and
their custom made Pirelli tyre is doing the trick here in France.

Whatever the advantage is I'll take it. We had Ferrari with their custom ERS and Turbo oil for most of the season... see how that goes?

That Turbo oil is just an invention of Mercedes and a nice one, Ferrari just copied it but not just as good.

[zibby43]

So the more interesting question should be: Why was Mercedes almost half a second faster than usual only in Barcelona and France?

False equivalence. The textbook definition.

To answer your question: Mercedes has always been strong in Barcelona. They dominated there in testing, as well.

And at Paul Ricard, they brought a fresh, upgraded PU and are entering the section of the F1 calendar that the W09 is designed for: aerodynamic efficiency.

[LM10]

So the more interesting question should be: Why was Mercedes almost half a second faster than usual only in Barcelona and France?

False equivalence. The textbook definition.

To answer your question: Mercedes has always been strong in Barcelona. They dominated there in testing, as well.

And at Paul Ricard, they brought a fresh, upgraded PU and are entering the section of the F1 calendar that the W09 is designed for: aerodynamic efficiency.

Canada as well is a track Mercedes loves. The new PU didn't give Mercedes a gain of half a second.

[Big Tea]

I don`t understand why Ferrari wanna start on US tyres? Unless they did know that they don`t have a chance for the pole and thus opting for a grippier tyre are trying to beat Merc out of the line at the start of the race …

But the downsides of this tactics are far greater:
1. According to Christian Horner, US tyre has more deg than SS tyre, so Ferrari is forced to do a 2 stop race, which is a slower strategy than a one stop …
2. Although both US and SS tyre are designed to have a low working range, only the SS tyre could work “especially” in cold weather, as Pirelli site says (https://www.pirelli.com/tires/en-us/mot ... omepage-f1). And according to weather for tomorrow we could face that one at the start of the race …
…
Now back to the qualy here are the top speeds: Lewis, Vettel and Bottas did the same 330km/h in the speed trap, with Kimi doing 334km/h, Max did a 328km/h and Ricci 326km/h.

Merc was faster in S1 and S3 – particular Lewis – which are sectors with a mix of high and low-speed corners. And according to the top speeds, it seems that both Merc and Ferrari were setups with the same downforce levels, although I don`t see their AoA RW levels. But as Ricci implied on Sky interview, he and RB opted for a higher downforce setup than both Merc and Ferrari. And another proof is Ted Kravitz telling the same down the pitlane …

So, based on those above I don`t think Merc advantage is down to having a higher downforce setup than Ferrari, hence mark 2.1 Merc PU is more powerful than Ferrari one. And my money goes to the fact that the new Merc PU has more drivability and more torque at the lower RMP range, cuz on the Skypad we could see clearly that Lewis gets sooner out the corners due to better traction …

But I would like to see 2 pictures first having both Merc and Ferrari RW in order to see their AoA, hence downforce levels and maybe someone could help me with that …

I think Ferrari are looking backwards as much as forwards. Step 1, stay infront of the Red bulls. Step 2 fight Mercedes

[foxmulder_ms]

Though times Mclaren fans. They kept blaming Honda when it was obvious Honda was not the only issue. Now they cannot hide behind that scapegoat. Alonso will bail 100%.

[GrandAxe]

Max is running a thin wing, so chances are he will be nowhere if it rains.

[foxmulder_ms]

So the more interesting question should be: Why was Mercedes almost half a second faster than usual only in Barcelona and France?

False equivalence. The textbook definition.

To answer your question: Mercedes has always been strong in Barcelona. They dominated there in testing, as well.

And at Paul Ricard, they brought a fresh, upgraded PU and are entering the section of the F1 calendar that the W09 is designed for: aerodynamic efficiency.

Canada as well is a track Mercedes loves. The new PU didn't give Mercedes a gain of half a second.

Last race Lewis was off. If Lewis brought his A game he could have beaten Botas which will be almost identical to Vettels pole. In Canada, with a old engine Merc was equal to Ferrari which was sporting a new engine. Now, with a new engine Merc is faster.

[GrandAxe]

Though times Mclaren fans. They kept blaming Honda when it was obvious Honda was not the only issue. Now they cannot hide behind that scapegoat. Alonso will bail 100%.

Being approximately 2.3 seconds behind Red Bull on the same engine is surely not the sort of exposure they desire. Its sad whats happened to the team.

[dans79]

Canada as well is a track Mercedes loves. The new PU didn't give Mercedes a gain of half a second.

You seem to have forgotten several key bits of information while coming to your conclusion.

• Canada is a stop go track, so aero efficiency is a lot less important.
• France is about power and high speed aero efficiency. If you are not aware, that is the exact type of circuit Mercedes is optimized for.
• In Canada Ferrari had a brand new PU, and Mercedes had one that had already done 6 full race weekends. The Mercedes PU, will have lost power over those 6 weekends.
• In France, Mercedes brought their new PU that is supposed to bring .15 to .2 over the old one.
• In Canada Hamilton did not bring his A game, so you did not see the best possible Mercedes lap.