2018 German Grand Prix - Hockenheimring, July 20-22

[GPR-A duplicate2]

LOL Toto is where i go when i want the truth.

Well said. I know a man who took Toto's words as truth, when it suited the agenda.
viewtopic.php?f=13&t=27429&start=330#p778182

[santos]

Having the fastest car doesn't going to give you a race win… you have to finnish the race, and finnish it in first.

[GPR-A duplicate2]

A quick car gets you nothing when your strategy is garbage and your car cant finish a GP.

Having the fastest car doesn't going to give you a race win… you have to finnish the race, and finnish it in first.

Trust it completely, words of experienced men (from 2017 Singapore, Suzuka and Malaysia). Mercedes should definitely learn from this and finish first.

[Phil]

I tend to agree. Mercedes was the fastest. Perhaps not my much in Silverstone - some of that surely had to do with the high temperatures but it probably also has something to do with the upgrades Ferrari brought that perhaps closed the gap somewhat. Going by Austria though - that gap was mighty though, considering the length of the track!

However, Mercedes may well still lose this years championship. I'm still of the opinion that Ferrari had the best car last year over the entire duration of the season. Vettel/Ferrari leading most of it, despite not getting as many poles as Mercedes last year is a testament to that. Yet the season turned quickly up-side-down when Ferrari had costly DNFs and mistakes in the races they clearly should have won (Malaysia and Singapore). The same applies to this year and Mercedes; Melbourne, Silverstone and Austria should have been won and that DNF in Austria may prove to be very costly in light of the championship. The good news for Mercedes is that in Silverstone at least, they miraculously recovered to 2nd against IMO all odds. But there are still some races to contest this year which I think Ferrari will be the car to beat (Singapore). We will see.

[PlatinumZealot]

And for the people thinking Ferrari has a better car than Mercedes.....

"We didn't score as many points in the triple-header as we had hoped for. A lot of that was down to our own mistakes. However, there is a silver lining to this - while we didn't maximise on points, we did bring the quickest car to all three races."

- Toto Wolff, 2018 German Grand Prix, Preview

He always says that for the Mercedes staff. Only in Monaco and Singapore will he say otherwise. with that said I do agree that the Mercedes had the edge in those three races - conditional on clean air, and race trim.

[thetruth]

I tend to agree. Mercedes was the fastest. Perhaps not my much in Silverstone - some of that surely had to do with the high temperatures but it probably also has something to do with the upgrades Ferrari brought that perhaps closed the gap somewhat. Going by Austria though - that gap was mighty though, considering the length of the track!

Guys.
Many of you are omitting the fact that in Austria Ferrari and Mercedes were exactly at the same level in the first two sector.
In the last sector both Kimi and Vettel lost three thent in such two corners.
So,IMHO,a very understeering car was chosen by Ferrari's drivers to have a better chance in the Race,to treat the tyres more gently.
And infact it's what's happened.

[zibby43]

I want to believe Mercedes can be strong here, for the sake of an interesting championship battle, but I feel like this is going to be an easy win for Seb. Lewis will be in P2. Toss-up for P3.

Ferrari is performing well now and they have had great starts, fantastic luck, and near-perfect reliability.

Merc's had none of those things thus far.

We should keep in mind that Vettel lost several points in other races due to bad luck AKA Verstappen or safety car. I think the lucky aspect has been quite balanced so far.

I expect Mercedes to make better starts as they have been working hard during these days. Mercedes has shown a great race pace so far so it will be interesting to see how they perform in Hockenheim.

I don't know. I'm kind of having to sell myself on that argument. Vettel lucked into a win in Australia. He's also lucky that despite instigating the crash in France, he did not DNF and had the pace to finish ahead of Bottas.

Hamilton has DNF'd and lost a win to strategy.

[Vanja #66]

Was Mercedes fastest at Silverstone?
by Mark Hughes

[LM10]

Was Mercedes fastest at Silverstone?
by Mark Hughes

That's a nice analysis.

Were there actually people who thought that Hamilton's ultimate pace was a second a lap faster than Vettel's?

[saviour stivala]

And for the people thinking Ferrari has a better car than Mercedes.....

"We didn't score as many points in the triple-header as we had hoped for. A lot of that was down to our own mistakes. However, there is a silver lining to this - while we didn't maximise on points, we did bring the quickest car to all three races."

- Toto Wolff, 2018 German Grand Prix, Preview

Yeah, I have to agree with him.

At the last race there was no question that FERRARI was the better and faster car.

[Vanja #66]

That's a nice analysis.

Were there actually people who thought that Hamilton's ultimate pace was a second a lap faster than Vettel's?

Yes

[saviour stivala]

Was Mercedes fastest at Silverstone?
by Mark Hughes

That's a nice analysis.

Were there actually people who thought that Hamilton's ultimate pace was a second a lap faster than Vettel's?

Most of his fans did.

[LM10]

That's a nice analysis.

Were there actually people who thought that Hamilton's ultimate pace was a second a lap faster than Vettel's?

Yes

[PlatinumZealot]

Would bw nice is hulk scores a podium for his home race. I can dream right?

[Jackles-UK]

Would bw nice is hulk scores a podium for his home race. I can dream right?

As much as I’m a big fan of Hulkenberg, I get the feeling he will be forever the bridesmaid during his F1 career, a little like Heidfeld was. Shame as he deserves a bit of good luck.

Back to Germany; do we know the expectations of Pirelli for roughly the duration each tyre compound will last yet? I’m hoping for no more than 15 laps on the Ultra’s and around 30 on the softs to force a few different strategy calls over the 67 lap distance for a change!