2018 Hungarian Grand Prix - Hungaroring, 27-29 July

[jknights]

I expect Ferrari's excellent launch system to catapult Kimi in to first and Vettel in to second by turn 1. Then it'll be a fight for third between the Mercedes. Whether Vettel tries to get greedy in to Turn 1 and biffs Kimi will be interesting to see.

I think the result will be:
1. Vettel
2. Kimi
3. Bottas
4. Hamilton

Teeheehee.

I prefer a start like you say and at T1 car 5 and car 44 crash out leaving car 7 and 77 a clean run to the end. How satisfying then whoever wins!

[Sierra117]

Well if we're playing fantasy might as well have Sirotkin win ... for Mother Russia!

[McMika98]

Im expecting Ferrari to put Kimi on US to get a launch and push Hamilton and Bottas out in the first two corners, giving Vettel track position and then Vetttel to win the race via team orders.

[JonoNic]

Im expecting Ferrari to put Kimi on US to get a launch and push Hamilton and Bottas out in the first two corners, giving Vettel track position and then Vetttel to win the race via team orders.

So Kimi takes out Bottas and Hamilton without damaging anything then gives Vettel track position. I need more alcohol...

[Bill_Kar]

Since everyone says their prediction, I think that both teams would split strategies and put their leading-in-the-championship (not n. 1!) drivers on the US and their non-leading on S.

[Sierra117]

If it doesn't rain it's really Ferrari's race to lose.

[MtthsMlw]

If it doesn't rain it's really Ferrari's race to lose.

Just because they might have the fastest car in the race doesn't mean they can overtake or under/overcut the Mercs. They can only hope that the Mercs are forced to pit twice while they only pit once.

[Sierra117]

If it doesn't rain it's really Ferrari's race to lose.

Just because they might have the fastest car in the race doesn't mean they can overtake or under/overcut the Mercs. They can only hope that the Mercs are forced to pit twice while they only pit once.

As we've seen over and over again this season, it's actually fairly easy for the fastest car to overtake. I don't see how Ferrari will stay behind unless Merc do something outstanding via strategy or have somehow solved their tyre woes. This is me speaking purely analytically with no wishful thinking.

[TAG]

Wonder if putting a car in the wrong grid slot forcing another lap before the start would hurt Ferrari's start process?

[MtthsMlw]

If it doesn't rain it's really Ferrari's race to lose.

Just because they might have the fastest car in the race doesn't mean they can overtake or under/overcut the Mercs. They can only hope that the Mercs are forced to pit twice while they only pit once.

As we've seen over and over again this season, it's actually fairly easy for the fastest car to overtake. I don't see how Ferrari will stay behind unless Merc do something outstanding via strategy or have somehow solved their tyre woes. This is me speaking purely analytically with no wishful thinking.

Delta to overtake is said to be 1.5 seconds, that won't be easy. Hoping for some awesome on track action

[McMika98]

Im expecting Ferrari to put Kimi on US to get a launch and push Hamilton and Bottas out in the first two corners, giving Vettel track position and then Vetttel to win the race via team orders.

So Kimi takes out Bottas and Hamilton without damaging anything then gives Vettel track position. I need more alcohol...

Didnt say take out, just getting his elbows out ala Magnussen and pushong them to the edge which ahould give Vettel the opportunity to also get ahead. I prefer if he did take them out so Carlos and Gasly can get into podium

[McMika98]

Im expecting Ferrari to put Kimi on US to get a launch and push Hamilton and Bottas out in the first two corners, giving Vettel track position and then Vetttel to win the race via team orders.

So Kimi takes out Bottas and Hamilton without damaging anything then gives Vettel track position. I need more alcohol...

Didnt say take out, just getting his elbows out ala Magnussen and pushing them to the edge which should give Vettel the opportunity to also get ahead. I prefer if he did take them out so Carlos and Gasly can get into podium

[JonoNic]

Wonder if putting a car in the wrong grid slot forcing another lap before the start would hurt Ferrari's start process?

If it stays dry then this is the one race that Ferrari don't need the fast start.

[ferenc_k]

Just because they might have the fastest car in the race doesn't mean they can overtake or under/overcut the Mercs. They can only hope that the Mercs are forced to pit twice while they only pit once.

As we've seen over and over again this season, it's actually fairly easy for the fastest car to overtake. I don't see how Ferrari will stay behind unless Merc do something outstanding via strategy or have somehow solved their tyre woes. This is me speaking purely analytically with no wishful thinking.

Delta to overtake is said to be 1.5 seconds, that won't be easy. Hoping for some awesome on track action

If it stays hot like it is, anything can happen, F2 race showed how important is the tyre management.

[atanatizante]

I actually think Ferrari might be cheeky. Mercedes will think they need to start on the US, until Ferrari doesnt and starts on softs. Then Mercedes will have to pit early, possibly too early and Ferrari will try the overcut. That would be cunning. I think that might work more than trying to get ahead before T1 with two Mercedes there.

After qualy results, we could see that RB puts the least energy into the wet tyres coz they didn`t have enough heat to give them the necessary grip. And Merc got their sweet spot coz they run harder both dry and wet tyres due to their stiff setup suspension philosophy … No wonder way RB is the best car in nursing the dry tyres, although Pirelli this year went even softer on wet tyres range once more …

Now regarding tyre choice at the start we should consider that US tyres works are designed to work at its optimum in the low temps, Merc has had a 42-lap stint on soft tyres last week at Hockenheim in similar hot track conditions and after FP2 they were suffering from blisters in that race sim on the US but no worries for S tyres, as Lewis said in conference press after the qualy …
So starting either tyre there`s a high chance of losing the first spot to Kimi. Starting on the US and losing the start then force them to do a 2-stop race but starting on S could lead to a long first stint heading for a 1-stop one with a US tyre for the last stint …