2018 Singapore Grand Prix - Marina Bay, 14-16 September

[Sierra117]

Plus there's the individual car's suspension characteristics. We know Ferrari generally rides smoother so each driver is behaving according to what the car's capabilities and nature allow.

[Just_a_fan]

It's quite clear from the above comparison mercedes has better turn-in and Vettel messes up his lap with the lockup, after which you can't really judge the lap anymore because he's carring a not so small flatspot.

The lock up was caused because Vettel got his line slightly wrong. At the point that Vettel locked up the right front, he was actually slower than Hamilton but he was, importantly nearly half a car to the left on the approach to the left hander. Being closer meant the corner was tighter so needed to be slower. Hamilton stayed out wider and carried more speed in to the corner because of it. His wider line also gave a better exit so he won going, through and out of the whole corner. Tiny margins make a huge difference on a street circuit - anywhere else, Vettel would have carried the tighter line in knowing he could run out a bit on the exit. Not here though where there was a wall in the way.

Looking at other places on the lap, Vettel tried to carry more speed in to the corners where Hamilton was usually slightly slower in, had a similar or better apex speed and then got better drive out. On a couple of corners, Hamilton was nearly 20km/h faster than Vettel at the exit.

Looks like a difference in driving style made the difference. Quite interesting when one thinks back to Hamilton's first days in F1 where people said he was aggressive with the tyres etc. - that pole lap looked more Button-esque with the slow in, fast out approach.

[timbo]

From the onboard the Ferrari looked like a more stable car in the first half of the lap.
The lock-up was strange, as it occurred on the outer wheel.
My guess is that for some reason track temperature dropped dramatically over Q3. Not saying that Hamilton didn't drive a brilliant lap, which he truly did, but the fact that nobody could come close and almost nobody didn't improve on their second runs tells me that nobody was ready for such conditions. In fact, it is almost like "wet" qualifying in the sense of unpredictable grip. And Hamilton has proved it this year that he is able to get nice laps in changing conditions.

[simieski]

[F1Krof]

Who's got the better race car though? Red Bull or Ferrari? As far as I remember from Firday, Mercedes were round about ~0.5 lap slower than Red Bull on long runs. Or were they running with more fuel?

[Juzh]

It's quite clear from the above comparison mercedes has better turn-in and Vettel messes up his lap with the lockup, after which you can't really judge the lap anymore because he's carring a not so small flatspot.

The lock up was caused because Vettel got his line slightly wrong. At the point that Vettel locked up the right front, he was actually slower than Hamilton but he was, importantly nearly half a car to the left on the approach to the left hander. Being closer meant the corner was tighter so needed to be slower. Hamilton stayed out wider and carried more speed in to the corner because of it. His wider line also gave a better exit so he won going, through and out of the whole corner. Tiny margins make a huge difference on a street circuit - anywhere else, Vettel would have carried the tighter line in knowing he could run out a bit on the exit. Not here though where there was a wall in the way.

Looking at other places on the lap, Vettel tried to carry more speed in to the corners where Hamilton was usually slightly slower in, had a similar or better apex speed and then got better drive out. On a couple of corners, Hamilton was nearly 20km/h faster than Vettel at the exit.

Again with the over-analysis but since we're doing it.. Vettel is completely side by side with hamilton just before the lockup. The lockup was simply a consequence of him braking too late. It's a mistake, yes, but the way people are diving into every single wheel movement is silly.

Check speeds at this point:


Vettel actually ahead as a result of braking too late..



To me it seems Verstappen's lap was actually the best as supposedly he lost 0.5s on the straights but was only 0.3s off pole
https://twitter.com/karunchandhok/statu ... 5733097473

[Phil]

Not to take anything away from Max, but the RB is clearly the best car around this track. It’s mighty, just held back obviously by acceleration/engine power.

As for people over analyzing Hamilton vs Vettel. Mercedes always had a dlight edge over Ferrari in S2 and S3. It was S1 where they lost a lot relative to Ferrari.

[Jolle]

For the start, Vettel is maybe in the worst spot at the front possible. Two very sharp racers in front, both not afraid to claim their piece of track and Bottas, who has his silly moments and nothing to loose behind him.
Attacking VER and/or HAM doesn’t make much sense because the chances are too big that he will loose out but taking it too easy and he’ll have Bottas moving in on his space.

I guess VER will just point his car straight to the corner and try to outbreak HAM, who, if VET isn’t close, will let him.

I foresee fireworks between RAI, RIC and BOT!

[NathanOlder]

So whats the final conclusion on Hamiltons lap, some are saying the lap was smooth and looked almost ordinary,

Then others say the Ferrari looked more planted and the Merc will.chew through its tyres.

Surely it can't be both, so which is it?

[siskue2005]

grosjean q3 lap 1.38.32 P8

https://streamable.com/sp7cg

nice save at the end

Oof, that had one or two too many scary moments.

Is it just me or is the circuit much more brightly lit compared to last year?

I noticed that too...the approach to first corner the lights are blinding when compared to last few years' on-board

[yelistener]

Yeah that lockup was caused by misjudging the braking point.

Vettel being nearly half a car to the left was actually the result of the mistake of Vettel going through that little right turn before turn 13. He gave himself a tighter line going through that right turn. Just look at the difference here, Lewis was 3/4 of the car being on the left side of the road, and that positioned the right turn very well. Vettel was far off.

[yelistener]

To me it seems Verstappen's lap was actually the best as supposedly he lost 0.5s on the straights but was only 0.3s off pole
https://twitter.com/karunchandhok/statu ... 5733097473

But that's pointless. RB is supposed to be faster through corners. If we took out the straights of any F1 circuit, RB would always be the winner lol

[MtthsMlw]

Super excited for this race, so many unknown variables should make up for a great spectacle Just looking at the starting order Merc - RB - Ferr - Merc - Ferr - RB is promising. Hoping that we finally get a two stop race again and I feel like this race could decide the WDC already..

[apexcontrol]

It's quite clear from the above comparison mercedes has better turn-in and Vettel messes up his lap with the lockup, after which you can't really judge the lap anymore because he's carring a not so small flatspot.

The lock up was caused because Vettel got his line slightly wrong. At the point that Vettel locked up the right front, he was actually slower than Hamilton but he was, importantly nearly half a car to the left on the approach to the left hander. Being closer meant the corner was tighter so needed to be slower. Hamilton stayed out wider and carried more speed in to the corner because of it. His wider line also gave a better exit so he won going, through and out of the whole corner. Tiny margins make a huge difference on a street circuit - anywhere else, Vettel would have carried the tighter line in knowing he could run out a bit on the exit. Not here though where there was a wall in the way.

Looking at other places on the lap, Vettel tried to carry more speed in to the corners where Hamilton was usually slightly slower in, had a similar or better apex speed and then got better drive out. On a couple of corners, Hamilton was nearly 20km/h faster than Vettel at the exit.

Again with the over-analysis but since we're doing it.. Vettel is completely side by side with hamilton just before the lockup. The lockup was simply a consequence of him braking too late. It's a mistake, yes, but the way people are diving into every single wheel movement is silly.

Check speeds at this point:
https://i.imgur.com/5XVL0tt.jpg

Vettel actually ahead as a result of braking too late..
https://i.imgur.com/EkKgcL4.jpg


To me it seems Verstappen's lap was actually the best as supposedly he lost 0.5s on the straights but was only 0.3s off pole
https://twitter.com/karunchandhok/statu ... 5733097473

what did you expect, hahaha it's obvious. the bias is strong on this site

[Sierra117]

Buahahaha Mick (regarding Max) "He's a bit of a crazy one"