He didn't get it easy, but Kimi Raikkonen has finally won again, taking victory at COTA for the United States Grand Prix. The Finn had to stay cool against intense pressure from Verstappen and Hamilton in the final 10 laps, but he made no mistakes to win a tense race and his first victory of the season.
Ferraris very close to Hamilton’s time. What now? No second sensor?
Congratulations to Lewis on his lap.
IMO - prior second sensor, Ferrari was ahead of Mercedes. With, neck at neck. But Ferrari had tire problems last few races that made them fall back further. Seems they have things sorted out again.
Also bravo to Ferrari for putting Kimi on ultras in Q2. Being aggressive. Gonna make for an interesting race, as i think P2 is a good position to start, especially with the softer tire.
Bottas will be the key tomorrow if Hamilton seals the championship or not. If he cant keep Vettel at bay or not.
Second sensor was connected in Monaco. The sensor had no effect on Ferraris performance. They had nothing to hide.
Does anyone think it's possible that Merc leaned toward optimizing Bottas' car for the race, given the circumstances?
Merc certainly did a tremendous amount of work to Bottas floor very late in FP3 - none was done on Lewis car. A late strategy call?
Great observation. Very interesting.
Regarding the strategy, if I was Merc, that is 100% the call I would make (i.e., making Bottas as fast as possible in race trim, even if it sacrifices some qualifying performance).
Having just seen Lewis pole lap It almost seems as if he couldn't get enough heat into the tires. I'm wondering if his car was set up more for tomorrows weather when the trap temp should be higher.
So, it appears as if Ferrari's problems were more specific to Hypersoft (and probably a bad setup in Japan). Past couple of races were on HS and they struggled and now that the tyres are other than HS, they are back to normal, Germany-Spa-Monza like form.
Ferrari are faster on Speed Trap, at finish line and quicker in S1. If not for two hair pin like turns (11 and 12), Ferrari would have looked faster through S2 also. As Mercedes seems to have gained over Ferrari on slower turns, Mercedes is faster through S2 (two slower turns) and S3, which again is full of slower turns.
Also notably, Mercedes is running high downforce rear wing, unlike the Spoon wing they used in previous GPs, which shows that, they need more downforce here than in Suzuka, which is similar circuit and that slows them down on straights.
If not for the unfortunate penalty for Vettel, this race would have been a lot more entertaining.
Last edited by GPR-A on 21 Oct 2018, 06:50, edited 1 time in total.
Ferrari are faster on Speed Trap, at finish line and quicker in S1. If not for two hair pin like turns (11 and 12), Ferrari would have looked faster through S2 also. As Mercedes seems to have gained over Ferrari on slower turns, Mercedes is faster through S2 (two slower turns) and S3, which again is full of slower turns.
Also notably, Mercedes is running high downforce rear wing, unlike the Spoon wing they used in previous GPs, which shows that, they need more downforce here than in Suzuka, which is similar circuit and that slows them down on straights.
The look on Toto's face said it all, they were not expecting pole today.
Also notably, Mercedes is running high downforce rear wing, unlike the Spoon wing they used in previous GPs, which shows that, they need more downforce here than in Suzuka, which is similar circuit and that slows them down on straights.
Question: Didn't Ferrari use their version of the "spoon" RW in Japan as well? I think COTA requires a pretty high downforce setup.
Lewis starting next to Kimi who starts on softer tyres
But kimi hasn't gained a position at the start all season has he?
Very true, Although Kimi said to Brundle after Qualy "I have nothing to lose" . I don't think I've heard Kimi say that before, so possibly Kimi will go full out as he knows Lewis can't get involved in an accident.
But it's just not Kimi's way.
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Ferraris very close to Hamilton’s time. What now? No second sensor?
Congratulations to Lewis on his lap.
Well if it’s not a second sensor then Ferrari have massively dropped the ball. Not sure why a Ferrari fan would find that funny. But Hey, ho.
Hamilton did a Hamilton looking at the average times between Ferrari and Mercedes.
The ball being dropped were the new updates which just had not worked and made both drivers struggle massively. They brought a big update to Austin and it seemed to have helped.
What I find funny is how all that drama about that mysterious second sensor was made.
Didn’t they take the updates off ? (Floor at least) as they couldn’t verify its performance Friday and didn’t want to risk it Saturday.
Thank you to God for making me an Atheist - Ricky Gervais.
Lewis starting next to Kimi who starts on softer tyres
But kimi hasn't gained a position at the start all season has he?
Very true, Although Kimi said to Brundle after Qualy "I have nothing to lose" . I don't think I've heard Kimi say that before, so possibly Kimi will go full out as he knows Lewis can't get involved in an accident.
But it's just not Kimi's way.
Also remember that Mercedes and Hamilton have previously accused Raikkonen of racing dirty. That I imagine stung Kimi rather badly so he won’t want that to happen again.
Well if it’s not a second sensor then Ferrari have massively dropped the ball. Not sure why a Ferrari fan would find that funny. But Hey, ho.
Hamilton did a Hamilton looking at the average times between Ferrari and Mercedes.
The ball being dropped were the new updates which just had not worked and made both drivers struggle massively. They brought a big update to Austin and it seemed to have helped.
What I find funny is how all that drama about that mysterious second sensor was made.
Didn’t they take the updates off ? (Floor at least) as they couldn’t verify its performance Friday and didn’t want to risk it Saturday.
They took all the updates off. Even the ones they brought after monza. So they're essentially running a spa/monza spec car with some more aero added as this is a high DF track. This has to be biggest development flop ferrari has ever done, rivalling even 2011/2013 when alonso also said the car was worse in the second half of the season than in the first half.
Ferrari the stronger car here given the gaps to teammates.
I believe Vettel could have beat Kimi by more.
Everytime hamilton beats ferrari it's all him, never the car. Whenever ferrari beats mercedes it's all the car, never the drivers. Vettel did a purple and 2 green sectors, him and kimi were neck and neck entire weekend, this was all there was in the car. Convinently you forgot mercedes held a vast advantage over ferrari in the recent races.
Bottas is simply bad and slow and has been for ages.
Vettel did a purple and 2 green sectors, him and kimi were neck and neck entire weekend, this was all there was in the car. Convinently you forgot mercedes held a vast advantage over ferrari in the recent races.