2019 Australian Grand Prix - Melbourne, March 15-17

[GPR-A]

As long as Vettel is near the front, it doesn't matter if he misses pole anyway.

Indeed, he just need to wait for Albon to crash and safety car to come out

My money is once again on Haas, not Albon. It's a matter of reputation for Gro and Mag.

[F1Krof]

Mercedes are not the fastest. Ferrari and Red Bull are faster and even the Williams might be a challenge.

they are 4 and 5 seconds off the pace. how on earth do you even remotely think they are a challenge.

Read again. It's clearly sarcasm.

Or he wrote the speech for Toto Wolf.

[Jambier]

As long as Vettel is near the front, it doesn't matter if he misses pole anyway.

Indeed, he just need to wait for Albon to crash and safety car to come out

My money is once again on Haas, not Albon. It's a matter of reputation for Gro and Mag.

I think Haas and Toro Rosso line up will help a lot Renault to keep their P4 this year
Then there is Alfa, which is a serious competitor

[GPR-A]

Indeed, he just need to wait for Albon to crash and safety car to come out

My money is once again on Haas, not Albon. It's a matter of reputation for Gro and Mag.

I think Haas and Toro Rosso line up will help a lot Renault to keep their P4 this year
Then there is Alfa, which is a serious competitor

Oh, my bad. How did I underestimate Kvyat?

[Jambier]

Track surface is the same than last year ?
They were supposed to be slower with new regulation

Last year FP2

[Just_a_fan]

I haven't seen other onboards so do correct me if I'm wrong, but it seems like the RB doesn't have that much downforce. Blasphemy I know, but at the turn 11-12 left-right section, Max on his flying lap sim seems to lift off quite a bit. Compared to last year's pole laps I mean. Again, maybe everyone is doing this, I didn't get to analyse others, but just something I noticed.

Maybe a more powerful PU this year is giving higher speed along the "straight" before 11/12 and so he needs to lift more to get down to entry speed. So his bigger lift might be indicative of a "good thing" happening.

[Bill_Kar]

8 tenths of course is not the true picture, Qualifying will be much closer. I still think that Hamilton will snatch pole though .
But come Sunday, it's different. FP2 is not representative of one lap pace, but race pace goes with Mercedes clearly. Ferrari will win only if they grab pole, or if we get a repeat of last year's GP.

[GPR-A]

FP2 lap times, side by side. To put in a summarized manner, Ferrari is behind by 4 to 5 tenths and Red Bull is behind by around a second (based on Gasly's time as Verstappen didn't have a comparable long run).

Ferrari seems to be struggling with tyre wear and balance. If they fix it, then they are most likely on par with Mercedes.

Click to enlarge.

[Capharol]

I might sounds dumb, but i guess RB had Verstappen/Gasly do a fixed timing (that of Vettel) or Vettel and Verstappen orientated on the timing of Gasly (can't tell exactly who drove the 23.4 first, Vettel or Gasly) and Merc showed a bit more what the have

[Jambier]

FP2 lap times, side by side. To put in a summarized manner, Ferrari is behind by 4 to 5 tenths and Red Bull is behind by around a second (based on Gasly's time as Verstappen didn't have a comparable long run).

1s off for RB is not what will happen for sure.
Last year they were very close of Mercedes in FP2

Do you have same thing for Renault ? Ricciardo is reporting having trouble and being slow in race sims when Hulkenberg race sims seems pretty good.

[BwajSF]

I haven't seen other onboards so do correct me if I'm wrong, but it seems like the RB doesn't have that much downforce. Blasphemy I know, but at the turn 11-12 left-right section, Max on his flying lap sim seems to lift off quite a bit. Compared to last year's pole laps I mean. Again, maybe everyone is doing this, I didn't get to analyse others, but just something I noticed.

It might be down to more than a couple of things..
1. Since its a street circuit flat out on Friday is undue risk as grip levels are low.
2. Also, Not the show to complete hand some lifts here and there are part of the game.
3. Also, just like the First sector of US GP track there might be some lifts necessary to have a better positioning of the car for the upcoming piece of track after the turn..

[Capharol]

FP2 lap times, side by side. To put in a summarized manner, Ferrari is behind by 4 to 5 tenths and Red Bull is behind by around a second (based on Gasly's time as Verstappen didn't have a comparable long run).

1s off for RB is not what will happen for sure.
Last year they were very close of Mercedes in FP2

Do you have same thing for Renault ? Ricciardo is reporting having trouble and being slow in race sims when Hulkenberg race sims seems pretty good.

and another strange thing last week almost everybody claimed Ferrari is .5 ahead of Merc, and now suddenly Merc is .5 ahead???

[dren]

Mercedes in a better position than I expected. Ferrari usually finds more pace through the weekend, but they still have a lot to find. RBR looks to be in the mix as well. Gasly is closer to Verstappen than I expected. It'll be interesting to see how they compare tomorrow. Renault looks like a solid step forward from last year. Alfa is in a good position along with Haas. STR is a bit better than expected, but where I'd like them to be. Williams is even further back than I thought. Kubica said he was avoiding the kerbs due to lack of parts.

[GPR-A]

FP2 lap times, side by side. To put in a summarized manner, Ferrari is behind by 4 to 5 tenths and Red Bull is behind by around a second (based on Gasly's time as Verstappen didn't have a comparable long run).

1s off for RB is not what will happen for sure.
Last year they were very close of Mercedes in FP2

Do you have same thing for Renault ? Ricciardo is reporting having trouble and being slow in race sims when Hulkenberg race sims seems pretty good.

On Race pace, Renault is ahead of RB by 2 to 3 tenths.

Click to enlarge.

[BwajSF]

FP2 lap times, side by side. To put in a summarized manner, Ferrari is behind by 4 to 5 tenths and Red Bull is behind by around a second (based on Gasly's time as Verstappen didn't have a comparable long run).

1s off for RB is not what will happen for sure.
Last year they were very close of Mercedes in FP2

Do you have same thing for Renault ? Ricciardo is reporting having trouble and being slow in race sims when Hulkenberg race sims seems pretty good.

Ric is new to the team so it might take a race or two to completely get dialed in with the car and its consistency. But Hulk knows the team and the car better so he is more consistent for the time being.

Or

May be it may be down to the set-up whatever it is it will be sorted out tonight and the car will be up for it tom Hopefully.
I believe Hulk is the most underrated driver in the paddock and going against a big name like Ric is the best way to assess them.