2019 Australian Grand Prix - Melbourne, March 15-17

[Schuttelberg]

Lewis- "It was close out there."

Toto- "We were nowhere in testing."

[Ringleheim]

Have to hope Ferrari's performance is an aberration and they will improve in the immediate races to come.

We also have to hope their quali pace is not representative of their race pace.

Maybe they are still having trouble getting heat into the tires over only 1 or 2 laps.

If this is representative of the true race pace the SF90 has to offer, it's going to be a very long and boring year.

[GoranF1]

Look at this from the bright side.
Alonso is coming back soon.

[Fulcrum]

Having had a look at the long-run data, my conclusions are as follows.

The only categorically undeniable piece of evidence in the data is that Williams are at least 1 second per lap slower than the next slowest team, more likely 1.5 seconds a lap slower. I predict they will be lapped by the leaders twice if there are no safety cars, and their pace deficit indicates they could be lapped by drivers from all other teams.

At the other end of the grid, Mercedes do have an advantage, potentially quite a big one under certain circumstances.

Ferrari were consistently slower than Mercedes, by more than 0.5 seconds per lap. Hopefully, for the sake of competition anyway, this gap lowers tomorrow and on Sunday.

Red Bull... difficult to say. Verstappen ran shorter stints than the other front runners in P2, so I don't think his laps are representative of long run pace, otherwise he would clearly be the fastest over laps conducted under race simulation conditions. Gasly was a lot slower though, and I'd expect their true pace is somewhere between the two. This would place them ahead of Ferrari.

In the true midfield, drivers will make the most difference IMO. Kvyat and Raikkonen clearly differentiated themselves from their teammates today, but any of Haas, Alfa, RP, Renault or TR could be fighting for 7th on the grid.

McLaren ran a very short program so I don't know about them, but they weren't particularly competitive either.

Ordered average lap hierarchy from combined team stints:

Mercedes
Red Bull
Ferrari
Racing Point
Alfa
Toro Rosso
Renault
Haas
McLaren
Williams

I expect this to change significantly tomorrow!

Considering this evaluation only considered long-run pace, it wasn't completely unrepresentative.

The biggest changes were Haas and McLaren who were a lot more competitive this afternoon.

The midfield are so close together that random luck, timing, and driver ability are going to be huge differentiators this season.

[FrukostScones]

last year they won with basically the same gap after qualy. last year 0.664/0.674 , this year 0.704/0.956 both Ferrari

With a monumental VSC gaffe while Hamilton was leading comfortably.

And with no Bottas in the equation because of his qualifying crash.a

Details doesn't matter, as long as the surfacial view is pleasing. Exactly what all the experts around the world did in winter testing.

typical flame baiter, I already admitted I forgot.

[Morteza]

[zibby43]

last year they won with basically the same gap after qualy. last year 0.664/0.674 , this year 0.704/0.956 both Ferrari

With a monumental VSC gaffe while Hamilton was leading comfortably.

And with no Bottas in the equation because of his qualifying crash.

Details doesn't matter, as long as the surfacial view is pleasing. Exactly what all the experts around the world did in winter testing.

Speaking of those experts, I was quite surprised that all of them were writing off a team like Mercedes based on running in unrepresentative conditions. And hardly anyone acknowledged the fact that Merc only got to run 1 week of testing with their "actual" car.

[Schuttelberg]

I think, the likes of Vettel, Verstappen and Leclerc just need to keep maximising their opportunities and ensure they keep collecting points. If, Mercedes have some sort of issue they need to position themselves to take advantage in the season. Chances are bleak but you never know. This specially applies to the first two names who are renowned for trying too hard and ramming into one another.

[dans79]

This specially applies to the first two names who are renowned for trying too hard and ramming into one another.

This is what I'll be watching out for at the start tomorrow.

[zibby43]

oopsy, my memory..........
then Ferrari is doomed.
Maybe VER can safe the day and got some ultra race pace.

No worries!

[GrandAxe]

Not a great outing for Kubica.

[mistrx]

Not a great outing for Kubica.

Unfortunately you're right

[selvam_e2002]

Look at this from the bright side.
Alonso is coming back soon.

I completely agree with you. Bring Alonso Back for 2020 replace Vettel. If you look at last year 2018 Aus quli the gap between Merc->Ferrari->Redbull are almost similar.

[GPR-A]

https://twitter.com/F1Statster/status/1 ... 5519233027

[Ringleheim]

Not a great outing for Kubica.

To be honest he looks out of place out there, like he shouldn't be in the car.

I was always a big fan of his but I think it's been too long now and maybe he has sustained too much injury?