2019 Azerbaijan Grand Prix - Baku, April 26-28

[Schuttelberg]

It looks as though Toto has warged into Hamilton and left his impression. 7 tenths behind Ferrari?

It's all becoming a bit much now. I've been a Lewis fan since his Mercedes days began, but the trolling is beginning to feel insulting. Toto was enough already!

Usually I would agree with this but not today, Ferrari should have had pole, they (Leclerc) messed up, simple as

Do you have any concrete proof that Leclerc would have been on pole? This is sport. Not a fantasy league. Hamilton looked no where all weekend, had a shocking S1 and yet almost was on pole. Will it be fair to say then, that even if we add half a second to Vettel's lap but correct Hamilton's lap time, he would be on pole?

He crashed, didn't participate. Period. Feelings do not equal facts. From the pattern we have seen over five years, Mercedes never ever reveal their hand till Q3 and troll the paddock and fans every single week. The guys in red are decent drivers and Bottas in my book, is not on the same lobby. If he is so comfortably ahead so consistently, the facts must be that Mercedes is simply the faster car?

But then, just like Nate Saunders, how can we spin a twist on our narrative of Mercedes & Hamilton winning inspite of having a car and PU the equal of Red Bull?

[foxmulder_ms]

What a lame move by Merc. What were they thinking with that last moment practice starts?? It cost Hamilton the pole. He was clearly faster than Bottas. lol..

Yes, every time Hamilton isn't first, it's the fault of the three pointed star.

It is certainly this time. Ham had to be too close to Bottas not to miss the chance to run. It messed up his S1 without that he would be 0.3sec clear of bottas. Simple.

[Mansell89]

Any thoughts on the tyres tomorrow? Would you choose to start on mediums if you could, or would you prefer to be in the top 10?

Personally I’d like a set of softs in my pocket for any late Safety Car drama.

[Racer X]

Perez did an amazing job for a seemingly unnoticed quali. Well done Checo'.

[Big Tea]

In case someone missed it, C4 has a f1 podcast. it is on https://soundcloud.com/user-556326518 or other feeds.

[F1Krof]

That is a very strange take on it. First off Vettel is faster down almost the entire straight, he starts off almost 10kph up and it's only almost at pit entry that Hamilton matches him.

Also, Vettel has literally no one ahead of him at all, Hamilton is following Bottas. So with the slight tow, Vettel is still faster down around 3/4s of the straight or so, but of course this 'straight line speed' advantage is entirely made up.

On the straight after T2 again Vettel is a few kph ahead all the way down to just before the third bridge before Hamilton has higher speed. Out of T3 on a much shorter straight Vettel is again faster the whole way and because they don't go beyond the 310kph or so that it takes for Merc to be faster, he's faster the whole straight and hits 221 before braking while Ham only reaches 217kph.

Straight line advantage isn't about max speed, it's about how fast you get down a straight. It doesn't matter if you're 5kph slower for the very end of the straight if the other guy is 5kph faster over the first 80% of it.

WHere Vettel screwed it heavily was in corners. Hamilton is 138kph through the the apex before heading onto the start finish straight, Vettel is at 128kph at the same point. Then down the straight to finish they are pretty much trading blows, then Hamilton is a little ahead yet they cross the line with 1kph difference. This despite Bottas being <2 seconds ahead of Hamilton offering some tow while there wasn't anyone ahead of Vettel.

It seems plainly clear that Vettel had more engine power, that they match top line speeds despite less drag from the tow and this is from a long line of cars giving the tow while Vettel was the one punching the first hole through the air. If he didn't have more power there is absolutely no chance he'd have the same speed crossing the line.

yes, vettel took less speed trough the turn onto the long straight, but as a result got better exit, they're nearly identical at the end of the kerb with vettel actually being a few kmh up, but this is within margin of error
https://i.imgur.com/xakq2oV.jpg

somewhere further down the straight, hamilton 6 kmh up
https://i.imgur.com/LnZxhGF.jpg

Difference at the line 6 frames = 0.24s
https://i.imgur.com/ar9g4pL.jpg

I'm not sure if you noticed but hamilton locked the front left tire in T2 and obviously had less speed at different stages on the following straight compared to vettel.

such ferrari power, much wow.

Tow from wingman ? ☺

I believe a Bottas received a push from Hamilton

[Restomaniac]

This could be a reason for sudden Gasly performance

https://mobile.twitter.com/ChrisMedland ... 4875119616

After Horner was spouting that the original penalty was ‘draconian’ too.

[atanatizante]

Interesting fact: the driver starting at the second spot on the grid won the start all the races this year, so far ...
Furthermore, no driver won starting on pole this year ...

[PlatinumZealot]

Do you have any concrete proof that Leclerc would have been on pole? This is sport. Not a fantasy league. Hamilton looked no where all weekend, had a shocking S1 and yet almost was on pole. Will it be fair to say then, that even if we add half a second to Vettel's lap but correct Hamilton's lap time, he would be on pole?

He crashed, didn't participate. Period. Feelings do not equal facts. From the pattern we have seen over five years, Mercedes never ever reveal their hand till Q3 and troll the paddock and fans every single week. The guys in red are decent drivers and Bottas in my book, is not on the same lobby. If he is so comfortably ahead so consistently, the facts must be that Mercedes is simply the faster car?

But then, just like Nate Saunders, how can we spin a twist on our narrative of Mercedes & Hamilton winning inspite of having a car and PU the equal of Red Bull?

Vettel can forget about catching Hamilton in pole count since he has LeClerc in the other seat! Certainly if you add the three tenths that Charles had on Vettel I think he would be on pole.

[Silent Storm]

People here have forgotten that last couple of years Kimi too was faster than Vettel in practise sessions till Q2 at times, only for Vettel to dig deep and find those 0.2-0.3 in Q3.

Vettel, like Hamilton is well known to not risk going all out when it is not needed and shows his cards when the time is right, I'm sure Vettel will be holding back even more now till Q3 so Charles can't have a look of his telemetry and compare data.
Practise session times then, like winter testing times are meaningless for top 2 teams.

[nevill3]

Gasly excluded from qualifying due to exceeding fuel flow limit

[Phil]

So where was Vettel showing his cards when it mattered in Q2 on the medium tires and was forced to run again? Leclerc was faster all weekend, i find it quite a stretch to assume Vettel would have been faster in Q3 when all indications are implying something else.

[zibby43]

Will LEC require a new gearbox?

[nevill3]

at the moment LEC is starting 9th with Sainz 10th. What will happen to LEC qualifying tyres, if they were damaged he will need to start on a different set, are the rules the same as before and Pirrelli will have to supply him with a set that has done an equivalent mileage?

[Capharol]