2019 Spanish Grand Prix - Catalunya, May 10-12

[Sevach]

Verstappen almost beat Vettel despite the huge power advantage, that chassis is baaaad.

I'm starting to believe that it's more in the car set-up then it is in the design. The car looks planted, it looks fast, it looks smooth. The Mercedes looks a bit more Twitchy. It's going to be interesting to see the Mercedes teammates on the first lap.

It looks planted because it has no turn in, drivers simply have to come into the corners slower.

[ringo]

Ferrari need more downforce. They need to go in a different direction with the car. The medium speed is where they are suffering.
It's quite possible the front wing design is not helping them at all. Similarly we see Alfa suffering as well and they have the ferrari style wing.

As for bottas, hamilton, Lewis is making mistakes with tyre preparation in qualifying. Bottas seems to have that fully understood, and he knows where to save the tyres and where to push for the lap. This gives him better rhythm with the tyre and less suprise over steer. By no means is he a bad driver. Bottas has always been top level, he just doesnt' have a killer instinct. But i do expect Hamilton to win tomorrow.

Good job by Daniel Ricciardo, but it seems renault are barely keeping theirs heads above the water. I'm suprised mclaren didn't go to Q3 as their car looked miles better than the renault.

Kyvatt again showing that he is very fast, but lets see if he crashes on lap 1 again tomorrow.

[Zynerji]

Verstappen almost beat Vettel despite the huge power advantage, that chassis is baaaad.

I'm starting to believe that it's more in the car set-up then it is in the design. The car looks planted, it looks fast, it looks smooth. The Mercedes looks a bit more Twitchy. It's going to be interesting to see the Mercedes teammates on the first lap.

It looks planted because it has no turn in, drivers simply have to come into the corners slower.

I would say that the no turn in is caused by the setup, not the design. In any racing simulator, you can play with the bound and rebound settings of the front dampers as well as the Castor to change the turn in characteristics.

This looks like they have to compromise on those settings just to keep the tires from destroying themselves.

[Mamba]

Either the new PU is a joke or the new rush aero package is a joke...at the end whoever went with this 2019 philosophy and design of the car should come out and explain to the fans what was the thought process behind this Ferrari circus after Sergio died.

This package is long in the making so it isn't a rush job. First updates in Baku and rest only here. One would think Ferrari would by now have tried a Merc concept wing if they knew their concept does not work. They clearly believe their concept isn't fundamentally flawed but I'm not sure what on earth is going on - and I'm not sure Ferrari do either.

[Mamba]

Similarly we see Alfa suffering as well and they have the ferrari style wing.

Toro Rosso have a very similar concept and they are doing just fine here...?

[Carl Mccoy]

It is interesting that Ferrari was also slow at the ultra-fast exit from T9. At the end of the straight line in sector 2 they lost 10kph to Mercedes

[yelistener]

Ferrari's problem has to have something to do with Ferrari going for a longer wheelbase in 2018. They were very strong in low speed corners in 2017 (Monaco, Hungary, Singapore all Ferrari poles), and then in 2018 the low-speed-corner advantage suddenly disappeared.

Mercedes spent two years solving their low-speed-corner problem. Ferrari basically set themselve on the same path that Mercedes went through.

Red Bull on the other hand is mysteriously facing this low speed cornering problem too. They were the king in this department in 2018, but somehow lost it to Mercedes this year. Did RB use a longer wheelbase too in 2019?

[Unf]

Season has ended up 34min ago. Ferrari era --> Renault mini-era --> RBR era --> Mercedes era... such a silly motosport...

[iotar__]

Season has ended up 34min ago. Ferrari era --> Renault mini-era --> RBR era --> Mercedes era... such a silly motosport...

- I'm surprised no one's looking forward to epic Mercedes drivers championship battle . Although after this Q anihilation of Hamilton I understand the scepticism. It can't be because this one is decided before the seasons begins, can it ?
- WTF Ferrari and WTF Leclerc (3 out of 4 edit: 4/5 failure rate in Q), I wonder and wonder why they didn't bet everything on him.
- Grosjean - give the man a better car.
- Congratulations to RB, after engine supplier change, aero and engine fixes they are exactly in the same place or worse. To cover that they can't shut up about Renault.

[f1316]

There’s a lot of understeer in that Ferrari - and that seems like something they could dial out in various ways - so I’m wondering if they knew they would be behind Mercedes in quali and so rolled the dice on trying to make the tyres work better in the race? Either that or, as mentioned above, they have such a problem with tyre management that this is what’s just required to have any race pace?

Either way, and linking to Vet’s comments about not having the same feeling since test 1, I’m beginning to really think that they had to revert front suspension design in the second test, because it in some contributed to Vettel’s issue. I don’t see any other explanation that makes sense.

Another thought though: losing their chief designer, Simone Resta, last year might have had more impact than people thought.

[GPR-A]

- Grosjean - give the man a better car.

And a bit of brain.

[GPR-A]

Link -> Low battery a factor in Hamilton's "not good enough" qualifying

An imperfectly charged battery hindered the start of Lewis Hamilton's Spanish Grand Prix qualifying session, but he believes Mercedes Formula 1 teammate Valtteri Bottas was faster when it mattered.
Mercedes team principal Toto Wolff said Hamilton's battery could not be charged properly between the second and third parts of qualifying, which meant he was sent out earlier than planned.

BEST CHASSIS manufacturers are behind by almost a second, on a track that puts the highest premium on the chassis. Engine update, Chassis update and what not, moving backwards. Way to go RBR!!!

[CriXus]

Pre-season: Mercedes 1:16.224, Ferrari 1:16.221
Spanish GP: Mercedes 1:15.406, Ferrari 1:16.272

[digitalrurouni]

I read something about Toto claiming Hamilton had a compromised qualifying session or something along those lines...his battery wasn't fully charged and traffic etc? Anyone got more deets?

Can't wait to study Bottas onboard that lap time is insane. I don't see how Mercedes is gonna get best for the next 3 races including this one unless teammates crash I to each other or mechanical.

I think we already know Monaco and Montreal will be Mercedes dominated. Lesson learned that never speculate based on season opener testing. Though it's a hell of a lot of fun.

What is also fascinating to me is HOW they maintain this level of domination. This must be a case study in management. Future MBA programs should look at whatever model of management this team is using to achieve such a high level of performance day in and day out despite adverse external forces like regulations changes and people falling sick or leaving company etc etc. I'm utterly in awe of Mercedes. Boring though the season may be because no one can keep up I have a feeling even Mercedes is surprised at their own performance.

Now it's gonna be Bottas vs Hamilton equally fascinating. Will they be amicable towards each other throughout the season? Will James be sending a Lewis this is James message? Well I for one am entertained. Well done Bottas 2.5.

[digitalrurouni]

Link -> Low battery a factor in Hamilton's "not good enough" qualifying

An imperfectly charged battery hindered the start of Lewis Hamilton's Spanish Grand Prix qualifying session, but he believes Mercedes Formula 1 teammate Valtteri Bottas was faster when it mattered.
Mercedes team principal Toto Wolff said Hamilton's battery could not be charged properly between the second and third parts of qualifying, which meant he was sent out earlier than planned.

BEST CHASSIS manufacturers are behind by almost a second, on a track that puts the highest premium on the chassis. Engine update, Chassis update and what not, moving backwards. Way to go RBR!!!

And thank you for answering my question before I could submit my post. Typing on phone is slow!