2019 Russian Grand Prix - Sochi Autodrom, 27 - 29 September

[F1Krof]

An easy Ferrari one-two.

We'll probably see another Lec pole with Lewis being miraculously second. We'll have the usual race where Mercedes will spend its time sniffing a Ferrari's ass up until the end. But Vettel from the third passes Hamilton on the first lap and that is that.

And yes it is very odd that Mercedes' haven't brought any upgrade after the summer break.

[Carl Mccoy]

Mercedes is still class of fields in races but Ferrari slowly closing.

[falonso81]

Well, even if they stopped development of the car they have already both titles wrapped up. They can maximise their reliability by running everything on safe mode and cruise until Abu Dhabi. Even if they finish 3 and 4 in Russia they can win Suzuka blindfolded and thats about it, championship done.

[Big Tea]

Remember though guys, this renascence is based on the last couple of GP. I do hope there will be fighting for the rest of the season, but it could be a false impression due to Merc being down rather than Ferrari being up. I hope not, but it has looked that way before too

[mkay]

Mercedes are silver,
Mercury is too,
Lewis will triumph,
With Bottas at number 2.

Sorry, couldn't resist!

Sent using Tapatalk

Haha that was a good one. It was nice to see a bit of fun in here that was also on-topic!

After reading some of the debriefs on Singapore, it’s becoming pretty clear that it wasn’t the Ferrari upgrades that delivered some huge chunk of performance. Ferrari got the softest tires in the range in the window over the course of one qualifying lap with the same types of corners they were strong at in both Canada and Baku.

Merc got their qualifying preparation wrong, and then couldn’t use their far superior race pace in the race.

I would not be surprised to see a Merc front row lockout in Russia followed by a dominant race performance.

Sochi have very long straights I think Ferrari will have Pole Position again. Especially if they have partially dealt with slow corners problems. Even in 2017 with less powerful engine and draggy car Ferrari lockout first row.

Ferrari had a more powerful engine and less draggy car in 2018 and didn’t do better than a distant 2nd row last year though. Speed isn’t everything at Sochi. Ferrari lost 3 tenths to Merc last year through the slow and twisty last sector, and lost a lot of time through the long left handed at the beginning of the lap.

[zibby43]

Mercedes are silver,
Mercury is too,
Lewis will triumph,
With Bottas at number 2.

Sorry, couldn't resist!

Sent using Tapatalk

Haha that was a good one. It was nice to see a bit of fun in here that was also on-topic!

After reading some of the debriefs on Singapore, it’s becoming pretty clear that it wasn’t the Ferrari upgrades that delivered some huge chunk of performance. Ferrari got the softest tires in the range in the window over the course of one qualifying lap with the same types of corners they were strong at in both Canada and Baku.

Merc got their qualifying preparation wrong, and then couldn’t use their far superior race pace in the race.

I would not be surprised to see a Merc front row lockout in Russia followed by a dominant race performance.

Sochi have very long straights I think Ferrari will have Pole Position again. Especially if they have partially dealt with slow corners problems. Even in 2017 with less powerful engine and draggy car Ferrari lockout first row.

We have yet to see how Ferrari's added downforce (introduced in Singapore) will affect their straightline performance advantage on a track like Sochi.

Merc were using Spec 2 PUs in Singapore. Ferrari were using Spec 3 and Red Bull Spec 4. Merc were very competitive at both Spa and Monza with their Spec 3 PUs.

With harder compounds being used in Russia, cooler temperatures, and how smooth the track surface is, I think Ferrari may end struggling to switch on the tires, which could cost them a lot of time in the corners. The straights have a cooling effect on the tires, as well.

Russia is going to answer a lot of questions as to the pecking order for the closing stages of the season.

I've also yet to see any evidence whatsoever that Ferrari's race pace is improving. They were slow in Singapore, and in Spa and Monza, Merc filled out 4 of the available 6 podium spots, and were 1 lap away from winning Spa and a penalty away from winning Monza.

I give credit to Ferrari for being 100 times better operationally since the summer break. They were an absolute laughingstock in the first half of the season, and they were the class of the field over the entire weekend in Singapore in terms of setting up the car and executing strategy.

[ferkan]

Ferrari looked fastest on hard tires in Singapore, while Merc looked most "at sea".

Lets wait and see, but if anything can bring big gains on cornering performance, its floor and diffuser upgrades. Im willing to bet they will have 0.5-0.7s advantage on straights, and be interesting to see how RB and Merc will claw that back in corners.

[mkay]

Ferrari looked fastest on hard tires in Singapore, while Merc looked most "at sea".

Lets wait and see, but if anything can bring big gains on cornering performance, its floor and diffuser upgrades. Im willing to bet they will have 0.5-0.7s advantage on straights, and be interesting to see how RB and Merc will claw that back in corners.

Mercedes admitted they screwed up their setup for the GP, resulting in inadequate tyre warm up both for qualifying and the race. I doubt they’ll repeat the same mistake in Russia

[selvam_e2002]

Haha that was a good one. It was nice to see a bit of fun in here that was also on-topic!

After reading some of the debriefs on Singapore, it’s becoming pretty clear that it wasn’t the Ferrari upgrades that delivered some huge chunk of performance. Ferrari got the softest tires in the range in the window over the course of one qualifying lap with the same types of corners they were strong at in both Canada and Baku.

Merc got their qualifying preparation wrong, and then couldn’t use their far superior race pace in the race.

I would not be surprised to see a Merc front row lockout in Russia followed by a dominant race performance.

Sochi have very long straights I think Ferrari will have Pole Position again. Especially if they have partially dealt with slow corners problems. Even in 2017 with less powerful engine and draggy car Ferrari lockout first row.

We have yet to see how Ferrari's added downforce (introduced in Singapore) will affect their straightline performance advantage on a track like Sochi.

Merc were using Spec 2 PUs in Singapore. Ferrari were using Spec 3 and Red Bull Spec 4. Merc were very competitive at both Spa and Monza with their Spec 3 PUs.

With harder compounds being used in Russia, cooler temperatures, and how smooth the track surface is, I think Ferrari may end struggling to switch on the tires, which could cost them a lot of time in the corners. The straights have a cooling effect on the tires, as well.

Russia is going to answer a lot of questions as to the pecking order for the closing stages of the season.

I've also yet to see any evidence whatsoever that Ferrari's race pace is improving. They were slow in Singapore, and in Spa and Monza, Merc filled out 4 of the available 6 podium spots, and were 1 lap away from winning Spa and a penalty away from winning Monza.

I give credit to Ferrari for being 100 times better operationally since the summer break. They were an absolute laughingstock in the first half of the season, and they were the class of the field over the entire weekend in Singapore in terms of setting up the car and executing strategy.

can I please know how did you know that Mercedes uses spec2 pu? what was the reason for it? why they are not used Spec 3 PU. any specific reason? can you pleas share some details to understand their strategy?

[GPR-A]

can I please know how did you know that Mercedes uses spec2 pu? what was the reason for it? why they are not used Spec 3 PU. any specific reason? can you pleas share some details to understand their strategy?

I would leave @zibby to further details on how he knows that it was a Spec 2. Tracks like Monaco, Budapest and Singapore are not power hungry circuits and teams have the liberty to use a previous spec and yet be highly competitive. 3 sets of PU, has to be used across 21 races and Mercedes in the previous seasons, have always used a spec older than the latest spec in Singapore. They only did 6 races with the Spec 1 when they introduced Spec 2 in Canada. So in that sense, they have to manage 15 races with 2 sets of PU, unless they used Spec 1 in Hungary to balance the quota.

[dtro]

Remember though guys, this renascence is based on the last couple of GP. I do hope there will be fighting for the rest of the season, but it could be a false impression due to Merc being down rather than Ferrari being up. I hope not, but it has looked that way before too

Staying grounded is so hard, and fantasizing is so easy.

Sochi on paper looks like it could suit the Ferrari- long power limited corners, the two straights- with the performance in Singapore maybe even the last sector won't throw them off. Maybe if it doesn't rain- and the stars align- Ferrari could get another 1-2.

Mercedes could bring an update and crush everyone in sight as well. That sounds more plausible.

[zibby43]

can I please know how did you know that Mercedes uses spec2 pu? what was the reason for it? why they are not used Spec 3 PU. any specific reason? can you pleas share some details to understand their strategy?

It was confirmed by AMuS (by way of Mercedes) this past weekend.

Mercedes employed this strategy in 2018 as well, as Singapore is one of the least power-sensitive tracks on the calendar.

GPR-A gives a great explanation as to the logic behind the strategy below:

I would leave @zibby to further details on how he knows that it was a Spec 2. Tracks like Monaco, Budapest and Singapore are not power hungry circuits and teams have the liberty to use a previous spec and yet be highly competitive. 3 sets of PU, has to be used across 21 races and Mercedes in the previous seasons, have always used a spec older than the latest spec in Singapore. They only did 6 races with the Spec 1 when they introduced Spec 2 in Canada. So in that sense, they have to manage 15 races with 2 sets of PU, unless they used Spec 1 in Hungary to balance the quota.

[Juzh]

Haha that was a good one. It was nice to see a bit of fun in here that was also on-topic!

After reading some of the debriefs on Singapore, it’s becoming pretty clear that it wasn’t the Ferrari upgrades that delivered some huge chunk of performance. Ferrari got the softest tires in the range in the window over the course of one qualifying lap with the same types of corners they were strong at in both Canada and Baku.

Merc got their qualifying preparation wrong, and then couldn’t use their far superior race pace in the race.

I would not be surprised to see a Merc front row lockout in Russia followed by a dominant race performance.

Sochi have very long straights I think Ferrari will have Pole Position again. Especially if they have partially dealt with slow corners problems. Even in 2017 with less powerful engine and draggy car Ferrari lockout first row.

Ferrari had a more powerful engine and less draggy car in 2018 and didn’t do better than a distant 2nd row last year though. Speed isn’t everything at Sochi. Ferrari lost 3 tenths to Merc last year through the slow and twisty last sector, and lost a lot of time through the long left handed at the beginning of the lap.

Long left hander at the begining of the lap is easy full throttle. Ferrari was losing trough there because in an effort to increase downforce they went too far and just increased drag massively for that race, without a noticable gain in cornering performance. Mercedes had around 5 kmh advantage on them on the straights in quali, which never happened before or after the russian gp.

[Unc1eM0nty]

Ferrari do seem to have learned to dominate a race, which they seem to have forgotten recently.
Controlling the race from the front means they play to their advantages not play catch up.

While that is true you could argue that Mecedes have had the faster race car in each of the last three races, but they couldn't make it count.

At Monza Lewis couldn't follow close enough through Parabolica to pick up an early tow, in Singapore, well it's Singapore - the less said about this track the better.

The last two corners here should suit them, if they can get under the Ferrari gear box they should have a chance of an overtake. A one stopper as well, maybe they can make their superior tyre wear count here.

I expect another Ferrari pole, the race is up for grabs though

[djones]

I suspect we may see a setup from Mercedes which is qualifying focused.

The reality is it was only qualifying that lost them the last 3 races.