2021 Portuguese Grand Prix - Portimão, Apr 30 - May 02

[atanatizante]

Just a raise of 3 degree Celsius between FP2 and FP3 and M tyres just went out of the operation window, for HAM did replicate the same time! Although, Rosberg said on Sky that the main reason was the wind and Merc engineers were baffled about why medium tyres were quicker ... is that so?

Seems to me that Merc setup their car more towards the medium (race tyre) tyre or just their chassis is kinder to the tyres, hence why they struggle to warm up faster the tyres?

What it is interesting to know is why RB was 7 tenths slower in Q2 on medium tyres and even VER said in the pen interview that he was shocked about HAM's time?

For me, it`s clear that Merc overheats the soft and that`s why they were taking slowly the first sector in order not to overcook the third one. And this is down to how they were setup the car for the race ...

Then RB couldn`t heat up the medium tyres coz they have a higher operation window and in contrast they keep the soft tyres in the window coz they setup the car more towards the qualy ...

[dans79]

For me, it`s clear that Merc overheats the soft and that`s why they were taking slowly the first sector in order not to overcook the third one. And this is down to how they were setup the car for the race ...

Personally, I think it's the opposite, they can't get heat in them fast enough, hence why they were doing a push lap before a hot lap. We pretty much saw the same trend in imola during the race.

[mkay]

Without that moment Max would be on pole so I wouldn't jump to any conclusions. Let's see if Bottas pushes Max off track again on turn 3 like last year and helps out his teammate.

Maybe, but again Merc looked substantially better on the race tire.

RB's FP2 race sims looked quite strong compared to Merc. Don't think this is going to be a slam dunk tomorrow.

[dans79]

Without that moment Max would be on pole so I wouldn't jump to any conclusions. Let's see if Bottas pushes Max off track again on turn 3 like last year and helps out his teammate.

Maybe, but again Merc looked substantially better on the race tire.

RB's FP2 race sims looked quite strong compared to Merc. Don't think this is going to be a slam dunk tomorrow.

All that's based on the assumption that Mercedes was running the same power modes and the same fuel loads.

Not to mention if memory serves Max himself said yesterday that Mercedes was faster, in an interview.

[RZS10]

so i really dunno where the "Merc is clearly the faster car" stuff comes from,

Have you seen the score board?

I guess its better to pretend that Hamilton is driving a mid-field car to podiums... Apparently, the 1'17".9s lap on mediums from Lewis in Q2 is slower than Max's deleted 1'18".2 on softs...

You know ... this forum would be a lot better if people like you wouldn't take what others write and turn it into the most ridiculous drivel at every possibility.

One has to have a nuanced look at the data in order to, well, not really be able to come to a conclusion.

It was incredible by how much everyone dropped between sessions, the track de-evolution was massive, 0.635 for Lando, even more for Vettel, the only car to improve was Bottas, which means his lap in Q2 wasn't great - of course Max' deleted lap would have been better than his run in Q2.

There's absolutely no way to say whether Merc could have replicated the time from Q2 in Q3 had they gone for mediums on the first run, data from last year suggest that they couldn't have (Q2 was also faster than Q3) and the second run on mediums in Q3 was nowhere near the Q2 time for both.

In those particular conditions in Q3 the RBR was the faster car on softs, of course no one would deny that Merc was the quickest on medium tyres in the second session and had the fastest overall lap time - but i don't believe the conclusion should be that they are vastly quicker than RBR who obviously couldn't get the mediums to work.

Realistically they're probably very evenly matched, with the pendulum swinging in either direction depending on track conditions.

[mkay]

Maybe, but again Merc looked substantially better on the race tire.

RB's FP2 race sims looked quite strong compared to Merc. Don't think this is going to be a slam dunk tomorrow.

All that's based on the assumption that Mercedes was running the same power modes and the same fuel loads.

Not to mention if memory serves Max himself said yesterday that Mercedes was faster, in an interview.

Very fair point. Marko apparently told Austrian TV post-quali that RB is a little wary of the medium tyre for the race. Seems like RB may have difficulty bringing that tyre within its operating window.

[Unf]

Ok so now we are 100% sure that every talking about that Mercedes hurt on high rake etc was just a BS. BS as always from them.
RBR is close, closer than any time in the past, but Mercedes is still on the front, without any doubts.

[godlameroso]

Dark horse for the weekend is Bottas, his pace is very very strong.

Wow, did not see that one coming.

[godlameroso]

Ok so now we are 100% sure that every talking about that Mercedes hurt on high rake etc was just a BS. BS as always from them.
RBR is close, closer than any time in the past, but Mercedes is still on the front, without any doubts.

RBR has a faster race car still. It'll be very close tomorrow, I hope Bottas wins this one, or Perez.

[zibby43]

Russell P11 in the Williams.

Nice bounceback. He’s ready for the Merc seat, but Bottas has Saturdays like this.

[MKlaus]

Ok so now we are 100% sure that every talking about that Mercedes hurt on high rake etc was just a BS. BS as always from them.
RBR is close, closer than any time in the past, but Mercedes is still on the front, without any doubts.

RBR has a faster race car still. It'll be very close tomorrow, I hope Bottas wins this one, or Perez.

two challenges bottas has to clear. he hasn't had good starts throughout 2020 when he was on pole. he needs to change that. he hasn't shown great skills to keep the tyres alive in races and falls back in clutches of lewis or in this case, could be of max.

[Zynerji]

so i really dunno where the "Merc is clearly the faster car" stuff comes from,

Have you seen the score board?

I guess its better to pretend that Hamilton is driving a mid-field car to podiums... Apparently, the 1'17".9s lap on mediums from Lewis in Q2 is slower than Max's deleted 1'18".2 on softs...

You know ... this forum would be a lot better if people like you wouldn't take what others write and turn it into the most ridiculous drivel at every possibility.

One has to have a nuanced look at the data in order to, well, not really be able to come to a conclusion.

It was incredible by how much everyone dropped between sessions, the track de-evolution was massive, 0.635 for Lando, even more for Vettel, the only car to improve was Bottas, which means his lap in Q2 wasn't great - of course Max' deleted lap would have been better than his run in Q2.

There's absolutely no way to say whether Merc could have replicated the time from Q2 in Q3 had they gone for mediums on the first run, data from last year suggest that they couldn't have (Q2 was also faster than Q3) and the second run on mediums in Q3 was nowhere near the Q2 time for both.

In those particular conditions in Q3 the RBR was the faster car on softs, of course no one would deny that Merc was the quickest on medium tyres in the second session and had the fastest overall lap time - but i don't believe the conclusion should be that they are vastly quicker than RBR who obviously couldn't get the mediums to work.

Realistically they're probably very evenly matched, with the pendulum swinging in either direction depending on track conditions.

I know. Data hurts the narrative that Lewis can walk on water.

Just best to pretend he isn't in the most dominant string of cars in the history of F1 to get his records.

[RZS10]

And you do it again ... it's so sad.

[dans79]

Just best to pretend he isn't in the most dominant string of cars in the history of F1 to get his records.

You know, most people really don't care because he got that car for a reason!

[Unf]

two challenges bottas has to clear. he hasn't had good starts throughout 2020 when he was on pole. he needs to change that. he hasn't shown great skills to keep the tyres alive in races and falls back in clutches of lewis or in this case, could be of max.

Don't worry. Even if Bottas will win the start, then Mercedes know excatly what to do, to "accidentally" switch him with Ham.