2021 French Grand Prix - Le Castellet, June 18 - 20

[El Scorchio]

Only just caught Ocon’s lap with commentary from yesterday. Really good little bit.

[f1316]

Who used which Mercedes chassis at Monaco? If Hamilton is using the same one he had there (and Bottas used at Baku), that’d be a bit of a coincidence.

[Wouter]

Who used which Mercedes chassis at Monaco? If Hamilton is using the same one he had there (and Bottas used at Baku), that’d be a bit of a coincidence.

Bahrain/Imola
Hamilton chassis nr. #6
Bottas chassis nr. #5

Portimao/Barcelona/Monaco
Hamilton #6
Bottas #4

Baku
Hamilton #3
Bottas #4

France
Hamilton #4
Bottas #6

[El Scorchio]

Who used which Mercedes chassis at Monaco? If Hamilton is using the same one he had there (and Bottas used at Baku), that’d be a bit of a coincidence.

I find it quite weird they don’t use the same one every race. You’d think the drivers would want that, even just psychologically.

[Starkblood80]

Is Hamilton really nearly a second slower than Max?

[Mogster]

Who used which Mercedes chassis at Monaco? If Hamilton is using the same one he had there (and Bottas used at Baku), that’d be a bit of a coincidence.

I find it quite weird they don’t use the same one every race. You’d think the drivers would want that, even just psychologically.

Yeah, it does seem odd I’d imagined there’s no way they’d do that. I suppose it shows how tightly the cars are produced compared to 20-30 years ago.

[RZS10]

Is Hamilton really nearly a second slower than Max?

Max seems to get the tyres into the right window without abusing them, so does Bottas to some extent - neither Hamilton nor Perez seem to be able to do that.

[Sieper]

Is Hamilton really nearly a second slower than Max?

Right now, yes. Later this afternoon, well he has a Mercedes. They will be quicker than the Ferrari’s by a big margin I expect. But I am really hoping this wasn’t again on of their sandbagging adventures.

[Juzh]

Is Hamilton really nearly a second slower than Max?

Both mercedes' have got loads in reserve, they were just chilling in fp3 as they were running with almost no power, even compared to fp2. Q3 will be usual back and forth game of tenths.

[_cerber1]

[F1Krof]

Is Hamilton really nearly a second slower than Max?

Both mercedes' have got loads in reserve, they were just chilling in fp3 as they were running with almost no power, even compared to fp2. Q3 will be usual back and forth game of tenths.

I don't believe so. They were pushing quite strongly. But as the pattern continues, slow speed corners on the last sector is where they're losing it all.

[HungarianRacer]

Is Hamilton really nearly a second slower than Max?

Both mercedes' have got loads in reserve, they were just chilling in fp3 as they were running with almost no power, even compared to fp2. Q3 will be usual back and forth game of tenths.

I don't believe so. They were pushing quite strongly. But as the pattern continues, slow speed corners on the last sector is where they're losing it all.

Are you suggesting tyre management issues? Sector 1 is the slowest and least power-sensitive track section, Bottas went purple there.

[F1Krof]

Both mercedes' have got loads in reserve, they were just chilling in fp3 as they were running with almost no power, even compared to fp2. Q3 will be usual back and forth game of tenths.

I don't believe so. They were pushing quite strongly. But as the pattern continues, slow speed corners on the last sector is where they're losing it all.

Are you suggesting tyre management issues? Sector 1 is the slowest and least power-sensitive track section, Bottas went purple there.

First sector all teams seem within 1 hundredths of each other. I wouldn't measure the raw performance based on sector one alone.

[JordanMugen]

Who used which Mercedes chassis at Monaco? If Hamilton is using the same one he had there (and Bottas used at Baku), that’d be a bit of a coincidence.

I find it quite weird they don’t use the same one every race. You’d think the drivers would want that, even just psychologically.

I guess historically, F1 teams could afford to build 5-6 chassis per season, so they would want to use the first prototype only for testing, and then wheel out models with refinements during the mid-season. Therefore Mercedes have as many as six carryover W10 chassis for this Grand Prix season.

However under the budget cap, one suspects Grand Prix teams will be more prudent and only build three chassis (and perhaps commission a second spare if one of the initial cars is written-off). After all, Formula 2 chassis are used for many, many seasons in a category where cost-saving is a far higher priority.

[search]

Is Hamilton really nearly a second slower than Max?

Both mercedes' have got loads in reserve, they were just chilling in fp3 as they were running with almost no power, even compared to fp2. Q3 will be usual back and forth game of tenths.

I don't believe so. They were pushing quite strongly. But as the pattern continues, slow speed corners on the last sector is where they're losing it all.

I also don't think Mercedes will close the gap, but Verstappen has won every FP3 apart from Baku (where he crashed) this year, and most likely for a reason. I'd say it's fair to assume that Mercedes runs at less power (and/or more fuel) on Saturday mornings.