2016 F1 Spanish Grand Prix

[godlameroso]

Alonso did long run on Medium...

EDIT; 1.30.3 seem to be avg soft long run time from Alonso this is medium...



ALO medium:

20 1:30.645
21 1:31.230
22 1:31.237
23 1:30.882
24 1:30.895
25 1:31.165
26 1:31.377
27 1:31.196
28 1:30.944
29 1:31.383

Funny Mercedes did similar times last year in the race.

Here's Rosberg's lap times, he only had to deal with a slower Ferrari so he may have been able to go faster

1:32.313[1]
1:31.755[1]
1:32.027[1]
1:31.908[1]
1:31.539[1]
1:31.585[1]
1:31.567[1]
1:31.403[1]
1:32.079[1]
1:32.200[1]
1:32.129[1]
1:32.201[1]
1:32.447[1]
1:31.846[1]
1:31.515[1]
1:31.489[1]
1:31.442[1]
1:31.324[1]
1:31.400[1]
1:31.562[1]
1:32.030[1]
1:31.793[1]
1:31.676[1]
1:32.529[1]
1:31.266[1]
1:31.278[1]
1:31.540[1]
1:31.740[1]
1:31.677[1]
1:32.190[1]
1:32.306[1]
1:32.385[1]
1:31.692[1]
1:32.083[1]
1:31.880[1]
1:31.585[1]
1:31.599[1]
1:31.612[1]
1:31.222[1]
1:31.793[1]
1:31.999[1]
1:30.095[2]
1:30.229[2]
1:30.062[2]
1:30.673[2]
1:30.474[1]
1:30.073[1]
1:29.109[1]
1:29.293[1]
1:29.500[1]
1:29.582[1]
1:29.743[1]
1:30.145[1]
1:30.062[1]
1:30.286[1]
1:30.426[1]
1:29.987[1]
1:30.321[1]
1:30.263[1]
1:30.318[1]
1:30.958[1]

[iotar__]

- Close between Ferrari and Merc, no excuses tomorrow.
- Red Bull very quick on long runs (probably pressure )

[pob]

On the soft long runs Vettel and Rosberg are close: Vettel a couple of tenths faster in the middle of the run, but at that pace he'd need to pit about three laps sooner than Rosberg.
On the mediums both Red Bull drivers looked good, better than Raikkonen, but Red Bull were slow on the softs on the long runs.

[giantfan10]

On the soft long runs Vettel and Rosberg are close: Vettel a couple of tenths faster in the middle of the run, but at that pace he'd need to pit about three laps sooner than Rosberg.
On the mediums both Red Bull drivers looked good, better than Raikkonen, but Red Bull were slow on the softs on the long runs.

Have we not seen this movie before? in qualifying Mercedes will pull another 5 tenths from somewhere and it will be another snoozefest of a race at the front of the grid : )

[godlameroso]

In testing no one dipped into the 22's with the soft tire. They made it into the low 23's, Mercedes may be able to do 22's tomorrow.

[wickedz50]

On the soft long runs Vettel and Rosberg are close: Vettel a couple of tenths faster in the middle of the run, but at that pace he'd need to pit about three laps sooner than Rosberg.
On the mediums both Red Bull drivers looked good, better than Raikkonen, but Red Bull were slow on the softs on the long runs.

Have we not seen this movie before? in qualifying Mercedes will pull another 5 tenths from somewhere and it will be another snoozefest of a race at the front of the grid : )

It will be as usual Merc will be around 0.5 sec ahead in the qualifying, key is the race start if Ferrari can pull off something like Australia, else the movie continues like before....

[iotar__]

Have we not seen this movie before? in qualifying Mercedes will pull another 5 tenths from somewhere and it will be another snoozefest of a race at the front of the grid : )

It will be as usual Merc will be around 0.5 sec ahead in the qualifying, key is the race start if Ferrari can pull off something like Australia, else the movie continues like before....

Why not 0,7 s or 0,3, I'm not buying usual 0,5, was China usual? Pole was possible before last run when Rosberg nailed his lap and Ferrari did the opposite. Tyre config is different here = not usual and gaps possibly smaller, 5-10 within 0,3 s.

Bigger picture based on all the races has not changed, cars are close and it's as objective a fact as you can get before the race. It's like race pace last season: before Malaysia or Bahrain Merc were sandbagging and winning 20 s ahead based on the same mentality.

Problem with judging Red Bull's pace is A. Sainz and Alonso are in front (not conclusive) B. They start fifth they finish fifth (normal race) C. Williams - on paper should be better here.

[Bomber_Pilot]

Tire usage in FP3

[Sevach]

Nico's final sector looked incredible in FP3, engine problems might hamper him.
Ferrari looking a lot racier than usual.

Verstappen looking good.

[wickedz50]

I think Redbulls will start 2nd row, their pace looked good in FP3...

As much as I thought at the end of FP3... RBR start row 2.... Ferrari oh Ferrari....a disappointment earlier and a disappointment always....will RBR come second in 2016?

[gandharva]

Maybe they can beat Kimi (with luck), but Vettel will for sure qualify ahead if he doesn't --- up. Imho he even has a realistic chance for pole if Mercs continue to struggle... but I think they, as usual, will pump up the ICE in Q2/Q3 and lock off first row. Williams (esp. Massa) will have hard times fighting TR/FI and McHonda. Tough midfield competition starting at P7.

1. Nico Rosberg GER Mercedes-Mercedes 1m 23.078s
2. Lewis Hamilton GBR Mercedes-Mercedes 1m 23.204s
3. Sebastian Vettel GER Ferrari-Ferrari 1m 23.225s
4. Max Verstappen NED Red Bull-Renault 1m 23.719s
5. Daniel Ricciardo AUS Red Bull-Renault 1m 23.816s
6. Kimi Raikkonen FIN Ferrari-Ferrari 1m 24.110s
7. Valtteri Bottas FIN Williams-Mercedes 1m 24.356s
8. Sergio Perez MEX Force India-Mercedes 1m 24.472s
9. Daniil Kvyat RUS Toro Rosso-Ferrari 1m 24.553s
10. Fernando Alonso ESP McLaren-Honda 1m 24.555s
11. Nico Hulkenberg GER Force India-Mercedes 1m 24.585s
12. Felipe Massa BRZ Williams-Mercedes 1m 24.621s
13. Carlos Sainz Jr ESP Toro Rosso-Ferrari 1m 24.695s
14. Romain Grosjean FRA Haas-Ferrari 1m 24.981s
15. Jenson Button GBR McLaren-Honda 1m 25.051s
16. Kevin Magnussen DEN Renault-Renault 1m 25.100s
17. Esteban Gutierrez MEX Haas-Ferrari 1m 25.130s
18. Jolyon Palmer GBR Renault-Renault 1m 25.376s
19. Felipe Nasr BRA Sauber-Ferrari 1m 25.383s
20. Marcus Ericsson SWE Sauber-Ferrari 1m 25.401s
21. Pascal Wehrlein GER Manor-Mercedes 1m 26.097s
22. Rio Haryanto INA Manor-Mercedes 1m 26.251s

[TheGkbrk]

It is crazy how quick these cars are compared to last year. Alonso's time will put him on pole in last year's GP.

[Silent Storm]

Kimi was on a good lap only 0.074 down in second sector compared to Rosberg but hit traffic in last sector. No way Redbull can beat Raikkonen.

[Silent Storm]

It is crazy how quick these cars are compared to last year. Alonso's time will put him on pole in last year's GP.

Soft tyre. Last year everyone qualified on Medium tyres.

[Nuvolari]

It's interesting that at the end of last year's FP3 Vettel was about a tenth off Rosberg, getting us all excited. Come Q3, Merc improved 1.5 s from their FP3 time! Vettel only improved about 0.6s from his FP3 time. Who's predicting the same to happen here? I'd be surprised if Merc don't have at least another 0.7-0.8s in the pocket.