2017 Azerbaijan Grand Prix - Baku, 23-25 June

[komninosm]

WOW that was intense pressure for Lewis there and he delivered

I guess he gained a lot of knowledge in this track last year trying to race with an engineer-handicapped car. He found many secrets for more speed and better time and now he put them to good use with a good car.

[F1NAC]

So is that end of an Merc vs Ferrari?

What THE hell has happened to Ferrari? One second behind?

Well Vettel has ICe that did 5 GP's already and bunch of FP's. But ye still... That's not good. Similar gap like last season

What surprises me is that they lost a lot in S2 which should suit them? Struggling obivously with tyres

[ripper]

HAM 35.329 40.746 24.410
BOT 35.352 41.153 24.453
RAI 35.771 41.162 24.630
VET 35.828 41.113 24.664
VER 35.761 41.067 24.664


Mercedes shined on S1 (both of them) and Hamilton did a magic on S2.

Ferrari seems to struggle on lower downforce tracks... and tomorrow I would be happy if VET gets to the podium

[Silent Storm]

It's not the 1st ICE they reverted back to, it's probably the Canadian GP ICE.
With new ICE he could have been a tenth quicker than Kimi, still long way off Merc.

[PlatinumZealot]

So is that end of an Merc vs Ferrari?

What THE hell has happened to Ferrari? One second behind?

Keep calm. They couldnt heat the tyres. Just like merc couldnt in monaco. They will be fighting in the race.

[ChrisDanger]

[Schuttelberg]

I love how Toto, Lewis and his fans are trying to portray Lewis as some sort of underdog..

[Just_a_fan]

I love how Toto, Lewis and his fans are trying to portray Lewis as some sort of underdog..

Please don't start a fanboy/fanbash argument in this race thread. There's no need.

[Just_a_fan]

https://pbs-0.twimg.com/media/DDF7sEwXsAAAULe.jpg:large

Will that set of tyres not used by Hamilton pay dividends in the race? Seems everyone else in the top of the grid used 5 sets and Hamilton only 4. Is it going to be a one stopper? If so, there's no gain to be had, of course.

[GPR-A duplicate2]

I hope the discussion about which PU is stronger, settles here. Not based on the Mercedes factory team, but based on the customer teams. Both the customer teams are so far ahead of the Ferrari customer team.

Expecting Max to jump both Ferraris at the start tomorrow.

[Hammerfist]

It's not the 1st ICE they reverted back to, it's probably the Canadian GP ICE.
With new ICE he could have been a tenth quicker than Kimi, still long way off Merc.

I think it's likely more than a tenth. With a used ICE they probably can't run the most agressive engine mode as those have already been used up. That explains why he was slower than Raikonnen by 0.1s, when he's usually 0.3 ahead. The Q mode usually gives them 0.5sec.

[Hammerfist]

I hope the discussion about which PU is stronger, settles here. Not based on the Mercedes factory team, but based on the customer teams. Both the customer teams are so far ahead of the Ferrari customer team.

Expecting Max to jump both Ferraris at the start tomorrow.

Yeah that was obvious after Canada to me. Mercedes power unit is still ahead by a meaningful amount.
Austria will be Mercedes again. Hungary is when Ferrari can strike back.

[Multi21]

Most likely a once stopper unless there's a late-ish SC in which case a late switch to SS after a normal SS-S strategy would turn it into a 2 stopper. The deg is just too low. Interesting that Merc managed to generate enough heat with extreme weaving when their usual slow-slow- fast strategy was used all through qualy. If the weaving works why not always get the temps up that way?

[F1NAC]

I hope the discussion about which PU is stronger, settles here.

Amen

[FrukostScones]

I hope the discussion about which PU is stronger, settles here. Not based on the Mercedes factory team, but based on the customer teams. Both the customer teams are so far ahead of the Ferrari customer team.

Expecting Max to jump both Ferraris at the start tomorrow.

Haas struggles with brakes a lot. and prob tyres too on this track.
Also Haas car is not very comparable to a Williams or even a FINDIA engineering/chassis/aero.

So you're comparison is invalid on all levels.

Yes, I hope max makes a jump start tomorrow.