Yes, by a mesmerizing 0.047 (which can easily be attributed to small driver mistakes).Red bulls were fastest in final sector in monaco which is nothing but corner after corner and a run to the finish.
Mercedes were constantly (lap after lap) fastest in all 3 sectors in the race. Red Bull were not able to challenge them on the one circuit which best suits their car; despite the fact that Pirelli brought the super soft and soft tyres to Monaco, which suit Mercedes the least.
In the rain, one of the most important factors is to get the Pirelli tyres to work in the conditions.Also RB were always close in the rain where power is not so important (australia, malaysia).
Ferrari were fastest or equal fastest when it rained in 2012, as seen in Malaysia, Great Britain and Germany. Do you really think that the F2012 was the best chassis out there? What about Sauber or Williams's insane speed at Malaysia 2012? Or Force India's incredible speed at Brazil 2012?
It's about getting the tyres to work. Yes, Red Bull's chassis is (relatively speaking) better than their engine, but not better than the (already legendary) WO5.
Qualifying suggests that the WO5 was 1.620 seconds faster in Silverstone and 1.053 seconds faster than the RB10 in Spain.Merc was not 2s a lap faster than RB in silverstone, nor were they 1s ahead in spain.
Yes because he was on much fresher tyres on the most tyre-demanding circuit on the calendar.In spain Vettel actually gained 7-8s on both merc drivers in his final stint and only fell back after he caught rai and bot.
I was actually talking about qualifying pace, but you can bring up race pace if you want to. Where was Red Bull in Monaco? The one circuit which is virtually corner after corner, and cars never reach significant top speed. They were slower than Mercedes in the race, plain and simple, despite the fact that the super soft and soft tyres were used (which suit Merc the least).
Did Renault suffer anywhere near from so much lap time deficit to Ferrari in 2003 when they had a severaly underpowered engine in 2003? No, the R23 was only 0.471 seconds slower than the F2003GA in Spain and 0.172 seconds slower in Silverstone. So why can't Red Bull replicate such performance?Merc engine alone is woeth a lot of lap time. 80bhp was said to be worth more than 2s round monza, so 1s round barcelona or silverstone is not something hard to believe.
The RB10 is a good chassis, no doubt, but not great nor on the same level as the WO5 (my guesswork). Even if Red Bull had Mercedes engine, the Mercedes work factory team would still be leading both championships IMO (although it would be closer).
Also, the fact is that Red Bull are very often the slowest in the speed trap of all the Renault powered teams. This suggests that they run a lot more wing than most other cars, which also (to an extend) flatters their package.
