2018 Bahrain Grand Prix - Sakhir, April 6-8

[f1316]

I’ve read some of the race commentary implying that Vettel’s stint shows Ferrari is again ‘lighter’ on its tyres than the Mercedes - I think that’s a flawed reading.

I do think it’s very likely that Mercedes puts more load on them - likely meaning they were slightly overheating the rears in quali - but they were actually managing their tyres better in the race; at the end of the first stint, both Ferraris were dropping off the pace significantly - this is what forced them into an earlier stop (since Bottas was in undercut range), triggering the tactical upper hand for Mercedes.

So I think it was quite clear that the Mercedes, in those conditions at least, was getting good life out of the tyres. It’s just a guess, but I wonder if, as the temperature drops, putting more heat through the tyres turned into a positive as it allowed them to keep the tyres in range.

[NathanOlder]

Exactly. His start was one of the best, but got crowded out by Kmag.

- You end up where you started (in the close 2nd best car) = one of the best starts . Someone who started in front is quicker and "blocks you" = bad luck I guess

- Anyway, how was Hulkenberg pushing off Magnussen clean racing? Look where and how (speed, angle) he started cutting, that's not the way to take this corner, it was no different to Hartley-Perez.

It all depends what you call "the start" for me its from the grid to the braking zone at T1. The rest is lap 1 for me.
And the start saw Lewis fly past 2 cars and have a good run at a 3rd. Having the best car means jack @@@@ at the start, come on man you should know that. The Merc doesnt launch any better than the others.

[f1316]

On another note, I really think Red Bull might well have won that race - particularly if they had both cars qualify where they naturally would have (5th, 6th).

The strategic battle would have been mind-boggling - I suspect someone (other than Kimi who didn’t get to complete it) would have been pushed into a two stop.

Anyway, bodes well for China, although I suspect - unless Ferrari get a boost from better understanding their car with the mooted new floor - Mercedes will have a reasonable margin again.

[George-Jung]

Exactly. His start was one of the best, but got crowded out by Kmag.

- You end up where you started (in the close 2nd best car) = one of the best starts . Someone who started in front is quicker and "blocks you" = bad luck I guess

- Anyway, how was Hulkenberg pushing off Magnussen clean racing? Look where and how (speed, angle) he started cutting, that's not the way to take this corner, it was no different to Hartley-Perez.

It all depends what you call "the start" for me its from the grid to the braking zone at T1. The rest is lap 1 for me.
And the start saw Lewis fly past 2 cars and have a good run at a 3rd. Having the best car means jack @@@@ at the start, come on man you should know that. The Merc doesnt launch any better than the others.

Hamilton did already loose those 2 places he gained from the launch, before T1..

[Vasconia]

I’ve read some of the race commentary implying that Vettel’s stint shows Ferrari is again ‘lighter’ on its tyres than the Mercedes - I think that’s a flawed reading.

I do think it’s very likely that Mercedes puts more load on them - likely meaning they were slightly overheating the rears in quali - but they were actually managing their tyres better in the race; at the end of the first stint, both Ferraris were dropping off the pace significantly - this is what forced them into an earlier stop (since Bottas was in undercut range), triggering the tactical upper hand for Mercedes.

So I think it was quite clear that the Mercedes, in those conditions at least, was getting good life out of the tyres. It’s just a guess, but I wonder if, as the temperature drops, putting more heat through the tyres turned into a positive as it allowed them to keep the tyres in range.

Mercedes managed both tyres very well and they had at least equal pace to Ferrari, its pretty clear to me because Bottas was closer at the end of the stint.

[Vettel165]

On another note, I really think Red Bull might well have won that race - particularly if they had both cars qualify where they naturally would have (5th, 6th).

The strategic battle would have been mind-boggling - I suspect someone (other than Kimi who didn’t get to complete it) would have been pushed into a two stop.

Anyway, bodes well for China, although I suspect - unless Ferrari get a boost from better understanding their car with the mooted new floor - Mercedes will have a reasonable margin again.

I think Red Bull would have no chance against Ferrari, Mercedes yesterday. They (Mercedes, Ferrari) were more and less equal on race pace, Vettel was saving his soft tyres from lap 19 on. Its all tyres, Mercedes prefers the mediums more than Ferrari, Ferrari was slightly faster on SS than Mercedes in Bottas hands. Looking good for Ferrari, hope our brand new floor for China, which should further improve rear-stability works. Ferrari managed to get pole position on a pure (engine) track with amazing top speed at the end of the straights. Low Drag+high rake combination looks like it is working, all Ferrari needs to do now is to further improve the car and the setups for every GP like Seb said. And of course fix all the problems in the pits, and stay reliable. That long-wheel based car has got much more potential to unlock than the last years Ferrari. Even last year they were 0,4s down on the pole man in Bahrain.

Remember that the Q3 tyres will be US for China gp, this might play into Ferrari hands. And Mercedes usually hates the SS,US tyres more than Ferrari.

Mercedes will bring their updates for the Barcelona GP, James Allison effect might be there, he usually brought just maybe 2-3 big updates per year when he was in our (Ferrari) team. But last 2 years we are bringing some small pieces nearly every GP, which I find much better.

Forza Ferrari,Vettel,Kimi. I hope that the mechanic Francesco quicly recovers.

[Vasconia]

I don't know why everybody praises what Seb told at the press conference regarding what Hamilton said about Max.First it was not adrenalin it happened after the race and this analogy that if you could hear what football players say is ridiculous.

Fustration and anger can last more than a couple of minutes so I can understand(but not back) what Lewis said. I think Vettel reaction was great because it ended a potential controversy which was stupid. It was an exciting race and there many things to talk about instead of feeding an artificial controversy.

[LM10]

I’ve read some of the race commentary implying that Vettel’s stint shows Ferrari is again ‘lighter’ on its tyres than the Mercedes - I think that’s a flawed reading.

I do think it’s very likely that Mercedes puts more load on them - likely meaning they were slightly overheating the rears in quali - but they were actually managing their tyres better in the race; at the end of the first stint, both Ferraris were dropping off the pace significantly - this is what forced them into an earlier stop (since Bottas was in undercut range), triggering the tactical upper hand for Mercedes.

So I think it was quite clear that the Mercedes, in those conditions at least, was getting good life out of the tyres. It’s just a guess, but I wonder if, as the temperature drops, putting more heat through the tyres turned into a positive as it allowed them to keep the tyres in range.

Mercedes managed both tyres very well and they had at least equal pace to Ferrari, its pretty clear to me because Bottas was closer at the end of the stint.

Considering Mercedes did set up the car more for the race and less for qualifying (according to one of their engineers), it was not a bad job from Ferrari (especially second stint of Vettel).

In the first stint Vettel was at least 2 tenths of a second per lap faster until lap 11. In laps 12, 13 and 14 they both did same times and for the following 3 laps Bottas was faster. Then Vettel pitted. Bottas stayed out, but his times started dropping too. You can tell he came to about the same level as Vettel more or less 4 laps after him.

Here is a nice link to look at all lap times and compare drivers:

http://en.mclarenf-1.com/index.php?page ... i%20Bottas

[dans79]

Hamilton did already loose those 2 places he gained from the launch, before T1..

Better to loose them to caution than crash out. That's something Max still hasn't learned!

[marvin78]

As I often said before: He should have done more time in Formula 3, GP2 etc. Than he would have learned these things early enough. Could be, that he does not learn them in F1 because he get's this hype and not the right support. He is a very fast driver but with this type of racing he will always loose Championchips.

[Starscreamer]

As I often said before: He should have done more time in Formula 3, GP2 etc. Than he would have learned these things early enough. Could be, that he does not learn them in F1 because he get's this hype and not the right support. He is a very fast driver but with this type of racing he will always loose Championchips.

????
3x win and need something to learn?
Maybe Max was to aggressive but in my opinion Hamilton doesn't give him room.
Typical a race incident.

[marvin78]

Yes. He has to learn very much. As said by others above: You can win races with this talent. but not one championchip with this type of headless driving in the first laps of a race. This was not the first incident. In my opinion, the things VER get's hyped for, are the things that make him weak. And as we can see, he does not learn. The other one is the bad guy. Every time. That may be in some occasions but there are times where you have to hold back.

And my opinion about VER is, that he es a strong talent and has nearly everything for a champion BUT if he spent more time in the other classes, he would be a better driver.

[Vasconia]

One interesting point ist that after four seasons where Mercedes has a qualy dominance and also being fast on Sundays, only that sometimes ferrari was faster, we face a race where Ferrari was faster on qualy but not during the race, its pretty curious if you ask me

Ferrari had everything under control until that unfortunate stop for Kimi. Seb had a lot of pace, those tyres were off the cliff, but he managed to defend. If that car was as fast as Merc, he would have Hamilton on his back by the end of lap 57.

Well, if Hamilton would have driven faster some laps before he could have reached Sebastian. Plus, Bottas was only 2 seconds behind Sebastian at the end of the first stint, taking into account that Sebastian is a better driver I reach to the conclusion that the Mercedes was slightly faster.

[djos]

Congrats to vettel. Great racecraft there.
Bottas was useless. Lewis would had had Vettel in a few laps. It was on a platter and Bottas wasted it.

Great drives by Gasly and Alonso. Makes you wonder what's making up the perfromance, the Toro Roso chassis or Honda engine?

Totally agree on all points.

Bottas is continuing to be far too slow and passive, if he keeps this up Mercedes will not have to think too hard about replacing him with Ricciardo.

[Vasconia]

Considering Mercedes did set up the car more for the race and less for qualifying (according to one of their engineers), it was not a bad job from Ferrari (especially second stint of Vettel).

In the first stint Vettel was at least 2 tenths of a second per lap faster until lap 11. In laps 12, 13 and 14 they both did same times and for the following 3 laps Bottas was faster. Then Vettel pitted. Bottas stayed out, but his times started dropping too. You can tell he came to about the same level as Vettel more or less 4 laps after him.

Here is a nice link to look at all lap times and compare drivers:

http://en.mclarenf-1.com/index.php?page ... i%20Bottas

Thanks for the info. Yes, he was slighly faster but as I consider Vettel faster than Bottas I think Mercedes had at least similar, if not better, pace.