Chinese GP 2012 - Shanghai

[myurr]

I am convinced that Mercedes will degrade the car tires again and they won't be able to solve the problem (it requires a full redesign of the car) during the season.

They didn't need a complete redesign of the car last year to get on top of tyre wear. It just took them a really long time.

Hope they can sort it before the last couple of races this time.

[Maelstrom]

I am convinced that Mercedes will degrade the car tires again and they won't be able to solve the problem (it requires a full redesign of the car) during the season.

They didn't need a complete redesign of the car last year to get on top of tyre wear. It just took them a really long time.

Hope they can sort it before the last couple of races this time.

Well... if they don't sort it out soon they can kiss #3 in the WCC goodbye. Hell maybe even #4.

Mclaren & Redbull will definately occupy two of the top three positions and Lotus are strong too. If Ferrari get their issues sorted Mercedes might be left out in the cold.

Then there is Williams and Sauber... yikes.

[ArchAngel]

That grim?? Season's already over for us, huh? Alrighty then. Should we drop this and just start the W04 pre-launch speculation thread instead? There could be mercury, ducts, holes, and God knows wherever it is they plan to put the exhausts and whatever it is they plan to blow next season.

[raymondu999]

Yeesh what is with people and kneejerk reactions?! We've had one dry race and one lottery-based result.

[f1316]

I'm not sure Red Bull are as strong as people think they are - certainly not in qualifying.

I think Webber's looked very strong in patches in the two races, more so than Vettel, but they're a good few tenths off in qualifying and not that blistering in the race.

I think Kimi's got a good chance to fight with the McLaren's in the race. I hope that the Ferrari has made up a few tenths and that we can see a race pace from the Merc that is closer to its qualifying.

[raymondu999]

In qualifying the RB is definitely the 4th best car. Maybe 3rd at best, behind Mercedes, Lotus and the McLarens. But I think maybe the race pace is 2nd best. Not quite up to McLaren's pace; but not too far off. Having said that; Australia is not a very representative circuit; and though Sepang can be considered a good performance benchmark - we can't really say anything of race pace out of the race; because of the conditions.

[Maelstrom]

That grim?? Season's already over for us, huh? Alrighty then. Should we drop this and just start the W04 pre-launch speculation thread instead? There could be mercury, ducts, holes, and God knows wherever it is they plan to put the exhausts and whatever it is they plan to blow next season.

Nah.. didn't mean to sound that way. I just meant that with the teams so close to each other this year Merc has to buck up and score some points lest a big gap open up. So far they are sitting on 1 point to Mclaren's 55, RBR's 42, Ferrari's 35, Sauber's, & Lotus' 16.

So basically 15 away from the fifth placed team and 34 away from the third.

Another few races where they don't score decent points and the competition will pull away. It's just a worrisome factor. Ferrari has a worse car than Merc atm and they are 34 points ahead of Merc. If Merc want 3rd place then they have to start bringing in strong performances. Thats all i'm saying.

Just read this article and apparently Lotus feels that they have a good shot at 3rd place: - http://www.autosport.com/news/report.php/id/98561

[ArchAngel]

Was just kidding.
And I get what you're saying. Posted similar sentiments in the other thread.

...Right now, only a solitary point separates the team from the backmarkers. Merc needs a solid points finish from both drivers in China to at least pull them abreast of the midfielders. Here's hoping the team has already unloaded most of their season quota of misfortunes [-o< and the fates finally start smiling on them...

[godlameroso]

Wet practice 1 and 2, damp practice 3, lottery qualifying with a drying line, perfectly dry race, in what passes for sunny in that part of China, with 21 degree weather and 28 degree track weather, and wind 3m/s NNW.

[Pandabeer]

I hope it does not rain the whole weekend, just to see the real performance from Lotus and Merc. :p

[raymondu999]

Yeah. A nice dry race wkend would be good. See how the teams, given good optimasetup time, will fare in terms of pecking order.

[Paul]

Screw that, let's have a monsoon weekend with no "safety car until the race line is bone dry" nonsense! There will be plenty of dry weekends anyway.

[raymondu999]

If it ends like the last monsoon-affected Chinese Grand Prix I wouldn't mind

[Maelstrom]

If it ends like the last monsoon-affected Chinese Grand Prix I wouldn't mind

Yes... but with a Schumacher victory this time.

[lebesset]

I'm not sure it's 3 weekends - add in shipping time (I think cars get shipped something like 3 or 4 days before FP1) and manufacturing lead times for upgrades

cars went direct there from last race