Spanish GP 2010 - Barcelona

[JohnsonsEvilTwin]

Red Bull 1-2? [-X

Any permutation that could happen will end that!

Rain
Engine
Brakes
Tyres

You name it, if it can go wrong it will! Red Bull will probably win, just not 1-2.
Besides Schumacher is going to finish on the podium. It is written

[PlatinumZealot]

Yeah definitely, the Mercs are looking closer now. I feel a bit for Rosberg though, he had a car that he could do well in, and now he appears to be struggling with it. I hope it's just a basic setup issue.

I have a gut feeling that Rosberg is on a slightly different setup evaluation program. I think Mercedes are capitalising on the practice time to thoroughly evaluate all the new parts. So maybe MSC is on the faster setup. Well who knows, Maybe Shumacher will be slower once more for qualifying.

[JohnsonsEvilTwin]

The Mercedes looked the second best car out there today.

"Looked" is a tiny indication, But from what I could see having watched both sessions is that both Mercs were the same spec but set up to their according drivers.
In terms of outright pace the Red Bulls appear miles ahead, but I could not see wether Vettel or Webber were on options or primes due to the bloody director insisting we watch a Ferrari every time it turns a wheel on track.


Rosberg will be closer if not possibly faster, but the good news is for Schuey fans at least, He looks happy behind the wheel!

[djos]

Red Bull 1-2? [-X

Any permutation that could happen will end that!

Rain
Engine
Brakes
Tyres

You name it, if it can go wrong it will! Red Bull will probably win, just not 1-2.
Besides Schumacher is going to finish on the podium. It is written

RedBull already have 1 RedBull 1,2 for the year so dont discount them! =D>

Btw, Nice to see Schumi's longer wheelbase Merc suiting him better, should be interesting to see what he can do with it from now on.

[PlatinumZealot]

I think it's all psychological for Schumacher. It's not the car. He KNOWS he has to perform good.

[jgredline]

While I have never been a MS fan, it is good to see him doing well today. The gap between him and Rosberg seems really big though. Perhaps Rosberg has the cracked chassis now.

[WhiteBlue]

I think it's all psychological for Schumacher. It's not the car. He KNOWS he has to perform good.

He said that he is happy with the new version of the car. It goes where he wants it to go. That doesn't sound like he had a problem with himself. Rosberg is slower with the new package. This all indicates that Schumacher had a real technical problem with the W01 which is now cured by the improved weight balance of the long wheel base version.

Considering the outright pace the W01 isn't likely to be on a level with Ferrari, Red Bull or McLaren. They still have their active F-duct system coming in later for Turkey.

[siskue2005]

Yeah definitely, the Mercs are looking closer now. I feel a bit for Rosberg though, he had a car that he could do well in, and now he appears to be struggling with it. I hope it's just a basic setup issue.

I have a gut feeling that Rosberg is on a slightly different setup evaluation program. I think Mercedes are capitalising on the practice time to thoroughly evaluate all the new parts. So maybe MSC is on the faster setup. Well who knows, Maybe Shumacher will be slower once more for qualifying.

if you watched the FP 2 session
both MS and NR did 4 laps runs for 2 times
and they both had the same type of tyres in those 4 laps run...
Schumy was clearly faster in both those runs

then they both did 3 or 4 laps simulation after that....thats when Schumy set the fastest lap of 1.20.7

and after that they doth did race simulation for 14 to 15 laps

in short Both did 3 quly laps and 14 to 15 race laps

they both were on same programs, it was clearly obvious

[ISLAMATRON]

speedtv watchers got to see a nice long shot of Alonso driving 1 handed to activate the F-duct... he even crossed his body to change the brake balance with his right hand on the left side... the speedtv announcers did not pick it up though, they thought he was having issues with his left hand, such as an injury, but it was clear he was activating the F-duct system... but it did seem to affect his elbow though as they showed a shot of hm rubbing it outside the car... F1 elbow maybe?

RBR looks strong, So does the new Merc...

The new teams are way off the pace.

SpeedTV also reporting that big nose Bob has signed an option for Ferrari... anyone got any news about that?

[WhiteBlue]

The Red Bull still seems to be the fastest car even without the effing duct.

[siskue2005]

speedtv watchers got to see a nice long shot of Alonso driving 1 handed to activate the F-duct... he even crossed his body to change the brake balance with his right hand on the left side... the speedtv announcers did not pick it up though, they thought he was having issues with his left hand, such as an injury, but it was clear he was activating the F-duct system... but it did seem to affect his elbow though as they showed a shot of hm rubbing it outside the car... F1 elbow maybe?

RBR looks strong, So does the new Merc...

The new teams are way off the pace.

SpeedTV also reporting that big nose Bob has signed an option for Ferrari... anyone got any news about that?

I saw that too
That was some scary stuff, he was activating the f duct with his left hand (the black part on his gloves)...and with that he even changed the Brake balance with his right hand, the steering wheel was without any hand for few seconds

Cant they change the brake balance adjuster to the right side for the next race?

[ArchAngel]

Excerpt/short version of an article from Grandprix.com

Brawn: Michael and Nico ran different programmes
MAY 7, 2010

Mercedes team principal Ross Brawn was happy with progress on the opening day of practice for the Spanish Grand Prix, with Michael Schumacher looking more competitive than he has thus far in 2010 with third quickest time behind the pace-setting Red Bulls. Brawn confirmed, however, that Schumacher and Nico Rosberg, who was seventh, half a second behind, had run different programmes...

"...The drivers ran different programmes today with Nico making some different changes, so tonight we'll put all the packages together and see how we run the cars tomorrow..."

<< Full article here >>

Looks like we'll have to wait at least until after Saturday practice and qualifying before we can be truly certain about Schumacher's progress and return to form.

[ESPImperium]

Any ideas from anyone about the Virgin Chassis numbers??? same as Mercedes??? Thanks.

[WhiteBlue]

Looks like we'll have to wait at least until after Saturday practice and qualifying before we can be truly certain about Schumacher's progress and return to form.

My view is that Nico got lost with the set up as the car is now much tail happier than before. Over night they will be giving him something close to Michael's setup. I expect Nico to be closer to Michael for the rest of the weekend, but hopefully Michael will be leading now that the car is sorted out to his preference. I could even imagine that Nico eventually might go back to the shorter wheel base version.

[ringo]

Shumi is not out of the woods yet. His ability to spit out a really fast quali lap with be most critical. Nico still has the edge in that regard. Though i expect shumacher to outquali Button, barichello, kubica, sutil again and maybe end up fourth row like in Bahrain.
He certainly has his confidence back.