2017 Singapore Grand Prix - Marina Bay, 15-17 September

[Bill_Kar]

Certainly looked a handful that Merc.

I wonder if they are thinking to just completely focus on qualy, try to get as far up as possible and just Trulli Train their way through the race?

I don't know if you coined that term, but it's awesome.

[garyjpaterson]

Certainly looked a handful that Merc.

I wonder if they are thinking to just completely focus on qualy, try to get as far up as possible and just Trulli Train their way through the race?

I don't know if you coined that term, but it's awesome.

Haha, no I didn't coin that term, I've read it in a few places for years!

[godlameroso]

Ok, so my question is really quite simple: were Mercedes running a bigger rear wing than Ferrari at Monza (it's very obvious they were running a bigger one than RB)?

If yes, then we can all draw our own conclusions, but I'm just saying that the video seemed to imply they had trimmed the drag from the rear wing vs. rivals and I don't see that.

But the point is that if the Mercedes car has a lower drag level than Ferrari's, they can afford to run more downforce without losing out on top speed.

The Ferrari might make more total downforce when in Singapore mode than Mercedes but it makes more drag too. At Singapore that isn't a problem because of the nature of the track. They can bolt on the downforce and be quicker in the corners and thus the lap.

At a fast track like Monza, the drag penalty of the Ferrari means they have to run less downforce than Mercedes to maintain a similar top speed on the long straights. They immediately lose out on lap time in that case.

On slow/medium top speed tracks e.g. Monaco, Singapore, Ferrari's philosophy wins because drag isn't an issue as top speeds are low. On higher top speed tracks e.g. Silverstone, Spa, Mercedes's philosophy wins because they can run slightly more downforce without loss of top speed.

The season will be determined, all other things being equal, on which philosophy is better suited to the most number of circuits in the season. Indeed, so well matched are they that the season is likely going to be determined by things like reliability, accidents etc.

Everything is a matter of degree (how much). I have to correct you her though. Ferrari ran more downforce than Mercedes in Monza. Time and time again it was said. Mercedes is more efficient aerodynamically but that does not mean they have to run the same or more downforce... They can run whatever downforce makes them fastest and in Monza that was having less downforce than Ferrari (but good balance under braking from DRS).

I'd imagine the reason Mercedes has better stability with low downforce than Ferrari has, in part, to do with it's wheelbase.

[godlameroso]

This is just FP1, but based on long run times, Mercedes seems to be in trouble. Fight is between the two red bulls and one ferrari (needless to say which one).

http://www.fia.com/file/61426/download?token=nL7sT-_0

Usually what we see in FP1 is fastest race pace lap, what we see in FP2 is ~2 seconds slower than q3 time. Long run FP2 times are what the cars can do at the start of the race, and from start to finish cars improve by ~3 seconds.

[Vasconia]

Red Bull looks very strong here(no surprise) but I guess Mercedes and Ferrari has more power to show. Ferrari looks nowhere right now in FP2...

[oT v1]

Vettel hit the wall apparently, can anybody watching confirm if it was significant??

[f1316]

Thing is, if you look at 2015, Vettel didn't emerge anywhere near the front until FP3 - and Mercedes were strong in FP1.

So you don't know exactly, it depends how you approach your weekend. We've seen Red Bull massively strong on a Friday in Baku and Hungary and then much less strong on a Saturday. I don't think it's wise to jump to as many conclusions as the commentators do on Fridays.

[Restomaniac]

Red Bull look the 'dogs' currently. Surprisingly Ferrari don't look miles ahead of Mercedes. Are Ferrari sandbaging though?

[godlameroso]

Red Bull and Mercedes are practicing with new engines Ferrari is not.

[TAG]

Red Bull and Mercedes are practicing with new engines Ferrari is not.

If that's the case, then they're trying to save as much as they can, those turbos are precious going forward.

[godlameroso]

http://www.fia.com/events/fia-formula-o ... ormation-1

Lap times for fp2 are up. Riccardo was fastest today, and not just the one lap pace, but long run pace looks good as well.

[iotar__]

Red Bull and Mercedes are practicing with new engines Ferrari is not.

- Ferrari loses 2s to Renault powered RB in Singapore because of the engine?
- What about tyres (range) or long runs? I'm fine with any reasons but the gap is still big.

- At least RB is in front of Merc, unless Merc saves the engine because of one race earlier change , the problem is their long runs look OK.

[Sonador]

Verstappen told a reporter that his engine needs a check over, he was losing on the straights.
But Ricciardo looked mighty today, i think he wil battle it out with Vettel come Sunday.

Tasty stuff!

[ripper]

Vettel first time attack was ruined some traffic in T3, in the second one he hitted the wall after doing S1&S2 personal best... We'll see tomorrow anyway

[Phil]

Red Bull look the 'dogs' currently. Surprisingly Ferrari don't look miles ahead of Mercedes. Are Ferrari sandbaging though?

Ferrari looked very strong IMO. Vettels first go was ruined by a Sauber. On that particular lap, he was up on Hamilton (I think) but worse than Ricciardo. I think if he had completed the lap, he would have been just a bit quicker than Hamilton is my estimate.

Honestly, I think RedBull looks extremely strong. Even if Mercedes and Ferrari can turn up more power during QF, doesn't mean they'll gain significantly over what RedBull can do. This isn't a power track. Yes, they will be closer, but at this point, I think RedBull look like the team to beat. Ferrari and Mercedes look close in the hands of Vettel and Hamilton, but not quite on RedBulls level in my opinion.

It's S2 where RedBull has a very big advantage.