ringo wrote: ↑15 Nov 2017, 00:38
Ferrari will be fine next year. I think it's nonsense to say vettel missed his one and only chance.
Why do people think the mercedes team is so invincible?
I actually see their car much weaker than it has ever been since 2014. The chassis is not the best and the power gap is basically down to a qualifying trick.
Ferrari engine is basically equal now and may well be superior next year. You never know.
The trick ban caused Mercedes a problem they have struggled with all season. What happens in 2018 when Red Bull can run into a season from the start and Mercedes make a car that hasn't got a big black hole in the front of it? That is why this was Ferrari's best chance as the other members of the 'big 3' where on the back foot from the start. Yet still Ferrari couldn't do the job.
While Ferrari were able to cruise into the season Mercedes and Red Bull (More Mercedes due to their cars build style) had to start frantically figuring out how to make their car work with a major detail removed.
Yet still Mercedes have done it again. This time they HAVE done something that no other team have ever been able to do. That is retain a WCC through a major reg change and they did it rather easily.
It's clear they cannot fix their trick problem as they are going to shorten and increase rake for 2018 bringing them more in line with Red Bull and Ferrari.
It's funny you should mention the Ferrari engine. Numerous reports say the reason they left it so late to introduce then new spec was because they couldn't solve the oil burning issue. Their way to solve it? Increase the combustion until stuff starts to break to the point that they have had to roll it back somewhat to make it more stable. That's not going to go well long term.
Let's us look at this last weekend. Without their best driver Mercedes still stuck it on pole with Vettel having the far fresher engine. Now bear in mind that Hamilton is normally around 2/3 tenths faster that Bottas. That puts him at least 3 tenths faster that Vettel. The Mererces PU seems bulletproof something that cannot be said of the Ferrari PU. None of that screams that the 2 PUs are the same.