FP2
Given the track has such low degradation, I could see the teams trying to one stop. It will all come down to how well you can get and keep heat in the tires!
The past few weekends show that this is not correct. Delta between Friday and ultimate pace on Saturday has been greater for Merc than Ferrari over the last 4-5 GPs. Not saying that this means Ferrari is legitimately 6 tenths down, but the notion that Ferrari is anymore detuned than Mercedes hasn't been true recently, though it was at the beginning of the season.godlameroso wrote: ↑28 Sep 2018, 15:16Not at all. Ferrari traditionally runs the engine de-tuned on Fridays, Mercedes not so much. The long runs paints things much closer, although if Hamilton pulls one of those magic laps there's no stopping him. When they turn it up tomorrow Ferrari will instantly gain 1.5 seconds.
Luckily setup is sometimes you can improve, if the car was perfect balanced and a lot slower, that would be even more worrisome. I guess GIO is on the first flight to Maranelllo to work the sim.mkay wrote: ↑28 Sep 2018, 17:09The past few weekends show that this is not correct. Delta between Friday and ultimate pace on Saturday has been greater for Merc than Ferrari over the last 4-5 GPs. Not saying that this means Ferrari is legitimately 6 tenths down, but the notion that Ferrari is anymore detuned than Mercedes hasn't been true recently, though it was at the beginning of the season.godlameroso wrote: ↑28 Sep 2018, 15:16Not at all. Ferrari traditionally runs the engine de-tuned on Fridays, Mercedes not so much. The long runs paints things much closer, although if Hamilton pulls one of those magic laps there's no stopping him. When they turn it up tomorrow Ferrari will instantly gain 1.5 seconds.
Ferrari clearly struggling set up wise, though... that was clear.
If Merc locks out the front row, I think it will be hard to get a good tow. Unlike earlier in the year I don't think Merc has any problems sacrificing Bottas to help Lewis.
All it would take is a slight lift, or an intentional sub optimal shift. Think Hamilton & Vettel at Spa last year, Vettel was to close and had to pull out of the tow to early to really benefit from it.Phil wrote: ↑28 Sep 2018, 18:01How so? Even if both Mercs drive side by side, the track is wide enough to get enough tow and pass. The Ferrari has already demonstrated that they have something in the mid-speed range where they can significantly boost performance. Bottas overtook 2 Ferraris last year to get into the lead by T2...
"Obviously we looked quite far away from the rest of the field, so [it's] not ideal. I think struggling a bit for one lap pace, but also in the long runs," Vettel said.
"I think we went through our tyres a bit harder and quicker than the rest, so we need to have a look. But also just looking at ourselves, it wasn't a good day in terms of feel for the car. I think there’s more that we need to go to."
What worked at Spa, worked because the place where Hamilton lifted is the narrow section heading into/up Eau Rouge. This caused Seb to lift as well - or be too close, which then compromised his run down the Kemmel straight. This was also in 2017 when Mercedes arguably had an engine advantage (and they were running less wing than Ferrari). From what I can tell, this wouldn't be possible here, the track is just too wide.
If they can change totally the set-up and find a lot of pace we may have a good race, if not, it doesn´t look at all. They are slower and they don´t manage the tyres very well. What the hell is goind on with Ferrari?dans79 wrote: ↑28 Sep 2018, 18:13Vettel on FP2
https://www.crash.net/f1/news/906326/1/ ... g-do-sochi
"Obviously we looked quite far away from the rest of the field, so [it's] not ideal. I think struggling a bit for one lap pace, but also in the long runs," Vettel said."I think we went through our tyres a bit harder and quicker than the rest, so we need to have a look. But also just looking at ourselves, it wasn't a good day in terms of feel for the car. I think there’s more that we need to go to."