2018 Japanese Grand Prix - Suzuka, 5-7 October

[siskue2005]

Didnt exactly this already hurt them in Singapore?

because all there tyre selection were made long before singapore GP, so they couldnt possibly know the pit falls

[GrandAxe]

Mercedes seems to be stronger with rain but giving the 50 points disavantage, I think Ferrari will be happy if we have a we race.

Mercedes? I think you mean Lewis.

In Germany both Mercedes were being faster than Seb until he crashed. But yes, Hamilton is particularly fast. Anyway as I don´t rate Bottas a great wet driver it was clear that the car itself is good under those conditions.

That's like concluding from that race alone that Sauber is a better car (in the wet) than Force India, just because Leclerc finished ahead of Perez (rather than the driver made the difference). But never mind, lets concentrate on Suzuka.

[godlameroso]

Rain expected all weekend. Chance of rain on Sunday is 60 percent.
http://www.jma.go.jp/en/week/330.html

Also, there's a typhoon on the south of Japan. Who knows if it will hit Japan.
http://www.jma.go.jp/en/typh/

Isn't Suzuka on the south west side of the island? Also don't just focus on rain chance, predicted rainfall amount is just as important. If there's a few cm of rain predicted there's a higher chance the circuit will see rain than if the predicted amount is a few mm.

[designf1]

https://twitter.com/ImanHansra/status/1 ... 0044201984

[Mattchu]

Degner 1+2 in last years pole lap were pretty much perfect, Iv`e just watched it about 15 times

Thanks MtthsMlw for that video. Everyone loves 日本グランプリ

Rain will certainly spice up this race, if its dry I can`t see past a Merc/Ferarri 1,2,3,4 [barring DNF/incidents] in whatever order!
Certainly Bemused by Ferraris tyre choices again, I mean even if the SS is the best/most used tyre they only have one S to test with if they want a fresh one for the race and no M. At least split it between the drivers so the team have one extra of each compound for testing just incase a flat spot or something occurs!

[Vasconia]

Mercedes? I think you mean Lewis.

In Germany both Mercedes were being faster than Seb until he crashed. But yes, Hamilton is particularly fast. Anyway as I don´t rate Bottas a great wet driver it was clear that the car itself is good under those conditions.

That's like concluding from that race alone that Sauber is a better car (in the wet) than Force India, just because Leclerc finished ahead of Perez (rather than the driver made the difference). But never mind, lets concentrate on Suzuka.

My general impression is that the Mercedes can reach a good temperature with they tyres in those conditions, more easily than Ferrari. So, if it rains in Suzuka I expect an advantage for them.


Just an impression. Yes, let´s back to Suzuka.

[godlameroso]

The circuit is so narrow it really feels like a rollercoaster. This track is the closest in terms of circuit characteristics to Sepang, and Silverstone if they were combined into one track and narrowed.

There will be nothing to separate the cars here. It's all mid speed corners, and the ability to carry speed through the corners counts more than outright grunt through 130R, especially in race trim. The main straight is slightly downhill and maximum top speed isn't as important as braking stability for turn 2. The Red Bulls will be much closer in the race because of this, as the Degners Esses and spoon turns will not be as easy with a full tank. Not to mention Dunlop curve is a tire killer.

[Andres125sx]

My favourite track ever!!

It was better when cars were able to chase each other, and specially when 130R was a proper corner where cars couldn´t go flat out, but still my favourite combination of different corners and straights in the calendar

Edit: Felt the need to watch Alonso-Schumacher overtake at 130R again, man I still feel the shock it was when watched it live



From this one it looks easy

[GrandAxe]

https://twitter.com/ImanHansra/status/1 ... 0044201984

30 degrees? I predict suffering for Ferrari. Their extreme number of super softs will do them no good. Of the top three teams, Merc alone seem to have a good tyre choice.
... But then, it could rain, booting all tyre choices out the window.

[f1316]

I don’t think Ferrari’s tyre choice has hurt them at all in the last few races - I think that’s a complete red herring.

In Singapore they chose not to use the soft in race - even though they had a set - not because they lacked running on it but because they aggressively (and mistakenly) thought they could jump Hamilton using US; if they had, they’d have counted on the lack of overtaking possibilities and/or a safety car (which does usually come) to allow Seb to hold on against a faster Hamilton.

In Russia, the plan would have worked fine using th softs to undercut (albeit, would have been better if they’d anticipated Bottas’ stop - as I explain in the Russia race thread) if Vettel hadn’t made a mistake, allowing Hamilton the chance to pass.

So their tyre choice was perfectly fine and I see no reason why it should affect them here; whether they’re fast is a different story but I expect the high amount of on throttle will suit them.

[iotar__]

It's an odd tyre choice, but I don't know if it's painful. Vettel brought one set of softs to Sochi, and he didn't touch them until he made the undercut work. Maybe Ferrari feel that they have done enough testing on the harder tyres?

With all respect, tyre theories are as relevant as big tow theories . IMO it does not matter, it's not a disadvantage for Ferrari to bring one set of the hardest compound.

I like engine cheating stopped and thus power advantage reduced by sensors theories better (AMuS).

[F1Krof]

It's gonna be tough. I expect Red Bull to be at the front or at least on par with those at the front (Ferrari or Merc).

[godlameroso]

Definitely there are a lot of places for RB to claw some time back in the corners. Verstappen was nearly as fast as the Mercedes were in Sector 3 in Sochi, and actually faster in the race.

[BrunoH]

mclaren went for a lot of harder tires... interesting....

[Jolle]

mclaren went for a lot of harder tires... interesting....

Tires are set quite a while back of course, maybe to do a lot of aero testing on Friday?