2019 Russian Grand Prix - Sochi Autodrom, 27 - 29 September

[McMika98]

U take the cake for the most brainless statement of the day.
Congratulations

No its got some truth to it. Basically the point is he has less responsibilities and distraction and can concentrate on his racing like full time.
Look at Kvyat after having his child, the lack of sleep and eagerness to spend time with family hasnt helped.

[Big Tea]

Any money on Vettel being first after turn 2 or 4? Bottas did that in 2017.

I think about evens with him bringing out a safety car

[LM10]

Mattia seems nervous about the Mercs starting on Mediums, and Toto seems thrilled.

They could have easily done the same, but didn't.

[LM10]

Is it me or does Leclerc look genuinely unhappy about something?

With that long way in to turn 1, I personally would want my teammate to be behind me

Exactly, I'm not so happy about it as well. Really frustrating to have the car to get 1-2, but not managing it at the end. Vettel is in the position of his former teammate right now. Kimi also wasn't a help most of the time last season because he failed to qualify as high as Vettel or gave up places at the start.

[izzy]

Mattia seems nervous about the Mercs starting on Mediums, and Toto seems thrilled.

if the F2 race is anything to go by, you can understand why!

[Bill_Kar]

Mattia seems nervous about the Mercs starting on Mediums, and Toto seems thrilled.

if the F2 race is anything to go by, you can understand why!

What happened?

[LM10]

Ferrari's biggest upgrade, is Leclerc's growing confidence in the car.

I don't think it's his confidence, I think it's that he has nothing to lose. He has no wife, he has no children, and he's realistically out of the championship.

Hamilton also does not have any wife or children and he realistically is champion already (meaning no pressure really), so your point is a bit flawed.

At the beginning of the season, when both were in the championship, Leclerc performed very well too.

[Sevach]

Mattia seems nervous about the Mercs starting on Mediums, and Toto seems thrilled.

if the F2 race is anything to go by, you can understand why!

What happened?

Cars on softer tires dropped off after 4/5 laps.
I wouldn't put much stock into it however, F2 is not a solid enough indicator imo.

Mercedes is obviously going Medium>hard, i'm curious what Ferrari and Verstappen will do, nobody seemed that interested in testing the C2 hards, do they think soft>mediums is doable?

[LM10]

A bit of a surprise for me that Leclerc was second fastest in S3 today, even faster than Max. Only Hamilton beat him by 2 tenths. Seems like Lewis managed the best to keep some life in the tyres for the last sector. Besides Mercedes still having most downforce.

[cooken]

With their apparent race pace advantage Merc can force Ferrari to push a little harder in the opening laps, and if they can't overtake (which is likely due to straight-line advantage) they might force Ferrari to at least pit earlier than they want. They would then have track position in case of SC, or try later race overtake on fresh tyres.

[izzy]

Cars on softer tires dropped off after 4/5 laps.
I wouldn't put much stock into it however, F2 is not a solid enough indicator imo.

Mercedes is obviously going Medium>hard, i'm curious what Ferrari and Verstappen will do, nobody seemed that interested in testing the C2 hards, do they think soft>mediums is doable?

yes 4 laps and it was game over, and yes they're different tyres aren't they but the F1 C4's weren't looking too long distance either, and the Mercedes and Lewis like a harder tyre. So it could get quite interesting, i can imagine Mattia wondering if they've gone the right way. This is what we're depending on anyway, if we're going to have a race

[Big Tea]

I wonder how many teams are hoping for a wet tyre start? Either far enough into the race to complete on one set of dry, or staying damp enough to have to use more than one set of soft?

[LM10]

Seems like Leclerc lost a good amount of time in the last 3 corners, especially at turn 16.

[djones]

I'm pretty sure it will be Ferrari 1-2 within a few straights.

So the potential medium tyre advantage will turn to nothing. Vettel in p2 will be sacrificed and made to stay out while Leclerc has an easy time at the front maintaining a delta.

[siskue2005]

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3UYcI7nRQhc

Seems like Leclerc lost a good amount of time in the last 3 corners, especially at turn 16.

That is coz he used up all his tyres to go fast in sector 1 and 2, it is a trade off