munudeges wrote:xpensive wrote:marcush. wrote:Brawn said they fell out of the working window for the tyres due to ambient temps ...so there is hope for malaysia?
The xecutive of xcuses has spoken yet again, wonder if anyone got hurt falling out of that window, sounds a bit scary?
Well, to be fair (and I think this team has had more than a fair chance) we need to see the car at other circuits, but given that other circuits are much hotter than Melbourne was today and tyre wear is likely to be higher... it doesn't look great. I don't see how Malaysia will improve things to be honest.
What Ross said might well be true, but what's inexcusable would be the design & engineering group's repeated inability to get to grips with the car's tyre degradation issues.
The team probably quietly fancied their chances in qualy, and set the cars up accordingly. They may have hoped to get in front of the Maccas and delay them from disappearing into the distance too soon, thinking that a late SC period could then bring the race back within their reach. Nico's Q3 mistake clearly cost him a top 3 spot. Bar for the opening lap muggings the Mercs dealt GRO, VET & WEB, it was plain to see during the race that both cars were no longer quite as fast as the potential they showed during qualy, regardless of any FW/RW/DRS magic they may have used back then. (Consequently, I expect them to take a less aggressive approach to qualy in Malaysia in lieu of a race setup that would allow them to finish the race strongly and collect precious points.)
It's possible that this qualy-biased setup caused Nico to fade badly in the race. Still, Schumi 'struggled' better with the setup & tyres and could've gone on to finish inside the top 5, if not for his car's flukey gearbox:
MSC wrote:"I was trying different gears and occasionally the drive came back, but in the end, I had to go onto the grass to avoid the risk of the car being forced into a spin."
There's still hope for the remainder of the season. For as Brawn himself mentioned during winter testing, the organization is now better positioned to react to unfolding situations and develop the car accordingly throughout the season.