2020 Austrian Grand Prix - Spielberg, 3-5 July

[godlameroso]

It's very close between Mercedes and Verstappen. We still haven't seen the Honda at full power just yet, that's for Q2. There is zero chance the cars are not faster than last year.

[LM10]

RP could be on the 2nd row here when they turn the Mercedes PU up.

The first couple of races will be his only chance to do so. Racing Point's advantage will get smaller and smaller in next weeks and months. Andy Green has already told that they will bring only one upgrade package until the end of the season. Not so surprising though - it's not even their own project.

Hope and sourness?

Sour because?
You know I'm a Ferrari fan. I don't really care about Racing Point and what they might do. If you think I'm afraid of them, you're wrong. Ferrari is probably going to be faster than them today already (with big correlation issues and thus test spec car). If not, then from Hungary on at the latest.

Regarding hope: I've only written what Andy Green had told. No hope, but reality.

[caesar1]

It's very close between Mercedes and Verstappen. We still haven't seen the Honda at full power just yet, that's for Q2. There is zero chance the cars are not faster than last year.

Isn't 3 tenths actually quite a big gap on such a short circuit?

[dans79]

Regarding hope: I've only written what Andy Green had told. No hope, but reality.

And that's as it will be for most teams. The season is currently only eight races, and it's very hard to get upgrade packages shipped out ahead of time when you don't know where to ship them to.

[Wynters]

It's very close between Mercedes and Verstappen. We still haven't seen the Honda at full power just yet, that's for Q2. There is zero chance the cars are not faster than last year.

Isn't 3 tenths actually quite a big gap on such a short circuit?

I think he was refering to Perez and Stroll?

[dans79]

It's very close between Mercedes and Verstappen. We still haven't seen the Honda at full power just yet, that's for Q2. There is zero chance the cars are not faster than last year.

Isn't 3 tenths actually quite a big gap on such a short circuit?

It is, and what's more striking is that Max lost it all in sector 3.

[djones]

It's very close between Mercedes and Verstappen. We still haven't seen the Honda at full power just yet, that's for Q2. There is zero chance the cars are not faster than last year.

But we have also not seen the Mercedes at full power.

Looking at the smiles in their garage I will not be surprised if the gap is 0.5+ to 3rd place.

I would equally not be surprised if a W10 is not sat in 3rd place ahead of a Redbull.

[djones]

It's very close between Mercedes and Verstappen. We still haven't seen the Honda at full power just yet, that's for Q2. There is zero chance the cars are not faster than last year.

But we have also not seen the Mercedes at full power.

Looking at the smiles in their garage I will not be surprised if the gap is 0.5+ to 3rd place.

I would equally not be surprised if a W10 is sat in 3rd place ahead of a Redbull.

[djones]

"It's very close between Mercedes and Verstappen. We still haven't seen the Honda at full power just yet, that's for Q2. There is zero chance the cars are not faster than last year."


But we have also not seen the Mercedes at full power.

Looking at the smiles in their garage I will not be surprised if the gap is 0.5+ to 3rd place.

I would equally not be surprised if a W10 is sat in 3rd place ahead of a Redbull.

[LM10]

Regarding hope: I've only written what Andy Green had told. No hope, but reality.

And that's as it will be for most teams. The season is currently only eight races, and it's very hard to get upgrade packages shipped out ahead of time when you don't know where to ship them to.

Yeah, or: They just don't know how to make that package faster. Their first upgrade package in Austria is even a copy of a later W10 spec.

[djos]

If RP does well in quali, I'd expect another protest from RBR and maybe others.

Concerning Ferrari, they were 0.7s(?) slower than in 2019. Not even one quali simulation, I'd assume.

Problem is there is nothing to protest, teams have been copying each other for decades, even entire car concepts have been copied before. This simply isn’t new or illegal.

Back 20+ years ago RP would have had an out of date engine to keep them in their place.

[Moore77]

It appears that the DAS has given what Hamilton nedded the most. Last year's car had all sorts of issues getting the fronts up to temperature due to which he struggled in qualifying. With DAS providing much needed balance between front and the rear, with which he can now have a good bite at the front and a bit of oversteer at the rear. The result is, he seems like the most comfortable driver.

[TAG]

^ Haha, Horner just confirmed I was right. They need to design their own

Horny spice reporting for duty.

[Moore77]

Regarding hope: I've only written what Andy Green had told. No hope, but reality.

And that's as it will be for most teams. The season is currently only eight races, and it's very hard to get upgrade packages shipped out ahead of time when you don't know where to ship them to.

Yeah, or: They just don't know how to make that package faster. Their first upgrade package in Austria is even a copy of a later W10 spec.

They are a team who have traditionally punched way above their weight. No wonder they have neatly pulled it off. Haas in 2018 looked exact replica of Ferrari 2017, but simply didn't perform like it's original. Toro Rosso kept getting so many parts from the parent team, yet was nowhere near the parent team.
Having designed a replica and making it work is more than 90% work and the upgrading it is the rest 10%. Because the car is working so well, they have clear understanding of what that design is doing and with their proven track record, i won't be surprised if they bolt some really good upgrades.

[godlameroso]

"It's very close between Mercedes and Verstappen. We still haven't seen the Honda at full power just yet, that's for Q2. There is zero chance the cars are not faster than last year."


But we have also not seen the Mercedes at full power.

Looking at the smiles in their garage I will not be surprised if the gap is 0.5+ to 3rd place.

I would equally not be surprised if a W10 is sat in 3rd place ahead of a Redbull.

Hmm, we'll see. It's very easy to lose or gain time in sector 3. The high speed esses and the two downhill right handers, get the entry or exit wrong and there's 2 tenths right there, on ANY of those corners.