2019 Australian Grand Prix - Melbourne, March 15-17

[selvam_e2002]

you have to make pressure on opposite team to make mistake. It seems Ferrari with two drivers(Vettel and Lec) are surrendering to Mec so they are not making any mistakes. Hence Mec getting better results compared to Ferrari.

[Ringleheim]

https://twitter.com/F1Statster/status/1 ... 5519233027

Yeah but the cars aren't close to the same this year; they are inherently slower with all the reg changes and by quite a lot.

The fact that the Ferrari clawed all that back to get close to last year's pole time is actually pretty good.

[Swobber]

Anyone Got sector times from last lap from bottas an Hamilton?

[Ringleheim]

Look at this from the bright side.
Alonso is coming back soon.

I wanted him in the car this year next to Vettel! Could have been done IMO.

Alonso in last year's Ferrari = winning driver's championship

[dans79]

The fact that the Ferrari clawed all that back to get close to last year's pole time is actually pretty good.

That begs the question, where did Mercedes find all its extra pace?

I can't possibly see it being just engine upgrades, so they must still have some aero tricks up their sleeves.

[Javert]

Renault quali mode is still not up the job

Let's see race pace vs Honda

[Shrieker]

Hamilton delivers under pressure. Magnificent. He looks more confident than ever.

[tranquility2k4]

If you look RB and Ferrari are close, and midfield is a bit closer to them. The only outlier if you look at it from that perspective is Merc that have left everyone behind. This means Marko misjudged mercedes by around a second thinking they were between them and Haas. I do think the BBC aerdonymacists article about the difference in Merc and Ferrari philipsophies may hold some truth in that Ferrari is easier to balance front to rear but may have less overall peak downforce and potential, hence why Ferrari looked really easy to drive and was ok on a high grip track like Barcelona. They did also seem strong in sector 2 in the high speed, so on a different circuit I think Ferrari would be in the mix. I expect if we went to Barcelona tomorrow Ferrari would be nip and tuck with Merc.

[tranquility2k4]

Another interesting thought - maybe all the hype even convinced Ferrari they were clearly ahead so they didn't bring maybe updates to maximise development time. In that sense Toto played a blinder with his usual politics and smoke and mirrors.

Anyone else annoyed sky F1 only had about 25 minutes of analysis/interviews after qualifying, not even interviewing max for example, then goes to the F1 show which is just a load of random garbage. If they're going to take exclusive rights to show F1 in the UK, they could at least show some decent coverage!!

[djones]

I think the BBC article will show to be true as the races go by.

Also there is talk of Ferrari being this far behind last year...

Yes, but they had a floor issue in Aus holding them back (they dont now and just look confused)

And they had the magic engine mode. Which after FIA clarifications, no longer exists.

This year is very different for them, but in a bad way.

[Fulcrum]

Two trips to the wall for Kubica in one qualifying session. Not a great start.

[thestig84]

Another interesting thought - maybe all the hype even convinced Ferrari they were clearly ahead so they didn't bring maybe updates to maximise development time. In that sense Toto played a blinder with his usual politics and smoke and mirrors.

Anyone else annoyed sky F1 only had about 25 minutes of analysis/interviews after qualifying, not even interviewing max for example, then goes to the F1 show which is just a load of random garbage. If they're going to take exclusive rights to show F1 in the UK, they could at least show some decent coverage!!

Couldnt agree more about Sky coverage. The worst post session coverage I have EVER seen! we had 2 rushed driver interviews, 1 lap replay and then the F1show which consisted of embarrassing 2 drivers with blindfolds and talking about who to get stuck in a lift with Karun who is ultra boring. Utter garbage

[NathanOlder]

You will get a proper analysis tomorrow in the pre race build up. Shame there's no teds notebook for the qualy like usual.

[tranquility2k4]

I think the BBC article will show to be true as the races go by.

Also there is talk of Ferrari being this far behind last year...

Yes, but they had a floor issue in Aus holding them back (they dont now and just look confused)

And they had the magic engine mode. Which after FIA clarifications, no longer exists.

This year is very different for them, but in a bad way.

You're right, they came back in Bahrain much stronger and last year I don't think Merc were that far ahead in Melbourne, I think Lewis just did one of his mega laps, they were all very even up until then in qualifying, plus quite even in the race,whereas this year throughout the entire weekend on long and short runs Merc look dominant. Regarding the BBC article, maybe Ferrari went for easy option to have a well balanced car, whereas Merc took more difficult option with more potential and have mastered it already with their wealth of resource. I am intrigued as to who the engineer is who wrote that article because they seemed quite bias towards that approach, I can only think it's someone from Merc or RB as pretty much everyone else has gone other way and I don't see why a leading aero guy would be talking up that philosophy so much if their own team isn't using it?

One final point - Renault and Honda would appear closer to the top engines, I'd really like to see some proper analysis of this. I wonder how much RB are losing due to their most expensive and best car ever as Marko put it, and how much is Honda.

[falonso81]

I thought Bottas had this pole today. I hope he didnt get the usual Valtteri, this is James radio message before his 2nd run.