2022 Spanish Grand Prix - Catalunya, May 20 - 22

[JordanMugen]

I think it’s too early in the season for Ferrari to only focus on Verstappen.

Why ? Red Bull will never hesitate to throw Perez under the bus for Max. If Ferrari wants to win the championship they should focus on Charles, otherwise it will be another 2008.

This! And Mercedes doesn't have a number 1 policy at the moment. If Russell takes the number 1 by mid-season, he will be less of a threat than Max because of the "softer" attitude of Mercedes.

In that case would not Wolff position Hamilton as wingman? The "miracle" 2022 WDC bid -- should they wish to pursue it, which they may not -- would require prioritising points to the team's leading WDC driver, Russell.

[SchuMassa]

Russell having the upper hand over HAM all weekend so far.

[GrizzleBoy]

Uhhhh, what is going on here then........Mercs far outpacing everyone else in Q2???

Edit: ah only merc used new tyres on first run

[Poleman]

Uhhhh, what is going on here then........Mercs far outpacing everyone else in Q2???

To my understanding everyone else was on used softs and Mercs on new,but still holy damn what a turnaround after the 5 past races.

[PlatinumZealot]

It's the temperatures the Mercedes likes hot temperatures this year for some reason. It's the opposite of the previous generations of Mercedes.

[PlatinumZealot]

Haas with no upgrades showing everyone how it's done.

[SchuMassa]

Pretty much back to normal.

[dialtone]

Pretty much back to normal.

I think Merc is a lot closer, just 0.5s is way better than the previous quali gaps.

[PlatinumZealot]

Okaay. Mercedes still half a second away lol.

[SchuMassa]

Okaay. Mercedes still half a second away lol.

At least the hope was there.

[pantherxxx]

Mercedes fixed their porpoising issues and they're still not fighting for poles. I think Ferrari and Red Bull are simply better concepts.

[deadhead]

Why not? If he's on his game it should be possible.

Another unknown are the upgrades. If they make the car more predictable and tenable to Carlos' driving style, I think we could see the intrateam battle change some.

Perhaps, so far this year he hasn't shown he can do it but maybe this is the time to that. I looked at the results from last year, I think Sainz was more comfortable in last year's car than this year, and he still lost in quali, so LEC is not bad around this track.

And yes, very possible the upgrades help him gain confidence, but same goes for the other car?

I think Sainz has much more to gain there in Leclerc. I've seen nothing to suggest Leclerc has any tentativeness in the F1-75 regardless of setup. Sainz, on the other hand, definitely does.

We'll find out pretty shortly.

Seems like those updates made it worse for Sainz... gap seems bigger than it has been thus far

[Sevach]

Monster lap by Charles and under pressure thanks to his previous error.
Red Bull's reliability hitting Max, i wonder if he had that much time in hand...

Mercedes did improve, still not quite there, they'll have a very tough call to make going forward.

[deadhead]

Pretty much back to normal.

I think Merc is a lot closer, just 0.5s is way better than the previous quali gaps.

0.5 from the leading Ferrari.. the other one is very much within reach, same goes for Red Bull

[deadhead]

Mercedes will go very well in Monaco and Hungary as well.. we shall see what happens on the faster tracks