ringo wrote: ↑27 Aug 2022, 23:50
For the tyres, it could be suspension geometry and setup. They setup the car for less tyre wear to have a better average speed over the race distance.
I think this simply is a bandaid for poor ultimate pace. For example if they are 0.5 seconds a lap slower than the redbull, but gain 0.1 second per lap as the tyres degrade and the car gets slower. And if the redbull gains 0.2 seconds per lap from tyre deg... Then at some point, after a number of laps, there will be a cross over point where the mercedes is the faster car simply because it has preserved lap time better.
Say in this case after 7 laps, the mercedes should be in touching distance.
So they have a setup that wears the tyres less, but that setup also would mean less energy goes into the tyres during cornering, so qualifying suffers. That's my take on it; very simple take.
I cannot answer the drag question though. I am awaiting the team's explanation after the season is over.
THIS!
I fully agree with you Ringo!
Since day 1 of this season, they choose to setup the car bearing in mind that they are the 3rd team on pure race pace, hence they`ll have better chances when they nurse the tyres in the race
Only in Hungary gambled with RUS with a setup more towards qualy and we know what happened: his car just ate the tyres quickly!
Here, I think they are back to old habits and my proof is that in Q2 both drivers went on used soft tyres and on the second hot lap they did better S2 times than they did in Q3 with new ones... that means to me that there is no load/energy in the tyres hence they set it up the car for to be kinder on them to maybe (who knows) be able to do an M-H 1 stop race, now that the track is warmer ... this strategy is equal fastest with the S-M-S 2 stop strategy, as Pirelli predicted, btw ...
Anyway, it`ll be interesting to see how they perform in the race bearing in mind that in France, Hungary and here they use the same C2, C3 and C4 tyres, with temperatures very much the same as in Hungary, although it`s the opposite type of track regarding downforce level required ...