2017 Italian Grand Prix - Monza, 1-3 September

[ripper]

I guess that surpassing here Williams and Force India won't be easy

[PlatinumZealot]

Nah some other reason. Lauda said the order of downforce of the top three is Ferrari then Mercedes then redbull.

Nah, downforce still goes to RedBull then Mercedes = Ferrari. Ferrari mostly relies on traction of the engine and that has caused the lack of speed today. They just couldn't get the corners right.

So Lauda is lying then? I can't see what he would gain. Even Horner corroborated it.

[tomazy]

So with a free tire choise for the race, witch drivers will start on soft tomorrow?

[matt_b]

So with a free tire choise for the race, witch drivers will start on soft tomorrow?

I think the top 10 will start of SS because they will be a brand new set and its a massive run down to turn one and that grip will be very handy, there is not much degradation around this track also. Outside the top 10 I think the Red Bulls will be on the Softs.

[Schuttelberg]

People are going nuts over Lewis' lap but at no point during the weekend did it look like he would qualify anywhere but pole. The scary thing about Lewis is that he makes it look that straight forward and easy! It's a credit to the great champion that he is. I will say it again- I've been a hopelessly big F1 fan since 1994 and I've seen many drivers come and go, but there is not one I remember who's so unbeatable when he's on form. The unfortunate thing for his rivals is that he's on form 8/9 out of 10 days!

I will say one thing though- There is a wave and in my opinion, a desperate attempt by the British press to make this look like a championship between Ferrari and Mercedes and Vettel and Hamilton with equal cars. I think that's a whole lot of rubbish. I think they're even stevens on race day, but Mercedes are miles ahead on Saturdays. Bottas' incompetence and inconsistency mixed with some brilliance from Vettel has masked a few Saturday's.

Tomorrow's race should see Hamilton win at a canter. Unless there's an earthquake or some natural calamity. Vettel needs to be very careful at the start tomorrow. He's got a few inexperienced chaps ahead and a few hot heads just behind him. He himself tends to overdrive when he's in such situations. It's a day that he needs to identify tonight as damage limitation and approach the grand prix with calm. There also seems to be an 'obviousness' about him moving forward tomorrow, but I wouldn't be so sure because I saw free practice on Friday and both Ferrari's looked very nervous on long runs. Plus, the chaps ahead have a Merc donkey in the back and passing those can be quite a handful.

[digitalrurouni]

I think it's harsh to say Bottas is incompetent. It's his first year at Mercedes. If you could argue that at the beginning of the year he seemed to have a decent grasp over the car and seemed like he had the measure of Lewis and was going to be a good competitor for Lewis but that he has slowly started falling behind as the season has progressed then I would agree. I think given the performance of his car he should be consistently ahead of Raikonnen who I must admit has only shown flashes of brilliance this year. Vettel and Hamilton are of course the cream of the crop and I would include the Red Bull drivers in there given then Renault handicap. I am sure Mercedes was hoping Bottas would be close to Rosberg's level of pace but he has not.

[SiLo]

Vettel will have a hard time overtaking Bottas, Ocon and Stroll. I think he should end up 3rd though but he's starting to get into that zone where accidents happen at the first corner.

[zeph]

RBR's penalties are a blessing for Vettel. If those guys were ahead of him, it would be very hard to get on the podium.

[Zynerji]

Great job by Lewis, setting a new record.

Any conspiracy theories about Ocon (merc junior) being told that he is not allowed to challenge Lewis into the first corner?

[Fifty]

Question about rules: since the cars are in park ferme or however you spell it; and tomorrow the weather is supposed to be dry. Won't the suspension set ups be wrong?

Does any conspiracy nuts think that maybe Ferrari sent their cars out on wets but with dry suspension settings so as to have the upper hand tomorrow when its dry?

I don't know if the teams are allowed to change suspension settings if it's going to be dry vs a wet qualifying etc.

Not do I know if it is still calling for a dry race.

Just something for discussion

[garyjpaterson]

Question about rules: since the cars are in park ferme or however you spell it; and tomorrow the weather is supposed to be dry. Won't the suspension set ups be wrong?

Does any conspiracy nuts think that maybe Ferrari sent their cars out on wets but with dry suspension settings so as to have the upper hand tomorrow when its dry?

I don't know if the teams are allowed to change suspension settings if it's going to be dry vs a wet qualifying etc.

Not do I know if it is still calling for a dry race.

Just something for discussion

You're right I think in that they cannot change suspension or setup for tomorrow, but that does not mean their setups are wrong.

What it does mean is every team had to make a compromise, where on the scale are they between full wet setup for quali and full dry setup for race. Chances are most are leaning towards the race, but we won't really know till tomorrow.

Some are suggesting that Ferrari must be on lower downforce in preparation for tomorrow, but I'm not so sure.

[Restomaniac]

Great job by Lewis, setting a new record.

Any conspiracy theories about Ocon (merc junior) being told that he is not allowed to challenge Lewis into the first corner?

Just Ocon and not Stroll in a Mercedes customer car?

[NYGIANTS]

looks like lewis had a dry set up per an interview and ted kravitz video (2:00).

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jIKh03ljE5E

[Zynerji]

Great job by Lewis, setting a new record.

Any conspiracy theories about Ocon (merc junior) being told that he is not allowed to challenge Lewis into the first corner?

Just Ocon and not Stroll in a Mercedes customer car?

Stroll not in line for the 2019 Mercedes seat nor under the Merc junior program (boss Toto).

[Restomaniac]

Great job by Lewis, setting a new record.

Any conspiracy theories about Ocon (merc junior) being told that he is not allowed to challenge Lewis into the first corner?

Just Ocon and not Stroll in a Mercedes customer car?

Stroll not in line for the 2019 Mercedes seat nor under the Merc junior program (boss Toto).

He's in a Merc powered car though. I imagine the 'not getting in the way world title fight' phone call has happened again.