2018 Australian Grand Prix - Melbourne, 22 -25 March

[dans79]

Kimi was often a bit faster this weekend. Don’t forget, there are mere hundreds of a second between 1 2 3.

Last time I checked, +0.6 is not "mere hundred of a second".

[Sieper]

Sorry, 2 3 and 4.

[Sieper]

Interesting comparison

https://i.redd.it/ogl3cy0qxon01.png

That looks a bit like Ferrari underperforming. You’d expect more than 0.6 improvement in a year.

That depends, getting more HP is becomming more and more difficult now we have breached the 1000hp with the current spec.

[the EDGE]

Interesting comparison

https://i.redd.it/ogl3cy0qxon01.png

That would look great on a graph plotted race by race

[ripper]

So... in a incident free race tomorrow RB will try to do a 1 stop race with SS-S, what will MER and FER do? Will they try a US-S race or US won't last long and they will have to do a two stops race?

[Fulcrum]

I'd imagine Ferrari and Mercedes are almost certainly 2 stopping. US -> SS -> US; US -> US -> SS; US -> US -> S

Red Bull will have to see how long the Supersoft tyres last, but the only realistic 1 stop option for them would be SS -> S.

The key components of the race being, can they remain within 1 pitstop distance before the first set of pitstops (I say they can), and can they retain track position when Ferrari and Mercedes pit a second time. Hamilton will have cleared them, but I think Raikkonen will come out behind the Bulls, which should make the final stages interesting.

[RZS10]

So we get the result anyone who looked at the times from testing without any bias would have expected and which disillusioned those who thought the Ferrari glory runs were worth anything and this thread (and others on the forum) erupt in the usual "oil burning" theories how Merc is not being hindered by the rules from doing so whilst the FIA managed to stop Ferrari from burning oil blablabla ... seriously this forum is only worth reading early on when the cars are presented, when most are trying to find special technical details on the cars or when someone puts in the time to analyze details like the Ferrari mirrors but once we get to the races the usual suspects and trolls come out of the woodwork to take a huge dump in the race threads which do not have the rating system in place

It's funny how the quali result reflects the AMuS pre-season ranking (on the right)

Verstappen could have beaten Ferrari but they're very close either way ... 4,5,6,7 are spot on - i guess Stroll and Sirotkin had a very good/bad lap respectively, same goes for Hartley or at least Gasly

[dans79]

Pole lap!

[The_table]

Not sure if this is relevant but i saw a few people complaining about the new graphics (Not here), i personally like them, the "driver in danger" thingy was a cool addition.

So if VES hadn't made his mistake it would have been HAM,RAI,VES, I'd say that's quite good news for the championship?

[Sieper]

So we get the result anyone who looked at the times from testing without any bias would have expected and which disillusioned those who thought the Ferrari glory runs were worth anything and this thread (and others on the forum) erupt in the usual "oil burning" theories how Merc is not being hindered by the rules from doing so whilst the FIA managed to stop Ferrari from burning oil blablabla ... seriously this forum is only worth reading early on when the cars are presented, when most are trying to find special technical details on the cars or when someone puts in the time to analyze details like the Ferrari mirrors but once we get to the races the usual suspects and trolls come out of the woodwork to take a huge dump in the race threads which do not have the rating system in place

It's funny how the quali result reflects the AMuS pre-season ranking (on the right)

Verstappen could have beaten Ferrari but they're very close either way ... 4,5,6,7 are spot on - i guess Stroll and Sirotkin had a very good/bad lap respectively, same goes for Hartley or at least Gasly

https://i.imgur.com/gJutkL3.png

Hamilton himself said the Ferrari pace surprised him a bit, there was also the news of Ferrari having found 10kw in the engine performance between winter tests and now.

“Taking a huge dump” sounds a bit condescending, just argue the facts Instead of the person, please

[dans79]

“Taking a huge dump” sounds a bit condescending, just argue the facts Instead of the person, please

Youn have no room to talk, as you have posted a liteny of "oil burn" claims without a gram of proof to back it up.

[foxmulder_ms]

Now, I am pleased with Renault.. this is more like it.

Hamilton delivered.

Bottas botched it.

Raikkonen started great.

Honda was less than what I expected but I cannot help but blame driver lineup of Torrorosso.



One thing surprised me: Redbull can really develop their time between S3-S2-S1 but Renault cannot so Redbull sandbagging in first 2 sessions it is not about engine modes, I guess. Sainz 1:23.06 was really good though.

[TAG]

"I was waiting to put a good lap in to wipe the smile off your face. " -L Hamilton. I think Vettel should be worried more about beating his teammate than Mercedes' party mode.

[DiogoBrand]

Not sure if this is relevant but i saw a few people complaining about the new graphics (Not here), i personally like them, the "driver in danger" thingy was a cool addition.

So if VES hadn't made his mistake it would have been HAM,RAI,VES, I'd say that's quite good news for the championship?

I'm the first to admit when I'm wrong. Last year when they presented the new logo and fonts I just found them awful. Watching FP3 and Qualifying today I was amazed by every detail: The Purple Sector animation, the little red line 2 minutes before end of session, the fonts, the team logos, the colors, the graph showing the fastest driver after the end of practice.
Now that I'm seeing the route Liberty Media is taking, giving us free live timing from practice, the new graphics, logo and theme song, I'm quite enjoying their attempt of creating entertainment from Formula 1, I think they may be on the right path to attract new fans. Now it's only a matter of making the right rule changes to make the sport more entertaining and attract a wider public.

As for Qualy: Ferrari, Toro Rosso and Honda fans must be feeling a little frustrated after all the hype from pre-season.

[DiogoBrand]

Now, I am pleased with Renault.. this is more like it.

Hamilton delivered.

Bottas botched it.

Raikkonen started great.

Honda was less than what I expected but I cannot help but blame driver lineup of Torrorosso.



One thing surprised me: Redbull can really develop their time between S3-S2-S1 but Renault cannot so Redbull sandbagging in first 2 sessions it is not about engine modes, I guess. Sainz 1:23.06 was really good though.

That doesn't mean they don't have a qualifying mode, it may mean that Renault is using it in Q2 rather than just Q3, kind of like Mercedes' customer teams, that do have the qualifying mode, but since they have to use all throughout qualifying it doesn't show. Also, Red Bull did Q2 in SS tyres, so it's only logical that they would improve for Q3.