2018 Spanish Grand Prix - Catalunya, May 11-13

[GPR-A duplicate2]

On a track that demands a great chassis and aero, W09 seems to be fastest when the tyres get in sync with the car. Bottas being so close when Hamilton takes a pole means the car the stable and predictable. There were times when Lewis takes pole, but Bottas would have been struggling and out of top 3, which is more about driving getting the best out of the car to get pole.

So, IF Mercedes get their act right with tyres, then they have a fastest car.

Finally, a season worth watching from a competitive landscape perspective. Champion drivers on almost equal package!

[Wynters]

Sure.
Here you are an example of how Mercedes did their homework in the past:
https://www.reuters.com/article/us-moto ... JL20130621

If I were a Ferrari fan I'd be extremely careful of bringing up incidents from the past of teams benefitting from dubious things. Extremely.

I'd also be interested if you could point to the evidence of Mercedes being slow here during testing? If the tyres are the only thing which dictate pace then they should've been clearly behind Ferrari all through the winter. It'd be really odd if they were faster than Ferrari over winter testing and, say, at Australia and Bahrain (which also featured Super Softs).

Surprised by the Mercs on pole. Can't help but feel Vettel had a bit more time in the car that he could've unlocked on his first run. Also surprised people were messing about on Softs on the last Q3 run. Track evolution and wind conditions could easily explain any gains and they've blown another set for the race. Whilst I expect S/M as the strategy if there is one thing this season has proved it's that it's follish not to have an option in the event of a safety car.

[Xwang]

The point is that it is highly probable, if not sure, that without the tailored tyres made to cure their specific overheat problem, Mercedes would have had a lot more problems in "get their act right with tyres".
So they are simply cheating IMHO.

[GPR-A duplicate2]

--- Just because Merc brought little visible upgrades doesnt mean they didnt do their homework. ...

Sure.
Here you are an example of how Mercedes did their homework in the past:
https://www.reuters.com/article/us-moto ... JL20130621

Without this, you wouldn't be even talking.
RED BULL ACCUSES MERCEDES OF HELPING FERRARI IN FORMULA ONE

https://www.grandprix247.com/2015/04/24 ... d-ferrari/

Sport Bild suggests Mercedes may even have slowed its own development programme over the winter, and recommended that Ferrari sign up its hybrid specialist Wolf Zimmermann.

[nirvaand]

No rain tomorrow afternoon unfortunately. But it'll be interesting to see how much have they closed the gap in terms of dry race pace. My guess is it's around 0.6 s now (around 1 s before Spain). It's going to be critical for Fernando to get a good start tomorrow, don't want to get stuck behind the Haas. But he'll have to be careful too, starting close to KMag and Max.

[Ground Effect]

I so hope it's a wet race. Or at least wet half of the race. They're blisteringly quick in the wet

They were blistering quick in the wet in pre-season and FP3 in Melbourne. I hope this upgraded package hasn't compromised that.... You never know...

[Just_a_fan]

--- Just because Merc brought little visible upgrades doesnt mean they didnt do their homework. ...

Sure.
Here you are an example of how Mercedes did their homework in the past:
https://www.reuters.com/article/us-moto ... JL20130621

2013? That helped them today, did it?

Ferrari aren't innocent of being naughty in the past either...

[foxmulder_ms]

So the illegal looking wing mirrors are actually illegal.

Why would Ferrari try such an obviously illegal looking thing if it actually was illegal? Would have just been a waste of time.
It most possibly was not illegal, but FIA changed it afterwards, like they always do. A bit ridiculous.

I remember from the testing that nothing longer than 1cm can be attached to halo from ted's notebook. So I always though winglets like Ferrari did is illegal.

[LM10]

On a track that demands a great chassis and aero, W09 seems to be fastest when the tyres get in sync with the car. Bottas being so close when Hamilton takes a pole means the car the stable and predictable. There were times when Lewis takes pole, but Bottas would have been struggling and out of top 3, which is more about driving getting the best out of the car to get pole.

So, IF Mercedes get their act right with tyres, then they have a fastest car.

Finally, a season worth watching from a competitive landscape perspective. Champion drivers on almost equal package!

Vettel was on Softs just 1 tenth slower than Hamilton on working Supersofts. A bit tricky to tell that Mercedes is the fastest car when both were on different tyres.

[cplchanb]

--- Just because Merc brought little visible upgrades doesnt mean they didnt do their homework. ...

Sure.
Here you are an example of how Mercedes did their homework in the past:
https://www.reuters.com/article/us-moto ... JL20130621

wow....are you seriously trying to bring up something from 5 years ago just to squeeze out an argument...What about Ferrari and their "auxillary" oil tank... that was only last year. If youre going to argue about that please justify how Ferrari went from 2nd fastest in Aus to outright fastest the next race. Face it... over the course of 1 lap Merc is just faster today.

[GPR-A duplicate2]

On a track that demands a great chassis and aero, W09 seems to be fastest when the tyres get in sync with the car. Bottas being so close when Hamilton takes a pole means the car the stable and predictable. There were times when Lewis takes pole, but Bottas would have been struggling and out of top 3, which is more about driving getting the best out of the car to get pole.

So, IF Mercedes get their act right with tyres, then they have a fastest car.

Finally, a season worth watching from a competitive landscape perspective. Champion drivers on almost equal package!

Vettel was on Softs just 1 tenth slower than Hamilton on working Supersofts. A bit tricky to tell that Mercedes is the fastest car when both were on different tyres.

At the beginning of this weekend, there a wide expectation that Mercedes would rely heavily on Softs, due to their tyre choices. Look where things stand!

[Xwang]

--- Just because Merc brought little visible upgrades doesnt mean they didnt do their homework. ...

Sure.
Here you are an example of how Mercedes did their homework in the past:
https://www.reuters.com/article/us-moto ... JL20130621

Without this, you wouldn't be even talking.
RED BULL ACCUSES MERCEDES OF HELPING FERRARI IN FORMULA ONE

The "accuses" of Red Bull have no meaning.
We are speaking of an illegal tyre test made some years ago by Mercedes and declared illegal by FIa but not punished with a reprimand which is IMHO in topic since it is line with Pirelli decision to create tailored tyres following Mercedes demands (namely made to cure their specific problems) and to bring those tyres to this and other 2 GP with silly motivations.
And we see for the first time in ages that except for Mercedes (for whom this tyres has been made), 2nd best and 3rd best team have had to use the "slowest" tyre in Q3 to get some performance.
I do not remember of other cases in which in Q3 teams have had to use an harder compound.

[cplchanb]

Lol as expected the lunatics have run free. Did Mercedes use Pirelli Mercedes tyres in Melbourne?

Seriously to think that Pirelli would favour one team with a tyre change (and there would be no bitch fest from bitch fest crazy f1) makes you a lunatic.

And favour Mercedes, 4 time champions that the whole sport have been crying they want a change and increased competition. That's ridiculous.

Whatever the reasons the tyres were changed, it wasn't to aid Mercedes. And if Mercedes suggested it, I haven't heard anyone from the sport moan about it or try to stop it. So they would have been in agreement.

Only here loonies run free...

agreed. Mods I think its time to reign in on some of the delusions here....this is a tech forum and this thread is to discuss the race weekend, not to whine and tin foil hat

[GPR-A duplicate2]

Sure.
Here you are an example of how Mercedes did their homework in the past:
https://www.reuters.com/article/us-moto ... JL20130621

Without this, you wouldn't be even talking.
RED BULL ACCUSES MERCEDES OF HELPING FERRARI IN FORMULA ONE

The "accuses" of Red Bull have no meaning.
We are speaking of an illegal tyre test made some years ago by Mercedes and declared illegal by FIa but not punished with a reprimand which is IMHO in topic since it is line with Pirelli decision to create tailored tyres following Mercedes demands (namely made to cure their specific problems) and to bring those tyres to this and other 2 GP with silly motivations.
And we see for the first time in ages that except for Mercedes (for whom this tyres has been made), 2nd best and 3rd best team have had to use the "slowest" tyre in Q3 to get some performance.
I do not remember of other cases in which in Q3 teams have had to use an harder compound.

The test wasn't illegal and no one ruled it illegal. It was a Private test as requested by Pirelli!
https://www.jamesallenonf1.com/2013/05/ ... yre-test/

The FIA F1 Sporting Regulations clearly state that teams are not allowed to test current F1 cars during the season, except for straight line aerodynamic tests and the Young Drivers test. They are allowed to run cars that are two years old or more.

In Pirelli’s agreement with the FIA they can call for a team to supply them with a car for testing, especially where there are urgent question marks over safety. After the recent spate of tyre failures – the first being Mercedes’ spectacular failure with Lewis Hamilton which caused him to take a five place grid penalty in Bahrain as it broke his gearbox – there was a need to test. Ferrari conducted a ‘secret’ 500km test with a 2011 car before the Spanish Grand Prix, while Mercedes ran for three days (15th-17th May) at Barcelona after the other teams had packed up and left.

[LM10]

On a track that demands a great chassis and aero, W09 seems to be fastest when the tyres get in sync with the car. Bottas being so close when Hamilton takes a pole means the car the stable and predictable. There were times when Lewis takes pole, but Bottas would have been struggling and out of top 3, which is more about driving getting the best out of the car to get pole.

So, IF Mercedes get their act right with tyres, then they have a fastest car.

Finally, a season worth watching from a competitive landscape perspective. Champion drivers on almost equal package!

Vettel was on Softs just 1 tenth slower than Hamilton on working Supersofts. A bit tricky to tell that Mercedes is the fastest car when both were on different tyres.

At the beginning of this weekend, there a wide expectation that Mercedes would rely heavily on Softs, due to their tyre choices. Look where things stand!

Ok and what's your point?