2018 Spanish Grand Prix - Catalunya, May 11-13

[Sieper]

Before the VSC Max was 8,5 second behind Bottas, after the VSC 12 seconds. And he was on the tail of Stroll (not allowed to overtake under VSC) how is that possible? Why was Stroll not keeping his delta. If the Ferrari pitstop for Vettel would have been faultless Vettel would have been back on the track before Verstappen (Stroll was smack death in front of him). Now (with 2 seconds lost during the pitstop due to the right rear wheel not getting on) with Vettel right behind him Max fully expected Stroll to accelerate to and through the chicane, just like when starting any qualy lap. He expected Vettel to be all over him so had nothing to spare there. Why didn’t Stroll accelerate. Just a misjudgement by Max, but I understand why he was so close to Stroll. Otherwise a great race by Max.

I thought each driver had to drive at 40% of their previous lap times. Maybe Stroll's 40% was a little bit less than Vaerstappens

That could be, I too still don't fully understand the VSC rules, or at least how they are being checked/implemented. But still, to loose 3 seconds behind a backmarker (Stroll was getting lapped there) where you normally have a blue flag and they even have to move out of the way, is a bit exorbitant. Maybe you should be allowed past a backmarker even under VSC (if your 40% is faster then the backmarkers 40%). If indeed that wass the reason of Max being stuck there and loosing time.

[i70q7m7ghw]

Here is a photo of what happened to Ferrari today when they used the old tires:

https://flic.kr/p/2783zjQ Ferrari Blistering by Andrew R., on Flickr

What do you know? Massive blistering.

After the comparison between new and old tires, Vettel admitted that Ferrari's problems would have been worse with the old tires.

https://www.crash.net/f1/news/896086/1/ ... rmal-tyres

What does this ultimately mean? Pirelli actually inadvertently helped Ferrari this past weekend.

I must admit . . . I'm a little bit more impressed by Merc's pace and tire management now.

All the major news outlets were quick to publish headline articles when it was suggested Pirelli were assisting Mercedes, but this is being kept fairly quiet, even this very website still has the original headlines...

[Sieper]

We only want blistering pace, not blistering tires.

conspiracy is never there imho, so far sought (I fail to believe (amost?) every conspiray theory ever deviced, however not so much real conspiracy but normal politics are always at play in F1. The fact that Ferrari also has blistering with the thicker tires only confirms Pirelli made the right choice (we can all be glad about that I think), how they got to that choice is a different question.

[Wouter]

I thought each driver had to drive at 40% of their previous lap times. Maybe Stroll's 40% was a little bit less than Vaerstappens

That could be, I too still don't fully understand the VSC rules, or at least how they are being checked/implemented. But still, to loose 3 seconds behind a backmarker (Stroll was getting lapped there) where you normally have a blue flag and they even have to move out of the way, is a bit exorbitant. Maybe you should be allowed past a backmarker even under VSC (if your 40% is faster then the backmarkers 40%). If indeed that wass the reason of Max being stuck there and loosing time.

I agree with that. One should be allowed to past a backmarker even under VSC.

[atanatizante]

OH MY GOD.............. FERRARI BOYS!!!

What now.

Respect to those who are gracious in understanding and accepting that they thought it wrong.

Ssssshh.. Seb, don’t talk. Your camp is full of crazies. They said it was only Mercedes who were experiencing graining during the tests. So they asked Pirelli to change the tires even after Pirelli themselves and every article during the tests said ALL teams were suffering from graining. So Vettel, pls don’t try to say anything reasonable to the Ferrari bunch. They have a few specific terms they use in their limited vocabulary and all of them are either bad Mercedes or bad Hamilton. They are simply a lost cause. So dear Vettel, watch your own fans tell you who drive the car and know more about graining that you are wrong on a topic you embody ...

[Bill_Kar]

All this talk on a non-existent matter, while Ferrari is suspected for a number of irregularities. Hmm

[Big Tea]

We only want blistering pace, not blistering tires.

conspiracy is never there imho, so far sought (I fail to believe (amost?) every conspiray theory ever deviced, however not so much real conspiracy but normal politics are always at play in F1. The fact that Ferrari also has blistering with the thicker tires only confirms Pirelli made the right choice (we can all be glad about that I think), how they got to that choice is a different question.

Who was it tat said~
Do not attribute to malice what can be explained by incompetence

[Restomaniac]

OH MY GOD.............. FERRARI BOYS!!!

What now.

Respect to those who are gracious in understanding and accepting that they thought it wrong.

Looking back at this thread it is the place of an amazing overreaction over nothing. This news has just amplified it.

[GPR-A duplicate2]

OH MY GOD.............. FERRARI BOYS!!!

What now.

Respect to those who are gracious in understanding and accepting that they thought it wrong.

Looking back at this thread it is the place of an amazing overreaction over nothing. This news has just amplified it.

And now, there is a deafening silence from the same conspiracy warriors!

[foxmulder_ms]

All this talk on a non-existent matter, while Ferrari is suspected for a number of irregularities. Hmm

What news did I miss?

[Restomaniac]

OH MY GOD.............. FERRARI BOYS!!!

What now.

Respect to those who are gracious in understanding and accepting that they thought it wrong.

Looking back at this thread it is the place of an amazing overreaction over nothing. This news has just amplified it.

And now, there is a deafening silence from the same conspiracy warriors!

Indeed. However if you dig yourself a big enough hole it's impossible to climb back out of it I guess.

I would always try anyway personally.

[dans79]

All this talk on a non-existent matter, while Ferrari is suspected for a number of irregularities. Hmm

What news did I miss?

https://www.auto-motor-und-sport.de/for ... gp-monaco/

[PlatinumZealot]

Here is a photo of what happened to Ferrari today when they used the old tires:

https://flic.kr/p/2783zjQ Ferrari Blistering by Andrew R., on Flickr

What do you know? Massive blistering.

After the comparison between new and old tires, Vettel admitted that Ferrari's problems would have been worse with the old tires.

https://www.crash.net/f1/news/896086/1/ ... rmal-tyres

What does this ultimately mean? Pirelli actually inadvertently helped Ferrari this past weekend.

I must admit . . . I'm a little bit more impressed by Merc's pace and tire management now.

Similar blistering to winter testing too.

[ian_s]

I thought each driver had to drive at 40% of their previous lap times. Maybe Stroll's 40% was a little bit less than Vaerstappens

That could be, I too still don't fully understand the VSC rules, or at least how they are being checked/implemented. But still, to loose 3 seconds behind a backmarker (Stroll was getting lapped there) where you normally have a blue flag and they even have to move out of the way, is a bit exorbitant. Maybe you should be allowed past a backmarker even under VSC (if your 40% is faster then the backmarkers 40%). If indeed that wass the reason of Max being stuck there and loosing time.

I agree with that. One should be allowed to past a backmarker even under VSC.

thats not a bad idea, just have some different flags in the zones around the cause of the VSC to protect the marshalls, the rest of the track overtaking could be allowed. either that or penalise people outside a 1% of the delta. these are some of the best drivers in the world (yes, even Stroll!) they should be able to lap within 1 second of the delta, not stroll along 3 seconds off.

[fiohaa]

this race proved how disastrously dull F1 has got - the first race without lottery safety cars thrown in, and we finally see the status quo, 2 by 2, line astern, with probably the biggest gap back to midfield teams i've ever seen.
When was the last time everyone was lapped up to 6th on average? The early 90's?

on a track where performance should be usually closer due to the teams knowing the circuit well and having a good setup for it.

those 2019 changes can't come soon enough.

Respectfully disagree. The past few races prior to Barcelona were very exciting. Overtaking is very difficult at Barcelona.

I've enjoyed seeing McLaren and Renault battle it out with each other. Haas, STR, and FI are right there, too, even though they've all lost some points. Heck, even Sauber is starting to show up. Midfield has been exciting, in my eyes at least. Feel bad for Williams though. Yikes.

Whenever there seems to be any sort of performance convergence between the top teams and a separate convergence between the midfield teams, there's a reg change.

specifically said -

the first race without lottery safety cars thrown in