Daniel said he could've gone faster as well. But almost no one had a clean quali. Kimi had mgu-k issues and said he had some pace left to exploit; Racing Point haven't gotten used to the new package but still made q3 with one car; and Carlos more importantly had terrible luck. So maybe others will get faster but Mclaren isn't going anywhere too. They probably have updates scheduled for the weekend, Norris has a race experience in hand & enjoys the Sakhir circuit and Carlos can finally show his potential. One thing is certain though, Haas is very quick out of the box again.Ground Effect wrote: ↑22 Mar 2019, 10:44I'm really weary of Renault, a closer look at their performance last weekend shows they didn't have an entirely clean qualifying, Nico at least. He kept up quite well with KMag for quite a while in the race. They may be stronger in Bahrain.
Same here... I believe that it is Haas and Renault in the front of the midfield, followed by McLaren, Alfa and STR... I have a feeling that RP will finish just ahead of Williams.Ground Effect wrote:I'm really weary of Renault, a closer look at their performance last weekend shows they didn't have an entirely clean qualifying, Nico at least. He kept up quite well with KMag for quite a while in the race. They may be stronger in Bahrain.
RP 9th? Absurd. They have a very good car already which they'll be consistently updating throughout the season. If they were so strong the past few year with a low budget they're in a much better position to get 4th now than before.SmallSoldier wrote: ↑22 Mar 2019, 12:37Same here... I believe that it is Haas and Renault in the front of the midfield, followed by McLaren, Alfa and STR... I have a feeling that RP will finish just ahead of Williams.Ground Effect wrote:I'm really weary of Renault, a closer look at their performance last weekend shows they didn't have an entirely clean qualifying, Nico at least. He kept up quite well with KMag for quite a while in the race. They may be stronger in Bahrain.
Renault should be stronger this season, hope we can mix it with them and Haas... Next week should be interesting!
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Monaco is a High DF track but it isn't an aero track. The speeds are too slow for Aero or the PU to have anything more than a marginal effect on lap times. It's a chassis test where Mechanical grip is king. The drivers can make the difference if they have a chassis they can test.
Convergence of the PU’s will drive them towards the back... Their form has been magnified by the Mercedes engine in the back... With Ferrari closer in the engine department, Haas has already surpass them and Alfa seems to have done it too (Kimi qualified ahead of both RP’s)... Honda seems to have also improved dramatically year on year, so wouldn’t be surprise for STR to finish ahead of them also... That leaves Renault and McLaren... Renault seemed to be the quicker car in Melbourne (a bad Q2 had them both out of contention for Q3)... But wouldn’t be surprising to see them ahead of RP during the season... The big question mark is McLaren and at least in Melbourne they were clearly faster than RP (in every session of qualifying).M840TR wrote:RP 9th? Absurd. They have a very good car already which they'll be consistently updating throughout the season. If they were so strong the past few year with a low budget they're in a much better position to get 4th now than before.SmallSoldier wrote: ↑22 Mar 2019, 12:37Same here... I believe that it is Haas and Renault in the front of the midfield, followed by McLaren, Alfa and STR... I have a feeling that RP will finish just ahead of Williams.Ground Effect wrote:I'm really weary of Renault, a closer look at their performance last weekend shows they didn't have an entirely clean qualifying, Nico at least. He kept up quite well with KMag for quite a while in the race. They may be stronger in Bahrain.
Renault should be stronger this season, hope we can mix it with them and Haas... Next week should be interesting!
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Monaco is full downforce and more dependent on Mechanical grip, Australia is more or at least as dependent on Mechanical grip than aero and Barcelona still requires a lot of Mechanical grip also (S3), at least that is my understanding. So these tracks should highlight if we have issues on that side.
It will definitely be an interesting weekend for the team in Sakhir... I guess I’ve learned my lessons and I’m trying to manage my expectations in regards to their performance, with new regulations this year the development race could upset the order from race to race, specially if we consider how close the midfield is, a couple tenths will most probably make all the difference.godlameroso wrote:McLaren just needs to develop the car, as is, it's top 10 material for sure. And I see a lot of potential in it, if the team can bring out the potential it should be a best of the rest challenger at every track. It may even close the gap to under a second on some tracks.
In any case passing is possible in Sakhir, so much more likely they finish according to the car's actual performance.
Has there been any announcement from Mclaren or Renault in regards to what was damaged? It’s unlucky that they will suffer penalties, hopefully they are smart enough on when to introduce them.bauc wrote:Im just a bit sad that Sainz will be on the back foot all year, as that fire must have damaged multiple PU components so he is basically left with only 2 sets for the remaining of the year.
I would hardly call having to start at the back of the grid for a race 'on the back foot'SmallSoldier wrote: ↑22 Mar 2019, 15:38Has there been any announcement from Mclaren or Renault in regards to what was damaged? It’s unlucky that they will suffer penalties, hopefully they are smart enough on when to introduce them.bauc wrote:Im just a bit sad that Sainz will be on the back foot all year, as that fire must have damaged multiple PU components so he is basically left with only 2 sets for the remaining of the year.
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