2020 Styrian Grand Prix - Spielberg, 10-12 July

[Sieper]

For that reason alone I would put Max on softs, last week (also starting from P2, not on the racing line) he got crowded by Norris who is civilized but this week it will be sainz who is very agressive. The racing line is a big Start advantage in Austria. If no collisions take place I am fearing Max on P3 after the start.

[siskue2005]

apparently he said that they are 60-40 favourites if it's hot, while it's the opposite around if it's not.

Both seems like a vast overestimation to me

What do you expect from Horner and Marko. Yesterday to German media Marko was bleating that the 1.2 seconds wasn't representative and both him and Horner said that the gap to Lewis would have been two to three tenths without the spin. I don't know what qualifying they were watching but Lewis was already 6-7 tenths on Max's lap on his own last lap. Also in Hockenheim 19 post race Marko straight up made BS claims like Max was 5 seconds faster than anyone when he was stuck behind Bottas for much of the race. Of course Max is superlative in the rain but I honestly suspect that he is half embarrassed at times by the garbage that comes out of Marko's and Horner's mouth often. How difficult is it to simply admit that your competition was on a different level.

It is rather funny to listen to them at times. I honestly get the impression that they think others are clueless all the time. That two to three tenths is clearly utter BS and it’s not even hard to disprove (As Sky in the UK proved).

I have lost all respect about Horner, he is whining all the time since 2014.
Usually i mute when he opens his mouth

[godclerk]

Expecting a good race. Hopefully to see some rain, but that doesnt seem to happen :s

Stream if anyone still needs: https://formula1streams.com/steiermark-grand-prix/

[Wynters]

I did a basic comparison of this weekend's qualifying times with last weekend. The aim was to try and set a relative car performance level and, from that, calculate which drivers managed the wet conditions the best.

As has been pointed out, Q2 was the quickest session but we know the drivers generally have their best lap in their last Q appearance so, to balance it, I artifically increased the times of those who went out in Q2 by the average increase of all Q3 runners. YMMV with that method but with so little data from this season (especially in the wet) it seemed like a reasonable yard stick. I also haven't taken into account tyres. I know Ocon was on used, I don't know about anyone else.

So, in terms of drivers who lost the least time between qualifying last week and this week (and thus did the best job of overcoming the wet conditions).

Ocon
Hamilton
Russell*
Sainz
Gasly
Verstappen
Ricciardo
Albon
Norris
Kvyat*

*Drivers I took the Q2 time for and artifically increased it by the average increase. This may have hurt Russell more than it should have done (as he seems to have been very quick, assuming an average Q3 performance is probably unfair) but the gap between Hamilton and Russell was over 2/10ths so I don't think it would change the final positions.

I wouldn't put too much store in this but it'll be better than most of the reflexive takes on driver performance yesterday.

[Andres125sx]

Sainz, fantastic speed in the wet, bet Red Bull is kicking themselves now, if any of their drivers could have matched Max it's him.

Only mention to Sainz´s impressive p3 in more than 20 pages. Faster than a RBR and even faster than a Mercedes!!

Does this mean people is getting used to a McLaren in p3?

[Andres125sx]

Norris is amazing.

I´ve been very impressed by him in the whole qualifying session... up to q3. Problem is doing awesome laps in q1 and q2 is not that relevant, it´s in q3 when drivers must nail it, and there Sainz was much better managing to beat much faster cars

To be fair, I didn´t expect it, specially after he had to abort his first fast laps in q3, but when it did matter at the last attempt, he just made it, earning an awesome p3 under the rain when his car should never be above p5 as much

Sainz is amazing

[MtthsMlw]

Grosjean to start from the pitlane after a parc fermé breach.

[Wynters]

Grosjean to start from the pitlane after a parc fermé breach.

Do we know what his issue in qualifying was?

[dans79]

Grosjean to start from the pitlane after a parc fermé breach.

That's probably a good thing considering it didn't look like they fixed his brakes yesterday!

[Pyrone89]

Was gonna start at the back anyway so no real harm.

Most likely ‘normal’ race scenario: the Mercedes will drive away at the front at half a second a lap as predicted by F1.com. Hard battle between Bottas and Verstappen for P2.

Until (and if) RB creates updates to match the W11 that is the most likely scenario for alles races from here on out. Spa and Monza gonna be extra painfull due to the powerful Mercedes engine, so we might even see RP fight with the RB16 there.

[MtthsMlw]

Grosjean to start from the pitlane after a parc fermé breach.

Do we know what his issue in qualifying was?

"ERS water pump issue"

[Pyrone89]

Sainz, fantastic speed in the wet, bet Red Bull is kicking themselves now, if any of their drivers could have matched Max it's him.

Only mention to Sainz´s impressive p3 in more than 20 pages. Faster than a RBR and even faster than a Mercedes!!

Does this mean people is getting used to a McLaren in p3?

Dont you know the F1 tradition? Ignore Sainz at all costs. Even is a running gag inside the team after how the TV director ignored him in 2019.

[Wynters]

Grosjean to start from the pitlane after a parc fermé breach.

Do we know what his issue in qualifying was?

"ERS water pump issue"

Thank you!

[Phil]

EDIT: Not to mention, if there is a safety car, it will always benefit the driver in the lead. That means that pos 1 is key, but could put the car starting on the more durable tire at a slight advantage for the short duration he'd be leading. But is the difference in durability that high between the medium and the softs? I didn't think so...

Just my 2 cents.

Agreed to all except the bold, I tend to see the safety cars advantages the following cars and usually disadvantaging the leader most often. How do you come to that conclusion?

The safety cars last week definitely disadvantaged both Bottas and Hamilton

Because it neutralizes the first tire. Take the last race as an example; Hamilton was hunting down Bottas on the first set of tires. If there had been no safety car, at some point, Bottas would have pitted first (as he should, because being in the lead means pit priority). This would have allowed Hamilton to go longer and then create a bigger offset on the second stint.

By having the safety car come out, both had to pit because the time gain is too big. Therefore, any pace advantage Hamilton had on the first stint that would have allowed him to gain an advantage was lost and they were again on the "same strategy".

The same applies to Hamilton vs Verstappen. If a safety car comes out, both will pit hence the car in front will stay ahead.

But sure, there's a rare occasion when the car in the lead is at a disadvantage, for example if they are already close and pitting means a loss of position. Then it's a game of "doing the opposite". The car in front either pits, then the attacker will stay out or the other way around. Track position is probably still key though, especially if you're in the faster car.

[Phil]

Based on this image; I think it's very clear that Hamilton will start on softs and Verstappen will start on medium, because RedBull will assume Hamilton will go softs. Maybe Mercedes will do a double-bluff and go for medium for Hamilton for that reason (assuming RedBull will think Hamilton will go soft and do the opposite), but IMO that risk is too high and it would be too risky to give up the advantage into T1.

Given how similar soft and mediums are on the first stint, I don't think it'll make much difference.

What I don't get in the graph above though, is why Pirelli doesn't think a soft - medium stint is likely. Why wouldn't it? If the medium are good for a 30-35 laps on the first stint, why wouldn't it be for the remaining 38-43 laps on a much lighter car, especially if it is assumes the soft can do so as well as shown in the above graph?