2021 Spanish Grand Prix - Catalunya, May 07 - 09

[Phil]

I assume because if you only sell grandstand tickets, you can dictate the seating (and distance) order somewhat. If you sell general admission tickets, it's probably too difficult to supervise and enforce distancing rules...

[El Scorchio]

I assume because if you only sell grandstand tickets, you can dictate the seating (and distance) order somewhat. If you sell general admission tickets, it's probably too difficult to supervise and enforce distancing rules...

Exactly that, I expect. They can control the crowd from circuit entry all the way to their seats and also open only a few facilities to cater for them.

Opening up the whole circuit complex for 1000 people, with the levels of staffing and logistics necessary, would be insane as well.

[RedNEO]

[dans79]

The not working upgrades for RBR are the true issue here. It takes alot of development time to make these and if they don't work and Mercedes' do then you are basically going backwards. In such a tight championship that could be game over.

The updates did not work properly due to the slippery asphalt.
Max has said that will be very different on the tarmac in Barcelona, ​​so I am assuming the updates will do their job.

That makes no sense at all, aero upgrades would work regardless of what the track surface is.

[Just_a_fan]

I looked at that and thought "why have those two on there and not Max?" And then remembered where they were born.

[NathanOlder]

The not working upgrades for RBR are the true issue here. It takes alot of development time to make these and if they don't work and Mercedes' do then you are basically going backwards. In such a tight championship that could be game over.

The updates did not work properly due to the slippery asphalt.
Max has said that will be very different on the tarmac in Barcelona, ​​so I am assuming the updates will do their job.

That makes no sense at all, aero upgrades would work regardless of what the track surface is.

I was thinking the same to be honest but wasn't sure. If the upgrades didn't work because of the asphalt then that would mean the whole grid would be mixed up surely ? But the grid stayed the same because the cars with the most downforce were at the front.

Still, it will be interesting to read what the team say about it.

[dans79]

The updates did not work properly due to the slippery asphalt.
Max has said that will be very different on the tarmac in Barcelona, ​​so I am assuming the updates will do their job.

That makes no sense at all, aero upgrades would work regardless of what the track surface is.

I was thinking the same to be honest but wasn't sure. If the upgrades didn't work because of the asphalt then that would mean the whole grid would be mixed up surely ? But the grid stayed the same because the cars with the most downforce were at the front.

Still, it will be interesting to read what the team say about it.

The asphalt could prevent you from getting the full benefit of the upgrades, but they should never do anything that prevents them from working.

[NathanOlder]

That makes no sense at all, aero upgrades would work regardless of what the track surface is.

I was thinking the same to be honest but wasn't sure. If the upgrades didn't work because of the asphalt then that would mean the whole grid would be mixed up surely ? But the grid stayed the same because the cars with the most downforce were at the front.

Still, it will be interesting to read what the team say about it.

The asphalt could prevent you from getting the full benefit of the upgrades, but they should never do anything that prevents them from working.

Yeah so if your upgrades are good, you will still gain time against your opponents.

[dans79]

I was thinking the same to be honest but wasn't sure. If the upgrades didn't work because of the asphalt then that would mean the whole grid would be mixed up surely ? But the grid stayed the same because the cars with the most downforce were at the front.

Still, it will be interesting to read what the team say about it.

The asphalt could prevent you from getting the full benefit of the upgrades, but they should never do anything that prevents them from working.

Yeah so if your upgrades are good, you will still gain time against your opponents.

Your opponents are a moving target, so generally you wouldn't use them as a means of validation.

However, teams have a huge amount of data about their own old components and the new ones, so they should know almost immediately (laps) if the new ones are working correctly.

[Just_a_fan]

The asphalt could prevent you from getting the full benefit of the upgrades, but they should never do anything that prevents them from working.

Yeah so if your upgrades are good, you will still gain time against your opponents.

Your opponents are a moving target, so generally you wouldn't use them as a means of validation.

However, teams have a huge amount of data about their own old components and the new ones, so they should know almost immediately (laps) if the new ones are working correctly.

Exactly. If they're aero parts then they either change downforce or they don't, the change drag or they don't. The track surface won't affect that much if at all (one could argue a rough surface vs a smooth one would affect the air under the car differently but I bet they wouldn't notice that).

[mkay]

Didn't Perez run with an aero rake early in FP1 at Portimao? I am sure they would have gotten the readings necessary to conclude whether the upgrades worked as intended or not?

[Sieper]

I am not sure. Aero rake gives confirmation of windtunnel numbers, yes certainly. But you are nowhere near the limit and so who knows what happens then.

[PlatinumZealot]

So Fernando and Carlos will be fighting for the win. Nice...

[godlameroso]

Bahrain showed us Mercedes lost 2 seconds, and RBR 1.3. If we compare 2020 qualifying and add those numbers we get 17.5 pole. Just interesting to see. I have a feeling Verstappen will knock this one out of the park though.

Then again the new turn 10 has minimum apex speed of ~83km/h in a very fast road car, so in an F1 car that number may be 130km/h, which will likely shave some time off the lap. Roughly .3 perhaps? So pole perhaps will be low 17's, with a mid 18's cut off for Q3. The new turn 10 is somewhere in between an average of turn 5 and turn 12 corner speed.

[PlatinumZealot]

What's the weather saying? Track temp expected?