2021 Spanish Grand Prix - Catalunya, May 07 - 09

[PlatinumZealot]

Spoon RW makes more downforce. Because of how it interacts with the endplates.

Bold statement.

[godlameroso]

Spoon RW makes more downforce. Because of how it interacts with the endplates.

Bold statement.

Not bold at all. The Merc gets away with the barn door rear wing because of their endplates.

[mafeotul]

To further add some nuance, Hamilton's best time was set on used softs, whereas Verstappen's was on spanking new ones.

I wonder where this extra pace is coming from? Is it the revised engine mapping? With the exception of the minute change to the diffuser, nothing has changed on the Mercedes.

[seense]

Max is on the ragged edge here wringing the neck purple!
Good effort though, Maxie. I saw the fist pump right after he nailed that lap. Means its was a "one shot" affair. Surprised if he can replicate that.

That wasn't a fist pump. He got rid of a tear off.

[Juzh]

P3 is done, P1 with .3 to spare say it ain't so. Surely Mercedes is miles ahead the Hamilton fans said so.

Bottas being split by Ferraris and a McLaren would be the Icing on the cake, since Perez is having difficulty with one lap pace.

VER turned the wick up getting up to 317kph down the straight whilst HAM only achieved 313kph.

Also, both of HAM's best laps in P3 came on the second lap on his runs. Lots of time left to find...

Maybe he got a better launch off the last turn.

No way a miniscule launch difference would make any impact on top speed. Verstappen even had a mediocre launch on his lap with exit oversteer to start the lap, so this argument doesn't hold water.

Yesterday mercedes were at around 320 kmh on their medium runs, then they turned PU down for soft runs, to sandbag of course.

Spoon RW makes more downforce. Because of how it interacts with the endplates.

No it doesn't. Spoon wing is synonymous with less DF.

[Tvetovnato]

To further add some nuance, Hamilton's best time was set on used softs, whereas Verstappen's was on spanking new ones.

I wonder where this extra pace is coming from? Is it the revised engine mapping? With the exception of the minute change to the diffuser, nothing has changed on the Mercedes.

Yeah it's a good question. Last year someone at Racing Point mentioned that a lot about the development of the car during the year is simply to understand it better and better each race without necessarily adding new parts. I think that was evident last year also with the balance between Merc and RBR during the year. RBR kept developing, while Merc stopped early. That would make you think RBR would leave them behind at some point, but that never really happened, which could be due to Merc simply finding more in the setup and thus still adding performance.

Merc must have some things coming though, and I am eagerly awaiting the token spend reveal.

[f1316]

Looks incredibly close heading into qualifying. Looking at the fastest laps, despite Max going fastest, I'd say Mercedes has a bit more pace they can unleash. They didn't seem to improve much on their 2nd runs, and looked a bit more scruffy compared to Max (who in turn, also didn't have the cleanest of laps on his final run)... though I think there is more room for improvement for Mercedes than Red Bull at this stage.

I think the fight for P3 will be close... Ferrari definitely looks impressive and both drivers getting a lot out of the car, but Norris was on quite a solid lap before the car decided to yeet itself into the gravel of Turn 10... no doubt he'll be in the fight for that battle. Kimi up solidly in the Top 10 was very surprising... doubt we'll see that result come to fruition for Qualifying, but worth a mention regardless.

Yeah and it seemed to me that, on his best lap, Charles dropped a bunch of time in the last sector (something like 3 tenths vs Ham’s time). Ordinarily you’d say the Mercedes is just better in the slow speed - and maybe that’s still the case - but on all his other laps he’s been particularly strong in S3, so I think there may be a bit of pace left in Charles. Probably not enough for row 1 but possibly closer than it seems (more like the 3 tenths from Imola).

[grubschumi13]

I don't think this race pole in this race is that advantageous with the long run down to turn 1.

[mkay]

I don't think this race pole in this race is that advantageous with the long run down to turn 1.

Front row has won 90% of the past 30 Spanish GPs at Catalunya. It is pretty darn important to get P1 or P2 at worst.

[bosyber]

I don't think this race pole in this race is that advantageous with the long run down to turn 1.

Front row has won 90% of the past 30 Spanish GPs at Catalunya. It is pretty darn important to get P1 or P2 at worst.

And of those 3 (27 from front row), 33% is only bc. the two ahead had an incident! (yeah, Verstappen's first win in 2016 after the two front guys ran into each other), So w/o incidents, only 2 out of the last 30, a one in fifteen chance. Sure starts and stuff, but all in all, I'd say getting pole is a bit of a priority.

[godlameroso]

VER turned the wick up getting up to 317kph down the straight whilst HAM only achieved 313kph.

Also, both of HAM's best laps in P3 came on the second lap on his runs. Lots of time left to find...

Maybe he got a better launch off the last turn.

No way a miniscule launch difference would make any impact on top speed. Verstappen even had a mediocre launch on his lap with exit oversteer to start the lap, so this argument doesn't hold water.

Yesterday mercedes were at around 320 kmh on their medium runs, then they turned PU down for soft runs, to sandbag of course.

Spoon RW makes more downforce. Because of how it interacts with the endplates.

No it doesn't. Spoon wing is synonymous with less DF.

I should have said better downforce.

[mistrx]

Hi guys, let's discus quali in the chat

https://www.f1technical.net/pr/chat.php

[Just_a_fan]

Hi guys, let's discus quali in the chat

https://www.f1technical.net/pr/chat.php

What's wrong with using the forum?

[MtthsMlw]

9 teams within a second

[NathanOlder]

Mazepin right in the way for Lando there