2021 Austrian Grand Prix - Spielberg, July 02 - 04

[Wouter]

There was a power bump observed in the Honda PU on GPS for the long runs, and that is where things look very tight.

Do you have a source for that?

[zibby43]

There was a power bump observed in the Honda PU on GPS for the long runs, and that is where things look very tight.

Do you have a source for that?

AMuS. It’s the front page article for their F1 section.

[Wouter]

There was a power bump observed in the Honda PU on GPS for the long runs, and that is where things look very tight.

Do you have a source for that?

AMuS. It’s the front page article for their F1 section.

Thanks @Zibby.

[zibby43]

Do you have a source for that?

AMuS. It’s the front page article for their F1 section.

Thanks @Zibby.

No prob! The translated title is something like “Honda holds power in reserve” - in reference to their qualifying sim. laps. Either it was that or Merc drove their quali sims with a bit more, according to Merc engineers.

Both teams were on similar levels for the race sims though.

[godlameroso]

The sim was run on last week's soft tire C2 . It's obvious that they'd be a little quicker. It's a few tenths faster than the C3, however the C3 can last 35ish laps before they start dropping off. It's almost impossible to do a one stop. If you start on C2 you'd have to stretch it to 30 laps and the C3 to 41, it's just not possible. C2 tire will last roughly twice as long as anyone was able manage on their runs. A race will have to be ~20 laps, then two stints of ~25 and ~26 laps. The soft tire will only go ~15 laps, and it's probably not a good race tire.

This opens up interesting permutations, the nature of the pit entry and exit means a lot of time can be gained or lost simply there. A well timed pitstop can yield you roughly a second per lap pace advantage. The lighter you are, and the softer the tire the faster you can go if you can keep the tires from burning up.

The teams should not touch the race tires, you'll need them, use a set of mediums and trust those hards are going to be simply lovely once the fuel starts burning off.

If you can get the softs working and it helps you get track position at the start, it may be worth a shot, but you'll be out of position during the pit stops. You'll naturally undercut all the people who are still running, but once they pit they'll have much more pace than you. Furthermore, you'll have to eventually make an extra stop, again forcing you into an undercut, but your opponent will have fresher tires towards the end.

The soft pit, undercut strategy is the defensive strategy, but it rests on being able to make the softs work. If the softs won't work then you need to use the standard strategy, medium soft soft, or medium medium soft.

The rain can also jam all that nonsense right up.

It's such an interesting chess match that qualifying is almost irrelevant.

C2 was last weeks hard tyre

Thank you for the correction!

[godlameroso]

I can see it now: GPDA sending out a memo to all of the drivers. "Guys, you're all doing it wrong. This guy on the Internet says you should drive it this way...".

I mean, really.

Just cause I said it doesn't mean I'm right, what works for me, may not work for others. Guy on the internet is just another crash test dummy.

Guy on the internet said softs only last ~14 laps, the track has verified internet guy, but that's just a coincidence.

Internet guy also said the softs would be no better than the mediums, or perhaps slightly slower.

https://www.formula1.com/en/latest/arti ... 1oG55.html

"We just need to make sure we have a bit more pace on the soft because on the medium we looked good and on the long runs we looked decent, and at the end of the day that’s the most important.”

Max "The Lion" Verstappen.

Even the guy on the Internet lucks in now and then.

Just a bit of fun. Don't take me seriously. I don’t take you seriously either.

As long as we're all having fun, I'll put Respek on it.

[Pyrone89]

https://www.formula1.com/en/latest/arti ... BrlsH.html

Mercedes and Red Bull equal on race pace, RB 7 hundreds faster on quali pace. And remember this is a RB track. Last week the same article after Friday reported a 0.19 race pace advantage for Red Bull and proved to be spot on, so I take their info (apparently they have access to fuel levels through FIA) as most accurate.

This would mean Mercedes has a clear race pace advantage on neutral tracks and Merc-suited tracks, as has been already observed in all races up until Monaco (and was visible again in France). This fight is far far far from over (also considering upgrades coming).

[godlameroso]

ham vs ver fp2 lap
https://streamable.com/fdz1cy


- by video hamilton is faster on first straight by half a tenth, even though top speeds are similar
- apex speed is 1 kmh lower for hamilton in T1 but he brakes later and has better exit it seeems, gains more than 1 tenth trough there
- verstappen gains negligible amount up to to T4, gains a bit trough T4 itself (purple mini sector)
- top speed again higher for verstappen but actually loses time on final drs straight, another half a tenth gone
- in S3 mercedes is faster trough fast left handers T6 and T7, they're more or less identical trough T9 and 10. Hamilton seems more on the limit in final corner whereas verstappen leaves some margin

overall mercedes clearly looks better so far. more stable trough corners and can hold higher apex speeds, faster on straights even. It was a similar situation last weekend in fp2 mind you, then red bull turned it around for saturday and sunday, so it's tricky to predict anything.

Pole in low-mid 1.03s. C5 is just a lot faster than C2 from last race.

Why was Max breaking almost 50 meters before Lewis, in almost all corners (except corner 3) ?

Misjudged the braking, that soft tire has really good braking, but it overheats at the rear near the end of the lap. Watch how gentle Verstappen has to drive the last sector in order to keep the tires alive. You need good traction on the exit of the "saishou kona". You are very perceptive as the braking into turn 3 cost him the .2, doesn't matter though, this is just practice, he'll nail it when it counts, he always does.

[godlameroso]

A more interesting topic is how the drivers feel about the new stiffer sidewall Pirellis. They don't seem to be slower by any stretch.

[Pyrone89]

A more interesting topic is how the drivers feel about the new stiffer sidewall Pirellis. They don't seem to be slower by any stretch.

Wouldn’t expect them to. The new tyres can be run 2 psi lower, thus should be faster

[Dee]

https://www.formula1.com/en/latest/arti ... BrlsH.html

Mercedes and Red Bull equal on race pace, RB 7 hundreds faster on quali pace. And remember this is a RB track. Last week the same article after Friday reported a 0.19 race pace advantage for Red Bull and proved to be spot on, so I take their info (apparently they have access to fuel levels through FIA) as most accurate.

This would mean Mercedes has a clear race pace advantage on neutral tracks and Merc-suited tracks, as has been already observed in all races up until Monaco (and was visible again in France). This fight is far far far from over (also considering upgrades coming).

It's the temperature. Merc have always had a slight race pace advantage in colder, normal tracks. With a cold, normal track today and Merc holding that same advantage, the RB updates haven't changed that. What they may have done is help tyre degradation which means all further normal tracks will be won by the best driver/strategy as there will be nothing between RB/Merc

[ringo]

ham vs ver fp2 lap
https://streamable.com/fdz1cy


- by video hamilton is faster on first straight by half a tenth, even though top speeds are similar
- apex speed is 1 kmh lower for hamilton in T1 but he brakes later and has better exit it seeems, gains more than 1 tenth trough there
- verstappen gains negligible amount up to to T4, gains a bit trough T4 itself (purple mini sector)
- top speed again higher for verstappen but actually loses time on final drs straight, another half a tenth gone
- in S3 mercedes is faster trough fast left handers T6 and T7, they're more or less identical trough T9 and 10. Hamilton seems more on the limit in final corner whereas verstappen leaves some margin

overall mercedes clearly looks better so far. more stable trough corners and can hold higher apex speeds, faster on straights even. It was a similar situation last weekend in fp2 mind you, then red bull turned it around for saturday and sunday, so it's tricky to predict anything.

Pole in low-mid 1.03s. C5 is just a lot faster than C2 from last race.

Why was Max breaking almost 50 meters before Lewis, in almost all corners (except corner 3) ?

He is more than likely carrying much more fuel. We can see that redbull did longer runs, especially perez. They are fueled like an oil tanker.
Merc have no pace advantage. Let's not get carried away with FP2. As both Merc drivers have said, they are still trailing the bulls by 2 tenths, and their pace is not enough this weekend.

[zibby43]

ham vs ver fp2 lap
https://streamable.com/fdz1cy


- by video hamilton is faster on first straight by half a tenth, even though top speeds are similar
- apex speed is 1 kmh lower for hamilton in T1 but he brakes later and has better exit it seeems, gains more than 1 tenth trough there
- verstappen gains negligible amount up to to T4, gains a bit trough T4 itself (purple mini sector)
- top speed again higher for verstappen but actually loses time on final drs straight, another half a tenth gone
- in S3 mercedes is faster trough fast left handers T6 and T7, they're more or less identical trough T9 and 10. Hamilton seems more on the limit in final corner whereas verstappen leaves some margin

overall mercedes clearly looks better so far. more stable trough corners and can hold higher apex speeds, faster on straights even. It was a similar situation last weekend in fp2 mind you, then red bull turned it around for saturday and sunday, so it's tricky to predict anything.

Pole in low-mid 1.03s. C5 is just a lot faster than C2 from last race.

Why was Max breaking almost 50 meters before Lewis, in almost all corners (except corner 3) ?

He is more than likely carrying much more fuel. We can see that redbull did longer runs, especially perez. They are fueled like an oil tanker.
Merc have no pace advantage. Let's not get carried away with FP2. As both Merc drivers have said, they are still trailing the bulls by 2 tenths, and their pace is not enough this weekend.

Historically, Merc runs the heaviest of any team both in testing and practice.

Just because RB did more laps doesn’t mean they had more fuel. They can take fuel out of these cars. They don’t have to burn it all on track.

I haven’t seen either Merc driver say they’re still 2 tenths behind.

FOM’s data had RBR ahead by 2 tenths in race pace last week after FP2. This week, they have Merc slightly ahead.

[darkpino]

Lewis his whining about the power (and now so called ‘PartMode’… what?!) is starting the get old in my opinion.

Really a shame for such a great driver and multiple champion after having the best car and engine by a margin for the last 6 years and now the tables are turned don’t man up for the challenge but getting emotional regarding the lack of speed. I really didn’t expected this of him

[zibby43]

Lewis his whining about the power (and now so called ‘PartMode’… what?!) is starting the get old in my opinion.

Really a shame for such a great driver and multiple champion after having the best car and engine by a margin for the last 6 years and now the tables are turned don’t man up for the challenge but getting emotional regarding the lack of speed. I really didn’t expected this of him

“I don’t understand where they get it from, but it’s impressive and we’ve got to work hard to try and see if we can match it tonight.”

I see no whining, or backing down. I expected better effort from you.