The F1 thread

sinbaadi

Hamilton is faced with the sort of performance deficit that Mercedes had imposed on the field for much of the previous era.  That's F1!  Not everybody gets a chance to fight for the title, in fact way more often than not, it's just 2 or 3 drivers from one or two teams that even have a remote chance.  Hamilton knows this and, he knows he can't complain about it.
In fact he has been quite contrite about the fact that Russell is getting more out of the car than he is, at least so far.  Russell has been able to take advantage of some others' misfortune because he's been just that bit faster.
The drivers all know what's what, really.  

euan

RiftAmps said:

George finished 0.643scs off pole, and Lewis even further back at 0.762. Based on lap time % (which is the standard way of measuring the performance gap between the Teams), this is 0.817% slower than Pole position.

At the opening round in Bahrain, Lewis qualified 0.680 off pole. This was 0.751% slower.
They may have solved their porpoising, but the gap to the front is ever so slightly wider.

If the race is green all the way through, then after 66 laps the highest placed Merc will still be 20-30secs behind the winner. Can't fight for a title like that. Even if you can finish within 10 secs of P1, you're still an eternity behind.

For context, Lewis drove in the required delta for his outlap, Perez was 8 seconds slower than the delta race control and informed the drivers to keep to.

A good bit of any time gap is going to be in the tyres going off in the last sector.

What is good for the race is that the Mercedes seem to have the advantage in all the power mini sectors of the track. Meaning they should have the advantage in the DRS zone.

It also says that they have managed to drop all the drag they were running to keep the car from porpoising, so now that they have a more stable platform to understand they can bring the developments that were planned.

stickyfiddle

So, mega hot day, Lewis the only one starting on mediums and Fernando starting last. 

Who’s betting RB will have reliability issues? 

Brio

Russell is having a good day 

YellowLedBetterMan

George Russell is looking fantastic today. I'm sure Toto is loving it - looks like he has a winner in the team and a definite number 1 for when Hamilton does eventually call it a day.

stickyfiddle

Russell doing what he used to be so good at every race in F2. Calm and smart driving. Absolutely stellar defending and Max is only getting grumpier 

But Leclerc is dead?! Ffs!! 

stickyfiddle

There is the possible undercut for Max but I can’t help felling that pit stop was a convenient way to get Perez in front of Max without having to ask him to move over…

RiftAmps

RiftAmps said:

George finished 0.643scs off pole, and Lewis even further back at 0.762. Based on lap time % (which is the standard way of measuring the performance gap between the Teams), this is 0.817% slower than Pole position.

At the opening round in Bahrain, Lewis qualified 0.680 off pole. This was 0.751% slower.
They may have solved their porpoising, but the gap to the front is ever so slightly wider.

If the race is green all the way through, then after 66 laps the highest placed Merc will still be 20-30secs behind the winner. Can't fight for a title like that. Even if you can finish within 10 secs of P1, you're still an eternity behind.

As I predicted, the lead Merc finished way behind the leader. In fact, it was 32.927s behind. Dog shit performance. Feel sorry for GR having to put up with it. No doubt would have been even further behind if CL didn't retire.

thumpingrug

RiftAmps said:

RiftAmps said:

George finished 0.643scs off pole, and Lewis even further back at 0.762. Based on lap time % (which is the standard way of measuring the performance gap between the Teams), this is 0.817% slower than Pole position.

At the opening round in Bahrain, Lewis qualified 0.680 off pole. This was 0.751% slower.
They may have solved their porpoising, but the gap to the front is ever so slightly wider.

If the race is green all the way through, then after 66 laps the highest placed Merc will still be 20-30secs behind the winner. Can't fight for a title like that. Even if you can finish within 10 secs of P1, you're still an eternity behind.

As I predicted, the lead Merc finished way behind the leader. In fact, it was 32.927s behind. Dog shit performance. Feel sorry for GR having to put up with it. No doubt would have been even further behind if CL didn't retire.

wow, thats a very jaded view.    Mercedes HAD a car that was bouncing like a kangaroo in heat a few weeks ago and was basically undrivable.  Today GR finished third and Lewis came from pretty much the back of the grid to 4th at one point and driving faster than any other car on the track for much of the race.  If it hadn't been for a collision and a water leak the whole race could have been much different.  From where they were a month ago to now is a huge achievement.  

euan

As Wolff pointed out, Hamilton lost 50 seconds from the collison, and finished 40 seconds off Verstappen.

RiftAmps

thumpingrug said:

RiftAmps said:

RiftAmps said:

George finished 0.643scs off pole, and Lewis even further back at 0.762. Based on lap time % (which is the standard way of measuring the performance gap between the Teams), this is 0.817% slower than Pole position.

At the opening round in Bahrain, Lewis qualified 0.680 off pole. This was 0.751% slower.
They may have solved their porpoising, but the gap to the front is ever so slightly wider.

If the race is green all the way through, then after 66 laps the highest placed Merc will still be 20-30secs behind the winner. Can't fight for a title like that. Even if you can finish within 10 secs of P1, you're still an eternity behind.

As I predicted, the lead Merc finished way behind the leader. In fact, it was 32.927s behind. Dog shit performance. Feel sorry for GR having to put up with it. No doubt would have been even further behind if CL didn't retire.

wow, thats a very jaded view.    Mercedes HAD a car that was bouncing like a kangaroo in heat a few weeks ago and was basically underivable.  Today GR finished third and Lewis came from pretty much the back of the grid to 4th at one point and driving fast ethan any other car on the track for much of the race.  If it hadn't been for a collision and a water leak the whole race could have been much different.  From where they were a month ago to now is a huge achievement.  

I’m sorry, the stopwatch doesn’t lie.

GR would have finished even further behind had Max’s DRS worked and he didn’t have that off at T3.

thumpingrug

RiftAmps said:

thumpingrug said:

RiftAmps said:

RiftAmps said:

George finished 0.643scs off pole, and Lewis even further back at 0.762. Based on lap time % (which is the standard way of measuring the performance gap between the Teams), this is 0.817% slower than Pole position.

At the opening round in Bahrain, Lewis qualified 0.680 off pole. This was 0.751% slower.
They may have solved their porpoising, but the gap to the front is ever so slightly wider.

If the race is green all the way through, then after 66 laps the highest placed Merc will still be 20-30secs behind the winner. Can't fight for a title like that. Even if you can finish within 10 secs of P1, you're still an eternity behind.

As I predicted, the lead Merc finished way behind the leader. In fact, it was 32.927s behind. Dog shit performance. Feel sorry for GR having to put up with it. No doubt would have been even further behind if CL didn't retire.

wow, thats a very jaded view.    Mercedes HAD a car that was bouncing like a kangaroo in heat a few weeks ago and was basically underivable.  Today GR finished third and Lewis came from pretty much the back of the grid to 4th at one point and driving fast ethan any other car on the track for much of the race.  If it hadn't been for a collision and a water leak the whole race could have been much different.  From where they were a month ago to now is a huge achievement.  

I’m sorry, the stopwatch doesn’t lie.

GR would have finished even further behind had Max’s DRS worked and he didn’t have that off at T3.

finishing 3rd is not a "dogshit" performance.  

RiftAmps

thumpingrug said:

RiftAmps said:

thumpingrug said:

RiftAmps said:

RiftAmps said:

George finished 0.643scs off pole, and Lewis even further back at 0.762. Based on lap time % (which is the standard way of measuring the performance gap between the Teams), this is 0.817% slower than Pole position.

At the opening round in Bahrain, Lewis qualified 0.680 off pole. This was 0.751% slower.
They may have solved their porpoising, but the gap to the front is ever so slightly wider.

If the race is green all the way through, then after 66 laps the highest placed Merc will still be 20-30secs behind the winner. Can't fight for a title like that. Even if you can finish within 10 secs of P1, you're still an eternity behind.

As I predicted, the lead Merc finished way behind the leader. In fact, it was 32.927s behind. Dog shit performance. Feel sorry for GR having to put up with it. No doubt would have been even further behind if CL didn't retire.

wow, thats a very jaded view.    Mercedes HAD a car that was bouncing like a kangaroo in heat a few weeks ago and was basically underivable.  Today GR finished third and Lewis came from pretty much the back of the grid to 4th at one point and driving fast ethan any other car on the track for much of the race.  If it hadn't been for a collision and a water leak the whole race could have been much different.  From where they were a month ago to now is a huge achievement.  

I’m sorry, the stopwatch doesn’t lie.

GR would have finished even further behind had Max’s DRS worked and he didn’t have that off at T3.

finishing 3rd is not a "dogshit" performance.  

Finishing third and less than 5secs behind  wouldn’t be dog shit, but 30+secs is.

EDIT: In fact, it’s f*cking atrocious.

I’m a big GR fan, BTW

sinbaadi

It's a best of the rest performance in a race which could have been absolutely dominated by Charles, too.

Another one where George had the pace and talent to be in the right place at the right time, but he's on the podium because Ferrari couldn't put a race together with either driver, and the Mercedes is not competitive realistically.  

Fretwired

RiftAmps said:

thumpingrug said:

RiftAmps said:

thumpingrug said:

RiftAmps said:

RiftAmps said:

George finished 0.643scs off pole, and Lewis even further back at 0.762. Based on lap time % (which is the standard way of measuring the performance gap between the Teams), this is 0.817% slower than Pole position.

At the opening round in Bahrain, Lewis qualified 0.680 off pole. This was 0.751% slower.
They may have solved their porpoising, but the gap to the front is ever so slightly wider.

If the race is green all the way through, then after 66 laps the highest placed Merc will still be 20-30secs behind the winner. Can't fight for a title like that. Even if you can finish within 10 secs of P1, you're still an eternity behind.

As I predicted, the lead Merc finished way behind the leader. In fact, it was 32.927s behind. Dog shit performance. Feel sorry for GR having to put up with it. No doubt would have been even further behind if CL didn't retire.

wow, thats a very jaded view.    Mercedes HAD a car that was bouncing like a kangaroo in heat a few weeks ago and was basically underivable.  Today GR finished third and Lewis came from pretty much the back of the grid to 4th at one point and driving fast ethan any other car on the track for much of the race.  If it hadn't been for a collision and a water leak the whole race could have been much different.  From where they were a month ago to now is a huge achievement.  

I’m sorry, the stopwatch doesn’t lie.

GR would have finished even further behind had Max’s DRS worked and he didn’t have that off at T3.

finishing 3rd is not a "dogshit" performance.  

Finishing third and less than 5secs behind  wouldn’t be dog shit, but 30+secs is.

EDIT: In fact, it’s f*cking atrocious.

I’m a big GR fan, BTW

But, both Mercs were in 'limp mode' towards the end of the race. The teams had to decide on their cooling packages before the race and nobody anticipated the heat. Russell had a problem all race and Lewis had a water leak towards the end. Both Mercedes were in 'lift and coast' mode - neither driver was pushing towards the end. Saintz overtook Hamilton. Russell was safe so he took his foot off the gas - the 30-second gap is not representative of Russell's actual performance. Verstappen just drives with his foot to the floor.

Hamilton managed to switch his car on which was enhanced with some tweaks in a pit stop. He was the fastest guy on the track at one point trading fastest laps with the Red Bull drivers.

Mercedes have made great strides and I suspect they will be winning races before too long. The Bulls look fragile when pushed.

I felt sorry for LeClerc.

markr76

Fretwired said:

RiftAmps said:

thumpingrug said:

RiftAmps said:

thumpingrug said:

RiftAmps said:

RiftAmps said:

George finished 0.643scs off pole, and Lewis even further back at 0.762. Based on lap time % (which is the standard way of measuring the performance gap between the Teams), this is 0.817% slower than Pole position.

At the opening round in Bahrain, Lewis qualified 0.680 off pole. This was 0.751% slower.
They may have solved their porpoising, but the gap to the front is ever so slightly wider.

If the race is green all the way through, then after 66 laps the highest placed Merc will still be 20-30secs behind the winner. Can't fight for a title like that. Even if you can finish within 10 secs of P1, you're still an eternity behind.

As I predicted, the lead Merc finished way behind the leader. In fact, it was 32.927s behind. Dog shit performance. Feel sorry for GR having to put up with it. No doubt would have been even further behind if CL didn't retire.

wow, thats a very jaded view.    Mercedes HAD a car that was bouncing like a kangaroo in heat a few weeks ago and was basically underivable.  Today GR finished third and Lewis came from pretty much the back of the grid to 4th at one point and driving fast ethan any other car on the track for much of the race.  If it hadn't been for a collision and a water leak the whole race could have been much different.  From where they were a month ago to now is a huge achievement.  

I’m sorry, the stopwatch doesn’t lie.

GR would have finished even further behind had Max’s DRS worked and he didn’t have that off at T3.

finishing 3rd is not a "dogshit" performance.  

Finishing third and less than 5secs behind  wouldn’t be dog shit, but 30+secs is.

EDIT: In fact, it’s f*cking atrocious.

I’m a big GR fan, BTW

But, both Mercs were in 'limp mode' towards the end of the race. The teams had to decide on their cooling packages before the race and nobody anticipated the heat. Russell had a problem all race and Lewis had a water leak towards the end. Both Mercedes were in 'lift and coast' mode - neither driver was pushing towards the end. Saintz overtook Hamilton. Russell was safe so he took his foot off the gas - the 30-second gap is not representative of Russell's actual performance. Verstappen just drives with his foot to the floor.

Hamilton managed to switch his car on which was enhanced with some tweaks in a pit stop. He was the fastest guy on the track at one point trading fastest laps with the Red Bull drivers.

Mercedes have made great strides and I suspect they will be winning races before too long. The Bulls look fragile when pushed.

I felt sorry for LeClerc.

You’re all wasting your time Chris is a Mercedes hater! 

chillidoggy

Having predicted a Ferrari 1 - 2, I can now state that no-one should ever take any take any notice of my predictions.

I felt for Leclerc, but a Max win means the pair of them are both back in contention with each other. Hats off to the Hamster for a good recovery, but George Russell was driver of the day for me.

boogieman

I wonder what Merc will do now George is seemingly the better bet at getting points? Do they still honour Lewis being the number 1 driver? 

Cols

Good to see Merc properly competitive again, having largely calmed the bouncing clown car.  Hopefully it's a genuine step change and not something specific to Barcelona.  Hamilton's race pace was excellent, it would have been interesting to see where he would've washed up if Magnussen hadn't tagged him on the first lap.  Both him and Russell had to slow in the last few laps to nurse the engines over the line, so the 30s/55s gap to Verstappen is not indicative of true pace.

Gutted for Leclerc.  He drove a near-faultless race right up to the point where his engine gave up.

boogieman said:

I wonder what Merc will do now George is seemingly the better bet at getting points? Do they still honour Lewis being the number 1 driver? 

Merc are very public in stating that they give both drivers equal opportunities, and always have done.  Who ends up as numero uno is a function of how the season goes and who's in contention (which has always been Hamilton from 2017 onwards).
 

stickyfiddle

What @Cols said. Merc understand the porpoising issue and the next couple of races should only see them get quicker as they finesse the setup. I'd happily bet they'll be winning races before the summer break. 

George was particularly fantastic yesterday, but so was Lewis. I'm looking forward to watching both of them go forwards through the rest of the season.