What are you even talking about? Lewis had a flawless session, while Vettel completely blew it in Q1 by just two-hundredths of a second—he looked just as gutted as the folks over at Ferrari.
It’s such a shame because Ferrari actually showed more pace in Q3, and they were neck-and-neck in Q2, which pretty much tells me their aero package might actually be the superior setup at Ferrari.
stormybadger8 said:Ferrari looks like they're in deep, deep trouble... Honestly, they might even be slower than Red Bull right now. 🤦
Just watch the team principals' press conferences. 😳 Ariverbene was acting like a guy who completely screwed up and is desperately trying to explain himself to his boss, even though he knows he's about to get kicked to the curb and fired within ten minutes... he looked like he was on the verge of tears and couldn't sit still for a second. I actually had this feeling watching him, like he was genuinely about to burst into tears right there in front of the cameras. 😵 And I highly doubt he’s that good of an actor, plus why would he bother?
I have no clue what's actually going on, but it feels like something nasty is brewing behind the scenes. 🤔 Man, I hope it's just Ariverbene getting sacked for some stupid reason or some personal stuff unrelated to the team, but it looks more like the fallout from yet another disastrous season...
It always plays out like this, seriously, every single time.
Mercedes seems absolutely thrilled with their setup, while Ferrari is clearly struggling. And yet, somehow Vettel is still ahead of Bottas, even though Hamilton is absolutely tearing it up here—outperforming Rosberg despite them being in identical cars.
It’s entirely possible that both Ferrari and Red Bull could have pulled off a one-stop race strategy based on the simulations. Let's not jump to any conclusions just yet.☕
shadowstag10 said:Exactly. The FIA is in such a pathetic spot right now—they try to screw you over in every possible way, leaving you totally lost, wondering where the actual limit is and where they should finally draw the line.
Don't worry, both Mercedes and Red Bull knew exactly where the limit was. It's pretty obvious you can't just "bank" energy to suddenly drop the car's ride height on the straights to cut drag, only to have it snap back to a high rake setup for more downforce in the corners. They know the rules all too well.
Man, Hamilton is looking like he’s taking pole position. It was such a nightmare trying to get everyone’s car dialed in, except for Red Bull Racing and their sister team, but once they finally got those adjustments right, Hamilton should have had it in the bag. Ricciardo is going to be right up there, and Vettel will be close too, though Rosberg looks a little shaky. Kimi is having a disaster, and don't even get me started on McLaren. It's absolute chaos out there.
neonfox65 said:You know what? Red Bull just has a better chassis and better drivers! 😉
So, looking at the data, Ferrari looked a lot worse during qualifying—it honestly felt like they were just sliding all over the track—compared to how they handled themselves in practice. Now, is the real reason behind that because Red Bull simply has better drivers and a superior chassis?
Ferrari was looking lightning fast all weekend at the Spanish Grand Prix. But man, during qualifying? They were just completely off the pace. Honestly, it was a total non-event. Someone needs to figure out what went wrong and explain it to us once they find the reason.
The car looked absolutely flawless all weekend long. Even the medium tires seemed to be performing better—maybe more downforce? We’ve got the new rear and front wings, those fresh sidepods, and honestly, everyone was feeling pretty optimistic. But then qualifying rolls around and they're somehow slower than they were during practice sessions -_- How does that even happen? The guys in Italy are claiming the track temperatures shot up by 15°C compared to the practice runs, which completely threw things off. There’s also talk about them messing around too much with the setup... Whatever the reason, the car looked incredibly sharp and fast right up until qualifying, and then suddenly, bam—just like Mercedes in Singapore.
northerncobra31 said:I’m not sure if it’s just me, but I always get the feeling that the "real" season doesn't actually kick off until the Spanish GP. I can't quite put my finger on why, especially since the previous tracks have been solid—I mean, Russia was pretty decent too.
Honestly, the season really does start at the Spanish GP, especially now that we're looking at a massive 21-race calendar. Everything leading up to this has felt like a bit of a mess, and man, Sochi was just brutal.
Jason Campbell70 said:It’s not even about the guy behind the wheel. The real issue lies with the crew sitting up on the pit wall.
As long as the Mercedes car stays this much faster than the rest, the sheer incompetence of those slick Italian types isn't what determines the championship title. Honestly, I’m glad it’s working out this way; if the roles were reversed, watching them try to manage a race would be an absolute nightmare.
Wait, isn't Jock Clear acting as the race engineer for the Italians this year? As far as I know, the strategy lead is that Spaniard from Lotus... the Technical Director is an Englishman, and the one footing the bill is an Italian.😁
Alonso would have walked away with the win just like he did back in 2010 when he snatched the spot from Vitaly Petrov and then grabbed the trophy.🎉
I'm thinking Ferrari and Williams probably grabbed some extra medium tires because of those upgrades they're bringing. It'll let them hammer out more laps during free practice to see how everything holds up.
Honestly, they completely blew it. This was the perfect opportunity for them because they’ve been stuck in a rut on this track for five years now. Once we hit Bahrain, they’ll be right on their heels, making it easy to maximize points before the first round of updates rolls in.
Kimi Räikkönen’s turbo gave out; it overheated during the red flag. The rest of the engine seems fine.
Paddy Lowe mentioned that according to their data, Ferrari was running a detuned engine and didn't even get a second shot at qualifying, so they actually believe they're much closer to the front than anyone realized.
northerncobra31 said:That Mercedes was just terrifying; even with those older, slower tires, they were untouchable. Ferrari looked closer, but still nowhere near title contention. Honestly, the race itself was pretty mediocre—I was hoping for more action and actual overtaking. da if Sebastian Vettel had gone with mediums, things would have been even worse. I mean, if he couldn't pull away from Nice on the super softs...
How was he supposed to pull away when he had to make those tires last at least 15 laps? On top of that, they weren't even fresh; they were used. That’s a total Ferrari fail right there.
If Mecka really found it that easy to overtake, why didn't he just jump Max Verstappen on the SS while running with Hanilt? Or go after Nico Rosberg or Kimi Räikkönen?
Man, Ferrari is really dropping the ball here. If Hamilton wasn't able to pull off that soft tire strategy on those exact same compounds, I bet you anything Rosberg wouldn't have stood a chance on the mediums. Track position is everything at this level—these front wing designs are so insanely complex that if you lose just half a second, the whole car loses its aero grip instantly... Meanwhile, Max is pushing it dangerously hard.
Damn, that was lightning fast. Mercedes is absolutely dominant right now, but they aren't just going to cruise through a two-second gap to clear the entire field. And man, what happened with Alonso? That was intense... Thank God he walked away from that one unscathed.
Jacob White49 said:Today was just an absolute embarrassment for Ferrari... honestly, considering how much they’ve poured into this and all those massive promises they made... they were a full second behind Messi. Once Honda and Renault actually find their footing, Red Bull and McLaren are going to eat them alive for breakfast. Even the rain during practice showed that their chassis and aero aren't even in the top five right now. Sure, they have a killer engine, but I’m seriously questioning if everything is above board when it comes to the digital side of things. Shady business!
Don't embarrass yourself. It'll take Honda at least another five years to get back on track. Renault might be a different story, though—they actually have a solid history of winning. What kind of results has Honda really seen in Formula 1 or other motorsports lately?
Let's refresh everyone's memory here... They had the worst engine of the V8 era. They got slapped around by Chevrolet in IndyCar. They struggled in MotoGP. And to top it all off, they were a total disaster during the V6 era. Aside from some late 80s luck, Honda’s run in Formula 1 has been nothing but a series of letdowns.😁
crimsonstag84 said:Comparing last year's gaps at the Australian Grand Prix just doesn't hold water. Ferrari was running an engine and aero package from testing that was way slower than what they brought to the very next race.
Wait, where are you getting that from? I'm pretty much 100% certain that's not how it went down. They didn't get the new engine until Canada, and the aero updates didn't show up until Miami.
By the way, this is actually Ferrari's smallest deficit in Los Angeles over the last five years—if you don't count the possibility of them putting together a faster second lap. Honestly, it’s a total mystery what those guys were even doing back between 2011 and 2015...
Raymond Anderson4 said:And that’s pretty much the long and short of how Vettel's car development went. The current gap between Lewis and Vettel really comes down to the engine—just like how Newey used to be the deciding factor between Vettel and Fernando when it came to Lewis. It just goes to show how easily the elite drivers can snatch up championships once you finally get the car sorted out.🙂. We all used to say Lewis might just settle for one title, but then he gets this incredible machine and boom—back-to-back championships. It was the exact same story with Vettel, it would've been the same for Fernando, and honestly probably for Ricciardo too (purely in terms of raw talent, they're all on that level).
I wouldn't say it's just the engine, though; the power unit only accounts for about a third of that deficit. The chassis and aero on the Mercedes are lightyears ahead of anything else on the grid right now. It looks like a spacecraft compared to the rest of them. They seem to bring meaningful upgrades almost every other race weekend—after those tests in Barcelona, they really leveled up everything.