Posts by Raymond Anderson4

The track feels incredible today. We might even see times dipping into the 1.29:7 or 1.29:8 range... And I’m betting Sebastian Vettel will push it well under 29.5

The RB is looking incredibly strong in sector two, which is really where the aerodynamics start to shine.
Kudos to Grosjean!

Too much understeer in the Ford. It’s not looking good...

Is everyone just overthinking the math here, or are people actually struggling to wrap their heads around these lap times?

1.30:7. The weather is absolutely miserable.

Hmm, looks like Ferrari is leaning hard into those yellow tires. Does that mean they’re eyeing a three-stop strategy for tomorrow? Maybe two soft stints and one medium.

Lenny Kravitz says the Kitties might even need to push out to the third lap just to get that fuel load down to the target weight on their preferred tires.

Emily Patel64 said:Good grief, what a roster 🙏🙏

Laughing Man 😁.

Mark Webber had a solid lap there, but Sebastian Vettel is making up for that lost time in the slow corners.
His car seems to find an extra tenth or two over the field right there.

You start getting excited about a lap, and then Nico brings you right back down to earth.

The guys completely knocked mečkin out of the park. Photographers scrambled immediately to snap a hundred different shots of FRIC... though it’s worth noting about 90% of those photographers were actually on the payroll of teams like Ferrari or Lotus. 😁

Pastor too.
Ferrari is running maximum downforce, and Alonso is getting more than Felipe Massa.

Samuel Ruiz4 said:Kimi Raikkonen 'will race whatever happens'

"I would race. The issues aren't always solely down to the tires. There are plenty of factors involved, and since we haven't faced a single issue all year, I don't feel like it's going to be dangerous. Racing is inherently risky; anything can happen. I suspect the explosions happened because teams weren't managing the tires correctly."

The man is a legend. No fear there, he just gets in the car and drives.

Of course he's going to race; everyone's going to race. I don't really understand why sites like Autosport.com—and most of the other outlets—are pushing this boycott narrative so hard. They constantly run quotes from drivers about it, even when the situation isn't nearly as dire as they make it out to be. In fact, the drivers seem satisfied with how quickly Pirelli handles their feedback after a race.
They're just stirring up trouble. I get that it drives up the click counts, but still.

Felipe Massa was running the Barcelona spec, while Fernando Alonso stuck with the UK setup.
I'm not a fan of them mixing setups like that; I saw the same thing happening last season and it never sits right with me.

We need a car that can actually challenge Red Bull. I'm tired of seeing us constantly falling behind. Sure, the pace looks okay—maybe, just maybe—but even then, it feels like we only stand a chance if the tires hold up somehow. If we get lucky with the rubber, then maybe, just maybe, we'll see a decent result.

Jason Campbell70 said:And that old rear wing. 😁

If we try to make predictions based strictly on what we saw during Thursday's practice—things aren't looking great for us.
But I have to reiterate—this was Thursday. During the last VN vikend, we didn't even have half a floor on the car by Thursday. 😁

By the way, did you catch the new Mečkin nose? 🍿
It looks like not everyone spent the last three days idling around.

We’ll just have to wait and see if that raised nose actually yields any time (probably a tenth at most)... it all depends on how it integrates with the rest of the chassis.
If it were truly a game-changer, Newey would have integrated it into his Red Bull cars ages ago.

I suspect the issue lies with either Fernando or Felipe.
The real problem is that every new part they bring in seems to push the car backward, and that’s on the engineers, not the drivers.
A driver isn't sitting next to an engineer in a wind tunnel giving them directions on how to modify the FW; clearly, whatever they're testing just isn't working.
Drivers aren't scientists or engineers. They simply say, "I need more downforce," and it's up to the specialists to actually make it happen.
Alonso is incredibly sharp when it comes to setup... he wouldn't be fighting this hard for every single position if he didn't know how to dial in the car between FP and the race.

Ferrari showed up with two different versions of the Williams aero package and a Monkey Seat.
That Monkey Seat isn't exactly great news; based on what I've seen before, they usually reach for that when they realize they're struggling with handling and stability.
They’ve actually reverted back to the spec used in Barcelona, which isn't a great sign either. It feels like car development has hit a wall. I can already see Stefano having to step in again to play peacemaker and tell everyone how to get things done, but honestly, they've been at this for four years now and still haven't put together a car capable of winning races back-to-back.
I'm really looking forward to the FP's and qualifying to see how they manage in Sector 1.
Right now, the Ferrari looks sluggish through the slow corners, almost like it's lost its agility.

http://www.f1reader.com/news/pirelli...r-switch-77297
I’m actually going to pivot my prediction here... I'm calling a Mercedes 1-2 for both qualifying and the race.
With this change, even my tiniest little worries about those potential Mercedes rear tire overheating issues aren't just gone—they're sunk. We're talking deep-sea level, tied to a cannonball at a thousand meters down.

^Was that yellow card deserved? Honestly, what kind of question is that?

Anyway, getting back to the main point... I’m bracing myself for a rough race from Ferrari. This track looks even more punishing than Canada was, and I don't think extra temperature is going to save them.
Mercedes will probably take pole. As for Red Bull, I doubt they'll grab the top spot, but they should be a real threat once the race actually gets underway.