Australia vs. USA - March 25, 2018

mellowtiger83 said:We saw just how fast one Mercedes was hitting the wall. Hamilton really made the difference there!

Look, you can't use a mediocre Valtteri Bottas to hype up Hamilton like he's some kind of god. Bottas just isn't on the same level as the top-tier guys. Hamilton is incredible, easily the best on the grid, period. There’s nothing left to say, and he doesn't need a subpar teammate like Bottas to prove his worth. Plus, the Mercedes is dominating again, which honestly shouldn't surprise anyone.

Last year, Lewis Hamilton was about 0.85 seconds faster than Kimi at this spot, but this year he's up by 0.66 seconds 🤷

I suppose we'll have to see how things play out during the race and how the tire wear holds up 🍿

Tomorrow's prediction: Vettel crashes into Hamilton at Turn 1, and then Kimi cruises to victory... 🙂

mellowtiger83 said:We saw how fast one Mercedes was when it hit the wall; Hamilton made the difference here!

Making a difference requires knowing how to drive on the track, not through the grass.🤣
Well, yeah, he’s basically an alien, so whatever.😂

The Bear is still freaking dominant...
With a car like that, even a guy like Valtteri Bottas could snag pole without breaking a sweat—hell, maybe even Lance Stroll could. But then you throw a real driver like Lewis Hamilton into the mix? Forget about it.

Though, this might be the first time in the hybrid era we've seen Mercedes actually pushing it to the absolute limit...
And honestly, it’s a good thing Red Bull and Ferrari are finally within a second of them. It means the Bear doesn't have any more breathing room.😁

mellowtiger83 said:We saw just how fast a single Mercedes can be when it hits a wall; Hamilton really made the difference there!

Valtteri Bottas is just a second-tier driver, and he’s never going to become a world champion... it doesn't matter if his teammate is Lewis Hamilton or someone else entirely...

hiddensailor7 said:Last year, Lewis Hamilton was about 0.85 seconds faster than Kimi here; this year, he’s at 0.66 seconds.🤷

One really needs to observe the race behavior and see how the tire degradation plays out.🍿

My assessment is that Ferrari is closer to Mercedes than they were last season, and we all recall how lackluster the Ferrari was last year.

Sebastian Vettel made a significant error during Q3, making his gap to Lewis Hamilton quite unrealistic; Max Verstappen also faltered slightly.

The discrepancy exists simply because Lewis Hamilton delivered a flawless lap while the others failed to do so, particularly regarding S2 and S3.

stormybadger8 said:Knowing how to stay on the asphalt instead of sliding into the grass makes all the difference.🤣
He’s practically an alien because of that skill alone.😂

Mercedes is still freaking dominant...
With a car like that, even someone mediocre like Valtteri Bottas can snag a pole, maybe even Lance Stroll could manage it... but then you have a driver of Lewis Hamilton's caliber.

It feels like perhaps the first time in this hybrid era we've seen Mercedes truly push the limit to the edge.
It's actually a good thing that Red Bull and Ferrari finally seem to be within a second of them; Mercedes doesn't have that massive cushion anymore.😁

Valtteri Bottas wouldn't be on pole if it weren't for Lewis Hamilton!! That qualifying gap—600ms—is just ridiculous because of Sebastian Vettel's mistake. It all lined up perfectly, and that was that.

mellowtiger83 said:The difference is simple: Hamilton nailed his laps while everyone else choked, especially during S2 and S3.

Yeah, sure, if you say so.🤦
You're selling myths again.😵

Hamilton's lap was a beast in S1, nothing special about S2 or S3...
He pulled over half a second ahead of the pack just in S1. Nobody else even came close to dipping below 27; they were all hovering around 27.2 in the final stint. Those "best times" from S1 were basically just their old Q2 times...
In S2 and S3, he was pretty much on par with Red Bull and Ferrari. Nothing particularly special compared to the rest of the field...


Take a look at the S1 times and see who actually clocked what.🙂

Richard Ross11 said:Tomorrow's prediction: Vettel slams into Hamilton at Turn 1, Kimi cruises to the win... 🙂

That's quite the prophecy.🤣

On a scale of 1 to 10, how badly is Max going to wreck his car at the start tomorrow?😁

stormybadger8 said:Pure incompetence at its peak. 🤦
It is quite obvious you haven't the slightest clue what you're talking about; you're just peddling delusions again. 😵

Hamilton's lap was an absolute masterclass during S1—forget about S2 or Q3...
He built a massive gap of over half a second against the field just in S1 alone. In S2 and Q3, he was basically just keeping pace with Red Bull and Ferrari, nothing particularly special there.🙄

After the first sector, Kimi was trailing Hamilton +250, Max +200.

stormybadger8 said:Not really...
When it comes down to those two, Australia belongs to Kimi.
Sebastian Vettel just doesn't seem to click there, whereas Kimi usually nails it...

And honestly, Vettel was clearly struggling all weekend in sector one.
Solid S2, pretty good S3, but usually just terrible in S1...
The real kicker is that he only had one decent S1 during qualifying—that first round in Q3—and then some kid messed up his S3 and everything just went south...

I mean, what else is there to say? Vettel totally blew it (and probably his pit box too). He probably should've been about 0.2-0.4 faster than Kimi. I guess it's either that he couldn't get the setup right, or maybe it's just him—someone who cares more about the drive than the result, which in this case makes it a massive loss for Vettel.

Lewis Hamilton just put together one of his most clinical qualifying laps to date. The track layout really plays right into his hands; if I'm not mistaken, he’s sitting on seven poles here now.

Nico Rosberg, get back in there. You can finally start seeing just how damn good Nico actually was.

Anthony Baker84 said:What else was I supposed to say? Vettel completely blew it—and likely took his garage's reputation down with him. He really should have been roughly 0.2 to 0.4 seconds faster than Kimi. Now, whether that’s because he couldn't get the setup right or just because the driver himself lacks focus... who knows. Either way, in this instance, it's a total disaster for Vettel.

Exactly. Vettel lost at least 0.3 seconds through his own error. That gap to Mercedes is nothing more than an illusion.

mellowtiger83 said:Exactly, Vettel lost at least 0.3 seconds through his own error, making the gap to Mercedes nothing more than an illusion.

It is entirely possible that under actual race conditions, Ferkan could be competitive, especially if Mecke managed to execute that oil-burning trick better than anyone else...
If that turns out to be the case, then perhaps the size of the deficit doesn't matter much, provided we have the Silver and Red cars sitting right there on the front row...

mellowtiger83 said:Bottas wouldn't have even been on pole if it wasn't for Hamilton!! That 600ms gap in qualifying was totally unrealistic because of Vettel's mistake. It just happened to line up that way, end of story.

Well, yeah, he wouldn't have, considering he hit the wall. 🤣
If he wasn't such a total amateur when things go sideways, he could've easily been right behind Hamilton...

Here’s a list of drivers who would've absolutely locked down P2 if they were sitting in Bottas's Mercedes:

Sebastian Vettel
Kimi Räikkönen
Max
Ricciardo
Sainz Hulk Alonso
Hulk
Alonso
Grosjean Magnussen
Magnussen
Perez
Ocon
☕

There's no way Bottas is going to crash out in every qualifying session with a car this good; he's looking at an easy 1-2 finish in qualifying.

stormybadger8 said:Of course he wouldn't have if he had slammed into the wall. 🤣
If he weren't such an amateur, he could have been right on Hamilton's tail without breaking a sweat...

Here is a list of drivers who would absolutely be sitting in P2 on the grid if they were piloting Bottas's Mercedes:

Sebastian Vettel
Kimi Räikkönen
Max
Ricciardo
Sainz
Hulk
Alonso
Grosjean Magnussen
Magnussen
Perez
Ocon
☕

Bottas wouldn't have taken pole if he hadn't crashed and if Hamilton wasn't there. Is that clear enough?

This lap was Hamilton's masterpiece, just like Monaco 1988 was Senna's. Period.

By the way, not a single Mercedes car besides Hamilton's is even in the top 10, whereas Ferrari has four of them!

I will say it again: a combination of the competition's errors and one perfect lap created the illusion of a massive gap.
Naturally, Mercedes remains the fastest in qualifying—there is no debate there—but it certainly isn't by a margin of -600; it’s likely half that, if it’s even that much.

mellowtiger83 said:After sector one, Kimi was trailing Hamilton +250 and Max +200.

You're following bad info here. 🙂
Kimi and Max were down those 250 and 200 against Hamilton's S1 from that opening lap in Q3, not compared to whatever mess he drove during the final qualifying lap. 😉

Anthony Baker84 said:What else was I supposed to say? Vettel completely blew it (and probably his side of the garage too). He should've been about 0.2 to 0.4 seconds faster than Kimi. Maybe he just couldn't nail the setup, or maybe it's just the driver—someone who only cares about the result, and in this case, that's a massive L for Vettel.

Exactly.😁 That's the thing.
Vettel ended up right behind Hamilton, who definitely lunged toward Kimi's side at the start to shut him down...
If Vettel gets a decent launch, he could easily blow past both of them like a high-speed train.😁

mellowtiger83 said:Bottas wouldn't have even been on pole if he hadn't crashed and if Hamilton wasn't there, get it now??

Maybe Bottas wouldn't have, but I'm pretty damn sure almost everyone else on that grid would have...
I'd bet my life even Lance Stroll would've snatched pole in that scenario, let alone the actual top-tier drivers...🤦