neonfox65 said:It’s about how you develop through the season, not just how you nail that first race. And right now, Ferrari isn't exactly thriving—they lost ground to Red Bull Racing last year and ended up in third... which means they've actually slipped behind where they were back in 2015.
I’m not so sure about that; I feel like people tend to overstate the importance of seasonal development. Red Bull Racing was already neck-and-neck with Ferrari back in China, and then by Barcelona, they brought in the new engine and out-qualified them. It doesn't seem like they brought massive upgrades to the car last year; to me, it looked more like Ferrari struggled with tire management across different temperatures rather than falling behind due to poor development.
BTW, Tibi, Sebastian Vettel might think he missed out on pole, but if you watch the onboard lap in S2, he lost it by a hair. He actually lost at least a hundredth in one corner because he hit the throttle a little too early, which made the rear end dance around quite a bit. Same thing in S1—he seemed to make a tiny mistake in turn 3. All in all, this track really demands mechanical grip and a punchy engine. Personally, I think Mercedes has at least a hundredth advantage in both those areas, though Ferrari seems to have the edge on aero.
We’ve got an interesting season ahead of us, especially looking forward to Bahrain! 🙏
