Australian Grand Prix (Los Angeles - Central Park) 03.26.2017

Sebastian Vettel was playing around with the Mercedes-Benz setup for a bit, but then Lewis Hamilton had to step in and hold him accountable.😁

I was telling everyone earlier that Sebastian Vettel could have easily taken half that gap. He drove an absolute beauty, but honestly, that little slip at T9 and being a bit sluggish on the entry into T1—where he had to fight just to make up ground later—cost him at least 0.150s. It looks like Sebastian is braking a bit later, while Lewis Hamilton is getting back on the throttle just a touch sooner. Plus, you've got the Mercedes PU still feeling a bit more powerful, though I wouldn't be surprised if Ferrari has a slight edge on the aero side.

Here’s my breakdown:

neonfox65 said:Who said that...? 🤦

I’m honestly much happier that Ferrari jumped straight into developing this year's car and PU last year—seeing them actually give Meck a run for their money now is huge. Meanwhile, Red Bull Racing can't even touch them... if they hadn't just grabbed a couple of wins last season and thought they were set, they wouldn't be in this mess right now. They're totally cooked...

It’s easy for Ferrari when they actually have the right engines—they’re solid. But the massive headache for Red Bull Racing is definitely their power unit... specifically dealing with Renault. If Red Bull could just snag a Mercedes or a Ferrari engine, they'd be running away with it—but it looks like those guys were too chicken to hand over their tech... ☕

Exactly. Red Bull has the best chassis and the most "talented" drivers out there...
The chassis is so good it basically bounces through corners like a newborn deer in a meadow, and the drivers? Just flawless. 🙏
One spends his time kissing the walls with a big grin on his face, while the other is a master of the "fifth gear." 😁

The only one to blame is that damn Swiss guy who decided to start building engines after his hours were up...

Maybe Adrian miscalculated things this season—just didn't quite manage to cough up an absolute rocket of a car when it mattered most.

Just let Red Bull do their thing as long as they have that devilish Adrian Newey... they're always dancing right on the edge of the regulations and then they start whining the second things don't go their way. They are just the worst...
I wouldn't be surprised if they catch up and become true equals after Spain...

copperdrifter26 said:I was telling everyone earlier that Sebastian Vettel could have easily taken half that gap. He drove an absolute beauty, but honestly, that little slip at T9 and being a bit sluggish on the entry into T1—where he had to fight just to make up ground later—cost him at least 0.150s. It looks like Sebastian is braking a bit later, while Lewis Hamilton is getting back on the throttle just a touch sooner. Plus, you've got the Mercedes PU still feeling a bit more powerful, though I wouldn't be surprised if Ferrari has a slight edge on the aero side.

Here’s my breakdown:

The analysis is kind of flawed right from the jump...
At the T1 entry, there's a massive difference, and it's not even about how much gas they're giving it—it's the gear selection...
It's obvious either Mercedes and Ferrari have totally different gear ratios, or Vettel just stayed in the wrong gear. 🤷
Watch closely: Vettel enters the corner in 5th and stays there, while Hamilton is in 4th... obviously, Hamo can hammer the throttle way harder since he's in a lower gear. 😉

Sure, there was a mistake at T9, but I seriously doubt those two little slips cost him enough to miss pole. I don't buy that he lost a full 0.268s just there.
That's not a tiny margin to blame on just two minor hiccups...
Maybe he could've closed the gap to about 0.100s, but I don't see him pulling ahead.

Then again, it wouldn't surprise me if he ends up ahead of Mercedes down the road. Australia wasn't exactly kind to them in qualifying, yet they were still this close. 👍
They had some ERS issues on Friday, which messed up their whole program, so who knows how much that actually trashed the car setup. Plus, it was pretty cold during Q3, which traditionally sucks for Ferrari but usually works fine for Mercedes...

So yeah, all things considered, there's definitely hope.👍

Amy Castillo4 said:Maybe Adrian miscalculated things this season—just didn't quite manage to cough up an absolute rocket of a car when it mattered most.

Red Bull definitely got caught red-handed with that suspension issue...
Losing that system is no small deal, and ditching the whole setup probably set them back quite a bit...
Since Mercedes ditched it too, they probably took a hit, but they had enough of a lead to afford it. On the flip side, Red Bull definitely couldn't, and that’s likely their headache right now...

Plus, their entire concept was built around having that specific suspension. They didn't realize they had to scrap it until they hit Barcelona, so they haven't had much time to refine everything and make it work properly. Now, the car's suspension is basically just slapped together to meet the rules rather than being finely tuned...

brunejz said:Red Bull was a disaster in Australia last year, so we already know how that season ended up.

If I remember right, Ricciardo was sitting somewhere around 8th, and the gap was even wider.

Where on earth are you getting that from...
https://www.formula1.com/en/results....ualifying.html
https://www.formula1.com/en/results....australia.html

Los Angeles 2016
Kimi Räikkönen 1:25.033
Max Verstappen 1:25.434

Los Angeles 2017
Kimi Räikkönen 1:23.033
Max Verstappen 1:23.485

The gap is basically identical. 🤣
The difference is slightly larger this season, but get this: Kimi is exactly 2 seconds faster than last year, down to the millisecond. 🙏
Max hit nearly the same mark too...

Look, the truth is Ricciardo was 8th last year, but that’s because his qualifying was absolute garbage, not because Red Bull was bad.
Max was 5th right behind Kimi last year anyway.😉

The only real change in terms of power is that instead of Nico Rosberg and Valtteri Bottas, it's just Bottas, and Vettel finished ahead of one Mercedes this season.

Mercedes hasn't even tested out that suspension setup at the Australian Grand Prix before now. Apparently, they only bring that kind of thing out for a handful of races a year (at least, according to what AMUS says).

Tbf, Max Verstappen wasn't even driving for Red Bull during last week's Australian Grand Prix. 😉

stormybadger8 said:Exactly. Red Bull has the best chassis and the most "talented" drivers out there...
The chassis is so good it basically bounces through corners like a newborn deer in a meadow, and the drivers? Just flawless. 🙏
One spends his time kissing the walls with a big grin on his face, while the other is a master of the "fifth gear." 😁

The only one to blame is that damn Swiss guy who decided to start building engines after his hours were up...

Last season, one of them beat both Ferraris, and the other—who barely even drove the Red Bull this season—beat Kimi Räikkönen 👋

So here’s why Red Bull was struggling so much

http://www.autosport.com/news/report...-for-australia

And no, Tibi—it's not Tibi, the engine is actually perfect 🙂

William Bennett53 said:Tbf, Max Verstappen wasn't even driving for Red Bull during last week's Australian Grand Prix. 😉

Even worse for Ricciardo 😬

I totally forgot about that... currently throwing ashes over my shoulder. 😁

neonfox65 said:So here’s why Red Bull was struggling so much

http://www.autosport.com/news/report...-for-australia

And no, Tibi—it's not Tibi, the engine is actually perfect 🙂

Maybe Red Bull and STR just have that old MGU-K, while Renault is using a newer, fixed version...
How would anyone at Red Bull or STR even know what kind of MGU-K is inside the Renault car? They only know what they're told...

Besides, that isn't an issue with the engine itself, and probably not even an issue with Renault. 😳
It’s an electrical drive problem. Usually, those parts come from a different manufacturer rather than the engine makers themselves. If I remember correctly, that's pretty much how it works with Renault...

I'm not even sure if the MGU-K is actually a Red Bull product now instead of Renault's. 🤔
I know there used to be drama surrounding those electrical components in the Renault-powered cars. It seems like they were relying on Magneti Marelli back in 2016... then after things went south for Red Bull, they switched to someone else, though I can't recall who. Actually, I think Red Bull stepped up to develop that part themselves, which might be why everyone else eventually moved to their solution. 🤔
Why on earth would the article say Red Bull produced extra components for all the teams if they could just slap a 2016-spec MGU-K onto the cars?
Why would Red Bull bother manufacturing MGU-K parts if that component belongs to Renault? 😵

Does anyone actually know who supplies the KERS, the MGU, and all those hybrid bits for Renault?

🤦

No way.

Here is a detailed takedown of Pascal Wehrlein after he told the team following Friday's practice that he wouldn't be driving because his fitness levels weren't up to par—an unprecedented move in the long history of F1:
http://www.gptoday.com/full_story/vi...in_is_a_pussy/

In short, Wehrlein is a total coward.

William Bennett53 said:Here is a detailed takedown of Pascal Wehrlein after he told the team following Friday's practice that he wouldn't be driving because his fitness levels weren't up to par—an unprecedented move in the long history of F1:
http://www.gptoday.com/full_story/vi...in_is_a_pussy/

In short, Wehrlein is a total coward.

Long story short, this just proves online journalists can be absolute morons sometimes...
Look, Pascal isn't some egomaniac who thinks he has to drive at any cost, nor is he the type to just ignore everyone and do whatever he wants, but by making that move, he showed he's the kind of team player you rarely see...
It wouldn't have even surprised me if this move cemented his future spot at Bear, though sadly, probably just as a No. 2 driver...

By doing this, Pascal is actually giving Mass a huge compliment...
He's the kind of driver who would die for the team if needed, rather than just being driven by his own ego...

Pascal clearly realizes that Sauber really only has one shot at a good result this season, and that's the Australian Grand Prix, which is traditionally a graveyard for DNFs. If what he told Ted is true—that he was so exhausted after practice he knew he wouldn't finish the race—then it was actually a move worthy of praise from the team's perspective...
It's not even impossible that the team pressured him into it, if they also saw after practice that he simply wasn't physically ready for the race...

Anyway, if Giovinazzi somehow manages to score points tomorrow, it's not out of the question that he effectively handed the kid a spot on the grid—and with better odds of keeping it than some other kid whose dad has a few hundred million in the bank. 😁

stormybadger8 said:Long story short, this just proves online journalists can be absolute morons sometimes...
Look, Pascal isn't some egomaniac who thinks he has to drive at any cost, nor is he the type to just ignore everyone and do whatever he wants, but by making that move, he showed he's the kind of team player you rarely see...
It wouldn't have even surprised me if this move cemented his future spot at Bear, though sadly, probably just as a No. 2 driver...

By doing this, Pascal is actually giving Mass a huge compliment...
He's the kind of driver who would die for the team if needed, rather than just being driven by his own ego...

Pascal clearly realizes that Sauber really only has one shot at a good result this season, and that's the Australian Grand Prix, which is traditionally a graveyard for DNFs. If what he told Ted is true—that he was so exhausted after practice he knew he wouldn't finish the race—then it was actually a move worthy of praise from the team's perspective...
It's not even impossible that the team pressured him into it, if they also saw after practice that he simply wasn't physically ready for the race...

Anyway, if Giovinazzi somehow manages to score points tomorrow, it's not out of the question that he effectively handed the kid a spot on the grid—and with better odds of keeping it than some other kid whose dad has a few hundred million in the bank. 😁

👍👍👍

copperdrifter26 said:I was telling everyone earlier that Sebastian Vettel could have easily taken half that gap. He drove an absolute beauty, but honestly, that little slip at T9 and being a bit sluggish on the entry into T1—where he had to fight just to make up ground later—cost him at least 0.150s. It looks like Sebastian is braking a bit later, while Lewis Hamilton is getting back on the throttle just a touch sooner. Plus, you've got the Mercedes PU still feeling a bit more powerful, though I wouldn't be surprised if Ferrari has a slight edge on the aero side.

Here’s my breakdown:

Uhhh, Vettel really could have grabbed half a second there—honestly, kudos to Ferrari for the progress they've made this season. I truly believe that if they nail these upgrades, we're looking at a fantastic season ahead.

Just to add:

NASCAR cars hitting high G-forces in Los Angeles

Let that "pussy" journalist sit in one of those cars for once. I’d love to see how long he lasts before he breaks.