Spanish GP (Circuit of the Americas) – May 15, 2016

After this absolute disaster, heads are definitely going to roll at Ferrari—it’s bound to happen. I can't help but wonder if this whole mess is some kind of fallout from Allison being away following the passing of his wife?

jadeseal7 said:After this absolute disaster, heads are definitely going to roll at Ferrari—it’s bound to happen. I can't help but wonder if this whole mess is some kind of fallout from Allison being away following the passing of his wife?

Even with the pressure mounting, they were told by management that victory was non-negotiable... one can't help but wonder where they would stand if it weren't for 🙂

stormybadger8 said:Ferrari 🤦🤦🤦

Honestly, I have zero clue which kid 😵

Vettel FP3 - 1:23.225
Vettel Q1 - 1:24.124
Vettel Q2 - 1:23.688
Vettel Q3 - 1:23.334

😵

What kind of brat was messing around with the car? Wouldn't that just slow them down? 😵🤣
Or are they just having massive issues with track temps? 🤔

The weirdest part is how much slower they were in S1 and S2 during qualifying compared to FP3. S3 wasn't even that bad—he actually looked faster in qualifying than in FP3—but S1 was a complete disaster...
All of Vettel's qualifying times were about half a second slower in S1 compared to his S1 pace in FP3...

That’s what happens when you take advice from some "brilliant" development driver...

Kimi Räikkönen thinks Ferrari is performing better than the results suggest... and he's right. I respect the fact that he’s being self-critical.

There were some whispers floating around about a potential upgrade for the Renault engine ahead of this race; maybe one of their tweaks actually holds water for once...🤔
On the flip side, I really don't see this being some massive catastrophe for Ferrari. It’s just qualifying, after all. Nobody is realistically banking on a pole position or a win from them anyway...
We'll just have to wait and see how things play out between Nico Rosberg and Lewis Hamilton.

Kyle Edwards5 said:There were some whispers floating around about a potential upgrade for the Renault engine ahead of this race; maybe one of their tweaks actually holds water for once...🤔
On the flip side, I really don't see this being some massive catastrophe for Ferrari. It’s just qualifying, after all. Nobody is realistically banking on a pole position or a win from them anyway...
We'll just have to wait and see how things play out between Nico Rosberg and Lewis Hamilton.

What do you mean "nobody expects it"? Sergio Pérez said the wins start from right now.

steelmaker83 said:That’s what happens when you take advice from some "brilliant" development driver...

Then both drivers would be in trouble, because both Ferraris are a total mess compared to FP3...☕

steelmaker83 said:What do you mean "nobody expects it"? Sergio Pérez said the wins start from right now.

Let’s be real, that was clearly just a massive PR spike. There's no way they're actually out there claiming they expect to walk away with 3rd or 4th place.

Kyle Edwards5 said:There were some whispers floating around about a potential upgrade for the Renault engine ahead of this race; maybe one of their tweaks actually holds water for once...🤔
On the flip side, I really don't see this being some massive catastrophe for Ferrari. It’s just qualifying, after all. Nobody is realistically banking on a pole position or a win from them anyway...
We'll just have to wait and see how things play out between Nico Rosberg and Lewis Hamilton.

It’s a total disaster when you clock a slower time on softs in Q1 than you did on mediums during FP3. Absolute joke. 🤦
When you pull a slower time on softs during Q3 than what you clocked back in FP3... just wow.
Honestly, calling it anything other than a total disaster would be a lie. 🤦

I honestly don't recall ever seeing anything like this happen to any team. 🤷

Maybe Renault actually pulled off an upgrade that works, but even if they did, that still doesn't explain why Ferrari was slower in qualifying than they were during FP before the session...
If he wasn't even half a second faster, it’d be weird. Honestly, if the times were identical, that would just feel plain wrong.

Kyle Edwards5 said:Let’s be real, that was clearly just a massive PR spike. There's no way they're actually out there claiming they expect to walk away with 3rd or 4th place.

Look, you're actually onto something there—if they started managing expectations by saying they were looking for lower positions, then this kind of performance would actually be framed as massive progress.

stormybadger8 said:It’s a total disaster when you clock a slower time on softs in Q1 than you did on mediums during FP3. Absolute joke. 🤦
When you pull a slower time on softs during Q3 than what you clocked back in FP3... just wow.
Honestly, calling it anything other than a total disaster would be a lie. 🤦

I honestly don't recall ever seeing anything like this happen to any team. 🤷

Maybe Renault actually pulled off an upgrade that works, but even if they did, that still doesn't explain why Ferrari was slower in qualifying than they were during FP before the session...
If he wasn't even half a second faster, it’d be weird. Honestly, if the times were identical, that would just feel plain wrong.

This isn't exactly groundbreaking news, though—it's certainly not the first time rising track temperatures have absolutely wrecked Ferrari's performance.

jadeseal7 said:It wasn't exactly a massive disaster when people were worrying about Mercedes getting pushed around at the Spanish Grand Prix, but in the end, it was Red Bull Racing that actually embarrassed them.

Look, these are just qualifying results. Even if they drop a driver from Red Bull Racing tomorrow, they’re still easily the second-best team on the grid. There is absolutely no way they're taking the top spot this season.

Kyle Edwards5 said:Look, these are just qualifying results. Even if they drop a driver from Red Bull Racing tomorrow, they’re still easily the second-best team on the grid. There is absolutely no way they're taking the top spot this season.

Well, maybe they won't take the top spot, but they could certainly be convincing runners-up with a few wins sprinkled in—though, honestly, looking at things now, I'm not even sure they can pull that off.

The real issue is Sergio, because every time he shows up, Ferrari completely falls apart. 🤣
Honestly, the best move would be to just give Sergio the keys and tell him he’s banned from every single race on the calendar...

jadeseal7 said:Well, maybe they won't take the top spot, but they could certainly be convincing runners-up with a few wins sprinkled in—though, honestly, looking at things now, I'm not even sure they can pull that off.

Look, even being the "convincing" runner-up is a stretch—who knows how things will shake out tomorrow. The only way they actually pull off a win is if Mercedes completely falls apart. On pure pace alone? Not a chance.

Kyle Edwards5 said:Look, even being the "convincing" runner-up is a stretch—who knows how things will shake out tomorrow. The only way they actually pull off a win is if Mercedes completely falls apart. On pure pace alone? Not a chance.

The real kicker here is that last year, they didn't even need Mercedes to mess up for them to take the win—which really shows how much things have regressed.

It stands to reason that Ferrari could potentially stage a pivot toward next season, given that this current campaign is already effectively a wash. One can't help but feel they might be looking at another twenty-year drought without a championship title.

swiftraven7 said:It stands to reason that Ferrari could potentially stage a pivot toward next season, given that this current campaign is already effectively a wash. One can't help but feel they might be looking at another twenty-year drought without a championship title.

Isn't it funny how they usually make those kinds of announcements right around the time they head to Barcelona? 🙂

jadeseal7 said:The real kicker here is that last year, they didn't even need Mercedes to mess up for them to take the win—which really shows how much things have regressed.

Look, Mercedes made way more progress than anyone else compared to last season...
Besides, where exactly did Mercedes "screw up" last year that let Ferrari take the win?
Or better yet, has anyone even beaten Mercedes in this V6 era without them basically handing over the victory on a silver platter themselves?

stormybadger8 said:Look, Mercedes made way more progress than anyone else compared to last season...
Besides, where exactly did Mercedes "screw up" last year that let Ferrari take the win?
Or better yet, has anyone even beaten Mercedes in this V6 era without them basically handing over the victory on a silver platter themselves?

It’s just that Mercedes didn't quite open the floodgates all the way last season... 🙂
And who is to say they haven't kept them partially closed even now? 🙂