German Grand Prix - 07.07.2013

The AT&T commentator describes Child's lap: "Squirming around all over the place". 😂

this little brat is driving me insane 🙄😢

but honestly, Mark seems like the most cost-effective option they've got—watch out 🙂

graniteharbor502 said:I’m worried the Mercedes-Benz cars have finally fixed their race pace. I’d love to see Mark Webber retire as a champion, but the competition right now is enough to make your blood run cold.

they definitely improved, yeah—it's about time we actually had some respectable competition 😁

ps. where's Lujo at these days btw 🙂

F1 technical analyst Gary Anderson
"The field is incredibly tight right now. Success in qualifying is going to come down to which driver manages to find grip and heat those tires effectively through Turns 1, 2, and 3."

😁

Degradation issues, graining, and some understeer.

Most likely.

Though temperatures should climb by Sunday.
Today's 66/84°F should probably hit at least 77/something.

So we’re basically stuck in the gutter now, huh?

darkmarlin16 said:We're stuck in a dumpster fire, aren't we?

Moving forward...

darkmarlin16 said:We're screwed, aren't we?

If you’re already neck-deep in shit, you might as well hope it’s top-shelf stuff.😬

darkmarlin16 said:Are we in deep trouble now?

Not really.
They're trailing the leader by just six-tenths. Could the leaders struggle with tire degradation? It seems possible.
The soft option is a hell of a lot faster—we're talking a full second—but the longevity? It’s barely anything. Maybe just over ten laps if you're lucky.
Whoever can manage to stretch those option tires out further on Sunday is going to see a massive advantage. It’s that simple.

Even though Fernando basically skipped Practice 1, and despite all the talk about those "upgrades," things didn't look half bad today.
Like I said, we're only six-tenths behind. And that includes one incredibly solid—actually, let's call it excellent—race simulation from Massa.

Besides, it’s probably best if our own drivers just tell us what they really think:

Fernando Alonso
Today felt more productive than last Friday. We still have a massive mountain to climb, but it feels like we’ve finally taken a step forward. It seems like we're regaining that competitive edge we had before Indianapolis Motor Speedway. One bright spot? The tires. They behaved beautifully today without any drama. We did lose the morning session due to a glitch in the ECU programming—we've swapped it out now—but that cut our schedule in half. We’ll have to pull an all-nighter this evening to catch up. We already have a plan in place for the adjustments, though. Mercedes, Red Bull Racing, and Lotus are still pulling away, and frankly, settling for third or fourth in the standings isn't enough for us.

Felipe Massa
We had a massive workload today. We pushed to squeeze in every possible lap to make sure the program stayed on track. Most of our time was divided between evaluating the Pirelli tires and running those extended stints. There’s a noticeable gap between the compounds; the softs just drop off much faster than the mediums. How much that affects the actual race remains to be seen. As always, the winning strategy will come down to making the right calls.
Qualifying continues to be our Achilles' heel. We typically struggle more during those sessions compared to our pace on race day, so the goal is simple: do everything in our power to secure the best starting position possible. On the long runs, however, the car felt solid. That gives me plenty of confidence heading into Sunday.

If the current performance gap holds through Sunday... if Fernando manages to line up right on the heels of Red Bull and Mercedes... and if we can just avoid a collision at the start? We might actually see a massive result.

There are too many "ifs" floating around, but didn't things look better today than they initially appeared?

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.

Bet you anything the German pulls it off again. Vettel, obviously.😉

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.

Kimi Raikkonen says he’s racing regardless of what goes down

"I'd still be out there. It's not like it's always just a tire issue. There are so many variables at play, and since we didn't deal with any issues all season, I don't really feel like this is going to be unsafe. I mean, racing is inherently dangerous... things happen. Honestly, I think those blowouts happened because the teams weren't handling them right."

Man, what a legend... zero fear, he just gets in the car and goes...

Raymond Anderson4 said:Felipe Massa was on the Barcelona setup, while Fernando Alonso used the British Grand Prix spec.
I’m not a fan of this mixing parts. I watched them do this last season too...

Fernando Alonso wasn't running the "Indianapolis Motor Speedway spec" (whatever that implies).
At Indianapolis, he had the new rear wing and no monkey seat.
Now, during Practice 2, he's back to the old rear wing and using the monkey seat.

The issue with mixing components—especially these recent upgrades—stems from the fact that they weren't even properly tested at Indianapolis.
That latest front wing? It hasn't been tested at all during the Indy race.
Remember, the rain ruined Friday at Indianapolis.

So, this weekend was actually the first real chance to test that new front wing properly.
And then things fall apart again; Alonso comes out in Practice 1 with a grid violation because the ECU died.

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.

Samuel Ruiz4 said:Kimi 'will race whatever happens'

"I would race. The issues don't always stem from the tires alone. There are plenty of variables that could cause this—we didn't deal with a single issue all year, so I don't feel like it's going to be dangerous. It's dangerous regardless; anything can happen, and I suspect the reason those blew was simply because the teams weren't managing them correctly."

The man is a total legend—zero fear, he'll just get in there and drive.

Kimi, take my advice 😳

Here’s how I see today's qualifying shaking out. I'm calling it: the front two rows are going to be a showdown between Red Bull and Mercedes. Right behind them, you'll have Lotus and Ferrari fighting for space, though I wouldn't be shocked if Force India manages to sneak their way into those top spots...

As for McLaren? Let's just pray they actually make it into Qualifying 2. 🤦

Lewis Hamilton is having a nightmare with his car's stability. He actually told the team on the radio that the car was undriveable

That’s gone, nothing left to say ☕

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

+ 0.004 🙂

ps. the last few were up by 0.009 🙂🙂