Chinese Grand Prix 2012, Shanghai - Race 3/20

[sunama]

yea like monza last year

Last year, the Merc wasn't such a bad car, in relation to the McLaren.
This year, McLaren have the best car and the Merc (race trim) car is quite poor.
What this means is that McLaren should be able to dispatch the Merc cars with ease, on open tracks like Monza.

Where Mercs are strong, is qualifying. Their race pace is average, at best.

 

[sunama]

Are Ferrari going to bring a radically updated car with them to China?
2.5 weeks ago, it was rumoured that they may be doing so. Any news?

 

[Skeeter]

Are Ferrari going to bring a radically updated car with them to China?
2.5 weeks ago, it was rumoured that they may be doing so. Any news?

I would assume that chassis' would be in China by now, and if they were radically different someone would have noticed. So based on the fact that practice starts in a few hours and theres not been a peep, I'm assuming they haven't.

I could be proved wrong though, but the rumours did morph into a new chassis for Spain, which tbh seems far more likely.

 

[Shimmy]

Are Ferrari going to bring a radically updated car with them to China?
2.5 weeks ago, it was rumoured that they may be doing so. Any news?

It's been mentioned a while ago that Ferrari's 'B' spec car won't arrive till Barcelona.

If Lotus really do have a 2 tenth upgrade this weekend I'm looking forward to seeing how Kimi does considering in his own words that he hasn't been quite pushing the car yet.

 

[arknor]

Last year, the Merc wasn't such a bad car, in relation to the McLaren.
This year, McLaren have the best car and the Merc (race trim) car is quite poor.
What this means is that McLaren should be able to dispatch the Merc cars with ease, on open tracks like Monza.

Where Mercs are strong, is qualifying. Their race pace is average, at best.

i dont think anyone has saw the true race pace of merc yet (by that i dont mean they are the fastest team on the grid)

in aus the setup got to much heat into the tyres , for malaysia they went the oposite way and on the cold rainy race day they couldnt get heat into the tyres.

its not the DRS that makes the car seem so planted in qualifying and then in the races the car looks a bit of a dog. theres no way a car can go from looking so good to so poor because of that.

 

[Skeeter]

Where have you got this 'planted' and 'so good' stuff from?

From what I have seen they have been fast in a straight line in qualifying, and average (possibly flattered even more by Ferraris fall back) in the race. There has also been plenty of opportunity for us to see the 'true pace'.

 

[arknor]

watch the car in the corners in qualy and then compare it to the race especially on the first few laps of the races when the car looks like its driving on blocks of ice

 

[Axident]

if the mercs get ahead of hamilton in quali he just has to wait 3 laps and they will burn out their tires.

 

[drunkenmaster]

People keep acting like adding a bit of time in qualifying isn't worth it, it is, just because their race pace isn't as good as the top guys doesn't mean qualifying a few positions higher won't help them out. Sunama still with his "its not working 1 point from 2 races" garbage as if it somehow already proves what their season average will be based off largely being hit by other cars and having no control over it, is nuts.

As said, its not helping particularly for Merc because their race problems are tyres, that was their problem last year and already this year. It doesn't mean another team without as many issues won't see a bigger benefit. How much of a problem has Red Bull and Ferrari had overtaking in several situations with DRS, how would an extra few MPH help. Merc's have such **** tyres usage after a few laps they can't pull out of a corner onto a DRS straight and be close enough, other cars that can get close enough might well use it as the difference between gaining a place and not.

Why the Merc's didn't put almost every last $ into fixing tyre wear issues when they were worse than basically everyone on the grid god only knows.

 

[-Ad-]

Weather is crappy here today and literally begging itself to start raining (it's 11am).

Forecast looks pretty sound for qualy and the race though.

I think I have a funny hat, will see if I can mod it for more OcUK Lolz.

 

[Matteysan]

Weather is crappy here today and literally begging itself to start raining (it's 11am).

Forecast looks pretty sound for qualy and the race though.

I think I have a funny hat, will see if I can mod it for more OcUK Lolz.

Make it big if you can & try & get on the cameras!

Looks so grim at the moment, Barely see anything down the back straight on the cameras.

 

[sunama]

Sunama still with his "its not working 1 point from 2 races" garbage

I love to bring out the Merc fanbois.
The truth hurts, but keep ranting if it makes you feel better.

The above quotes from Ross Brawn and Button seems to suggest double DRS isn't as great as the fanbois like yourself think. You can take what I say with a pinch of salt, but what about Ross Brawn and Button. Or are they also talking garbage.

The importance of double DRS may change as the season progresses (it's possible), but at this point in time, qualifying high up on the grid, just isn't converting to race points. The problem is that during the race, the conservation of tyres is now key. Even if you qualify a few places down, if you can look after your tyres, after the first round of pit-stops, you could find yourself in a very strong position. Conversely, if you qualify high up but shred your tyres, after the first round of pit-stops, you could've lost a fair few places.

From what I've seen, double DRS works great in qualifying, but in the race it counts for very little (this may vary from track to track, though).

 

[-Ad-]

Make it big if you can & try & get on the cameras!

Looks so grim at the moment, Barely see anything down the back straight on the cameras.

I'll try!!!!!!!

Very grim, visbility in the city is getting worse with skyscrapers vanishing in the gloom every 15mins or soo.

I'm sure it'l be fine and dandy for the weekend though!

 

[deuse]

Vettel ran the 5th exhaust design in P1. P2 has started on BBC and on the web http://www.bbc.co.uk/sport/0/formula1/17687600

 

[Duke]

Time to make some decisions for the predictions game

 

[Duke]

FP1 & 2 times added to OP.

 

[Irish_Tom]

0824:
Felipe Massa's race engineer Rob Smedley tells the Brazilian that Fernando Alonso is not braking into Turn 3. That suggests Massa is, something I don't think Smedley is too happy about. Alonso is currently a massive nine tenths quicker than his under-pressure team-mate.

Interesting comparison between the two drivers, especially as I expect this is a recurring theme.

 

[CaptainRAVE]

Mclaren have the pace again.

 

[Skeeter]

Mclaren have the pace again.

Well one of them does at least...

Personally I think a Pole, then starting from 6th, and then winning the race, is just the boost Hamilton needs. Fingers crossed.

 

[CaptainRAVE]

Well one of them does at least...

Personally I think a Pole, then starting from 6th, and then winning the race, is just the boost Hamilton needs. Fingers crossed.

Just needs to stay out of trouble and utilise DRS.

Think I will get up early for the race, but not sure I will bother with quali.