Wouldn’t these issues that Seb mentioned be related to the fact that Ferrari tried to do a long wheel car but still with a high rake? If you look at Mercedes they have a long wheel based car but a lower rake and that’s what normally happens when you have a shorter wheel base you can get away with a higher rake but if you have a long wheel based car it normally has a lower rake. I think Ferrari tried to have the best of both worlds and it’s not working as well as expected.
Todays press conf.
Q: (Ben Hunt – The Sun) Tabloid time again. Sebastian, are you concerned about ‘Party Mode’, do you think it’s legal what Mercedes have got?
SV: I think so. I think also Lewis was right yesterday. I think that… y’know we do get a bit of data, GPS data and stuff like that… I think they did turn it up for Q3 but not by seven-tenths. I think probably if you look at qualifying carefully, I try to do so last night. It’s fair to say they were quick in Q1, quicker than us, Lewis was quick in Q2 and then his second run, I don’t know, something happened. So, his last run in Q3 was the only proper run at the end and he had a clean run and I don’t think the gain that he had in time was down to engine. Probably a tenth, a little bit more, but not seven tenths. So, the credit is for his lap that he did and not for the engine power. It’s completely fine what they’re doing because they didn’t do anything special. Not more than they did last year, probably even a bit less by the looks of it. So, it was clear that he just had a very good lap and he drove well.
I dunno, but Kimi seems relatively happy while Seb says he needs more confidence in the car. I think big change to philosophy and one week less of testing resulted in us being somewhate further behind. I have no doubt that like Merc last year, we will understand this car and unlock its potential. Good thing we got good haul of pts when we are low...
Yes kimi seems happier but he’s still quite far off the Mercedes, if he managed to be close to the Mercedes maybe the car set up wasn’t suiting Seb but it wasn’t the case.. I hope that we can develop the car to unlock its full potential as soon as possible because the Mercedes seemed pretty strong all weekend
I'll go one further. DISCONNECT all the data gizmo's. Let the drivers get in the cars during free practice and let them come back and relay the information to the engineers and techies.....see which driver comes up with the right set-up during quali. Go old-school like they did back in the day. That will shake things up a bit as far as the skillful and talented driver.....Lewis would hate it---> that means more testing, coming in early and staying late and spending less time on his social media crap.
Kimi goes well when there is good front end bite which suits his driving style. If I'm not wrong, the Ferrari currently has good front end downforce but lacks enough rear end bite/downforce which impacts Seb as thats what he likes.
Its the driving style he perfected during the RB days with the blown diffuser et al
Funny we were talking about that today in our house.
It provides the teams with choices and we the viewer try to guess who has light filled their car etc also it allows teams to split the strategy....... thus more interesting racing.
I for one would welcome the reintroduction of refuelling.
Forza Jules
Seb gave me a great birthday present today.
Hope next time he can give someone else here a great present to .
Hero's come and go, but legends never die!
Articile from last year.
Vettel likes consistent and predictable rear grip on corner entry, so as to enable him to rotate the car early in the corner, get on the power early and therefore increase speed down the following straight.
It was a technique that worked to perfection in the Red Bulls he drove to four world titles, and it is working again this year. The downforce created by Ferrari's innovative design under new rules aimed at making the cars faster and more demanding has been crucial in creating this balance for Vettel.
Team-mate Kimi Raikkonen, meanwhile, is struggling, his pace affected by a lack of front-end grip, which has always been his biggest Achilles' heel, and which does not bother Vettel in the same way.
My opinion about the next race and the potential.
They said that Ferrari had to relocate some rear grip to the front this race. We know that Melbourne is a front limited track, Bahrain should tell us more which is a rear limited. I think the right pecking order will be seen there. Ferrari should be strong, but they need to do a lot of work in the factory, bring new parts that will work of course. We have the whole FP1,FP2,FP3 for Bahrain, to really perfect our setup, which is the key. Some extra rear grip of course wouldnt hurt, I am really excited, which updates they will bring.
Happy for the result today. Yes we were lucky with VSC and Safety Car, but luck has to be made sometimes. The most important element in today's race for me was that Kimi is back. He was strong in quali and he was decent in the race. If LH didn't cover when Kimi pitted and waited for Seb's pit we may have had a different result, and Seb definitely behind Hamilton. So it was all down to Kimi being competitive that gave use the edge today and made us be ready to accept what lady luck granted when the poor HAAS's double pit fumble happened. The other points to take away I think are that we have a competitive car with a great engine, what we need is better suspension. if we had that too, we'd be better than Mercs, and definitely vbetter than Red Bulls until their engine becomes as competitive. I think the edge Mercs have is yes the engine power, but mostly the clever hydraulics.
Last year we didn't make the best of chances and the luck was rotten, but this year looks better.
Sempre Forza Ferrari
Yeah they're just the most obvious example Ferrari and to a lesser extinct Renault do it to. I don't mind different engine modes but there is way to many at one point Lewis was told to go in strat 14 i don't know if that is 14 engine modes but if it is then that is way to many.
Was the first race I've not watched live since 2005 (and I only missed one then as I was in a coma! lol)
Perhaps me not watching brought the team some luck, hope it works next race too!
Well done Seb!
From what I read, our engine is as good as Mercedes in full performance, that would mean its even a bit better than Silver Arrows' in normal race conditions. The problem are the corners where we are losing out to both Red Bull and Mercedes on every type of corners, with Red Bull matching Mercedes on slow and medium and edging them on fast stuff. So Bahrain should be a good circuit for us IMO, but more work needs to be done.
Fantastic effort, great result. Car not as strong as the 70 out of the box, but lots of potential. PU looks very good--HAM could not drop RAI and VET; RIC, on full power, did not find RAI, on older tyres, an easy target. Taking a cue from the Team and proceeding with tempered optimism. Anxious to see what Bahrain brings up. Forza Ferrari!
As an aside: Crofty on the mic was awful. Mercedes and Red Bull tears taste sweet, may we feast on them for long to come.
Finally: I don't know if it has been brought up anywhere, but, had the VSC not happened, was Seb trying to extend the US stint and go SS to the end? Maybe a gamble on giving him a good chance at Kimi and Lewis near the end, with 3rd as a minimum anyway? BTW, I see a positive in how the Team was willing to force a reaction from Hamilton by bringing Kimi in. Won't always work but I like the play to pressure.
Last edited by killer; 26th March 2018 at 05:25.
Great result, but horrible race to watch. F1 is on the verge of being irrelevant. The only thing that matters now is the machine. Drivers are almost interchangeable. I’m certain any of the top ten would win in the Mercedes.
LH had the race managed. I can’t believe that is how F1 is described, but it’s accurate. There was no possible way Seb could have passed LH on strategy or on the track. In fact, overtaking was all but impossible for everyone. Liberty and FIA need to stop playing politics and bring back racing.
Once Seb was in front LH could do nothing. Seb had plenty of pace and was able to easily keep his lead. You could tell Kimi wanted to tell Webber that he was bored throughout the race, but he played his part perfectly.
Let’s hope we continue the momentum in two weeks.
No such thing as good luck or bad luck you make your good luck happen as you make your bad luck happen its human made and not magical transition we made our luck.
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