F1: 2020 Round 6 Spanish GP (See Mod note at Post4)

AMKC

So hopefully we will get more of the what we had last weekend here. A mixed up grid and Red Bull on the attack. Maybe Bottas will get pole and win here.

Live on Sky Sports F1,
Qualifying from 1PM on Saturday and
The race from 12.30pm on Sunday,
With highlights for the rest of us on
Channel 4 at 6:30pm Saturday and
Sunday at 6:30Pm.

flazio

Perez has been cleared to race this weekend.

Joeface

It will be interesting to see if Vettels New chassis means he can at least join the top ten .
Would like to see Renault progress with the Qual performance improvements . They were very good in FP3 and Qual last weekend ( the race not so much ) . Pier Gasly as well , huge Qual stuff from him . Would also be good if the races came together.

Jordan 199

A collision like this would liven up the race on Sunday.

Inquitus

Jordan 199 wrote: »

A collision like this would liven up the race on Sunday.

That crash was in Rosberg's favour though, any similar crash this weekend would be in Hamilton's favour as far as the internecine battle goes, but would certainly liven things up with regard to Verstappen!

Cork Trucker

Rosberg’s only retirement all season wasn’t it?

Inquitus

Cork Trucker wrote: »

Rosberg’s only retirement all season wasn’t it?

Aye but he had had a much better start to the season than Hamilton, so Hamilton taking him out ultimately was in his favour, as it was one less race for Hamilton to close the gap.

Cork Trucker

Inquitus wrote: »

Aye but he had had a much better start to the season than Hamilton, so Hamilton taking him out ultimately was in his favour, as it was one less race for Hamilton to close the gap.

There are a few instances actually that year where you could say it was pro dominantly in Rosberg’s favour, the first 4 races were all wins, then the double Spanish retirement, Rosberg cane off first in Austria yes, but it was Hamilton’a engine failure in Sepang that finished it more or less. He did what he could to back Rosberg into the pack at the final race but it wasn’t enough

Joeface

Vettel new Chassis ..0.01s behind Leclerc . Closer , but only FP1

Also Who does Romain Grosjean think he is , 5th

Pos Driver Team Time
1 Valtteri Bottas Mercedes-AMG Petronas Formula One Team 1m16.785s
2 Lewis Hamilton Mercedes-AMG Petronas Formula One Team 1m16.824s
3 Max Verstappen Aston Martin Red Bull Racing 1m17.724s
4 Charles Leclerc Scuderia Ferrari 1m17.970s
5 Sebastian Vettel Scuderia Ferrari 1m17.981s
6 Romain Grosjean Haas F1 Team 1m18.291s
7 Sergio Perez BWT Racing Point F1 Team 1m18.471s
8 Alexander Albon Aston Martin Red Bull Racing 1m18.606s
9 Kevin Magnussen Haas F1 Team 1m18.620s
10 Lance Stroll BWT Racing Point F1 Team 1m18.643s
11 Carlos Sainz Jr. McLaren F1 Team 1m18.733s
12 Esteban Ocon Renault DP World F1 Team 1m18.736s
13 Lando Norris McLaren F1 Team 1m18.744s
14 Pierre Gasly Scuderia AlphaTauri Honda 1m18.888s
15 Antonio Giovinazzi Alfa Romeo Racing ORLEN 1m18.917s
16 Kimi Raikkonen Alfa Romeo Racing ORLEN 1m18.981s
17 Daniil Kvyat Scuderia AlphaTauri Honda 1m19.145s
18 Daniel Ricciardo Renault DP World F1 Team 1m19.230s
19 Nicholas Latifi Williams Racing 1m20.334s
20 Roy Nissany Williams Racing 1m20.664s

namloc1980

Vettel looking a bit livelier with the new chassis. Merc 1 second ahead in FP1.

Inquitus

Joeface wrote: »

Vettel new Chassis ..0.01s behind Leclerc . Closer , but only FP1

Also Who does Romain Grosjean think he is , 5th

Be interested to see if the new chassis continues to allow Vettel to have some confidence in the car through FP2, FP3 and into Qualifying!

tipp_tipp_tipp

Really hate this track. Amazing that it has lasted so long on the calendar considering how dull the races are consistently here. Money talks I guess. 2017 and 1996 were good, outside of that struggling to think of any decent races here. Was it 1998 which famously had something like 2 position changes all races Real shame they added that horrible chicane at the end of the lap. Would love to see the old config in the pirelli era. I see it's going to be baking hot there this weekend. Hopefully that throws a spanner in the Mercedes works.

Cork Trucker

tipp_tipp_tipp wrote: »

Really hate this track. Amazing that it has lasted so long on the calendar considering how dull the races are consistently here. Money talks I guess. 2017 and 1996 were good, outside of that struggling to think of any decent races here. Was it 1998 which famously had something like 2 position changes all races Real shame they added that horrible chicane at the end of the lap. Would love to see the old config in the pirelli era. I see it's going to be baking hot there this weekend. Hopefully that throws a spanner in the Mercedes works.

I think that was the 1999 race, Villeneuve getting up to third until retirement being one.

donspeekinglesh

Cork Trucker wrote: »

I think that was the 1999 race, Villeneuve getting up to third until retirement being one.

It was 99 , Hill overtook someone for seventh (which wasn't worth points then), all other overtakes were in the pits.

Cork Trucker

donspeekinglesh wrote: »

It was 99 , Hill overtook someone for seventh (which wasn't worth points then), all other overtakes were in the pits.

I was thinking Hill for some reason but wasn’t sure. Did he originally finish 8th until someone ahead was disqualified?

This is it

Thank God for Rosberg, haven't a clue what Croft is shyting on about. And he's back at it now again, thinks he's hilarious

This is it

And Vettel doing his new chassis no favours bouncing around like that

johnnysmack

This is it wrote: »

Thank God for Rosberg, haven't a clue what Croft is shyting on about. And he's back at it now again, thinks he's hilarious

It was excellent hearing rosberg break down albons lap as it was happening saying where and how he was losing time.

He also has started to do YouTube videos breaking down a lap of a track on f1 2020. I was instantly faster in Silverstone after following his tips. He'd make a great driver coach.

Joeface

Romain Has lost the run of himself . Top 5 two runs in a row . Renault showed again they have some pace in the car . Normal service resumed everywhere else.

Pos Driver Car Gap
1 Lewis Hamilton Mercedes 1m16.883s
2 Valtteri Bottas Mercedes 0.287s
3 Max Verstappen Red Bull/Honda 0.821s
4 Daniel Ricciardo Renault 0.985s
5 Romain Grosjean Haas/Ferrari 1.250s
6 Charles Leclerc Ferrari 1.264s
7 Carlos Sainz Jr. McLaren/Renault 1.331s
8 Sergio Perez Racing Point/Mercedes 1.410s
9 Esteban Ocon Renault 1.420s
10 Pierre Gasly AlphaTauri/Honda 1.429s
11 Lance Stroll Racing Point/Mercedes 1.474s
12 Sebastian Vettel Ferrari 1.521s
13 Alexander Albon Red Bull/Honda 1.608s
14 Lando Norris McLaren/Renault 1.623s
15 Daniil Kvyat AlphaTauri/Honda 1.759s
16 Kevin Magnussen Haas/Ferrari 1.878s
17 Kimi Raikkonen Alfa Romeo/Ferrari 2.017s
18 Antonio Giovinazzi Alfa Romeo/Ferrari 2.081s
19 Nicholas Latifi Williams/Mercedes 2.272s
20 George Russell Williams/Mercedes 2.508s

Frank Bullitt

Merc looking comfy over 1 lap, hotter temps might not play much into their favour. on Sunday. But, knowing them and all the sims they have run since last week, they will waltz it.

Hijpo

johnnysmack wrote: »

It was excellent hearing rosberg break down albons lap as it was happening saying where and how he was losing time.

He also has started to do YouTube videos breaking down a lap of a track on f1 2020. I was instantly faster in Silverstone after following his tips. He'd make a great driver coach.

Was he doing this in FP2? I was bombing through FP1 this afternoon so didnt hear much.

johnnysmack

Hijpo wrote: »

Was he doing this in FP2? I was bombing through FP1 this afternoon so didnt hear much.

He definitely did the albon lap in fp2. It was great hearing him speak as he's so knowledgeable about modern cars and pirellis compared to brundle and Di resta.

The best part was when croft was making the stupidest joke, rosberg calmly said can we get back to talking about whats happening on track. Cut to Rachel Brooks in the stand and the first thing she said, thank you nico for putting an end to that joke.

tipp_tipp_tipp

Yeah I agree Rosberg is very good behind the microphone. Just watched his f1 2020 lap series for the first time today and he gives a lot of detail on the Barcelona track regarding curves, braking, wind, tyres temperatures through the lap. Really good to get this kind of insight from someone who's driven in the hybrid era. His podcast is good as well, watched the one with Toto Wolff recently and enjoyed it a lot.

This is it

johnnysmack wrote: »

He definitely did the albon lap in fp2. It was great hearing him speak as he's so knowledgeable about modern cars and pirellis compared to brundle and Di resta.

The best part was when croft was making the stupidest joke, rosberg calmly said can we get back to talking about whats happening on track. Cut to Rachel Brooks in the stand and the first thing she said, thank you nico for putting an end to that joke.

That's exactly what I was talking about earlier. Grand, make a joke, but move on then! He went on about Rosberg and Hulkenberg being so similar, and how difficult it would've been to tell them apart had Hulk joined Merc. German, both Nico, both with Berg in their name, both blonde... He even went on to ask Rosberg if he had a dog because Hulk does... Yeah Croft, we get it, hilarious. Talk about the feckin cars! And it was just as Vettel smashed a kerb, something worth talking about considering his apparent chassis issues.

Hijpo

Is it just me or does it sound like Rosberg is intentionally drowning out Crofty by blinding him with science?

He has good technical discussions with Karun that crofty cant get involved in.

Hamilton messed up on the chicane there and Rosberg said "oh that's cost him four tenths" then the time flashed up and it he was four tenths down.

Charlie-Bravo

Oh dear Ocon, looks like his mistake rather than KMag.

I don't think Hulkenberg would have done that :pac:

namloc1980

astrofluff wrote: »

Oh dear Ocon, looks like his mistake rather than KMag.

I don't think Hulkenberg would have done that :pac:

Yeah looked like Ocon wasn't looking where he was going and by the time he looked up he was under KMag's rear wing.

Inquitus

What time does qualification running actually start in Irish Summer Time? 1pm or 2pm, please?

Harika

Inquitus wrote: »

What time does qualification running actually start in Irish Summer Time? 1pm or 2pm, please?

14;00

El_Duderino 09

namloc1980 wrote: »

Yeah looked like Ocon wasn't looking where he was going and by the time he looked up he was under KMag's rear wing.

That's a strange interpretation. KMag over took him and then started on the driving line and veered in front of him. KMAG wasn't looking in his mirrors when he veered across the road at slow speed. That's all KMag, surely.

https://www.skysports.com/f1/news/32461/12049790/spanish-gp-practice-three-lewis-hamilton-fastest-esteban-ocon-crashes

deafroadrunner

El_Duderino 09 wrote: »

That's a strange interpretation. KMag over took him and then started on the driving line and veered in front of him. KMAG wasn't looking in his mirrors when he veered across the road at slow speed. That's all KMag, surely.

If you watch again. You can see ocon looking in his mirrors before avoiding kmag.

El_Duderino 09

deafroadrunner wrote: »

If you watch again. You can see ocon looking in his mirrors before avoiding kmag.

At least one of them was looking in their mirrors.

If you're going to do something unusual like drive very slowly and veer acroethw track, surely it's your job to have a look in the mirrors and do it safely.

Penalty must be coming for KMag.

deafroadrunner

El_Duderino 09 wrote: »

At least one of them was looking in their mirrors.

If you're going to do something unusual like drive very slowly and veer acroethw track, surely it's your job to have a look in the mirrors and do it safely.

Penalty must be coming for KMag.

Stewards say no punishment for either. Unfortunate accident.

El_Duderino 09

deafroadrunner wrote: »

Stewards say no punishment for either. Unfortunate accident.

Surprised by that. Fair enough.

pjohnson

Balls of steel from Szafnauer.


Granted traffic will be a clusterfùck but track evolution maybe a danger.

This is it

Vettel misses Q3

This is it

Strong show from Gasly

ScrubsfanChris

Where the hell did that lap from Gasly come from?

Perez is faster than anyone in Sector 1 then nearly half a second slower in Sector 2, that's some swing.

Jordan 199

Poor qualifying from the Renault boys. Me disappointed.

El_Duderino 09

This is it wrote: »

Vettel misses Q3

He was actually very close to Albon and norris ahead of him. But he was a full 2 tenths behind LeClerc. And all this is with the brand new chassis.

I'd say the chassis change was probably mostly psychological. Giving him a fresh start. If memory serves, he needed a new chassis when he was being beaten by Ricciardo too.

Harika

Seems like f2 was a burner of a race again

This is it

El_Duderino 09 wrote: »

He was actually very close to Albon and norris ahead of him. But he was a full 2 tenths behind LeClerc. And all this is with the brand new chassis.

I'd say the chassis change was probably mostly psychological. Giving him a fresh start. If memory serves, he needed a new chassis when he was being beaten by Ricciardo too.

I think he missed out by 2 hundredths for Q3. Close but still disappointing, especially since LeClerc pushed on, though didn't finish Q3 as well as he might have

AMKC

Not a great qualifying season. Actually it was quiet dull. Maybe the race will be better but with this track I am not to hopefull. Would love to see Max win again.

Joeface

Yeah Vettel Both poor and Unlucky 0.002 is tight. Still ,Does he get free tire choice now? . Go on Medium ,Get a good start take at least one place , into the points , Long first stint ...Red wall softs a head and behind go off he could end up with some free air and a decent points finish .......5th is possible but it would take a lot of Not messing up which of late ..meh .


Gasly is having a great run of late , Getting loads out of the Alpha Tauri . I do remember him saying he did not like driving the Redbull , he felt he could do more with the Toro Rosso at the time. That it would move how he wanted and expect to move but he is driving out of himself in the Qual sessions .

AMKC

Joeface wrote: »

Yeah Vettel Both poor and Unlucky 0.002 is tight. Still ,Does he get free tire choice now? . Go on Medium ,Get a good start take at least one place , into the points , Long first stint ...Red wall softs a head and behind go off he could end up with some free air and a decent points finish .......5th is possible but it would take a lot of Not messing up which of late ..meh

Gasly is having a great run of late , Getting loads out of the Alpha Tauri . I do remember him saying he did not like driving the Redbull , he felt he could do more with the Toro Rosso at the time. That it would move how he wanted and expect to move but he is driving out of himself in the Qual sessions .

Yeah Vettel Both poor and Unlucky 0.002 is tight. Still ,Does he get free tire choice now? . Go on Medium ,Get a good start take at least one place , into the points , Long first stint

Yes he gets free tire choice now.

El_Duderino 09

Joeface wrote: »

Yeah Vettel Both poor and Unlucky 0.002 is tight. Still ,Does he get free tire choice now? . Go on Medium ,Get a good start take at least one place , into the points , Long first stint ...Red wall softs a head and behind go off he could end up with some free air and a decent points finish .......5th is possible but it would take a lot of Not messing up which of late ..meh .


Gasly is having a great run of late , Getting loads out of the Alpha Tauri . I do remember him saying he did not like driving the Redbull , he felt he could do more with the Toro Rosso at the time. That it would move how he wanted and expect to move but he is driving out of himself in the Qual sessions .

Yeah hopefully Vettel can use the tyres to his advantage. I think they're using the hardest three compounds this week so probably not as dramatic as the last couple of weekends.

I wonder if adrian newey has lost his touch. This year's RB seems to be way too skitty at the back end. Maybe he's run out of road for development with the current aero formula. 2022 will be th he big test of whether he's still got it.

flazio

Perhaps he was so occupied with the 2021 regs, the 2020 car was a bit of an after thought.

Harika

Joeface wrote: »

Gasly is having a great run of late , Getting loads out of the Alpha Tauri . I do remember him saying he did not like driving the Redbull , he felt he could do more with the Toro Rosso at the time. That it would move how he wanted and expect to move but he is driving out of himself in the Qual sessions .

https://the-race.com/formula-1/has-red-bull-hit-the-limit-of-its-high-rake-designs/

Some insight into red bull struggles

El_Duderino 09

flazio wrote: »

Perhaps he was so occupied with the 2021 regs, the 2020 car was a bit of an after thought.

Maybe. The 2022 car would want to be very special to make up for this year's car.

Dont be at yourself

It was a similar story last year; it took a few races last year for the team to understand the car and setup -- Gasly and Max were both complaining about its nervousness in the early races. Now on race pace it seems a match for the Mercs.

If the ban on quali modes comes into force, that might help close the gap further. And then if Mercs are struggling with tyres in hotter temperatures, they can't be looking forward to Italy and Portugal too much.

El_Duderino 09

Dont be at yourself wrote: »

It was a similar story last year; it took a few races last year for the team to understand the car and setup -- Gasly and Max were both complaining about its nervousness in the early races. Now on race pace it seems a match for the Mercs.

If the ban on quali modes comes into force, that might help close the gap further. And then if Mercs are struggling with tyres in hotter temperatures, they can't be looking forward to Italy and Portugal too much.

I can't agree that the Red Bull is a match for merc on race pace. Last week was a very particularl set of circumstances. It wasn't a match on the first Silverstone or any other weekend but with hotter tempts AND soft tyres, it was.

Those couple of tracks might not suit Mercedes if they're hot but if the tyres are the hard ones then merc will have no real competition. This week in Spain is probably as hot as Silverstone but the hard tyres are leaving merc clearly in front.