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Formula 1 2019 - Round 3 – China

Harika

After the great Bahrain race, hopefully another cracker, perfect for breakfast on Sunday.

All sessions on Sky F1, the Online Service and tbc
Friday, Free Practice 1, 3:00-4:30
Friday, FP2, 7:00-8:30
Saturday, FP3, 4:00-5:00
Saturday, Qualifying, 7:00-8:00
Sunday, Race, 7:10-9:10

Talking points:
Will Leclerc put more pressure on Vettel and Ferrari management
Will Ferrari get its ducks in a row?
Will RedBull fix its aero issues? (First time they blame themselves and not the engine partner btw)
Will Hamilton get more aggressive, as so far he seems in cruising mode for me.

Predictions:
Ferrari Win
Honda podium
Double Haas points
No Williamspoints

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H3llR4iser

Frankly, 3 races in the season Ferrari - and its exact level of competitiveness - is still pretty much a mystery.

The one and only known thing is that they're fast on the straights, but that's not nearly enough in F1; Yet, it's not really easy to pinpoint what the issue with the cars might be.

Looking at the Shanghai week end, there are however a couple of clues - first, the SF90 seemed able to consistently deliver a pace that was good but not enough to keep touch with the Mercedes during the race and trying to push anywhere past that resulted in a car that was recalcitrating and unpredictable (e.g. Vettel going deep into multiple corners when he tried to push after being let past by Leclerc).

The second and by far more important clue is how the relative pace developed over the week end - on Friday, Ferrari were the absolute class of the field, only to be reeled in and overtaken by Mercedes as the week end went by.

If you ask me, the problem is that the team doesn't fully understand how the SF90 behaves on track and they're struggling to get the setup right; Maybe they're getting data from the simulator / models that doesn't translate on track or vice-versa. In Bahrain, they happened to go the correct direction from the get go, in Shanghai not so much.

Compounding this with the appallingly bad decision making strategy wise, this unfortunately doesn't look too good for the season.

Charlie-Bravo

Vic_08 wrote: »

That's pretty much the opposite of what the experts (including Toto Wolf) are saying.

Yeah, I can see that now. Thanks. Was reading more into it this morning on various sites. I retract that statement!

micks_address

LIGHTNING wrote: »

I wish I was wrong with that prediction :pac:

It was the paint than done him

i wonder was it? I know painted lines in car parks can cause wheelspin.. he might have a point.. hamiltons car was up to speed before he hit the white lines..

bottas is all terminator this season but i can't see him beating hamilton over the season.. hamilton has started slow last couple of seasons but is already ahead this year.. was a boring race on the track yesterday. I think what will be interesing this year is nearly every track will have different outcomes..

Inviere

Vic_08 wrote: »

Wolf kind of confirmed it but then corrected himself on the issue of engine power, I reckon he didn't want to publicly state that they believe Ferrari have overtaken them on engine power.

It could also be a calculated/intentional power deficiency too, with an eye on reliability. It remains to be seen what the longer term reliability of the Merc & Ferrari engines are this season, but so far they're looking good.

Vic_08

astrofluff wrote: »

China is a power circuit. I think that's all that happened today; Merc have a better engine.

I think the Ferrari chassis and aero is better, and that all other tracks they'll dominate. Bring on the next race in Baku where engine power on the straight and a decent chassis on the tight track are mixed.

That's pretty much the opposite of what the experts (including Toto Wolf) are saying.

Ferrari has better straight line speed, mostly due to less drag/lower downforce but probably some advantage in engine power as well but Mercedes are much better in the high speed corners. Slow speed corners are less effected by that deficiency.

Wolf kind of confirmed it but then corrected himself on the issue of engine power, I reckon he didn't want to publicly state that they believe Ferrari have overtaken them on engine power.

Baku is a typical street circuit with mostly slower 90deg corners and also has that exceptionally long straight so should be better for Ferrari.

By the sounds of it they need to get more aero into that car to be competitive on the majority of circuits though. Hopefully they can because I don't think I can take another Merc whitewash season, especially after Ferrari threw away 2 decent chances of taking the title.

Charlie-Bravo

China is a power circuit. I think that's all that happened today; Merc have a better engine.

I think the Ferrari chassis and aero is better, and that all other tracks they'll dominate. Bring on the next race in Baku where engine power on the straight and a decent chassis on the tight track are mixed.

Frank Bullitt

So much for all that speed that Ferrari had in preseason.

That was a bit of a stinker, which I guess we were due after the first 2 races.

Jeff2

pjohnson wrote: »

Imagine Ferrari tryna pull this off.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=iunVdfnr-uU

I'll try fix link.

Seems it's gone now.

chicorytip

dublinman1990 wrote:

David Coulthard will not doing Baku with Channel 4 this time. It will be Eddie Jordan taking over the analyst reins with Steve Jones for that race.

Ted Kravitz was back doing pit lane reporting on Sky. He seems to have earned a reprieve.

dublinman1990

David Coulthard will not doing Baku with Channel 4 this time. It will be Eddie Jordan taking over the analyst reins with Steve Jones for that race.

dublinman1990

Mercedes double stacked pit stop today was a brilliant move to go for the 1,2 finish.

chicorytip

pjohnson wrote:

Its actually called tyre management. Would have been stupid to shred them and have to pit.

Perez had pitted earlier so had older tyres - both on mediums.

pjohnson

chicorytip wrote: »

Raikkonen simply too slow and lacking aggression, yet again. Should have passed Perez easily.

Its actually called tyre management. Would have been stupid to shred them and have to pit.

chicorytip

Raikkonen simply too slow and lacking aggression, yet again. Should have passed Perez easily.

pjohnson

Imagine Ferrari tryna pull this off.

Charlie-Bravo

Just a quick question: who is Joe Vinassi? Crofty kept saying this through the race.

*tongue in cheek comment from me.

On a serious note, that Crofty lad needs to stop the errors and over-excitement. Quickly jumping to conclusions with no facts. And it's horrible to see Brundle bring drawn in to this style of commentating.

pjohnson

Harika wrote: »

Crofty just mixed vettel and bottas up.

I was thinking this most likely.

Rossi IRL

pjohnson wrote: »

Did Gasly pip it from Vettel or not. I wasnt watching the graphic at the end but Crofty said Gasly took fastest lap from Bottas so had Bottas already beat Vettel?

Yes Gasly got it

Harika

pjohnson wrote: »

Did Gasly pip it from Vettel or not. I wasnt watching the graphic at the end but Crofty said Gasly took fastest lap from Bottas so had Bottas already beat Vettel?

Crofty just mixed vettel and bottas up.

pjohnson

Did Gasly pip it from Vettel or not. I wasnt watching the graphic at the end but Crofty said Gasly took fastest lap from Bottas so had Bottas already beat Vettel?

Rossi IRL

https://twitter.com/wbuxtonofficial/status/1117329663200772096?s=19

Inviere

Harika wrote: »

Leclerc has been invited for a post race consolation beer by Raikkonen and Massa at Rubens Barrichello's house

Brilliant

namloc1980

The double stack stop by Merc was class. They're just so far ahead on all fronts. Ferrari with another ****show.

Harika

weekaizer wrote: »

Eddie Irvine’s on his way also!

Mika Salo and Norberto Fontana might join in by conference call

Rossi IRL

Gasly robbing the fastest lap at the end

weekaizer

Harika wrote: »

Leclerc has been invited for a post race consolation beer by Raikkonen and Massa at Rubens Barrichello's house

Eddie Irvine’s on his way also!

pjohnson

I thought Kvyat's drive through was harsh.

Harika

Leclerc has been invited for a post race consolation beer by Raikkonen and Massa at Rubens Barrichello's house

Cool_CM

That was a bit meh. Next up is the destruction derby in Baku, that should liven things up a bit!

Ghost Train

I wonder was it just the cooler temperature didn't suit Ferrari, pity Bottas couldn't get more from the race