[NYG]

I know it's FP1 - but goodness does Mercedes look ATROCIOUS again.

[NYG]

Max looks FAAAAAAAAAAAAAST

[NYG]

RBPT engines dominating the speed traps so far.

[F87source]

Originally Posted by NYG

Anyone watching Practice 1?

No i'm watching hockey but I will tune in now.

[F87source]

Originally Posted by NYG

I know it's FP1 - but goodness does Mercedes look ATROCIOUS again.

Yeah, but it's because merc uses FP1 and FP2 to experiment on the car and try new setups to learn more about their problems

Originally Posted by NYG

Max looks FAAAAAAAAAAAAAST

Yeah that redbull looks fast, but free practices aren't the best judge of speed.

Originally Posted by NYG

RBPT engines dominating the speed traps so far.

Yup just like I said before, redbull have the most powerful engines right now, so there's no excuse about ferrari being faster/they have a rocket engine if max gets beat (for now anyways)...


And if Ferrari is indeed able to crank up their engines even more then redbull will have nothing on ferrari.

[NYG]

Originally Posted by F87source

Yeah, but it's because merc uses FP1 and FP2 to experiment on the car and try new setups to learn more about their problems



Yeah that redbull looks fast, but free practices aren't the best judge of speed.



Yup just like I said before, redbull have the most powerful engines right now, so there's no excuse about ferrari being faster/they have a rocket engine if max gets beat (for now anyways)...


And if Ferrari is indeed able to crank up their engines even more then redbull will have nothing on ferrari.

Mercedes have used the last races as free practice too. This race will probably be another one for them.

Ferrari picking up pace.

McLaren looks unusually good even if it's FP1.

[F87source]

Originally Posted by NYG

Mercedes have used the last races as free practice too. This race will probably be another one for them.

Ferrari picking up pace.

McLaren looks unusually good even if it's FP1.

Yeah, they're gonna probably keep throwing away races until they learn enough to find a fix. Or they throw away the entire season in favor of next year. Maybe they should go back to their wide side pod designed car, as that model seemed to not porpoise as much at the end of day 3 in Barcelona.


Yeah ferrari is getting FAST! Sainz is 8 tenths up on Max, holy smokes.


Yeah mclaren is looking good. But they also looked really good during testing too...

[Humdizzle]

bad luck for vettel

[NYG]

Originally Posted by F87source

Yeah, they're gonna probably keep throwing away races until they learn enough to find a fix. Or they throw away the entire season in favor of next year. Maybe they should go back to their wide side pod designed car, as that model seemed to not porpoise as much at the end of day 3 in Barcelona.


Yeah ferrari is getting FAST! Sainz is 8 tenths up on Max, holy smokes.


Yeah mclaren is looking good. But they also looked really good during testing too...

Another good race on our hands I think

Originally Posted by Humdizzle

bad luck for vettel

Mercedes PU gonna Mercedes

[NYG]

Watching both Ferrari and Red Bull drivers light up the track is such a joy. Incredible.

Charles goes into the gravel as I type that lol.

[NYG]

Vettel on the moped lmao...

[M5Rick]

Just got up and yeah as normal Lec then Max with 16 porpoising crazy and...Chas saying lots of air in the cockpit around the legs. Some aero being tunnelled through the cockpit then.
Poor ol VET has got the luck of a slug trying to cross a motorway, that's why I never have a green car

[M5Rick]

Originally Posted by NYG

I know it's FP1 - but goodness does Mercedes look ATROCIOUS again.

HAM is like on a crazy ride, what a pile of garbage he's driving.

[F87source]

Originally Posted by M5Rick

Just got up and yeah as normal Lec then Max with 16 porpoising crazy and...Chas saying lots of air in the cockpit around the legs. Some aero being tunnelled through the cockpit then.
Poor ol VET has got the luck of a slug trying to cross a motorway, that's why I never have a green car

Yeah looks like Sainz is becoming the number 2 driver.


And yeah the w13 isn't looking good. Merc didn't bring a single upgrade which is concerning but not my call.

[GuidoK]

Originally Posted by M5Rick

HAM is like on a crazy ride, what a pile of garbage he's driving.

Some may have argued here for years and years that it's not the car, it's the driver

[F87source]

Originally Posted by GuidoK

Some may have argued here for years and years that it's not the car, it's the driver

I argue it's both. You need a good car to win, and a driver who doesn't make mistakes. Arguably the car is more important.

[M5Rick]

Originally Posted by GuidoK

Some may have argued here for years and years that it's not the car, it's the driver

It could be key techs that have gone to RBR up the road a few miles away and Merc are lumbered with other overworked and stressed out techs who can't hack it anymore with a crazy boss

[GuidoK]

Originally Posted by F87source

I argue it's both. You need a good car to win, and a driver who doesn't make mistakes. Arguably the car is more important.

Of course it's both.
And then also good team tactics. (no driver can constantly overview the complete race and all the sensordata and draw the best race strategy from that and still drive around at ~350kph).
It's a team sport.
For instance no driver how good, could've won a GP (or be on the podium) in last' years Haas car.

Comparisons between drivers get interesting if they're in the same team, with the same cars, the same information etc. If one driver then performs better than the other, only then it's the driver not the car.
And some drivers sometimes just don't seem to seat right into a team (that can be because of the car, but also because of the management or role they have to play), and if they then move to a different team, they can suddenly become a whole different driver. I'm eager to see for example what BOT is going to do this year @alfaromeo. His performance last year was far les consistant than years before.
Or what's going to happen between HAM and RUS. Can young talent that has never driven a season in a championship winning car beat a 7 times WDC if they're put in the same car that has the same performance and same problems?

[irunalot]

Originally Posted by NYG

I know it's FP1 - but goodness does Mercedes look ATROCIOUS again.

As a Merc fan I'm losing optimism very quickly. Others are getting faster and they are getting worse. They are so far off a consistent winning pace and real upgrades will not come until race 10. The car looks like a real handful, my thought is they possibly went down the wrong development path. There is still a chance that they find that one change that brings all the performance together as that happens with new cars but race 10 is a bit to late IMHO. I'll wear my Ferrari hat for race wins and hope Merc can find their way soon.

[Killed by Death]

[irunalot]

The F1 teams need to call some WEC or late 70s F1 engineers as they have been dealing with this for years. Overall these cars need a lot of polish.

[irunalot]

Originally Posted by F87source

I argue it's both. You need a good car to win, and a driver who doesn't make mistakes. Arguably the car is more important.

Totally agree but there are so many facets to a good driver.

Even with a good car, you need a consistently fast driver. Not fast in one race but above average pace in every race. Case in point is Bottas, hes a good above average driver and last few years in the best car. He lacked the consistent pace to be a contender. He had flashes of serious pace but could not delver that every weekend and each session of the weekend. Once you are fast on a consistent basis you can not make mistakes when it counts, qually race etc.. Then you need race craft to fight for wins and podiums.

Then there are the intangibles such as car feedback, performance under pressure, ability to bounce back from rough races/sessions, and knowing when its not your day and just salvaging some points and not wrecking trying to do more than you can.

This is what separates champions from the guys that are on the podium every few races that are all in fast cars. Sure you need a car but all of the above are needed to win championships.