We'll see who's who once we get to Australia. I anticipate the championship will be even more crowded than it was last season.
So based on these numbers, Hamilton would have been in the 1:19's if he were to have the same fuel load as Rosberg.
+1 Red Bull and Vettel have made a career out of waiting till the last moment in qualifying and then throwing down a lap a second faster that the field. Demoralizing the competition is part of their game plan.
At the beginning of last year they sure didn't! I'm not going to suggest something foolish in stating Red Bull aren't prepared, but I do believe this year's weather created less-than terrific testing conditions which makes data difficult to carry over to Melbourne. We know a couple things though. The harder and medium tires, if not heated immediately start to grain very quickly. We also know their operating window is wider and more forgiving than those last year. We know Red Bull, Mclaren, and Ferrari all had issues heating these tires in the cold. This only tells me that it's far more likely they will get usable data regarding these tires only in Melbourne meaning many are headed down partially in the dark with these things which will make car setup difficult to get right in the first couple practice sessions.
Just a point on the tires, I don't think the teams main problem was "graining" I think the main problem experienced was "tearing". Tearing tends to happen to cold tires when pushed too hard. This tearing has actually been accentuated because of the heavier tires this year. The extra rubber on the tire (yes I know its not really rubber on these tires ) makes tearing easier. Of course, the teams and drivers will be acutely aware that not stressing the tires until they are up to prop operating temp will have a huge impact on that tires life. One last point, the rear tires have considerably more "extra weight/rubber" than the fronts meaning the "drive out" and oversteer characteristics will have a major impact on tire life until those tires reach operating temps. I'm fairly certain the rears are .7Kg heavier this year while the fronts are .3Kg more.
You are correct on everything. Only I might add that I believe Ferrari were the only ones to openly state that by the time they got the hards or medium tires up to temperature they were already graining, and they suspected that was 100% due to the cold ambient temps. This confuses me a bit though because Saturday was a nice day and they saw 30C track temps. I just heard Red Bull only did very short stints pretty much all of Barcelona specifically due to their confusion with the tires. What a way to start the season, the top teams literally have little to zero useful data regarding the new tires. And we only know of two teams who can adequately put heat into all the new tire compounds quickly, Lotus and Mercedes. And as everyone at Mclaren and most recently a Sauber engineer said, Mercedes are the only ones to have been fast the entire test regardless of conditions.
In short I'd say Merc have certainly upped their game, the rest are pretty much as they were from last year. But until the flag drops in Melbourne it's all guess work.
True dat. Also, I'd say that Lotus looks pretty damn good and the whole team seems very optimistic! Seems a silly thing to do if you have a car that isn't any good...
Lotus came out with a very odd statement yesterday saying they (meaning Genii), like Ferrari, Mclaren are in the business of F1 and nothing else meaning they will be around for a while. I'm sorry but that is just a flat out lie and frankly it doesn't make much sense. Lotus are owned by Genii capital which is an investment firm, and they are in the business of investing and making money, and F1 is just another 'fun' or advertising venture for them. Them suggesting they are anything like Ferrari or Mclaren, or any auto-manufacturer for that matter is bothersome. Lotus can compare themselves to Red Bull if they like as they both have a product they are ultimately trying to push that is not a car and has nothing to do with the auto industry or furthering automotive industrial technology as a whole. Lotus calling themselves something they are not in the interest of putting their name on a pedestal with Ferrari/Mclaren is terrible form as no, they are not the same.
No matter their previous heritage, if they want to make a go of long term life in F1, I say good for them! Right now they are an exciting team and Kimi makes it all the better. They have more personality than most teams to be honest. Good for them. We have had much worse in F1 to be sure. Back to the Anderson link, I will chart the grid we do get in Melbourne and post the comparo to Gary's prediction.
Oh yes, agreed. They have a good thing going there, just don't call it something it isn't, which they are clearly trying to and I certainly do not agree with that.
I think Anderson was just doing a predictive exercise based on times, expected fuel loads and track conditions in Barcelona to project how the Australia grid might look (although, iirc, wasn't Perez performing better than Button in the tests?). I'd expect to see the same teams battling for grid position, but going with that order would be a revelation if it happened. I'd use him to handicap every race in 2013.
Rick for sure stranger things have happend. I often wonder how accurate the 'experts' are. We will know very soon! If he did predicts the grid he should start a betting operation or pick up some Lotto tickets!
About as clueless as the rest of us in the peanut gallery IMO. A buddy used to say; "Expert"? X is an unknown quantity. Spurt is a drip under pressure. Wanna put yer reputation on the line? Join the Fantasy league!........ Cheers, Ian
More very true words! It gets real fun when you fire up Tillmans "Cost calculator" in the fantasy thread and you realize you can't have Fred, Sebby-V & Kimi. Not to mention the Cans & Ferrari - Doesn't add up.... Or, rather it does, just way over budget..... Cheers, Ian
Trick is to find the "back door" or what ever the kids call the hidden paths in video games. You're not going to tell me they don't exist there when we all know they exist in the "real"world of F1 finances.
Vettel stating on his website today that he finally had a chance to watch all the other cars. Long story short, his words are that Mercedes are 'dangerous'. I cannot think of any time in Merc's existence as a team that their car has been backed as being a contender by so many. Vettel also mentioned these tires need a warm climate to really work, I'm surprised Red Bull diet get them going well this past Saturday with 30C track temps.
