FORMULA 1 GRAN PREMIO DE ESPAÑA PIRELLI 2017: RACE ***SPOILERS***

In the final part of the GP, 16 or 17 laps to the end of the race, and in lost position at that moment:
Should Vettel have stopped by a set of soft tires? And then go for continuous records laps and try to beat Hamilton at the end of the race

 

I think he did not have a new set left ,then it takes 25 secs or so for the stop and he was already what 8 secs behind lewis?

so he would have to be 2 secs a lap faster,including passing traffic etc...so i guess it was not worth it ,they just hoped Lewis would have tyre probs toward the end ..but he held it together,another 10 laps maybe a different outcome.

 

If Vettel stopped, Lewis would have stopped also. There was no option but to hope Hamilton's tires would fall off.

 

No disrespect to anyone here but what if.. this... what if... that..
what difference does it make right now? It is what it is. Let's move on already and let's hope for a better future.

 

The good news is Vettel is still leading. F1 has become a race of pit strategy and tire/fuel conservation (along with luck), with so many freaking regulations. Even when a race is 'exciting' by current standards, it's still boring as hell. Plus cars sound like crap now, so I don't even yearn for a race now. Just fast-forward to most of it nowadays in 10 to 15 minutes. Hope that changes in the future, but doubt it. No wonder why racing viewership is dwindling more and more.

 

One good thing, the Ferrari looked good in dirty air. Lewis wasn't so strong when he was number 2 in the early stages of the race. I'm not sure Mercedes has stabilized their car for dirty air.

 

My kinda guy.....

PMing you.

 

Good point. I agree, the merc was no match for the ferrari in real race terms, the tyres and the safety car pit stop cost ferrari the race, and won Mercedes a race they should have lost. Roll on Monte Carlo

 

Shoulds, woulda, coulda......

 

It's going to be the same story in Monaco, pit stops and safety car. Qualifying will be more critical than ever, we may see no passes for position on track with the wider cars. Safety car period(s) virtually guaranteed.

 

seems safety cars always work against us. Hopefully that trend turns around

 

Let's hope Vettel gets the title without. Otherwise Group 44 will forever reject this title for Vettle...

 

Don't worry he'll find an excuse.

 

Mercedes brought a lot of obvious upgrades to the bodywork, but I think Ferrari brought a lot of less obvious upgrades for Spain as well, as Mercedes didn't open up the gap in qualifying or race pace. I think the Mercedes in Spain was better at following another car, Hamilton was able to hold position 2.5 sec behind Vettel in the early stages, probably deliberately holding that gap and not closer to minimize the higher tire degradation when closely following - that larger gap, and lower tire degradation, allowed him to get the longer first stint on the soft tires.

When it came time to pass Vettel after the 2nd pit stops, Hamilton was able to follow closer, enough so that he could take advantage of DRS and pass on the main straight after following Vettel for 4 laps. At the earlier races, the Mercedes was not able to follow within 1 sec of the Ferrari.

I also think Ferrari is doing a much better job of race strategy this year than last year or the several before - sure, this race didn't work out, but they actually had a disadvantage leading the race from a strategic perspective. Vettel's 2 wins earlier this season, however, were hugely aided by sharp Ferrari strategy - it would have been very easy for Ferrari to have lost those races, as happened last year with poor pit wall strategy calls, but this year they are making the right calls so far.

 

Add the huge variance in performance between the cars and some of the drivers (Stroll, probably Button) and we will also likely see a lot of moving chicanes to navigate around. Fun times!

 

Thank you.

 

Don't know if this has been posted but a pretty cool overlay of Vettel and Hamiltons qualifying lap. Vettel driving style is interesting completely different from Hamilton.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=gx_dt1yBBl0

 

Very cool, thanks for sharing. Please do so again. Is that a US channel?

Barcelona is a track with lots of really awkward corners where there are many lines and none ever really feels right. That's part of what qualifying showed with not the guy with the best lap starting from pole but the guy with the least messiest...

 

Kimi's wife just gave birth to their 2nd child, Rianna.

Congratulations to both of them .

 

Not US channel, but the network is US.

 

After looking at the video, looks like Mercedes will work very well in Monaco.

 

Outstanding graphical perspective and analysis. Is this guy a driver and which country is this with F1 on Fox?

Thanks for posting.

 

Its Malaysian Alex Yoong, used to be Alonso/Webber team mate at Minardi...did a lot of racing single seaters with not much success...now racing for Audi 8 LMS i think.

So yes he knows quite a lot about racing.Fox is broadcast in Singapore and Malaysia ,maybe other countries too.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Alex_Yoong

 

Sebastian Vettel doesn't blame Felipe Massa for Spain blue flag incident

At Sunday's Spanish Grand Prix, Vettel again lapped Massa in the closing stages as he was attempting to stay in touch with race leader Lewis Hamilton and again lost time as he got baulked at Turn 10. He immediately radioed his pit wall saying "Why does it have to be Massa all the time?" but after the race admitted the Williams driver was not to blame for the lost time.

"He was giving me space so nothing to blame on his side," Vettel said. "It's really slippery and then when you get close to the other car, the car in front, I just locked up both wheels. At some point I wish I had a handbrake to get the rear turned!
Peter J Fox/Getty Images

"It was really close; I was lucky to not bump into him and damage my front wing. But it's difficult for him because he gives the space and he just waits for me to go through. I should look at the lines in Turn 10. Sometimes you are really at the kerb but most of the time you are 1.5/2 metres off the apex kerb there.

"It was quite slippery and I obviously underestimated that so if anything it was me to blame - but it a bit of a pity because again it was Felipe. Last race we had a bit of a misunderstanding, this one again but he's very experienced and he knows how to move in these situations, so nothing to blame for him."

 

Excellent, thank you for posting.