FORMULA 1 2018 ROLEX AUSTRALIAN GRAND PRIX: QUALIFYING *** SPOILERS ***

Yeah, no.

In any case Autosport were reporting since Friday that Hammy was rotating the car on the brakes at the chicane very well and that he's always good at this circuit. Bottas must have seen he was losing time at chicane so overcooked it right there.

Nevertheless, Kimi, who never really impressed in qualy (or the race, for that matter, LOL) last year(s) is closer to the pole by 0.25 this year in a car that was being written off by the press as 3rd best and just ahead of Haas.

Just like Merc needed a year to sort the long wheelbase, I think Ferrari should be pretty good this year. Let's see how the race goes.

 

Yeah, lets hope we don't have another Singapore.

 

Absolutely. Fancy floor taken away (didn't even fail a test), their not so hidden secondary oil tank, taken away. Merc hid(es) theirs, Allison knew exactly where Ferrari's was. Double standard. As soon as the toys got taken away there was no competition on Saturdays anymore.

For the race, Merc likely can't use much of the fancy engine modes (much) so on that, there should be a race on, hopefully. But certainly depends on how good a start the Ferrari's or Red Bulls make.

 

There is always hope that “party mode” will include and explosion with confetti! Ricciardo speaks the inconvenient truth, anyone of the top drivers would enjoy success in the Mercedes.

 

+1 ABSOLUTELY

 

True, but that was years ago... I think Niki contributes a lot more than just look over Toto's shoulder during the race.

 

As we all guessed, Mercedes has been sandbagging. They finally through them out in Q3


Wolff: Hamilton did use ‘party mode’ in Q3
http://www.planetf1.com/news/wolff-hamilton-did-use-party-mode-in-q3/

 

What proves undoubtly that Lewis is a lier and his fanboys suck it all up and think it is just him rather than the Mercedes....Let´s see who is smiling when the party mode does not work anymore...

 

I guess we can only hope for a season like 2016, where Vettel can capitalize on Hambone's misfortune to win. Based on pace alone, no one can beat Hami in the Merc.

 

here are qualifying max sector speeds and speed traps during qualifying.

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here are Qualifying Best-sector laps vs. Lap-times set

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tyres left for the AusGP (RedBull at start has the advantage with tyres...US then use SS or S for the remainder of the race...1 stop strat.)

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There's having an advantage and there's having the sheer talent to make it work.

 

The snarkiness has already begun. I hope Seb can keep the smile off of Hambone's face more often than not this season, but I'm not seeing it right now...

 

I agree with you. Look at Bottas. All weekend he wasn't even close to Hamilton in the same car.

 

I believe all the top teams have some sort of 'Party Mode' for Q3 only problem is the Merc one is a bit better ..more like 'Ibiza Mode'

 

So all Lewis has to do is not to screw it up like Bottas did today in a car that is simply half a second faster in qualy mode and he should be fine standing in row 1 for the rest of the season...We all know what this meens when overtaking is nearly impossible...Don´t you think that this is a huge advantage regarding the WDC were Max and Seb and all the others (apart from second rate Bottas) can barely do anything against???
Remember Seb was winning how many poles and races in a row and people talked it down to the Newey car and now all of the sudden it is the superior talent that puts Lewis on Pole??? Yeah right....

 

THE ONLY MODE MERCEDES HAD WAS HAMMER MODE!!
I see the "Party mode " thing is quickly becoming the new go to excuse for why Ham blazed everybody. It takes crazy talent to drive these cars on the edge in a qualifying situation, thats why Bottas lost it and Ham did'nt.

 

Any chance "party mode" is just a euphemism for Ham getting in the zone and pushing hard, vs an actual alternate engine map for Q? Seems like Toto was being coy in that article and joking there's something extra..

 

Brawn and Schumacher were dead right with the direction they took the team. They are the best combo in history in terms of putting together dominant teams. Why on earth anyone questioned them years before when Merc were slow and chewing through tires was beyond me. They knew exactly what they were doing. That all said, I cannot stand Lewis. Guy makes me bananas making this era bittersweet for a long-time Merc fan.

 

Notice that Toto made no reference to the mode used in Q2 ...he did not deny that they used it also in Q2....

 

Ferrari are every bit as quick on race mode. Hoping fezza can make up the track position on the quick just to make things interesting.

It remains frustrating how Ferrari with even more funding than Merc still cannot manage to even meet the Mercedes blitz. Ferrari might try exploring outside management techniques as they used to.....when they won.

 

The Merc cannot use Party Mode the entire race. The question will come down to tire management.

 

Interesting the Macs have the slowest speed trap. I would not have guessed that.

 

I wonder how good a used Ultrasoft is. Probably not much.

 

For starters there'll be endless whinging on how the FIA stands for ''Ferrari Assistance International'', despite for 4 years they didn't bother doing **** against Mercedes and took Ferrari's toys away....