OFFICIAL FERRARI SUCKS THREAD ***WARNING: Spoilers & Truth May Hurt***

Fast 'as' does not = faster than it seems.

 

You have to admit, the car was plenty fast today.

Strategy however...

 

+1 it is faster. I very much enjoyed the start.

 

The car was not as fast as the Mercedes, we can´t blame the strategy. Yet, we put a good fight. Without Vettel´s mistakes at the chicane, he would have finished even closer.

It´s true that this was a track that suited us so the Red Bulls will be closer at other tracks, but the new turbo didn´t break and they managed to qualify well despite it was very cold so the new suspension works. Seeing the glass half full or half empty is up to the reader.

 

Yes we can IMO, yet again Mercedes proved to have a better understanding of the tires.

 

+1 Ferrari struggle for years with tire strategy. Never seems to get it right.

 

Hamilton was already closing to Vettel before he stopped, so I think he would have a hard time keeping the Mercedes behind for 60 laps.

 

What a lot of the detractor here have missed is that the Ferrari execs said they were only a tenth away and this weekend has proved them right ...... Kimi disappointed

 

Yep but Ferrari are closing...

 

No, Mercedes yet again proved to carry the tires much longer and at a competitive pace than Ferrari seemed to acknowledge.

 

So... in the long run they´re faster. No difference with what I´ve said.

Besides that, Hamilton was a bit faster than Vettel at the beginning of the race, on equal tyres.

 

Going in he was 46 puts behind, now 38. The upgrades worked. Those 2 fools at MB mix it up at the start some more Seb could be in this thing yet.

 

It could be worse. We could be McLaren.

 

That's three races now blown to poor strategy. I think the near miss at pole got the team giddy into thinking they could beat MB with one additional stop. Ferrari seem to have closed the gap somewhat, but not enough to outpace MB.

 

Ferrari, Vettel, was leading the race and competively so. He could "easily" maintain his lead up till his 1st pit stop, on the same tires as both of the Mercedes. No problem whatsoever. It was his race to win up till that point, with a 6 to 7 second lead at that point. (please correct if I'm wrong here).

Ferrari, whenever it gets the chance, shouldn't allow Mercedes to run in clean air. That's when they can fully exploid their potential. But Ferrari did it again, it either didn't acknowledge the Mercs potential in clean air, and/or does not acknowledge the Pirelli tire degredation, therefore choosing a 2nd pit stop when Mercedes were on a 1 stopper.

Ferrari waisted a win IMO.

 

One stop strategy, Hamilton, Vettel & Seagulls........

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=cpYeiQmgq70&feature=youtu.be

 

After the start, Hamilton was closing slowly to Vettel, he was almost at DRS distance when Vettel pitted during the fake safety car period. In the second stint, again Hamilton was closing very slowly, despite being on harder tyres.

For me it´s obvious that the Mercedes was faster and would catch Vettel. One could argue that maybe they should have kept Vettel out, forcing Hamilton to overtake on the track, but I doubt that, with so many laps remaining, Vettel would be able to block him for too long. So they tried something different. Unfortunately Hamilton´s tyres lasted more than expected; Red Bull couldn´t manage to make them last for so long, so it seems that Ferrari´s expectations were not so misguided. Also Vettel made too many mistakes in the last chicane, loosing 4 or 5 precious seconds.

S*** happens. Back to work.

 

What Ferrari should've done during their stop was throw on soft tires. If they lasted, they enjoyed track position. If they didn't, 15 laps on ultrasoft near the end. Low fuel, super grippy tire. would've been a lot quicker (1.5ish per lap)

 

The Benz runs good in clean air not so much following other cars. Would have been interesting. No reason to pit that early. As you said back to work. Need to tidy up the chassis/aero to make better use of the softs. The gap has closed.

 

Vettel - Sebastian Vettel - Ferrari makes better strategy choices than rivals

Is dreaming - "Ferrari denied it of course, but the similarities in how the Australian and Canadian Grands Prix played out were almost uncanny."

"The call in Canada was not quite so clear-cut, but nevertheless Ferrari should know from the way it beat Mercedes to victory in Malaysia in 2015 how vital it is to retain track position at all costs."

How Ferrari blew another victory chance - F1 - Autosport Plus

SKY opinion - Losers (http://www.skysports.com/f1/news/12433/10312263/canadian-gp-winners-and-losers)

--Ferrari's strategists
They started in Melbourne as they have carried on. Hindsight makes race strategy seem easy but even at the very moment Ferrari called in Vettel on just lap 11 - 'surely that's Raikkonen? Nope, it's the race leader coming in from clean air and fast lap times' - there was bewilderment in the paddock about Ferrari's decision to commit so early to a two-stop strategy.

"I definitely was surprised," admitted Hamilton. "We were staying out." The verdict of Ferrari team boss Maurizo Arrivabene was even more emphatic: "It was a wrong decision…we made a mistake."

Australia, Spain and Canada: all races Ferrari should have won. Australia, Spain and Canada: all races Ferrari shouldn't have lost.--

 

+1

- Mercedes continuously show they have a better understanding of tyre degradation, which twice in a row proved to be far less, due to the colder temps, than Ferrari seemed to expect.
- Ferrari, when they get the chance, shouldn't let Mercedes run in clean air
- Plus Ferrari seems to a bit too preoccupied with what Merc is doing, not making decisions on the basis of their own strength. Instead of choosing their own optimal race strategy, their too preoccupied in trying to win the race from the pitwall.

Especially on the faster circuits, it seems Ferrari are now very competitive with Mercedes.

 

+1 and Williams was guilty last 2 years with obsession on countering what others were doing and not running 'their' race. Ferrari doing the same it seems. Hopefully they will get it right but it wont be at Baku. City circuit yes, but long straights, which if they dont qualify well will be tough for them to fight Mercedes in clear air and potentially Williams.

It will be warm there and that could affect all teams and brake temps will be critical and fuel possibly??

 

About time, he's clearly the #2