Formula 1 - 2015 season

[DJ12]

Rosberg up to his old tricks again. Can the guy not play fair. Luckily for Hamilton his first lap was so quick vettel couldn't overhaul him on an improved track.

I hope he doesn't get the jump on vettel, should make the race more interesting. Rosberg has trouble passing people but I guess the 2 massive straights with drs will help him here.

You have too laugh at him asking his engineer for advice on why Hamilton was way quicker than him only to be told 'i cannot tell you that'

 

[Kaotik]

Rosberg up to his old tricks again. Can the guy not play fair. Luckily for Hamilton his first lap was so quick vettel couldn't overhaul him on an improved track.

I hope he doesn't get the jump on vettel, should make the race more interesting. Rosberg has trouble passing people but I guess the 2 massive straights with drs will help him here.

You have too laugh at him asking his engineer for advice on why Hamilton was way quicker than him only to be told 'i cannot tell you that'

The usual Hamilton Defense Force at it's work again?
Even Hamilton said Rosberg didn't block him and that he aborted the lap because he knew there was more cars ahead.

 

[DJ12]

We all saw rosberg block him. Ask yourself what Hamilton had to gain from saying so? He's on pole, as he pointed out when pushed by the interviewer, so what difference does it make.

Hamilton actually tried to avoid saying anything about it by trying to suggest he didn't know who it was.

Rosberg, Hamilton and the rest of the world know what was going on.

 

[Lightman]

We all saw rosberg block him. Ask yourself what Hamilton had to gain from saying so? He's on pole, as he pointed out when pushed by the interviewer, so what difference does it make.

Hamilton actually tried to avoid saying anything about it by trying to suggest he didn't know who it was.

Rosberg, Hamilton and the rest of the world know what was going on.

Nothing malicious there, normal repositioning of cars on track. There was that radio message to Rosberg only partially broadcasted on Sky about which car has track position priority which I understood as 'let Lewis overtake you' after which Nico let one car past him before letting Lewis overtake him. Notice that Lewis was immediately backing off which is not normal when you push for time over one lap even with small hiccups along the way. They push till the end in wet because you never know where you can find grip and how much time you can make up in latter sectors.

So on this occasion I see no foul play, only team instructions.

 

[Davros]

Rosberg has trouble passing people but I guess the 2 massive straights with drs will help him here.

Did you see the bbc coverage
they did a side by side comparison between Kimi and Lewis
(not sure from where maybe practice ?? and we don't know fuel levels) but Kimi was
quicker on the straights, Lewis in the corners (he made up 4/10's in a single corner.)

You have too laugh at him asking his engineer for advice on why Hamilton was way quicker than him only to be told 'i cannot tell you that'

More talent ?

 

[Kaotik]

Damn there's no end for Kimi's bad luck, with puncture by Nasr, but boy has he made that Ferrari to work, right up there with Rosberg despite having to drive through the whole field

 

[Lightman]

Such a great race!
Plenty of action all around and non Mercedes winner on pace alone!
Bernie must be very happy indeed!

 

[Rurouni]

Not on pace alone, but more because of the better (bolder?) strategy. Of course having the 2nd fastest car helps.

 

[Bludd]

If Vettel wins the WDC this year in a Ferrari ...

 

[Billy Idol]

Damn it...I missed the race. The last one was so boring...I bet when I watch the next race...it is boring again!

 

[Lightman]

Not on pace alone, but more because of the better (bolder?) strategy. Of course having the 2nd fastest car helps.

But the better strategy was a direct result of Ferrari car using tyres much better than Mercedes car. So to me this win was thanks to pace of Ferrari car on abrasive tarmac with surface temperature of around 60C where other cars struggled to keep tyres in operating windows and suffered big thermal degradation.
I bet next race Merc will be back to 0.5 to 1s quicker per lap because of track conditions and the way they can work the tyres better (which is a positive on smoother tarmac, especially for quali). James Alison knows how to make car be gentle on tyres, look at Lotus from 2012 and 2013 for similarities.

 

[Rurouni]

The difference after the SC (counting when Ham was being stuck behind other cars) was roughly the same as when they finished the race. If Merc didn't pit, they would race to the finish line vs Vettel and the tyre would probably be in a better condition (because the first stop is not so early). There's no denying that Ferrari was fast and kind to the tyre at that absurdly high temp, but Vettel relatively easy win was definitely helped by Merc strategy. Also the fact that the drivers treated equally, thus no split strategy between Ham and Ros.
Edit: I failed to account for the extra stop that Merc have to make, which would be around 24s. Having said that, Ham was ahead of Vettel and if he can stretch the first stint longer, he would have more tyre, thus faster overall. I don't know if it would be enough for a win, but they would still on the podium with either strategy.

 

[Dave Baumann]

Also the fact that the drivers treated equally, thus no split strategy between Ham and Ros.

Actually they did split the strategy, Hamilton was M-H-M-H while Rosberg was M-H-H-M. You may have noted that Hamilton complained about the Hard being the wrong tire after the final stop, and I think this is one of the things that Merc need to consider going forward if Ferrari more frequently display this type of competition - Merc appear to have been still strategizing around Hamilton vs Rosberg from their pre-race strategy, not thinking more dynamically about Hamilton vs Vettel in the race. They are going to have to be a bit more dynamic in situations where they have external competitors. Additionally, a few more similar results as we've seen in the first couple of races it not going to be good news for Rosberg as he may well end up playing "rear gunner" before long.

Also interesting that Merc, a couple of years back, were terrible for chewing through these Pirelli tyres, while Lotus were managing some voodoo magic to keep them alive for ages. This year, lap times have come down, meaning more stress on the tires, and the guy heading who designed the Lotus back then is now the lead engineer on the Ferrari.

 

[Rurouni]

It isn't really a split strategy though. I believe I read somewhere that Ham and Ros would be given the same strategy (pit stop strategy) with tyre as the only variable. They won't do 1 guy doing 2 stop and the other guy 1 stop. Or in this case, when there's a SC, instead of splitting the strategy (one stays to cover Vettel and the other one pits), they pitted both of their drivers.
They have the luxury to do that last year because basically it was a 2 horse race. If Ferrari can mix it up more often, I wonder if they are going to keep their policy of using the same strategy for both drivers.

 

[Kaotik]

Interesting tidbit, according to finnish magazine, Felipe Nasr has said in Canal F1 Latin America's interview that Räikkönen has supported him during his career money wise.
He said that when he came to Europe to drive in F3 in Robertson's / Räikkönen's team, Kimi was one of those who put his money on him since his family couldn't support his driving anymore

Also, from current drivers Kimi has won the most races when starting from behind the 1st row, when compared to total wins (10/20 wins from behind 1st row)

 

[IainF]

Interesting tidbit, according to finnish magazine, Felipe Nasr has said in Canal F1 Latin America's interview that Räikkönen has supported him during his career money wise.
He said that when he came to Europe to drive in F3 in Robertson's / Räikkönen's team, Kimi was one of those who put his money on him since his family couldn't support his driving anymore

Also, from current drivers Kimi has won the most races when starting from behind the 1st row, when compared to total wins (10/20 wins from behind 1st row)

I already liked Kimi one of the few real characters out there, but that just raises my respect for him, it seems somewhat unavoidable given the cost climate but it saddens me that some drivers on the grid are only there because they bring big sponsorship. I wonder how many better drivers don't get a chance at F1 simply because they don't have big money?

 

[Davros]

http://internet.gawker.com/some-prankster-got-a-meme-called-dick-butt-placed-on-1697044401

 

[Billy Idol]

Boring race.

 

[Lightman]

Boring race.

Boring at the front for sure but still miles better than opener thanks to Pastor in Lotus, Button in McLaren and Max in Toro Rosso.

For me an average race which again confirmed that new cars have bigger problems following closely each other in corners than last year constructions.

 

[Otto Dafe]

Boring at the front for sure but still miles better than opener thanks to Pastor in Lotus, Button in McLaren and Max in Toro Rosso.

For me an average race which again confirmed that new cars have bigger problems following closely each other in corners than last year constructions.

That was the sad part. Forget about overtaking, the guys in front didn't even want to be within two seconds of each other.