Hamilton keeps Mercedes ahead as Ferrari close in

24 comments on “Hamilton keeps Mercedes ahead as Ferrari close in”

1. 

   Mashiat (@mashiat)
   12th May 2017, 14:21

   Damn, the field looks closer this race. But it probably won’t be the case come qualifying.
2. 

   hahostolze (@hahostolze)
   12th May 2017, 14:35

   Encouragingly it also seems that Red Bull haven’t actually bolted all their new bits on yet. Here’s hoping, cause that would be interesting.
   1. 

      Sensord4notbeingafanboi (@peartree)
      13th May 2017, 4:14

      Some good news then. When I saw Mercedes upgrade package my jaw dropped. In such short notice not only they fixed the understeer (new floor in China) and then in Spain they’ve come up with a 2018 car almost, I can’t see any other team reach that kind of intricacy soon. Really quickly they’ve incorporated Ferrari’s sidepods and evolved their own concept whilst bringing out the latest on front wings and noses. Not to mention their reliability.
3. 

   Franton (@franton)
   12th May 2017, 14:35

   Reported elsewhere that Mercedes have issued a complete 2nd set of power components. Unfortunately Ferrari have been running their 2nd already, and I understand Kimi is on his 3rd for some.

   Penalties later this year may mess things up.
   1. 

      OOliver
      12th May 2017, 15:14

      From my understanding, they are allowed to rotate these components and reuse them later. I guess that is what Ferrari are claiming to do on some.
      1. 

         Franton (@franton)
         12th May 2017, 18:33

         That’s a little silly, for a pure development of the component point of view. You’re stuck with older spec stuff.
4. 

   Tony Mansell
   12th May 2017, 14:39

   Mercedes sandbagging to stop all the negative vibe. Liberty wouldn’t want that now would they
5. 

   Xaerun
   12th May 2017, 14:39

   Bottas is incredibly good at this track. The average gap between him and Massa was 0.841 s which I think is even more than what Alonso achieved against him in Spain.
   1. 

      Miltiadis (@miltosgreekfan)
      12th May 2017, 14:44

      Massa had bottled it in all 3 years when they were together(qualy speaking).But still,Bottas is really strong(in one lap at least) & i think i might pick him as the pole-man for the predictions!
6. 

   Miltiadis (@miltosgreekfan)
   12th May 2017, 14:42

   Βοttas vs Hamilton will be very very close…Vettel neds to find some speed,while Renault having both cars in Top 8 is really positive(although i believe Palmer won’t be so strong in qualy).Battle is on!
7. 

   Understeer (@abdelilah)
   12th May 2017, 14:43

   Mercedes upped their game, I hope their race pace is as good as their qualifying one and that Lewis won’t do any mistakes.
   1. 

      OOliver
      12th May 2017, 16:17

      I know the conditions are lot different, but during the pre season tests, Ferrari were able to easily clock 1:18s and 1:19s without making use of the softest tyres.
8. 

   Todfod (@todfod)
   12th May 2017, 14:45

   Mercedes showing why they’ve been the class of the field over the past few years. If the championships this year are going to go down to effective updates of the car, then Mercedes have just thrown the gauntlet down on Ferrari.

   Another team that has massively impressed me is Renault. If Joylon can put that car just a little over a second behind the Mercs, then there must be some genuine pace in that car. It would be great if they could start solidifying themselves as the best of the rest this season.

   Red Bull were slightly underwhelming, but I’m sure they’ll find more pace on Saturday and at least give Kimi a hard time this weekend.

   McLaren Honda… well… they really are something else.
   1. 

      Mashiat (@mashiat)
      12th May 2017, 14:53

      @todfod If Jolyon is indeed still just over a second behind Lewis or Seb or whoever during qualifying, then we might just have the class of the field in that banana 🍌 car.
9. 

   Keith Collantine (@keithcollantine)
   12th May 2017, 15:01

   Perez could be in trouble. He’s already got two reprimands, now he’s under investigation for unnecessarily cutting the chicane during second practice. A third reprimand would mean an automatic ten-place grid penalty.
   1. 

      Joao (@johnmilk)
      12th May 2017, 18:41

      If he gets it it will be ridiculous. He abandoned the lap right after the incident, and caused no harm whatsoever
      1. 

         OOliver
         12th May 2017, 18:58

         cutting a chicane to gain an advantage during free practice?!!
10. 

    Miane
    12th May 2017, 15:47

    Is Stroll medium tyre lap correct? It’s very impressive.
    1. 

       MG421982 (@)
       12th May 2017, 16:02

       Nope! The times are reversed, incorrect too. Stroll did a 1’23.221 on Softs, while on Mediums he did a 1’25.919… and not a 1’25.974.
       1. 

          Miane
          12th May 2017, 20:20

          It makes sense now. Thx.
11. 

    Andrew Purkis
    12th May 2017, 16:17

    should be a Merc front row with the Ferraris 0.3s behind

    should be a interesting race
    1. 

       Loup Garou (@loup-garou)
       13th May 2017, 8:35

       should be a Merc front row with the Ferraris 0.3s behind
       should be a interesting race

       I think you are about right. However, the Ferraris, or at least Vettel’s Ferrari, will be more competitive during the race itself. Well planned strategy, good tyre management and skillful driving just might get #5 past at least one Merc by the end of the race. I’d like Vettel to win though.
12. 

    Philip (@philipgb)
    12th May 2017, 17:00

    Of all the tracks, here and Suzuka will likely be the one’s that most favour Mercedes long wheelbase.
    1. 

       Kgn11
       12th May 2017, 20:22

       They say if your car works well at this track, it will work well everywhere.

       I think people have gotten all caught up in this long wheelbase ideology, which I find to be nonsense. At the launch, Costa said they evaluated both a SWB & LWB car and found they gained 60pts more downforce. Both platform have their advantages and disadvantages. So I don’t understand why it’s such s big talking point.

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