Vettel quickest again but Ferrari problems continue

45 comments on “Vettel quickest again but Ferrari problems continue”

1. 

   Xaerun
   14th April 2017, 17:31

   Can someone tell me why they always use that shoulder camera angle on Vettel and Hamilton’s car while with the others they are showing the t-cam every single time.
   1. 

      Michael Brown (@)
      14th April 2017, 17:34

      I don’t know. I prefer Hamilton’s wider angle, it lets us see more of the steering wheel and the side of the car.
   2. 

      Gabriel (@rethla)
      14th April 2017, 17:43

      They want the Senna cam.
   3. 

      Sensord4notbeingafanboi (@peartree)
      14th April 2017, 17:53

      Xaerun I get your point. In FP1 there was no current lap screen timing, and even though the camera work is good at Bahrain there’s always those moments when they choose to always use the same angles.
2. 

   Michael Brown (@)
   14th April 2017, 17:35

   Will Vettel be investigated for how he brought his car back to the pits?
   1. 

      Dewald Nel (@ho3n3r)
      14th April 2017, 18:14

      You mean safely? No problems with doing that.
3. 

   Miltiadis (@miltosgreekfan)
   14th April 2017, 17:36

   What a race we are up to!!!!!!Ferrari & Mercedes are very very close,the smallest of details will make the top 4(difficult to predict as well!!).RBR seems to be in the mix and the midfield battle seems really interesting!Hulk & Massa are a bit faster than Haas,STR,F.I,while Alonso can spring a surprise!Exciting race to come(hopefully)!
4. 

   Mike
   14th April 2017, 17:39

   When will T-wings be banned? This is the 2nd time it breaks on Bottas’ car and dammaged a RB.
   1. 

      Diego (@ironcito)
      14th April 2017, 18:44

      So they should ban engines because of McLaren? If Bottas’ T-wing comes off unsafely for no reason, penalty for Bottas. Then you’ll see how fast they make it un-come-off-able.
      1. 

         Fran
         14th April 2017, 19:24

         Just stop Mercedes using it would be the obvious thing to do
      2. 

         Markp
         14th April 2017, 22:18

         I had exactly the same thought as that once Sky started pedalling their story about this. Everyone else with this wing mounted on the fin is fine seems it’s shoddy German build quality at play here.
   2. 

      Michael Brown (@)
      14th April 2017, 22:45

      I don’t see why T-wings need to banned for everybody because Mercedes sucks at it
      1. 

         Fukobayashi (@)
         15th April 2017, 11:59

         No they need to be banned because they look ridiculous and the safety argument is the best way to force it through without the whole unanimous approval rigmarole.
   3. 

      Bob Wheeler (@bobmendon)
      14th April 2017, 23:07

      Didn’t one of the Haas cars lose a T-wing and they just reattached with carbon fiber tape and it stayed with no problem. However, theirs was wing mounted. I think mounting it on a pylon allows it to move side to side and makes it more sensitive from vibrations. The ones mounted on the shark fins seem to move less laterally and the fin seems to help reduce vibrations. However, I am not an engineer, not have played one on TV, and never was blessed with eternal knowledge so your guess is as good as mine.
5. 

   Joao (@johnmilk)
   14th April 2017, 17:40

   Second GP in a row that Valtteri loses his T-Wing. I call sabotage, they should change mechanics.
   1. 

      Blazz
      15th April 2017, 10:32

      At least Bottas still gets to finish the race without the T wing :)
6. 

   hahostolze (@hahostolze)
   14th April 2017, 17:40

   That T-wing incident was ridiculous. Second time in a week. Either ban the one on the Mercedes or penalise them. This has to stop, it’s dangerous.
   1. 

      Gabriel (@rethla)
      14th April 2017, 17:53

      @hahostolze
      Noone is interested in parts falling off the car, Mercedes will fix it without a penalty. The danger is neglectable, fins falling off happens all the time in F1.
      1. 

         hahostolze (@hahostolze)
         14th April 2017, 17:54

         Well, they didn’t fix it last time either, so your optimism is misplaced.
         Also, not dangerous?! They could cause a high speed puncture, see how not dangerous that is.
         1. 

            W-K (@w-k)
            14th April 2017, 18:03

            So lets ban front wing end plates and barge boards, they’re also always falling off.
            1. 

               hahostolze (@hahostolze)
               14th April 2017, 18:12

               Last time a front wing fell off on its own?
            2. 

               Dewald Nel (@ho3n3r)
               14th April 2017, 18:16

               Can’t remember the last time a front wing fell off the same car for no reason 2 race weekends in a row.
            3. 

               Gabriel (@rethla)
               14th April 2017, 18:48

               @ho3n3r

               Come back with that comment when the teams have 60 years of experience from the t-wings. Front wings aint exactly a new thing in F1.
      2. 

         Brakius (@brakius)
         14th April 2017, 18:36

         I see the Finns falling off pace more than anything else
         1. 

            Sravan Krishnan (@sravan-pe)
            14th April 2017, 18:42

            Me expecting that didn’t make it any less funny.. 😝
   2. 

      Kgn11
      14th April 2017, 19:16

      It’s no more dangerous than if a wing mirror or bargeboard falls off. Ok it fell off twice, but that was in practice. You don’t see it fluttering about like the shark fin is.

      All they’ve got to do is reinforce the connectors and it will be fine. Nothing to get worked up about.
7. 

   Sensord4notbeingafanboi (@peartree)
   14th April 2017, 17:42

   Impressive pace from Ferrari, I’d say clearly 2nd unlike the 2 past weekends. On pace with Mercedes, I’m aware that Ferrari has good history on this track but this track is most definitely rear limited and power dependent, it’s also about traction, chassis as always, and coping with hot conditions, hot conditions are always a leveller as most teams can reach the tyres saturation point. Their ceiling of performance.
   Some observations, RBR running a lot less rake, cars were really slow, the pack looked really tight, I think it’s both the fact this track isn’t about aero at all, and the fact the temperatures really push the tyres to their performance grip.
8. 

   hahostolze (@hahostolze)
   14th April 2017, 17:46

   Happily encouraged by Ricciardo’s pace. Maybe they’re slowly catching up.
   1. 

      Mp3-23
      14th April 2017, 18:24

      I think Red bull improvement should be taken with a grain of salt. Mercedes and Ferrari focused on their long run pace today, and we all know Mercedes hasn’t used their “dark” mode yet. :)
      1. 

         sethje (@seth-space)
         14th April 2017, 19:36

         you mean the mode where parts falling of damaging cars from other teams ?
         1. 

            Kgn11
            14th April 2017, 20:41

            Yea, like Mercedes is the first team that has ever happened to.
            1. 

               MrBoerns (@mrboerns)
               14th April 2017, 22:29

               Member the DRS on the Saubers in 2000? :-)
            2. 

               Michael Brown (@)
               14th April 2017, 22:47

               @mrboerns I member
         2. 

            Bruno cascimiro (@bcoliver)
            14th April 2017, 20:46

            :)
         3. 

            MrBoerns (@mrboerns)
            14th April 2017, 22:30

            @seth-space
            Well they tried a similar approach when they were still brawn. But back then it was about knocking out the following driver so this is definately an improvement :P
9. 

   Ju88sy (@)
   14th April 2017, 18:08

   It would be fab to have a 3 team pole shoot out tomorrow, let’s see what happens FP3 on quali setup runs. I would love to see a Ricciardo pole…
10. 

    KhanistanF1 (@khanistanf1)
    14th April 2017, 18:18

    Painful to see that Vandoorne is unable to get a good clean weekend through no fault of his own. Hopefully he will get the chance to string a few together soon
11. 

    Ed Marques (@edmarques)
    14th April 2017, 19:00

    Everyone close to each other.
    Shame Lewis didn’t set a proper fast lap on SS.
    My guess he will be pole again, but for the race no clue at all what will happen.
12. 

    Gerrik (@fiksuh)
    14th April 2017, 20:31

    Does somebody knows more about Ferrari floor being illigal?
    1. 

       Bruno cascimiro (@bcoliver)
       14th April 2017, 20:44

       I read it on GPTODAY website. Things are getting exciting on and off track this year. Let’s see what happens.
    2. 

       Markp
       15th April 2017, 3:01

       Yeah. Floor is 100 percent legal it has past all tests for 2 full race weekends and at the start of this weekends.
13. 

    Harry Drewery (@hdrewery2002)
    14th April 2017, 20:53

    I was looking at an artists impression from f1 racing magazine uk and it’s the same corner as this cover picture I have to say (sadly apart from the shark fin and t wing) it’s spot on and I have not been let down definitely looking forward to the rest of the season but my money’s on Hamilton in the final race
14. 

    Ru Chern (@)
    15th April 2017, 7:04

    Is there going to be a Friday FP2 analysis on their long stint pace?
15. 

    AndrewW
    15th April 2017, 11:05

    After a faltering start to the season so far, Merc are squarely on the proverbial back foot in Bahrain. Since this season’s is a developmental race, I am now uninstalling them as favourites for the WCC and WDC crowns. They even run the real risk of being overtaken by Red Bull. Early doors to be altering my assessment, I know, but the running in Bahrain showed a team stuck in the mindset of “power cures all”. This was justifiable pre regulation change, but they do not appear to be addressing the non-power deficiencies of their package. Chief among these are poor performance in low-speed corners, a seemingly greater appetite for tyre rubber, and vulnerability in dirty air and high ambient temperatures. While Ferrari aren’t immune and Red Bull have ground to make up, Merc outwardly lack the composure of a reigning champion poised to discover ways of winning under new regulations. Instead, they are scrambling to compromise and mitigate leading to what seems like a sacrifice of ultimate power to optimise stint length. They should have the edge on peak performance, as evidenced by quali, but appear limited to narrower setup parameters and, consequently car balance in race trim. My principal reasons for uninstalling Merc as favourites:
    -Continuity break in technical development with Paddy Lowe’s departure
    -Loss of the quality of engineering-actionable input ROS offered
    -Inability to unleash full power in race trim for fear of overheating and/or destroying tyres
    -Narrower setup and balance window of the overall car package relative to their closest rivals

    Allison is a gifted engineer and will come good, but he starts at a considerable deficit having not done any work of note under the new regulations. On the driver front, they lost ROS, scorer of the highest marks recorded by a driver in the engineering aptitude test and a student of the very best team-builder, MSC. They now have HAM who has effectively regressed in that area. He entered the sport with perhaps the greatest raw talent ever seen and applied himself diligently in the simulator in pre-season before subsequently showing a good appetite for the technical aspects through the first two seasons. Since then, he has repeatedly labelled this work boring and become a show-up-and-drive type. I don’t recall anyone complimenting his calibre of technical input or even ability to set up a car. ROS was able to beat him to the 2016 WDC on the strength of aspects such as starts even as HAM logged more wins and poles. BOT’s rapid bedding in suggests to me he already shows greater engineering aptitude and interest than HAM. In a development-driven season, Merc stand to lose when the driver they might look to for inspiration isn’t up to the mark and BOT has yet to fully settle in. Indeed, by acceding to his panicked calls, Merc pitted the polesitter prematurely in Melbourne and threw away track position and what would likely have been victory Down Under. I see repeats of variations on this theme throughout a season as Merc look to placate HAM.

    As for Sakhir today and tomorrow, I see Merc failing to top a single timed session for the first time in ages. Ferrari will stave off the kind of failures that plagued them on Friday and come out on top. HAM looks clueless and I expect him to continue to flounder and ultimately also get beaten by BOT for the first time in both quali and race.
16. 

    Kenny
    15th April 2017, 12:07

    Wow! Such vitriolic assessment coming through. And this clueless guy is a 3 time WDC who has beaten all his team mates and was judged by the paddock chiefs as being the best driver even as he lost the championship last year.

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