“But I think as we got to the first test, certainly into the second test, it became more clear that some others were in desperate disarray, mentioning no names.......
“The debate would then be how much to turn the engine up for Q3. I’d be getting it in the ear from Toto: ‘That’s too much, that’s too much’. And I’m thinking, ‘but if we don’t get pole, we’ll look like a right bunch of mugs’.
“So what number to pick that would do the job and knowing you didn’t want to err on the wrong way? So that was a big part of the discussion on Saturday afternoon. Nice chat to have.”
“In qualifying, we would never turn the engine up for Q1 and Q2. It was run in a sort of idle mode.” “
Actually that went on quite a long time,” he added. “Through most of 2014, that engine was never on full power for qualifying.”
Not an overly exciting race today. Bound to be a handful every season.
Verstappen hopping over Bottas at the restart was great. Ricciardo and Alonso were making some moves, after pitting for Hards. Solid performance from Pérez! Best of the season so far, actually. Norris continuing to be in the zone.
lolits not looking good for Ferrari... as always, Leclerc puts that dog of a car where it doesn't belong.
Either that or their improved performance is actually the result to dumping Vettel.I guess I'm the only one who feels Ferrari is actually returning a better performance than expected. They definitely can't fight for the top two in the constructors, but third or fourth isn't out of the question.
I guess I'm the only one who feels Ferrari is actually returning a better performance than expected. They definitely can't fight for the top two in the constructors, but third or fourth isn't out of the question.
Correct me if I'm wrong but didn't Ferrari mention they are trying/tried to spend more time developing next year's platform instead of the SF21?
I was listening to a podcast that was discussing the actual performance of Ferrari since their inception. If you look at the statistics, they are a very underperforming team. They have flashes of brilliance like the Schumacher, Lauda and other years, but as a whole Ferrari haven't performed up to their hype. For all their complaining, I kind of wish they would leave F1 when they actually threaten it.
I'm not so sure about this -- I'll wait to see how Spain and Monaco shake out.I still find it hilarious people think Ferrari actually had the faster car for large periods of the season in 2017 and 2018... they got close and in a few tracks actually had the upper hand in some race/weather conditions... but now knowing what we know, with the mess that is Ferrari, with strategy, etc, they never had a chance for the championship.
This year it looks the same with Red Bull.... Mercedes struggled in testing like never before, even more than 2018 but by the second race its clear they have the best car again, I dont think that was a one off...
Even if the Red Bull manages to match lap times or even be faster at times, i dont see it winning... its much slower, the Honda still has less power, the high rake makes it very draggy and slow in the straights...
So even with the faster times, all the merc needs to do is fly past it on the straight with DRS and a couple of laps to charge the ERS.
At least Red Bull is a much better team itself, better management, strategy, etc.... so at least they wont be fighting themselves like Ferrari