[hslakaal]

Curious How Hamilton will do with the penalty.

Hopefully well have a bit more variety for the podium (and pole) than the last few races

[f1mad]

(Original post by hslakaal)
Hopefully well have a bit more variety for the podium (and pole) than the last few races

Wut?

Did you not watch the last race? There's enough variety.

[hslakaal]

(Original post by f1mad)
Wut?

Did you not watch the last race? There's enough variety.

Sorry. I literally meant last few includjg last year's. Wouldn't mind if it went like sepang did, without the red flag though

[DScofield]

set up for an awesome race tomorrow. Well done Nico.

[f1mad]

According to Nico, a setup change he made just before the start of Q1 gave him a significant advantage over the setup Schumacher had gone with for quali. The race will be interesting.

[FrogInABog]

I have my hat prepared for consumption in case Mercedes pull off a win...

Hamilton seemed quietly confident to me. I reckon he'll be in line for a podium finish, provided he can keep up that 'consistency' he's been talking about. Besides, he's pretty good in China, the track suits his style.

McLaren FTW!!

[Marc Fiorano]

Awesome stuff from Merc GP!

How they'll perform in the race is a mystery but at the very least we can be sure that Schumi will make it difficult for the others to pass

If Merc's tyre issue play up then I actually think Kimi is in the driving seat to win this race. The roof of my house will go off if Schumi wins though.

Poor stuff from Ferrari, they're on 'full speed development' and yet Sauber's now jumped ahead of them in qualifying compared to last race.

Q2 was immensely close, 3 tenths covering the top 10 is insane.
Not surprised by Vettel as he's gone for the less downforce package, maybe he'll have more consistent race pace with the balance of that car but how will he get up there with that short 7th gear of his.

[Stringer987]

Nice to see the smug smiles of McLaren wiped off. Thought Whitmarsh was confident of front row?

[f1mad]

(Original post by Stringer987)
Nice to see the smug smiles of McLaren wiped off...

And that of their fans who thought they would run away with it, akin Red Bull style .

[James A]

i wanna see whether vettel can prove his worth and actually pass other cars to beat Webber. Should be fascinating stuff.

I was shocked by the difference between hamilton and button, 5 tenths apart, hmmmmm jenson must have gone for a race setup........

But merc are owning quali, lets hope that either rosberg/msc can get the win. Would be nice to see Kimi on the podium too.....

[Silkysam]

(Original post by Stringer987)
Nice to see the smug smiles of McLaren wiped off. Thought Whitmarsh was confident of front row?

I'm pretty sure McLaren did get a front row, it's just Hamilton had a 5 place grid penalty.

[Idris Dragon]

Great lap by Nico Rosberg, Ireland's new racing hero...

Looks like Mercedes have a touch of compromise on their 7th gear, they were hitting the limiter quite early on the back straight. Button and Hamilton look stronger though with their race pace; so if it stays dry I think they'll win it...

[Motorbiker]

(Original post by Stringer987)
Nice to see the smug smiles of McLaren wiped off. Thought Whitmarsh was confident of front row?

True but with the 2nd longest straight of the year it's hard to compete against the Merc.

Also, would much rather be where Mclaren are right now than Ferrari tbh.

[f1mad]

(Original post by Motorbiker)
True but with the 2nd longest straight of the year it's hard to compete against the Merc.

They are fast everywhere:

http://www.fia.com/en-GB/mediacentre...ng-sectors.pdf

The Merc is super quick on light fuel load, with or without DRS.

[Riderz]

Good odds on Schuy getting on the podium. To see him on the top step would be a dream come true; I cant help but think that it'll happen at some point this season. He's developed one hell of a car and is doing exactly what makes him the greatest driver of all time. Coming back, building a car he wants to race, and racing it to the front of the grid. The development is what sets him apart from the other drivers on the grid - Vettle, Webber, Hamilton etc are fantastic drivers, but they cant offer anywhere near the same feedback as Micheal, and thats why they rely on their teams to build good cars, rather than building them themselves.

[Like_A_G6]

(Original post by Idris Dragon)
Great lap by Nico Rosberg, Ireland's new racing hero...

Looks like Mercedes have a touch of compromise on their 7th gear, they were hitting the limiter quite early on the back straight. Button and Hamilton look stronger though with their race pace; so if it stays dry I think they'll win it...

Rosberg is German not Irish lol. This should be q good race. Need should be hard to pass in the first few laps, the start would proove key I think. If merc are 1-2 after the second lap I can see Ross brawn telling the lead driver to pull away with the driver in p2 told to back the pack up giving at least a pit stops gap between p1 and p2 which will help their chances of a win but ruin the driver in p2's race.

[Marc Fiorano]

(Original post by Motorbiker)
True but with the 2nd longest straight of the year it's hard to compete against the Merc.

Also, would much rather be where Mclaren are right now than Ferrari tbh.

It's not down to Merc's DRS duct at all, obviously it contributed but they were untouchable in the middle sector which is all about downforce. On top of that they're not even the fastest down the straight. In fact today Schumi was 10th fastest across the long straight speed trap for qualifying and Rosberg even further down at 13th.

In terms of raw pace you could argue the Merc has been the fastest every race and didn't get pole because Rosberg has made mistakes at both of the last races.

Hamilton's long run pace was unmatched in FPs though, and the onboard footage of the McLaren looks so planted and smooth.

[Motorbiker]

(Original post by Marc Fiorano)
It's not down to Merc's DRS duct at all, obviously it contributed but they were untouchable in the middle sector which is all about downforce. On top of that they're not even the fastest down the straight. In fact today Schumi was 10th fastest across the long straight speed trap for qualifying and Rosberg even further down at 13th.
.

But because of the drs they can run a lot more wing to be quick in the tight bits then remove the downforce/drag on the straights with the drs.

Interesting about the top speeds though. Would have thought top4 would have been sauber/mercs

[Marc Fiorano]

(Original post by Motorbiker)
But because of the drs they can run a lot more wing to be quick in the tight bits then remove the downforce/drag on the straights with the drs.

Interesting about the top speeds though. Would have thought top4 would have been sauber/mercs

Ah yes, good point! Completely missed that.

[f1mad]

(Original post by Marc Fiorano)

Hamilton's long run pace was unmatched in FPs though, and the onboard footage of the McLaren looks so planted and smooth.

That needs to be taken with a pinch of salt: these are long runs which are in clean air. Chances of that happening in the actual race are minimal (most likely going to be stuck behind cars resulting in turbulence= loss of front grip, which is vital at China).