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It will be a rousing run to the first corner after the start tomorrow, of that we are guaranteed.
2013 Formula One Spanish Grand Prix
- Thread starter lbsf1
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- 2,376
- Stockholm, Swe
- GTP_Anghammarad
It will be a Alonso/Räikkönen/Vettel podium. I have no idea who will win though. (Yes I know how the quali went.)
- 2,998
- England
- Peasantslayer
I wonder what Rosberg's race pace will look like because he looked quicker than Lewis in Bahrain Q3 but he ate his tyres.
Mercedes will be strong in the final sector and as we know they aren't exactly slow on the long straight that follows it so overtaking them should be difficult.
Mercedes will be strong in the final sector and as we know they aren't exactly slow on the long straight that follows it so overtaking them should be difficult.
- 2,376
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- GTP_Anghammarad
They are quick in quali but simply do not have the race pace that RBR, Ferrari and Lotus have. My guess is that we will see the Mercedes cars in around fourth and sixth.
- 2,998
- England
- Peasantslayer
If they get a good start they will be pretty much impossible to overtake on track, Brawn may return the favour to Nico and tell Lewis to try and keep them back. Should be a good race with the top 10 as it is.
- 2,376
- Stockholm, Swe
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The Mercedes cars were actually quite slow in the speedtrap, down in 12:th and 15:th place. Alonso was quickest.
- 2,998
- England
- Peasantslayer
Just looking at the speed trap on the f1 website and apparently Vettel was running very high downforce judging by the top speed but Alonso had the best top speed and I imagine Vettel was on the limit judging by his gap to Webber so I expect Alonso to finish ahead of him.
EDIT: Didn't see ^
EDIT: Didn't see ^
- 9,741
- Las Vegas UTC-8
- Wardez
- Wardez
Yeah, it's called downforce!
This is a much tighter track than Bahrain. I'll be really surprised if they get jumped on. If it was just a single Merc on the front row I'd be concerned, but they have a great set up now.
My ideal situation is Alonso jumps Kimi and Seb at the start, holds them off a bit to give Merc some breathing room. It's gonna be intense in the pits though.
This is a much tighter track than Bahrain. I'll be really surprised if they get jumped on. If it was just a single Merc on the front row I'd be concerned, but they have a great set up now.
My ideal situation is Alonso jumps Kimi and Seb at the start, holds them off a bit to give Merc some breathing room. It's gonna be intense in the pits though.
- 2,998
- England
- Peasantslayer
Dragonwhisky
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- Dragonwhisky
- 10,838
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- bramturismo
As much as I'd like Nico to win, I don't see it happening judging how much better the RBR and Ferrari, and even Lotus cars are doing the duration of a full race.
- 2,998
- England
- Peasantslayer
Berthon thought "Can't go left, can't go right, I know..."
- 846
- London Town
- SiiverArrow
Massa and Gutierrez both get 3 place penalties for blocking Webber and Raikkonen.
- 1,983
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- IceManPJN
- IceMan PJN
MUSC4EVER
Yeah. Six months ago I'd never have believed it. I'm happy to be mistaken.
zzz_pt
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- zzz_pt
Today in Sky sports F1 I heard of the possibility of Kimi go to Red Bull Racing next year. That would be great!
Kimi, my favorite driver would put Vettel in his place.
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Great result for the 2 McLaren drivers. We'll have a great race tomorrow!
Kimi, my favorite driver would put Vettel in his place.
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Great result for the 2 McLaren drivers. We'll have a great race tomorrow!
Seismica
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- 4,346
- Guisborough
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Mercedes are looking mighty, let's hope they can keep this up in the race. past results indicate that they won't be, but they may have made a step forward with the upgrades they have brought.
Hamilton made the right choice in his switch. Mercedes have made huge steps forward, whilst Mclaren haven't progressed at all. Sergio's time in Q2 suggests the car is performing about the same as it was this time last year, which begs the question; why haven't they improved at all, when all the teams around them have? They had problems with mechanical and aero balance at the start of the year, but they should have rectified those by now. Hamilton really dodged a bullet. Mclaren is less competitive this year than Mercedes were over the course of last year. Even if Mercedes was behind Red Bull, Lotus and Ferrari, they would still be ahead of Mclaren.
Hamilton made the right choice in his switch. Mercedes have made huge steps forward, whilst Mclaren haven't progressed at all. Sergio's time in Q2 suggests the car is performing about the same as it was this time last year, which begs the question; why haven't they improved at all, when all the teams around them have? They had problems with mechanical and aero balance at the start of the year, but they should have rectified those by now. Hamilton really dodged a bullet. Mclaren is less competitive this year than Mercedes were over the course of last year. Even if Mercedes was behind Red Bull, Lotus and Ferrari, they would still be ahead of Mclaren.
- 7,485
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- m8h3r
There was always two types of drivers at Mclaren. Hamilton who could drag a bad car round a lap and get a good time, then button who couldn't. But give button a good car and he can run away with a race. Button is great with tyre management which isn't a strong point of Hamiltons but it looks like Sergio is more towards Hamiltons style of driving than that of buttons. Looks a lot more aggressive.
Tired Tyres
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McLaren should throw this car away and run an undated version of their 2012 car.
It would be easier than trying to make a slow car into a fast one.
It would be easier than trying to make a slow car into a fast one.
Seismica
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I was thinking about this earlier today. It may have something to do with Paddy Lowe leaving. As the 2012 car was of his design, it wouldn't make sense for the next Technical Director to try and make improvements to a car he perhaps doesn't fully understand. Which is why I think they decided on a more radical re-design so that the new technical director can get to grips with refining their own design, something they fully understand, rather than trying to improve somebody elses design which they perhaps don't fully understand. Paddy Lowe I doubt will have had any input into the 2013 Mercedes, so it's not simply a case of he left and took that performance with him, Mclaren just haven't got themselves organised without his input yet.
They're just my thoughts on the matter. There could be further problems with creating a setup. Like it or not (as a Button fan that I am), Hamilton was excellent at giving setup feedback. The development of the 2012 car in terms of balance and setup was led by him. Button took it in a different direction, and he was struggling to get into the top 10, whilst Hamilton was consistently fighting for pole. As soon as Button reverted to Hamilton's setup, his performance improved drastically. So the loss of Hamilton may have hurt them setup wise to some extent.
Tired Tyres
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20 years ago you would be 100% correct about Lowe. Then a designer designed the car.
Now it's a team effort in the design department. I'm sure the rest of the design staff have a great enough understanding of the car to continue development.
Now it's a team effort in the design department. I'm sure the rest of the design staff have a great enough understanding of the car to continue development.
