The Official 2016 Spanish Grand Prix Thread **Spoilers**
Discussion
Date(s): Friday 13 May - Sunday 15 May 2016
UK Broadcast Timings (and local time)
All sessions are live on Sky F1 and Channel 4.
Circuit de Barcelona-Catalunya, Montmeló
More detail from the FIA website:
2015 Grand Prix Results
Pole time: 1:24.681 (N. Rosberg, Mercedes; Avg Speed: 197.896 km/h)
Fastest Race Lap: 1:28.270 (L54; L. Hamilton, Mercedes; Avg Speed: 189.849 km/h)
Live timing for all sessions available here:
http://www.formula1.com/content/fom-website/en/f1-...
Weather forecast:
https://weather.com/en-GB/weather/10day/l/Circuit+...
The tyre choices requested by the teams:
Note: Kvyat and Verstappen swapped their teams, but will not swap their tyre selections.
The Spanish GP inaugurates the European season this year, with most teams choosing to bring a lot of updates to their car. This is partly due to a good baseline they’ve established at this circuit during the pre-season test. This race also marks the first time the teams will have chosen the tyres ‘unblinded’ i.e. after they’ve had a chance to test them as the deadline for the four flyaway races was in December ‘15 whereas the next few races were in March ‘16.
Pirelli had always brought their hardest compounds for this race, but for the first time are bringing the yellow banded Softs which holds a lot of strategic interest. Straight away, you can see Ferrari favouring the Softs in terms of number of sets for their drivers.
I would say this is one of the strongest tracks for Rosberg. He was in a class of one last year at this race and had always gone well here. I have also enjoyed the boxing match between Hamilton and Rosberg at this circuit where one sets up the car to destroy the other on Sector 2 or 3 and how it plays out in qualifying vs race. Looking back at ‘14 and ‘15, Rosberg has always been strong in Sector 3 while Hamilton delivers his punch in Sector 2. Both approaches are great if you’re playing to your strengths and only fighting your team mate, but Rosberg’s approach makes more sense vs Ferrari as they are weaker in the low speed Sector 3.
It will be interesting to see how close Ferrari are to Mercedes as last year, Vettel was nipping at the heels of Hamilton during the early part of the race on the medium tyres. It was the Mercedes pace on the Hard tyre that Ferrari couldn’t handle. It would be good to see a straight fight this time.
Lots of talking points about what aero updates worked and what didn’t for this race for the smaller and larger teams...and the my chassis is better than yours debates.
Race Classification:
UK Broadcast Timings (and local time)
All sessions are live on Sky F1 and Channel 4.
| Session | Day | Sky F1 | Channel 4 | Session Start | Local Time |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Practice 1 | Fri | 0845 | 0855 | 0900 | 1000 |
| Practice 2 | Fri | 1245 | 1255 | 1300 | 1400 |
| Practice 3 | Sat | 0945 | 0955 | 1000 | 1100 |
| Qualifying | Sat | 1200 | 1200 | 1300 | 1400 |
| Race | Sun | 1130 | 1200 | 1300 | 1400 |
Circuit de Barcelona-Catalunya, Montmeló
More detail from the FIA website:
2015 Grand Prix Results
| P1 | N. Rosberg | Mercedes | 1:41:12.555 |
| P2 | L. Hamilton | Mercedes | +17.551 |
| P3 | S. Vettel | Ferrari | +45.342 |
| P4 | V. Bottas | Williams-Mercedes | +59.217 |
| P5 | K. Räikkönen | Ferrari | +1:00.002 |
| P6 | F. Massa | Williams-Mercedes | +1 lap |
| P7 | D. Ricciardo | Red Bull-Renault | +1 lap |
| P8 | R. Grosjean | Lotus-Mercedes | +1 lap |
| P9 | C. Sainz | Torro Rosso-Renault | +1 lap |
| P10 | D. Kvyat | Red Bull-Renault | +1 lap |
Pole time: 1:24.681 (N. Rosberg, Mercedes; Avg Speed: 197.896 km/h)
Fastest Race Lap: 1:28.270 (L54; L. Hamilton, Mercedes; Avg Speed: 189.849 km/h)
Live timing for all sessions available here:
http://www.formula1.com/content/fom-website/en/f1-...
Weather forecast:
https://weather.com/en-GB/weather/10day/l/Circuit+...
| Day | Comment | High/Low (C) | Rain | Wind (direction/speed) |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Fri | PM Showers | 18/12 | 40% | SSE/15mph |
| Sat | Partly Cloudy | 21/13 | 20% | SSW/15mph |
| Sun | Mostly Sunny | 20/13 | 20% | SW/23mph |
The tyre choices requested by the teams:
Note: Kvyat and Verstappen swapped their teams, but will not swap their tyre selections.
The Spanish GP inaugurates the European season this year, with most teams choosing to bring a lot of updates to their car. This is partly due to a good baseline they’ve established at this circuit during the pre-season test. This race also marks the first time the teams will have chosen the tyres ‘unblinded’ i.e. after they’ve had a chance to test them as the deadline for the four flyaway races was in December ‘15 whereas the next few races were in March ‘16.
Pirelli had always brought their hardest compounds for this race, but for the first time are bringing the yellow banded Softs which holds a lot of strategic interest. Straight away, you can see Ferrari favouring the Softs in terms of number of sets for their drivers.
I would say this is one of the strongest tracks for Rosberg. He was in a class of one last year at this race and had always gone well here. I have also enjoyed the boxing match between Hamilton and Rosberg at this circuit where one sets up the car to destroy the other on Sector 2 or 3 and how it plays out in qualifying vs race. Looking back at ‘14 and ‘15, Rosberg has always been strong in Sector 3 while Hamilton delivers his punch in Sector 2. Both approaches are great if you’re playing to your strengths and only fighting your team mate, but Rosberg’s approach makes more sense vs Ferrari as they are weaker in the low speed Sector 3.
It will be interesting to see how close Ferrari are to Mercedes as last year, Vettel was nipping at the heels of Hamilton during the early part of the race on the medium tyres. It was the Mercedes pace on the Hard tyre that Ferrari couldn’t handle. It would be good to see a straight fight this time.
Lots of talking points about what aero updates worked and what didn’t for this race for the smaller and larger teams...and the my chassis is better than yours debates.
Race Classification:
Edited by Dr Z on Monday 16th May 14:49
anyone remember these words from Toto in March this year.
However, Toto Wolff insists that the pair are free to race.
"When we started the project in 2013, there was a lot of pressure on the team in order to achieve the results and win races, and we have done okay," he said. "In 2014, we won the championship and we confirmed that it wasn't a one-off in 2015.
"But in order to contain that, we tried to put a framework around it. Sometimes it functions, sometimes it doesn't. We learned some interesting lessons and we improved as an organisation. With Nico and Lewis, we have been together for a couple of years and it functions pretty well.
"So we owe it to them and we owe it to F1 to just let them race. The ride is going to be a bit more difficult for the team sometimes, but that is absolutely necessary."
In order to put a stop to the conspiracy theories, this has to happen in Barcelona. Ferrari seem to be nowhere, in reality, and so Mercedes are, once more, the only game in town.
However, Toto Wolff insists that the pair are free to race.
"When we started the project in 2013, there was a lot of pressure on the team in order to achieve the results and win races, and we have done okay," he said. "In 2014, we won the championship and we confirmed that it wasn't a one-off in 2015.
"But in order to contain that, we tried to put a framework around it. Sometimes it functions, sometimes it doesn't. We learned some interesting lessons and we improved as an organisation. With Nico and Lewis, we have been together for a couple of years and it functions pretty well.
"So we owe it to them and we owe it to F1 to just let them race. The ride is going to be a bit more difficult for the team sometimes, but that is absolutely necessary."
In order to put a stop to the conspiracy theories, this has to happen in Barcelona. Ferrari seem to be nowhere, in reality, and so Mercedes are, once more, the only game in town.
rdjohn said:
In order to put a stop to the conspiracy theories, this has to happen in Barcelona. Ferrari seem to be nowhere, in reality, and so Mercedes are, once more, the only game in town.
I don't particularly like to hype Ferrari up, but I don't believe that Ferrari are nowhere. I fully expect them to be much more of a challenge in this race. It's interesting that SF16-H is Allison's first proper car for Ferrari, with major changes to the PU layout, suspension and aero as well. Yet, the fundamental characteristic of the car, the DNA remains the same. The tracks that didn't suit the F14-T or the SF15-T like Sochi, still don't suit the SF16-H. It is fair to expect the Scuderia to be competitive in tracks that they had gone well in previous years.
Before the start of the season, I was anticipating that Seb would split the Mercedes guys. I don't see the remotest chance of that now, despite Lewis's woes. It is rare for one team to out-develop another during the season and this year they have also to design a good package for 2017. They do not get extra CFD and wind tunnel time for that.
I do however still believe that Ferrari could win, perhaps 3, or 4 races. Mercedes tyre errors at Singapore last year will not be repeated, so Ferrari will need to catch Mercedes off-guard elsewhere.
I do however still believe that Ferrari could win, perhaps 3, or 4 races. Mercedes tyre errors at Singapore last year will not be repeated, so Ferrari will need to catch Mercedes off-guard elsewhere.
Let's not get carried away with the hyperbole there. How come if Ferrari don't have the slightest chance of splitting the Mercedes cars, that they win 3 or 4 races? Ferrari are having a worser reliability than even Mercedes. You think they'll fluke 3 or 4 races? I don't think so.
In fact, I think there's a very real chance of Vettel splitting the Mercedes guys this very race, as long as he doesn't suffer mechanical problems or someone doesn't punt him off.
In fact, I think there's a very real chance of Vettel splitting the Mercedes guys this very race, as long as he doesn't suffer mechanical problems or someone doesn't punt him off.
This just popped up - seat swap for Kvyat and Verstappen - though I've yet to see it confirmed anywhere else, and F1Today isn't known for reliability...
http://www.f1today.net/en/news/f1/211278/exclusive...
http://www.f1today.net/en/news/f1/211278/exclusive...
Edited by MartG on Wednesday 4th May 22:57
angrymoby said:
how about someone sets up hasmarkobeenat
ttoday.com ...i appreciate there wont be many 'nope' days
OK, so what is your solution to retaining an emerging star like Vestappen? Keep him in the B team and lose him to Ferrari?ttoday.com ...i appreciate there wont be many 'nope' daysAs I said, i don't think this is about punishing DK, I think it is about not losing Vestappen. I support this hypothesis by pointing out that he hasn't binned DK, he's moved him to the B team. Marko is ruthless. If he had been really ruthless and was seeking to punish DK, he'd have fired him.
Vaud said:
OK, so what is your solution to retaining an emerging star like Vestappen? Keep him in the B team and lose him to Ferrari?
As I said, i don't think this is about punishing DK, I think it is about not losing Vestappen. I support this hypothesis by pointing out that he hasn't binned DK, he's moved him to the B team. Marko is ruthless. If he had been really ruthless and was seeking to punish DK, he'd have fired him.
end of season perhaps? ...or have i missed the Kimi has suddenly retired news??As I said, i don't think this is about punishing DK, I think it is about not losing Vestappen. I support this hypothesis by pointing out that he hasn't binned DK, he's moved him to the B team. Marko is ruthless. If he had been really ruthless and was seeking to punish DK, he'd have fired him.
never know, Kyvat could turn it around like 2015 & keep Ricciardo honest
rdjohn said:
In order to put a stop to the conspiracy theories, this has to happen in Barcelona. Ferrari seem to be nowhere, in reality, and so Mercedes are, once more, the only game in town.
there are no conspiracy theories. Only the ranting of faceless fools on facebook. They're not theories, just the clear demonstration of an almost total lack of knowledge of F1.Gassing Station | Formula 1 | Top of Page | What's New | My Stuff