The Official 2018 Spanish Grand Prix Thread **SPOILERS**

[Dr Z]

REALIST123 said:

ELUSIVEJIM said:

37chevy said:

I’m just gonna leave this here. Maybe Jim and Sparta can go n have a cuddle in a corner and share a whole new conspiracy theory. https://www.autosport.com/f1/news/136052/vettel-no...

Funny enough I posted that before you.

Actually, that doesn’t settle the argument. It’s quite possible that the change could have helped Mercedes more than it did Ferrari. That would fit the outcome.

Not that it matters either way. Time will tell.

Some further observations:

The Merc looked to be the fastest car at this track during the pre-season tests on the older spec tyres. From looking at the race sims I estimated the deficit to be 0.3-0.4s/lap for Ferrari/RB.

However during the actual race, Hamilton was driving about 0.6s/lap quicker than Vettel in the period after the SC and Vettel pitting.

Hamilton's first stint lap times were averaging around 1m21.5s, which is identical to his friday long run lap times. Interestingly, both Ferrari and RB were able to do those lap times on the same tyres on Friday, but as we saw, couldn't do that on Sunday.

The difference is the conditions...and Merc was the only car out of the big three able to switch on the tyres immediately after the pit stop/VSC/SC periods.

In contrast to Baku when the Ferrari was able to do that better and Merc couldn't.

[Dr Z]

Kraken said:

LDN said:

As I said before... the real reason for the new gap Mercedes have on Ferrari is that the Ferrari has lost some vital bits upon enquiry...

Not had a chance to look into this, but was told the exhaust is no longer blowing and their batteries may have enjoyed more juice than their rivals.

Will look later when I get a chance.

Where did you read that? The National Enquirer?

Been reported in a few places, but the FIA have looked at Ferrari's car and haven't found anything that contravenes the rules, yet, so the car wasn't hobbled at this race. However, there's been some murmurings of a protest at Monaco.

IMO exhaust blowing is not the big advantage, but the rumours about deploying more than allowed would be an offence and not playing in the grey area...could result in a DSQ if found to be true.

[Dr Z]

Day 2 of the test:

https://www.f1today.net/en/live/f1/238615/follow-l...

[Dr Z]

Derek Smith said:

Can one take much notice of the lap times? There must be many factors at play here. I assumed Ferrari were concerned about tyre wear (the early stop for Vettel) and so rapid lapping was not an option early on.

Yes, we can look at the lap times. Vettel was pulling away from Raikkonen at around 3 tenths per lap in the 1st stint but never managed to dip in to the 1m21s, which is what Hamilton was doing from the off. Meanwhile Bottas was sitting fairly comfortably around 1.5s from Vettel which is within the undercut range and Vettel was driving faster and faster every lap wearing out his tyres. The RBs were also sitting at a similar gap behind Raikkonen. The Ferraris simply didn't have the pace.

Fearing an undercut at any moment, Ferrari pulled Vettel in, believing it's going to be a 2-stop race. When Bottas was behind Vettel after the first pitstop, again the same story from the first stint was repeated forcing Ferrari into a 2-stop and Merc decided to take track position and hope Bottas makes it to the end than stopping again and fall behind the RBs who were looking comfortable to do a 1-stop. Maybe Ferrari were fighting shadows but the fact is they couldn't live with the Merc cars' pace in the race.

Some onboards from the race:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=05LvdB45hZ4

Includes Danny Ric's spin