Official 2019 Spanish Grand Prix Thread ***SPOILERS***

Official 2019 Spanish Grand Prix Thread ***SPOILERS***

Author
Discussion

Piginapoke

Original Poster:

4,736 posts

184 months

Sunday 5th May 2019
quotequote all
Generally, a race more interesting for the introduction of major car upgrades than any actual racing, maybe Barcelona will surprise us this year. For the sake of the championship, Ferrari need to get on top of the tyres, and soon.

Date(s): Friday 10 May 2019 - Sunday 12 May 2019

UK Broadcast Timings (and local time)

All sessions are live on Sky F1; only highlights are shown on Channel 4:





Live timing for all sessions available here:

https://www.formula1.com/en/f1-live.html

Lap times, PU component use, technical reports and Stewards' decisions for the weekend will appear here:

https://www.fia.com/events/fia-formula-one-world-c...

Weather forecast:

https://www.bbc.co.uk/weather/3128760

Tyre Choices:



2018 Qualifying Result:



2018 Race Result:



2018 race highlights:

https://youtu.be/lFjwSP4zUR8

Lewis Hamilton's dominance made the Spanish Grand Prix the first race this season in which the win was not disputed in any way,

Hamilton's 64th grand prix victory was one of his most comfortable and put him in a commanding position in the championship.

TheDeuce

21,266 posts

65 months

Sunday 5th May 2019
quotequote all
Well, I arrived back from a very hot Spain last night, to a cold and miserable UK... It's going to be painful watching sunny Barcelona on Sunday (I note the weather here still looks to be poor then)!

Personal rant over. As for the race itself.. As I watched the conclusion of Azerbaijan, I too questioned what Ferrari might need to do in order to halt the onslaught. Two things came to mind: the first, that they applied an update in Azerbaijan, so is it likely there will be anything major to follow in Spain? Probably not. Second, if the points gap in Spain does increase with another Mercedes win, then statistically at least it's increadibly unlikely Ferrari will be able to claw it back, so will they divert funds to next year's car, rather than focus so much on this year's efforts? Not great for their fans, or fans of racing, but enhancing their chances next year is probably a sounder investment than chasing the pace of Mercedes R&D this year.

So I'm expecting a broadly similar Ferrari performance this race. That said the track suits them, the weather is set to be relatively cool which suits them. I've said previously that there will be 'some' Ferrari wins this season and Barcelona is as good a candidate as any.

Piginapoke

Original Poster:

4,736 posts

184 months

Sunday 5th May 2019
quotequote all
TheDeuce said:
Well, I arrived back from a very hot Spain last night, to a cold and miserable UK... It's going to be painful watching sunny Barcelona on Sunday (I note the weather here still looks to be poor then)!

Personal rant over. As for the race itself.. As I watched the conclusion of Azerbaijan, I too questioned what Ferrari might need to do in order to halt the onslaught. Two things came to mind: the first, that they applied an update in Azerbaijan, so is it likely there will be anything major to follow in Spain? Probably not. Second, if the points gap in Spain does increase with another Mercedes win, then statistically at least it's increadibly unlikely Ferrari will be able to claw it back, so will they divert funds to next year's car, rather than focus so much on this year's efforts? Not great for their fans, or fans of racing, but enhancing their chances next year is probably a sounder investment than chasing the pace of Mercedes R&D this year.

So I'm expecting a broadly similar Ferrari performance this race. That said the track suits them, the weather is set to be relatively cool which suits them. I've said previously that there will be 'some' Ferrari wins this season and Barcelona is as good a candidate as any.
Don’t forget Ferrari bossed pre-season testing at Barcelona, and have a major front and rear wing upgrade, so there is a chance....

TheDeuce

21,266 posts

65 months

Sunday 5th May 2019
quotequote all
Piginapoke said:
Don’t forget Ferrari bossed pre-season testing at Barcelona, and have a major front and rear wing upgrade, so there is a chance....
Certainly one of their better chances this season smile

If they don't then we have to assume that unbelievably a FIFTH Mercedes 1-2 would be the most likely result.. which is rediculous, but if Ferrari don't challenge then there isn't much else to prevent it.

Sadly, from a championship point of view, the biggest factor is which Mercedes driver gets the most points, even if Ferrari do take a win. I'm almost hopeful it's bottas, it'd be interesting to see Hamilton's response if bottas started to extend a worrying points lead for WDC. Or of course Ferrari could get it all right, prove they do have a killer car and maybe restore some hope that they can still contend for WDC/WCC. It's asking a lot though.

rdjohn

6,135 posts

194 months

Sunday 5th May 2019
quotequote all
I agree that this has to be one of the defining races of the season.

A proper circuit that every team knows intimately and a European start time. Everyone has had time to react to the deficiencies that have been defined over the first 4 races, so it is reasonable to expect what was learned during pre-season testing will finally be consigned to history..

But then every team will probably be bringing significant upgrades, so very little might actually change - especially Williams bringing up the rear.

Edited by rdjohn on Sunday 5th May 18:21

The Moose

22,820 posts

208 months

Sunday 5th May 2019
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Mercedes has been so clinical - I can’t see them not occupying 2 of the 3 steps of the podium.

anonymous-user

53 months

Sunday 5th May 2019
quotequote all
I'd expect red bull to be in the mix with Ferrari and Mercedes here. Verstappen goes well at this circuit.

TheDeuce

21,266 posts

65 months

Monday 6th May 2019
quotequote all
janesmith1950 said:
I'd expect red bull to be in the mix with Ferrari and Mercedes here. Verstappen goes well at this circuit.
I think in a straight race with no incidents it's a foregone conclusion that at least one merc will grace the podium. You raise an interesting point about max though. I think he is generally as likely as either Ferrari driver to finish well, perhaps podium.

Key question though... Are Ferrari closer to battling Mercedes, or fending off max this season?? I imagine that they hate how close max gets...if red bull had two Max's, they would be a major problem for Ferrari right now.

Deesee

8,327 posts

82 months

Monday 6th May 2019
quotequote all
25/28 races here have been off the front row (highest % on the Calendar for a regular race).

Seb has never had a pole here.

Overtaking has been traditionally difficult, but the larger rear wings have led to DRS being more effective this year.

Each sector here has a different challenge and is quite representative of the way the cars will behave this season at different styles of track, very rare to see one car go purple across all sectors.

Downforce is everything here.

Hass have shown good pace in slow and fast corners so far this season, they should lead the midfield.

Under the radar point of the season so far, it’s quite interesting looking at the driver/seat minimum weight, it’s allowed Lewis and Valtteri to be closer to a natural weight, and allowing teams like McLaren to place lots of ballast in Landos car, to change the balance of the car.

Edited by Deesee on Monday 6th May 23:00

stevesingo

4,848 posts

221 months

Monday 6th May 2019
quotequote all
I don't expect RBR to go too well here. Their chassis is not as good as last year and the Honda engine will hinder on what is a power sensitive circuit.

Ferrari need to pull their finger out if there is any hope of a championship race. They should come here knowing how to make the car work, the question is, are they going to continue to sacrifice Leclerc for Vettel despite the potential damage to the constructors challenge.

TheDeuce

21,266 posts

65 months

Monday 6th May 2019
quotequote all
stevesingo said:
I don't expect RBR to go too well here. Their chassis is not as good as last year and the Honda engine will hinder on what is a power sensitive circuit.

Ferrari need to pull their finger out if there is any hope of a championship race. They should come here knowing how to make the car work, the question is, are they going to continue to sacrifice Leclerc for Vettel despite the potential damage to the constructors challenge.
Have they actually sacrificed leclerc, other than when it was reasonable to do so to see if vettel did have extra pace? I think they did once give vettel the promised treatment but since then, I'd say leclerc has been a victim of generally poor Ferrari strategy more than preferential treatment of vettel.

I don't believe they see vettel as a number 1 anymore. They absolutely have to support whichever driver is faster on the day as they have to get the maximum points. The points gap to Mercedes is already huge... Also leclerc has proven to be at least as quick in their car as vettel, so I doubt any pre-season gentleman's agreement will still be honoured.

TheDeuce

21,266 posts

65 months

Monday 6th May 2019
quotequote all
Just having been to Barcelona my phone still has the weather app on the city, interesting to see race day looks to be only 20c. If I'm understanding Ferrari's tyre issues correctly, they might have been hoping for it to be a little warmer.

Maybe a Ferrari fan that follows their technical dialogue a little closer could speculate further on how that might effect their race pace.

RobGT81

5,227 posts

185 months

Tuesday 7th May 2019
quotequote all
Toto and Hamilton said:
Ferrari are so much faster than us here, we are the underdogs, I don't know how we can find enough time to even keep up with them, init. Also, favourite circuit and best fans in the world
Mercedes 1-2.

dunc_sx

1,607 posts

196 months

Tuesday 7th May 2019
quotequote all
RobGT81 said:
Mercedes 1-2.
Agreed, surely no-one is still falling for those tricks? laugh

TheDeuce

21,266 posts

65 months

Tuesday 7th May 2019
quotequote all
dunc_sx said:
RobGT81 said:
Mercedes 1-2.
Agreed, surely no-one is still falling for those tricks? laugh
Yup. I'm not sure Mercedes are quite strong enough here for another 1-2 to be a foregone conclusion, But at worst I expect both Merc's to be on the podium. If Ferrari manage to finally have a perfectly smooth strategy and no mistakes, then perhaps Ferrari could do something better but... the same was said last year and of course, Mercedes took a 1-2 then!! And Max was 3rd. I could see Max up there again this year too, probably as likely as a Ferrari in fact.




exelero

1,890 posts

88 months

Tuesday 7th May 2019
quotequote all
Probably no one. I don't believe them anymore at all

DaveTheRave87

2,079 posts

88 months

Tuesday 7th May 2019
quotequote all
The "new" (for last year) start times meaning that this race clashes nicely with the end of the Premier League season...

As I may be watching that instead, I'll post my "What happened to Ferrari's Friday pace???" comment now.

TheDeuce

21,266 posts

65 months

Tuesday 7th May 2019
quotequote all
One for Renault fans: https://www.formula1.com/en/latest/article.renault...

I'm not convinced they're going to bother Red Bull in the least this season. Or at least, not the fast Red Bull.

Still, the more teams playing at the top, the better - who knows... maybe they do have something.

Deesee

8,327 posts

82 months

Tuesday 7th May 2019
quotequote all
Kitchen Sink alert

https://www.formula1.com/en/latest/article.ferrari...

Ferrari have a PU unit UPGRADE... 2 races early...

(Can any one let them know it’s actually an aero/tyre/cooling issue)....

TheDeuce

21,266 posts

65 months

Tuesday 7th May 2019
quotequote all
Deesee said:
Kitchen Sink alert

https://www.formula1.com/en/latest/article.ferrari...

Ferrari have a PU unit UPGRADE... 2 races early...

(Can any one let them know it’s actually an aero/tyre/cooling issue)....
I just read that. I suppose the cooling issue is only speculated to be fair. But they've rushed this one through just after the nick of time - given that they have a 74 point deficit. I'm sure the engineers are thankful that they've had to hand it over with 4 weeks less testing than planned irked

Or maybe, thinking positively, it can come early because it's a rock solid improvement. It might not be sheer desperation.