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

[TheDeuce]

F1.com said:

FRIDAY, MAY 10 - FP1 & FP2 WEATHER
Conditions: Partly cloudy
Maximum temperature expected: 24 Celsius
Chance of rain: 0%

SATURDAY, MAY 11 - FP3 & QUALIFYING WEATHER
Conditions: Partly cloudy
Maximum temperature expected: 19 Celsius
Chance of rain: 0%

SUNDAY, MAY 12 - RACE WEATHER
Conditions: Partly cloudy
Maximum temperature expected: 19 Celsius
Chance of rain: 0%

Good cool weather for the engines.

Partial cloud each day, not so good for track temps for those teams that struggle to switch their tyres on.

Interestingly, Ferrari are maybe set to both benefit in extra power but lose out with tyres. Bets off then.

[F1GTRUeno]

It'll be a crap race because Barcelona always is.

[Munter]

F1GTRUeno said:

It'll be a crap race because Barcelona always is.

Want to expand on that? Why is it crap? Will the changes to this years cars affect how crap it is? What would you change?

Any small thing to open up the topic of crapness?

[Vaud]

Munter said:

What would you change?

Move it to Zandvoort

[TheDeuce]

Vaud said:

Move it to Zandvoort

You're not the least bit concerned that it wouldn't fit?

[budgie smuggler]

Munter said:

Want to expand on that? Why is it crap? Will the changes to this years cars affect how crap it is? What would you change?

Any small thing to open up the topic of crapness?

Let's face it, he's right, 9/10 times it is a boring race.

Looking forward to seeing who's made progress with the cars though.

[freddytin]

budgie smuggler said:

Let's face it, he's right, 9/10 times it is a boring race.

Looking forward to seeing who's made progress with the cars though.

Usually a little dull, but with Mercedes romping away, it's time for the rest to get a little more ambitious.

I can see local-ish lad C.L.C getting quite feisty come the weekend, especially considering his new toys and plenty of fans urging him on

[LaurasOtherHalf]

freddytin said:

I can see local-ish lad C.L.C

[enjo]

Deesee said:

racing .

This took me way to long to figure out!

[TheDeuce]

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

Quite interesting. Ferrari have moaned about tyre issues throughout, I hadn't realised it was a general issue for the teams this season.

[Deesee]

enjo said:

Deesee said:

racing .

This took me way to long to figure out!

[thegreenhell]

enjo said:

Deesee said:

racing .

This took me way to long to figure out!

Hereafter to be known as Racing Dot.

[ajprice]

Mercedes have fitted Halfords blind spot mirrors to their mirrors

[TheDeuce]

ajprice said:

Mercedes have fitted Halfords blind spot mirrors to their mirrors

I assume this is just to better so cars alongside whilst wheel to wheel? And no doubt, carefully shaped to provide some subtle aero benefit.

Perhaps this is in preparation for the two Mercedes drivers to battle one another, in an attempt to reduce the likelihood of 'a mistake' being made

[budgie smuggler]

Christ, the complexity of the merc's sidepods now

[Vaud]

budgie smuggler said:

Christ, the complexity of the merc's sidepods now

I am in awe of the complexity and engineering/CFD that has enabled that - and equally hate that F1 has become this complex.

[TheDeuce]

budgie smuggler said:

Christ, the complexity of the merc's sidepods now

The level of development is stunning really. If you watch their videos here: https://www.youtube.com/user/MERCEDESAMGPETRONAS/v...

They explain the level of work and updates ahead of each race, and then after the race in the debrief video, they explain what worked, why etc.

They obviously don't reveal all the details as it's sensitive stuff, but it certainly gives you a sense of the scale of development and how many components will change between each revision.

These are not so much 'updates', they are effectively on their 4th car pretty much, since pre-season. They were on their 'second car' by the end of pre-season testing. It's actually very impressive that Ferrari keep up at all against such relentless development pace.

[budgie smuggler]

Vaud said:

I am in awe of the complexity and engineering/CFD that has enabled that - and equally hate that F1 has become this complex.

Same, hugely impressive but I hate that losing one of those barely distinguishable aero trinkets in a minor knock can cause serious problems with the race pace.

[Vaud]

budgie smuggler said:

Same, hugely impressive but I hate that losing one of those barely distinguishable aero trinkets in a minor knock can cause serious problems with the race pace.

As someone once said (might have been Pat Symonds) - the problem with aero is you can't put the genie back in the bottle.

[TheDeuce]

I understand people not liking the crazy detail and the subsequent fragility of modern F1 cars. But in the end, as the regulations tighten and rule out dramatic innovation, the teams have to forever seek improvements and innovation in the tiniest of areas.

On the plus side, at least we do still get to see innovation such as this, even if it's way beyond what anyone on the outside can truly understand or appreciate - unlike rather obvious innovations in past era's - looking at you fan car...