Official 2021 Emilia Romagna Grand Prix **SPOILERS**

[exelero]

parabolica said:

From what they’ve been saying it’s not a power issue, it’s an aero issue. The new regs favour high-rake cars such as Ferrari and RB.

Everyone is running high rake, apart from Mercedes and AM. Even Racing point was running high rake until they copied Mercedes.
So the regulation is to stop the dominance and AM is collateral damage.

[kambites]

exelero said:

So the regulation is to stop the dominance and AM is collateral damage.

I'm pretty sure no-one knew it was going to have the effect it's having. If Mercedes had believed that they were going to lose half a second a lap to everyone else, they wouldn't have accepted the rule changes.

[exelero]

kambites said:

exelero said:

So the regulation is to stop the dominance and AM is collateral damage.

I'm pretty sure no-one knew it was going to have the effect it's having. If Mercedes had believed that they were going to lose half a second a lap to everyone else, they wouldn't have accepted the rule changes.

Of course they wouldn’t have. But then Brawn is not stupid either

[TheDeuce]

exelero said:

kambites said:

exelero said:

So the regulation is to stop the dominance and AM is collateral damage.

I'm pretty sure no-one knew it was going to have the effect it's having. If Mercedes had believed that they were going to lose half a second a lap to everyone else, they wouldn't have accepted the rule changes.

Of course they wouldn’t have. But then Brawn is not stupid either

With the caveat that we don't actually know for sure what impact it has had - we have seen just one race - the first race and a race after a very truncated pre-season test, during which Merc missed a lot of running.

I expect RB will indeed do very well this weekend, it's a good circuit for them, but that too means we don't get a full picture of where both teams are relative to one another. Portugal should provide a firmer indication of the true pecking order.

And even once we know how the cars stack up in terms of broad performance, if either has reliability issues this season the effect of those issues is likely to dwarf whatever fairly narrow performance delta there might be.

Edited by TheDeuce on Monday 12th April 10:27

[Angpozzuto]

Don't red bull/alpha tauri usually take strategic engine penalties towards the end of the season? Would they still do that if they're in with a real chance of the championship?

[M5-911]

Should be a walk in the park for Verstapen. Redbull will not loose on strategy again and hopefully for them the car will not have sustain minor damaged.

Dam, it will be fun if Hamilton win again... 😅

[Sandpit Steve]

Angpozzuto said:

Don't red bull/alpha tauri usually take strategic engine penalties towards the end of the season? Would they still do that if they're in with a real chance of the championship?

It’s a difficult call best made early.

If they accept now that they’re going to use four engines during the season, they can pick their weakest track in the second half of the season to introduce the fourth one and take the penalty.

On the other hand, an unscheduled fourth engine might have to be at a stong circuit, and an in-race failure means penalties at two events - the DNF and the new engine penalty.

[leef44]

exelero said:

kambites said:

exelero said:

So the regulation is to stop the dominance and AM is collateral damage.

I'm pretty sure no-one knew it was going to have the effect it's having. If Mercedes had believed that they were going to lose half a second a lap to everyone else, they wouldn't have accepted the rule changes.

Of course they wouldn’t have. But then Brawn is not stupid either

Would that lead to higher drag on the straights as the compromise for better cornering speed?
So MB/AM have the advantage on long straights for easier overtakes.
How this measures out over the course of a season will be interesting.

[CustardOnChips]

Optimistic to say RB will romp away with the championship. How did they get on at the last race with their massive advantage?

As I said before. Max needs to win a minimum of 10 races to have any chance of beating Lewis to the WDC this season.

I may well be wrong, but I just can't see that happening.

[Mr Pointy]

kambites said:

exelero said:

So the regulation is to stop the dominance and AM is collateral damage.

I'm pretty sure no-one knew it was going to have the effect it's having. If Mercedes had believed that they were going to lose half a second a lap to everyone else, they wouldn't have accepted the rule changes.

This article quotes Otmar Szafnauer as saying that the FIA knew the low-rake teams were going to get crippled & that there wasn't a vote on the new regulations:

https://www.motorsport.com/f1/news/aston-martin-lo...

[95 fiesta si]

CustardOnChips said:

Optimistic to say RB will romp away with the championship. How did they get on at the last race with their massive advantage?

As I said before. Max needs to win a minimum of 10 races to have any chance of beating Lewis to the WDC this season.

I may well be wrong, but I just can't see that happening.

Yea i agree, even if this is Max's year i dont think it will come easy, Mercs and Lewis will push him all the way and we have seen how things can change mid season for a team, Redbull might have an edge now but can it last a complete season.

[HustleRussell]

CustardOnChips said:

Optimistic to say RB will romp away with the championship. How did they get on at the last race with their massive advantage?

Both drivers were struggling with a differential problem which the team has said cost around three tenths a lap. Also one of them had to start from the pit lane after coasting to a halt on the formation lap.

[Sandpit Steve]

HustleRussell said:

CustardOnChips said:

Optimistic to say RB will romp away with the championship. How did they get on at the last race with their massive advantage?

Both drivers were struggling with a differential problem which the team has said cost around three tenths a lap. Also one of them had to start from the pit lane after coasting to a halt on the formation lap.

It’s prototype racing. You have to be both fast and reliable.

To finish first...

My money’s still on Lewis and Mercedes over the season.

[kambites]

Mr Pointy said:

This article quotes Otmar Szafnauer as saying that the FIA knew the low-rake teams were going to get crippled & that there wasn't a vote on the new regulations:

https://www.motorsport.com/f1/news/aston-martin-lo...

Whether there was a vote or not, Mercedes could (and I'm sure would) have applied significant pressure if they thought the rules were targeted specifically at the low-rake cars. Now maybe Racing Point knew something Mercedes didn't, or had more accurate simulations, but I find that a bit of a stretch.

Personally I'm pretty sure that Mercedes and Aston didn't know they'd been disadvantaged, or at least the degree to which they'd been disadvantaged, until the pace became clear during the Bahrain test.

[CustardOnChips]

HustleRussell said:

CustardOnChips said:

Optimistic to say RB will romp away with the championship. How did they get on at the last race with their massive advantage?

Both drivers were struggling with a differential problem which the team has said cost around three tenths a lap. Also one of them had to start from the pit lane after coasting to a halt on the formation lap.

So the RB wasn't faster then the Mercedes then? I'm sure all teams would be the fastest if it wasn't for a diff problem costing 3 tenths, and an aero problem costing 7 tenths, and a suspension issue costing another 5 tenths or the rear tyres going off quickly and so on....

RB Have built a car that is fast over 1 lap. But on the evidence of the last outing, not over a race distance. And their recent history in terms of reliability isn't up to much.

[suffolk009]

Mercedes have the simple advantage over a race distance that Hamilton seems to make fewer mistakes under pressure than Verstappen.

[SpudLink]

suffolk009 said:

Mercedes have the simple advantage over a race distance that Hamilton seems to make fewer mistakes under pressure than Verstappen.

That should prove a benefit over the course of the season more than a single race.
This is the first time Verstappen knows he has a real chance of the title. Could see him drive with a fraction more caution? Bank the points rather than risk everything for the win? I don’t know, but this may be the year we find out.

Edited by SpudLink on Monday 12th April 17:43

[Teddy Lop]

kambites said:

Whether there was a vote or not, Mercedes could (and I'm sure would) have applied significant pressure if they thought the rules were targeted specifically at the low-rake cars. Now maybe Racing Point knew something Mercedes didn't, or had more accurate simulations, but I find that a bit of a stretch.

Personally I'm pretty sure that Mercedes and Aston didn't know they'd been disadvantaged, or at least the degree to which they'd been disadvantaged, until the pace became clear during the Bahrain test.

given the success they've recently enjoyed and the way people view it merc have probably taken a philosophical attitude that something that hurt them more than others was inevitable.

Otmar & co can STFU, no-one forced you to clone the merc you flutes!

[Teddy Lop]

SpudLink said:

suffolk009 said:

Mercedes have the simple advantage over a race distance that Hamilton seems to make fewer mistakes under pressure than Verstappen.

That should prove a benefit over the course of the season more than a single race.
This is the first time Verstappen knows he has a real chance of the title. Could see him drive with a fraction more caution? Bank the points rather than risk everything for the win? I don’t know, but this may be the year we find out.

Edited by SpudLink on Monday 12th April 17:43

max has looked a little more grown up in recent years but has not been put under pressure since Danny left, I guess/hope we're going to see whether he really has stepped up..

Last race reminded me of Monaco '19, when max was fast approaching a vulnerable Lewis but at the attempted pass Lewis placed his car just so that max nerfed him, forcing Lewis to cut the whole chicane to avoid the accident

[Gary29]

Do I bother paying for a 24hr NowTV pass for this? Hard to overtake, pending any major dramas, the race will be settled on Saturday won't it?