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F1 2015
I thought we could just do a unified F1 thread.
Needless to say, this weekend had a great F1 race.
It will be interesting to see whether Ferrari can keep this going. It doesn't appear to have been a fluke or pit strategy win either (although Mercedes did make a weird tire move during Lewis' last pit) considering Kimi's performance. I wonder if it would have been a 1-2 Ferrari finish had Kimi not had qualifying issues or lost a tire early.
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My thoughts are that Ferrari were slightly flattered the last race, and Mercedes made some small mistakes and had trouble making their tires last anywhere near as long. Come China, I think Mercedes will look more like their form in Australia. However, this may not be the case, and even if it is, Ferrari has the car, drivers, and ability to develop to challenge Merc.
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The best thing is that Ferrari won Mercedes in its own terms and without the Mercs breaking down or having any sort of trouble. Who knows, maybe this season will be interesting after all.
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Well. Sort of. Benz somehow only had a scrubbed set of hard tires for Lewis on his last stint, if I'm not mistaken. If a fresh set of softs were on offer (I can't recall if they intentionally went on the hards), then things may have been different. The decision to leave Seb out also paid dividends.
What I am trying to say is this. Had the Ferrari not been able to do a 2 stopper, and on many circuits it may not, and the Benzo and Mule were on the same pit strategy, things would have been different.
If Ferrari can keep tire management excellent and often do 2 instead of 3 stops with that pace, or if they prove to be about as quick as Merc on similar strategies, well then. Not being able to know for sure adds to the drama, and the fun. It will be quite a fun season even if only those four cars have a good chance to dice it up.
McLaren makes me sad.
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Merc's choice was new hards or scrubbed mediums, with enough of the race left that scrubbed mediums could easily have been falling off the cliff with laps to go.
Also a big reason why Mercs three-stopped and Vettel did not, was the safety car on lap 6 - Mercs stopped, Vettel did not.
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I'm not saying Merc didn't make mistake with the race strategy (they probably did) but the difference between this year's first win for a non-Mercedes car and last year's is that in Canada 2014 both Mercs had brake/hybrid system issues and that's why Ricciardo won while in Sepang last week the Mercs didn't have any reliability issues.
It was speed/strategy win, and that's what counts.
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It makes you wonder why the heck the didn't have a clean set of mediums when their performance is still very high, but that's a question for the next race. Don't use the softer tires in Q1.
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China will be interesting simply due to cooler temperatures which should help MB's tire issues.
I still would have loved to see how Malaysia would have turned out had Kimi not gotten screwed in qualifying and blown the tire in lap 1.
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I've always kept my support behind him, but he just doesn't have it anymore really. There were flashes at Lotus, but even in his Ferrari years he was off. This being said, he should be able to win this year. I really liked the glory days back at McLaren. And V10s. And rose-tinted glasses.
Agreed re: Chinese temperature and Benzo tires. We've got something to look forward to at least!
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Just watched my first F1 session of the year. Ferrari may have won a fortnight ago but, over a single lap, the Mercedes cars still seem in a league of their own. It was also good to see how quickly the McLarens are catching up. Perhaps by Suzuka, they can challenge for victories!
[quote=Qualifying Chinese Grand Prix]Pos No Driver Team Q1 Q2 Q3 Laps
1 44 Lewis Hamilton Mercedes 1:38.285 1:36.423 1:35.782
2 6 Nico Rosberg Mercedes 1:38.496 1:36.747 1:35.824
3 5 Sebastian Vettel Ferrari 1:37.502 1:36.957 1:36.687
4 19 Felipe Massa Williams 1:38.433 1:37.357 1:36.954
5 77 Valtteri Bottas Williams 1:38.014 1:37.763 1:37.143
6 7 Kimi Raikkonen Ferrari 1:37.790 1:37.109 1:37.232
7 3 Daniel Ricciardo Red Bull Racing 1:38.534 1:37.939 1:37.540
8 8 Romain Grosjean Lotus 1:38.209 1:38.063 1:37.905
9 12 Felipe Nasr Sauber 1:38.521 1:38.017 1:38.067
10 9 Marcus Ericsson Sauber 1:38.941 1:38.127 1:38.158
11 13 Pastor Maldonado Lotus 1:38.563 1:38.134
12 26 Daniil Kvyat Red Bull Racing 1:39.051 1:38.209
13 33 Max Verstappen Toro Rosso 1:38.387 1:38.393
14 55 Carlos Sainz Toro Rosso 1:38.622 1:38.538
15 11 Sergio Perez Force India 1:38.903 1:39.290
16 27 Nico Hulkenberg Force India 1:39.216
17 22 Jenson Button McLaren 1:39.276
18 14 Fernando Alonso McLaren 1:39.280
19 28 Will Stevens Marussia 1:42.091
20 98 Roberto Merhi Marussia 1:42.842[/quote]
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I think that the most interesting thing that can be said from the race is that both McLarens finished.
Also, those [I]Renaults[/I] look reliable.
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[quote=Ferrer;1011802]Also, those [I]Renaults[/I] look reliable.[/quote]
It looked like gearbox failure on both Torro Rossos.
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Yep, I know that's why I put Renault in italics. :)
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This race was not as good as the last one. Ferrari was competitive again but MB clearly stepped their game up.
Kimi is still awesome.
Ferrari needs to step it up for their next engine as they aren't going to be able to win every race on tire strategy alone.
Also, Lotus looked pretty good for a while there.
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You called it; I felt that this would happen too. Ferrari is close-ish, and should challenge for wins. If they develop the car really well they could challenge for the WCC and WDC but that is very unlikely.
China wasn't as enjoyable as Malaysia, but there was still a lot of nice racing going on... Just all behind the Williams (they somehow were not on TV at all and I almost forgot about them).
I watched today and spoilers had spoiled it for me, but it alright.