Ferrari have Mercedes within range as Red Bull lurk

30 comments on “Ferrari have Mercedes within range as Red Bull lurk”

1. 

   franton
   23rd May 2013, 18:09

   Wasn’t Hamilton running a camera and other non aero friendly parts on the car? Fairly sure that’ll have affected his lap times. However 3/10ths off his teammate with that still isn’t bad.
   1. 

      Polishboy808 (@polishboy808)
      23rd May 2013, 18:42

      No, those cameras and other parts will effect him very little. There is a reason why these specific parts are used; they have very little effect on the aero balance of the car. After all, what good would they be if they changed the way the car drove? Then they wouldn’t be gathering any useful data.

      He is just 3 tenths off the pace. That being said, I don’t expect the gap to be that big on saturday.
      1. 

         franton
         23rd May 2013, 21:03

         Take a look at this picture:
         

         I don’t think any of that is aero neutral! Pole is going to be very close between the Mercedes cars.
   2. 

      Jason (@jason12)
      23rd May 2013, 22:02

      Even if it slowed him down a bit, it’s okay.
      Free practice is for gathering data, not taking pole.
2. 

   karter22 (@karter22)
   23rd May 2013, 18:10

   This looks very promising indeed!! I just hope ALO is able to pull out the rabbit out of the hat! If the MERCs lock the front row, it´ll be up to the strategists to figure something out.
   I hope it´s a good race!
3. 

   Kibblesworth (@kibblesworth)
   23rd May 2013, 18:20

   Don’t know where Rosberg is finding these extra tenths of a second race after race but good on him. I suspect he’ll end this season with a much improved reputation. He’s always been overlooked as one of the best drivers out there but his talent is undeniable. Definitely his father’s son.
   1. 

      BasCB (@bascb)
      23rd May 2013, 18:31

      Still a lot of the season to go, lots of time for people to forget about an impressive few races though
   2. 

      Max Jacobson (@vettel1)
      23rd May 2013, 18:31

      Maybe the rage from the team orders fiasco is still spurring him on!
   3. 

      Broom (@)
      23rd May 2013, 19:16

      Put him in any car and he’d be up there in terms of pure 1-lap speed. Think getting someone like Lewis as a team-mate who is much more consistent than Schumacher v2.0 has helped Rosberg up his game.

      It makes you think Schumacher was still bloody good to be keeping him on his toes occasionally for the last couple of years too.
      1. 

         hobo (@hobo)
         23rd May 2013, 20:51

         @brum55 – I think this is an interesting point you raise. In 2012 (MSC’s most competitive Merc season), ROS had an average starting grid position of 9.4 and MSC 9.65, basically identical. And when you remove grid penalties MSC squeaks ahead 8.65 to 8.9.

         While it is too early to say much about this season, were ROS to go pole in Monaco and HAM P2, they would be basically tied for average starting grid position. Of course that could wildly swing one way or the other, but if it were to hold one could make a couple of assumptions. 1. ROS is a good qualifier. 2. The Mercs are better at qualifying than race, generally. 3. 2012 MSC and 2013 HAM were relatively as effective as each other in qualifying, given the differences in the cars year to year.

         A lot of ifs, granted, but interesting to think about.
         1. 

            Broom (@)
            23rd May 2013, 22:38

            @hobo One thing to consider is Hamilton is still new to the team whereas Rosberg is in his 4th year so Hamilton could still assert his authority as the year goes on.
            I also think Rosberg is more motivated, as regardless of how well/badly Rosberg did relative to MSC, it was a lose-lose situation. If he outdrove MSC, it was because MSC was old whereas when he got outdrove by MSC, Rosberg would get slammed.
            It is the complete opposite with Hamilton as team-mate as he is expected to get outdriven but when he isn’t he will look like a top tier driver.
            Its only 6 races in and his reputation is being enhanced more than it was in the previous 3 years.
   4. 

      Erro
      23rd May 2013, 19:57

      It means that Webber is actually a much better driver than everyone assumes him to be, as he beat Rosberg quite convincingly in Q when they were teammates. And it also shows how incredibly fast Vettel is to beat Webber so soundly year after year.
      1. 

         Kingshark (@kingshark)
         23rd May 2013, 23:13

         Rosberg only lost to Webber in his rookie season, when he was 20. Even then, the difference wasn’t so big. Only 4 points to 7. Nico has improved a lot over the years, and I wouldn’t be surprised if he was as fast as Vettel today, though he’s not as good under pressure.
         1. 

            Dan42
            24th May 2013, 10:53

            Points don’t really show the whole picture. Webber beat Rosberg in Q very convincingly: 12:6, if I’m not mistaken. And Webber had 11(!) retirements that year, as opposed to Rosberg’s 9. Quite a few of those times were when Webber qualified very well. And Rosberg might have been a rookie, but so was Hamilon against Alonso, yet Alonso couldn’t beat Hamilton while Webber could and did beat Rosberg. The driver is fast or just isn’t, rookie or not. So if Rosberg really is a very fast driver, then so must be Webber. They have been teammates, so it’s the best possible benchmark.
            1. 

               Patrickl (@patrickl)
               24th May 2013, 23:33

               Coulthard beat Webber over a season. So Coulthard is obviously better than Webber, Hamilton, Rosberg and Schumacher …

               You’re seriously claiming that comparing a driver in his rookie season in a car that broke down 11 and 9 times? And then even more based on qualifying result during a season where the times were for a very large part determined by fuel loads?
4. 

   Younger Hamii (@younger-hamii)
   23rd May 2013, 18:47

   The McLaren in Jenson’s hands particularly looks pretty handy in the long-runs, although the track evolution will be different to other tracks given the extra day between FP and the race, he’s seemingly right in there with the front runners, shame he’s been downplaying their single-lap pace as well, they need that track position.
5. 

   faulty (@faulty)
   23rd May 2013, 19:11

   Why is VdG doing so few laps? Shouldn’t rookies be practicing?
   1. 

      dragoll (@dragoll)
      23rd May 2013, 22:09

      VdG strikes me as a the type to be cruising around doing laps in the pit paddock at Monaco… I wouldn’t be surprised if he turns out to be one of the “ladies men”
6. 

   Broom (@)
   23rd May 2013, 19:19

   Ferrari have often flattered to deceive on qualifying whereas Red-Bull and Mercedes this year have found huge chuncks of time. Hopefully Alonso can pull something out the bag as this is not one of Vettel’s best circuits.
7. 

   JamieFranklinF1 (@jamiefranklinf1)
   23rd May 2013, 20:11

   Wouldn’t surprise me to see another Mercedes front row lock-out, but I reckon it will be more difficult in the race. I reckon Alonso could be heading for a second consecutive race win, as long as he gets on the first or second row of the grid, otherwise his good pace will be compromised.

   Going to be a really interesting weekend, for sure. DRS won’t have much effect, Saturday is back to being very important, and I reckon the degradation will only be between 1-2 stops. The strategy will be key, of course, as always in Monaco. Can’t wait!
8. 

   AdrianMorse (@adrianmorse)
   23rd May 2013, 20:13

   Nothing from the long-run data suggests that Mercedes is any worse on the long runs, which is a bit of a surprise, but a pleasant one for me. Were the Mercedes long runs on the soft or the super soft tyre? Another surprise for me was how good Pic was on his long run, although of course we don’t know fuel loads.

   On Rosberg vs. Hamilton, Rosberg looks totally on it this season, with the exception of a few disappointing Q3s a the beginning of the year. Perhaps it was more difficult for him to find that last bit of motivation over the last two years, driving in no-man’s land and beating the old man over and over again.

   Hamilton, by contrast, is feeling real pressure on Saturday for the first time in his career. In his debut season he didn’t always beat his team mate but he didn’t need to; he was the rookie and Fernando the reigning double world champion. In the following two seasons Kovalainen never seemed to get his act together, and with Button, he could always rely on regularly outqualifying him, even in the darkest days of 2011. Lewis also didn’t have to get the near-perfect lap to be in front of Jenson on Saturday, because the latter would often have problems of his own.

   This season, though, Hamilton does not look completely at ease in the car, and good performances are not sufficient to stay ahead of his team mate. Hamilton does not give the outward impression of suffering from this pressure that is new to him, but who knows what goes on inside a driver’s head?

   On Grosjean, I hope his crash doesn’t affect his weekend too much. He finally looked to have found his speed again, being quicker than Kimi most of the time. With the Lotus good on its tyres, he might be one of the drivers able to make a one-stop strategy work, and then even a first win might be on the cards.
   1. 

      eee
      24th May 2013, 11:59

      supersoft
9. 

   codesurge (@codesurge)
   23rd May 2013, 21:50

   @keithcollantine Minor correction: I think the title of this article should read “Thursday practice” :)
10. 

    dragoll (@dragoll)
    23rd May 2013, 22:12

    The analysis shows that Lap 15 something significant happened to the track, it all of a sudden became faster… I’m guessing on Lap 14 we had a street sweeper go through ;)
11. 

    Younger Hamii (@younger-hamii)
    23rd May 2013, 22:39

    @AdrianMorse

    This season, though, Hamilton does not look completely at ease in the car, and good performances are not sufficient to stay ahead of his team mate. Hamilton does not give the outward impression of suffering from this pressure that is new to him, but who knows what goes on inside a driver’s head?

    I agree, only Lewis knows whether he’s feeling some pressure or not but these drivers are arguably the best professionals out there in sport given their extremely demanding jobs of driving the fastest machinery out there, I’m sure the few tenths Nico has turned up with this season will serve as an incentive for Lewis to bring even more out of the car, just like Nico himself did when Schumi arrived to Merc in 2010.

    I also propose a theory, mainly linked with Montoya and how long it took for him to settle in McLaren in 2005 and Lewis perhaps not being at case as he says he is, it took approximately half a season for Montoya to feel comfortable with the MP4-20 that season and whilst I’m not assuming that it’ll take Lewis exactly that long to feel completely at one, it’s vital to acknowledge that every driver is different, and some will take longer than others to fully adapt to their new teams, you can argue that Alonso settled in at Ferrari fairly quickly but he came as a double world champion who had been at three teams (Minardi, Renault and McLaren) prior to Ferrari, so experience served as an aid to Fernando. Lewis has stepped into a completely new environment for the first time in his career, with different team dynamics to the dynamics he experienced in McLaren, I expect him to take it bit by bit via improving relationships with race engineers and other personnel, those few tenths don’t just stem from innate speed, it’s partly evident when someone refers to having to reduce the number of buttons on his steering wheel.

    About feeling and succumbing to pressure, I’ll just wait at least until mid-season, if not the end, when we can start composing our annual season reports and judge the drivers’ performances despite it being five races in already.
12. 

    Tyler (@tdog)
    23rd May 2013, 23:19

    The consistency in lap times from Hulkenberg from lap 6 to 16 on his long run was incredible!
13. 

    Chris (@tophercheese21)
    24th May 2013, 1:31

    Wouldn’t be at all surprised if Alonso took pole.
    1. 

       Todfod (@todfod)
       24th May 2013, 7:05

       I would be shocked if he took pole here. Mercedes will up their game on Saturday and so will Red Bull. If Alonso finished on the 2nd row of the grid, he should be very pleased with himself.

       If I had to guess, I’d say Rosberg, Hamilton and Webber will be battling for pole.
14. 

    Theoddkiwi (@theoddkiwi)
    24th May 2013, 1:45

    24 laps in one stint by Ham and times a pretty consistent. I think they well have a much better race this weekend.
15. 

    Todfod (@todfod)
    24th May 2013, 7:00

    Looking at long stint (race pace) comparisons are interesting. Red Bull seem to have the quickest car here with low degradation levels, followed closely by Lotus and then Ferrari/ Mercedes. I think Ferrari posted some quick times here on Friday, but I dont think they are favourites for the race.

    Have a feeling Mercedes is going to lock out the front row, but Mark Webber will take P3 and be the favourite for the win, followed by Alonso, Vettel and Kimi

    Lets see how this weeks prediction championship pans out..

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