Strategy gives Red Bull hope of fighting Mercedes

18 comments on “Strategy gives Red Bull hope of fighting Mercedes”

1. 

   hahostolze (@hahostolze)
   17th September 2016, 17:44

   Verstappen long runs have been the best of anyone all weekend long. Qualifying was inopportune but fourth still gives a decent chance of a win. Had trouble with the ultra soft tyres but will do wonders on the super soft. Expect two Red Bulls on the podium, probably one on the top step.
   1. 

      Guybrush Threepwood
      17th September 2016, 22:16

      I suggest you take a look at FP2 where Ricciardo’s long runs were much better than Verstappen’s.
      1. 

         hahostolze (@hahostolze)
         18th September 2016, 6:53

         I did. They weren’t.
      2. 

         ES
         18th September 2016, 7:44

         Guybrush….no they weren’t…..on the US Ricciardo was AVG 0,1 faster then Max…..on the SS Max was AVG 0,4 faster then Ricciardo
2. 

   Billys (@bilarxos)
   17th September 2016, 20:25

   The top 5 broke Vettel’s last year pole lap record !
   1. 

      iAltair
      17th September 2016, 23:20

      Fastest lap of the track not exactly means Lap record. Lap record are only official timing recorded from the race.
      1. 

         Bernie
         18th September 2016, 6:17

         Rosberg did beat Vettel’s 2013 fastest ever lap around Singapore, which does mean that over one lap these cars are now faster here as well. There cannot be too many circuits left where the V6s are still slower than the 2011+ V8s (i.e. both using the designed-to-degrade tyres).
         1. 

            PorscheF1 (@xtwl)
            18th September 2016, 7:26

            Vettel his lap was set during the race, Rosberg during qualifying.

            On top of that the configuration has changed. Ricciardo holds the record on this lay-out with a 1:50.041. This will very likely be broken today now that both Mercedes cars are in top shape. Vettel however drove a 1:48.574 on the original lay-out.
            1. 

               PorscheF1 (@xtwl)
               18th September 2016, 7:29

               Vettel his lap was set during the race, Rosberg during qualifying.

               On top of that the configuration has changed. Ricciardo holds the record on this lay-out with a 1:50.041. This will very likely be broken today now that both Mercedes cars are in top shape. Vettel however drove a 1:48.574 on the original lay-out.

               Besides Vettel drove a pole lap off 1:42.841 (2013) on harder tyres than Rosberg did his pole lap yesterday which was a 1:42.584. Ricciardo is again back in the 1:43s, it’s pretty safe to say Rosberg his lap yesterday was pretty quick.
   2. 

      Guybrush Threepwood
      18th September 2016, 4:36

      They do have the Ultra-soft tyre available which they did not last year.
3. 

   iAltair
   17th September 2016, 23:23

   Correction. I missed out reading “pole lap” record. I read it as lap record.
4. 

   Mike Dee (@mike-dee)
   17th September 2016, 23:52

   Interesting. Mercedes has no new super soft tyres, but two new sets of soft tyres. They have one used set of super softs – how many laps has that run already? Are they maybe planning to do a one-stop (ultrasoft-soft)? How did the soft tyre perform in practice?

   Also will be interesting what Vettel does from the back. In a race without safety car, I think he might be able to break into the top 10 (not by much though). He will be hoping for well-timed safety cars though so that he could end up higher; I wonder whether he has talked to Briatore already?
   1. 

      Bernie
      18th September 2016, 6:31

      I’m tipping Seb to run one or two laps to try and gain a few places on the ultra-soft before pitting for the super-soft to go as fast and far as possible in clear air before the mid-field can pit and come out in front of him. This could get him to about 10th on track before 2nd stop for new softs and see how far they take him. Being able to do 2 stints on softs might have been handy to ensure getting to the end, so a 3-stop is very possible. Maybe the Ferrari can keep the supers alive for as long as the Mercs do with the softs. Kimi will be hoping so.
      Of course a lot depends on accidents and safety cars.
5. 

   Thomson (@fish123)
   18th September 2016, 2:04

   I think Mercedes may be forced into a 3-stop (U – S – S – SS) or then may really struggle towards the end of the race with drop off.

   Where as Red Bull will have an easy 2-stop, however they might split the strategies, i.e. SS – SS – S / SS – S – SS

   My prediction is Ricciardo for the win, Rosberg 2nd, Verstappen 3rd, Hamilton 4th
6. 

   bogaaaa (@nosehair)
   18th September 2016, 4:44

   Ric for the win Ves will be taken out by a reptile
7. 

   BasCB (@bascb)
   18th September 2016, 10:35

   Hm, does the heavy rain that fell in between mean there is less difference between the two sides of the grid? And how will it affect the tyres – will the USofts suffer more, will the soft be a better prospect now?
8. 

   Steven Robertson (@emu55)
   18th September 2016, 10:57

   Trying not to be pessimistic, but if Rosberg comes out of turn 1 in the lead it’s effectively race over. Who stands with him on the podium could be the main action point today.
9. 

   Shahryar Ali
   18th September 2016, 11:48

   This race has only won by the three current great champions of Formula one over the last 8 years. If Nico needs to change this today, he needs to give his all. I still believe he lacks that extra bit to be a champion. But he has shown already that he is a best driver ever to not win a World championship.

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