Another turn one showdown for Hamilton and Rosberg

38 comments on “Another turn one showdown for Hamilton and Rosberg”

1. 

   sethje (@seth-space)
   8th October 2016, 13:35

   As i understand from RBR the difference between Medium and Hard is very small. The harder tire has the advantage of a longer time to react on changes in the race.
   Btw it looks that the engine mappings play a big rol in the quali results. F.i The Ferrari engines did good today.
   [q] Note that drivers are required to use at least one set of hard tyres. [/q] They need to use two different sets at least. There is no requirement for the use of Hard tyres!
   1. 

      IJW (@)
      8th October 2016, 13:39

      Actually the rules are slightly different this year, in that the drivers have to use a nominated (by Pirelli) prime tyre in the race. The Hard for this race is the mandatory tyre.
      1. 

         ia
         8th October 2016, 13:46

         Good point. Also with the chance of rain, choosing to go for long runs might not pay off.
      2. 

         gdewilde (@gdewilde)
         8th October 2016, 14:25

         @ijw1 I don’t think that’s true. I thought the rules required drivers to use at least 2 different compounds during a race. Soft-Medium or Soft-Hard, doesn’t matter which one they use.
         1. 

            dex022 (@dex022)
            8th October 2016, 14:34

            Hard IS mandatory that is why is still stupid rule even if we have 3 compounds. When 1 is mandatory every talk about strategy is more less over. We should have 3 compounds but let teams race what ever they want.Then we would see different strategy.
            1. 

               nase
               8th October 2016, 15:55

               @dex022
               “When 1 is mandatory every talk about strategy is more less over.”

               Is it? Pirelli nominated two sets of hards for Malaysia as well, and I didn’t get the feeling that the tyre strategies suffered by any means.
         2. 

            IJW (@)
            8th October 2016, 15:04

            @gdewilde Then, we are both right! :-) They have to use 2 different sets of tyres AND use the mandatory prime tyre for one of those sets.
         3. 

            Keith Collantine (@keithcollantine)
            8th October 2016, 17:51

            @gdewilde I checked the notes from Pirelli while writing this: Each driver must have at least two sets of hard tyres available for the race and must use at least one of them.
2. 

   ia
   8th October 2016, 13:38

   I believe that since Mercedes can not race in cruise mode anymore now RBR is closer, races will get closer and Mercedes might start to fail again. At least 1 MER has been struggling in the latest races.

   If RBR gets stuck behind FER it will benefit MERC. I believe RBR is faster in the race then FER and can challenge MER.
   So start will be very important. FER has very good starts unless VET starts doing crazy things again.
   Strategy, strategy tomorrow.
   1. 

      OmarRoncal - Go Seb!!! (@)
      8th October 2016, 16:36

      FER is Alonso?
      1. 

         Phylyp (@phylyp)
         8th October 2016, 17:04

         @omarr-pepper I believe @ia meant Ferrari (who don’t have a cute three-letter abbreviation).
         1. 

            UnitedKingdomRacing (@unitedkingdomracing)
            8th October 2016, 18:18

            Isn’t it usually SF for Scuderia Ferrari?
         2. 

            spoutnik (@spoutnik)
            8th October 2016, 19:05

            I think he was joking :-)
            1. 

               Phylyp (@phylyp)
               8th October 2016, 19:19

               Ah, missed that :-) @spoutnik

               Nice one @omarr-pepper
            2. 

               OmarRoncal - Go Seb!!! (@)
               9th October 2016, 0:56

               @spoutnik for a moment the acronym FER blocked my mind… I wasn’t joking, I really struggled to try to understand his comment.
3. 

   hahostolze (@hahostolze)
   8th October 2016, 13:38

   Not sure about this. Last season’s race (and indeed the past too) shows overtaking at Suzuka is definitely possible. Sure, you have to be one of the better overtakers, but we have quite a few good ones in this field. Not so set on this being a race where mainly tactics decide the winner, if the cars are as closely matched as practice and quali suggested, I can see some overtakes determining the winner.
   1. 

      ia
      8th October 2016, 17:51

      Use of different tire strategy will help you to overtake too. And it doesn’t wear on your tires that much.
4. 

   glynh (@glynh)
   8th October 2016, 13:45

   Hopefully we actually see the Mercedes racing each other for once as it’s hardly happened in the past 3 years but if we have rain and pitstops everything could change and I wouldn’t mind seeing the red bulls, or ferraris, fighting for the lead again.
   1. 

      Kribana (@krichelle)
      8th October 2016, 20:46

      If we can have qualifyings like this all year then probably it would make us more exciting… we want some HYPEE!!
5. 

   JohnNik (@johnnik)
   8th October 2016, 14:13

   I was just talking to a Facebook friend about the start. With the Mercs on row1, Kimi and Max on row2, 5th might just be the best grid slot going…
   1. 

      NewVerstappenFan (@jureo)
      8th October 2016, 21:52

      Could be. Quite alarming how much those guys infront tangle this year.
6. 

   nase
   8th October 2016, 14:23

   Here’s one thing I don’t get:
   “Teams are required to have two sets of medium tyres per car for the race. […] Note that drivers are required to use at least one set of hard tyres.”

   In my opinion, the second phrase makes perfect sense, as Pirelli has nominated two sets of hard tyres as mandatory. But how does this affect the mediums? Vettel has only brought a single set of mediums for the entire weekend for instance (https://www.racefans.net/2016/09/27/red-bull-prefer-harder-tyres-suzuka/). Something’s not quite right here.
   1. 

      SatchelCharge (@satchelcharge)
      8th October 2016, 16:37

      It must be a mistake in the article.
7. 

   Paul A (@paul-a)
   8th October 2016, 15:45

   Ferrari, Toro Rosso, Haas and Mclaren apparently all decided not to bring any “mediums”, thus limiting their strategic choices. This was either a short-sighted mistake (hard to believe that four teams would independently make the same mistake), or there’s something that’s not obvious… Setup options? Tyre life and safety car possibilities? Weather predictions?
   1. 

      spoutnik (@spoutnik)
      8th October 2016, 19:08

      @paul-a it can also be about car characteristics and previous year data.
8. 

   Alan Wignall
   8th October 2016, 17:59

   Front 2 rows and I’d only bet on Kimi making a clean start unless he gets caught up in other people’s mess. Hamilton is edgy and on the back foot, Verstappen can be reckless anytime and it’s in Rosbergs championship interests to take Lewis out even if he can’t finish himself.

   Other scenarios?
   1. 

      ia
      8th October 2016, 18:45

      Vettel is so stressed about not making another disaster that he will do something wrong again crashing into the front rows.
      1. 

         Bultaco85
         8th October 2016, 22:28

         I dont think Vettel is stressed at all.
   2. 

      lockup (@)
      8th October 2016, 20:27

      Rosberg is on a leash from his team I don’t see him doing anything crazy to Lewis. Lewis’ judgment in T1 has always been awesome. Seb will be trying really, really hard not to touch anyone and Kimi always does. Max will weave to keep whoever behind him and Ric is pretty sane. I reckon the action will be behind the top 6 – 2x Haas + 2x FI looks like an explosive cocktail to me…
      1. 

         rick bradner
         8th October 2016, 23:05

         Rosberg is on a leash from his team?
         I think all he needs to do is make it clear to the team and Lewis that he won’t be forced off track.
         Push the issue at your own peril…
9. 

   ruliemaulana (@ruliemaulana)
   8th October 2016, 19:18

   “And if qualifying accounted for 70% of the job, then the next 29% will be done in the few seconds after the red lights go out…”
   …and the 1% account for the fate set by a ‘higher power’ :)
10. 

    Fletch (@fletchuk)
    8th October 2016, 19:58

    With Lewis’ mindset at the moment I could totally see him getting a bit of red mist in the first corner and doing something he’ll regret. I hope he doesn’t, but it wont surprise me if it happens.
    1. 

       NewVerstappenFan (@jureo)
       8th October 2016, 21:59

       And if he does, people will blame Nico.
       1. 

          Bernie
          9th October 2016, 1:39

          Well, Nico is responsible for Lewis’ famous “understeer”.
    2. 

       pSynrg (@psynrg)
       8th October 2016, 23:16

       @fletchuk I know where you are coming from re. mindset. Though, I don’t think Lewis feels he’s been wronged by Rosberg. I’d say even Lewis is impressed with Nico’s commitment and consistency.
11. 

    Markos
    8th October 2016, 21:22

    I wouldn`t rule Vettel either at the start, if he can turn those frustrations in motivation that is ;)
    1. 

       Markos
       8th October 2016, 21:23

       *rule out*
12. 

    pastaman (@)
    8th October 2016, 23:04

    I must admit, a small part of me is hoping for a Senna/Prost-like collision at turn one. The onus is on HAM to keep his nose clean if he wants to keep his championship hopes alive.

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