2013 Formula 1 Santander German Grand Prix

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Does Ferrari move makes any sense? Starting 7th and 8th when could have been at least 4th and 5th? I know they'll try to pit late at first stint but how they think gaining positions at the start with less grippy tyres?
 
I was shaking like an addict when Lewis came into the final sector, I get too worked up over F1 and MotoGP. :lol: Some interesting qualifying stats I've noticed, 3 drivers have been on pole this year and each of them have had 3 poles each (Nico, Lewis, Seb) and Mercedes have been fastest in every dry Q3 session whilst Red Bull have been fastest in every wet Q3 session.

Wardez
Wow, Lewis lost a good few tenths with that moment leading into Bit-Kurve and still got pole. What an awesome Q, my favorite of the year so far.
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I missed most of his lap, I saw Vettel's lap and it didn't look perfect either. Nice to know Lewis still has time in hand.
 
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Peasantslayer
I was shaking like an addict when Lewis came into the final sector, I get too worked up over F1 and MotoGP. :lol: Some interesting qualifying stats I've noticed, 3 drivers have been on pole this year and each of them have had 3 poles each (Nico, Lewis, Seb) and Mercedes have been fastest in every dry Q3 session whilst Red Bull have been fastest in every wet Q3 session.
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I do the same thing shouting like David Hobbs, especially when Hamilton or Rosberg or Webber have a shot a pole position.

As to Ferrari, I think they'll last longer than most, but unlike Lotus -who last as long- will fall back due to not being able to get steady grip. So I feel like MGP can gain ground with Nico due to the ability for the Benz to get the grip needed at the start. I think Ferrari should have opted for fast laps to be up higher even if they knew the top three was a lock out for RBR and MGP.
 
LMSCorvetteGT2
I do the same thing shouting like David Hobbs, especially when Hamilton or Rosberg or Webber have a shot a pole position.

As to Ferrari, I think they'll last longer than most, but unlike Lotus -who last as long- will fall back due to not being able to get steady grip. So I feel like MGP can gain ground with Nico due to the ability for the Benz to get the grip needed at the start. I think Ferrari should have opted for fast laps to be up higher even if they knew the top three was a lock out for RBR and MGP.
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It's hard to say, with these new tyres and the difference between the 2 compounds. Vettel for the win especially if he leads into turn 1.
 
LMSCorvetteGT2
As to Ferrari, I think they'll last longer than most, but unlike Lotus -who last as long- will fall back due to not being able to get steady grip. So I feel like MGP can gain ground with Nico due to the ability for the Benz to get the grip needed at the start. I think Ferrari should have opted for fast laps to be up higher even if they knew the top three was a lock out for RBR and MGP.
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I think soft tyres weren't necessary in Q1 at all. They could have done what RBR did using medium on Q1 and due to the high temperatures find themselves in an unespected 3rd place in Q3, expecially considering the pace in Q2.

So yes, it sounds very Captian Hindsight but still think Domenicali and Stella are not exactly genious when it comes to strategy. 2010 last race *hmm hmm*.
More than happy to be proven wrong tomorrow.
 
HKS racer
Does Ferrari move makes any sense? Starting 7th and 8th when could have been at least 4th and 5th? I know they'll try to pit late at first stint but how they think gaining positions at the start with less grippy tyres?
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I don't think they are looking to make up spots early, but over the long hall. They say the softs are only good for about 9 laps, if they used up 3 on qualifying they only have 3-6 good laps to go. The harder tires should last 20 laps and Ferrari in general, Alonso in particular are very good at tire management. So it's going to be 3-6 laps very fast and quickly degrading (or pit) vs. 20 laps steady pace. If nothing else it should be interesting to see how it plays out 👍
 
If Ferrari get the good starts that they are capable off then the race is blown wide open, as long as there is one of them in the top 3 at the start after 10 or so laps then it's all good :)
 
Saidur_Ali
Awesome to see Lewis back in the groove with car. Just hope he has got the race pace with his car to fight for win tomorrow.
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Mercedes definitely got their act together during the past handful of races, and now enjoy competitive race performance. Regarding Lewis specifically, he had very good pace at Silverstone. He had a lead that, while not huge, was one that Vettel was not closing up until the random tire explosion put Lewis at the rear of the field. He then overtook almost all of the field to come just shy of the podium. Granted, it helped having safety cars to bunch the field back up, but he still had to actually overtake everybody, and he had the pace to make it happen.

I still suspect Vettel will pull out a win for the home crowd, but I don't see why Lewis wouldn't have a very good chance at it. Even if he doesn't win, he really should still have very good pace.
 
Rage.

As soon as they saw Grosjean going faster than anybody they should've told Nico to go for another lap. Track was giving a free second to everybody in the last 3 mins. Now he'll struggle in dirty air throughout the race and get 5th at most while Hamilton wins.
 
IceMan PJN
Mercedes definitely got their act together during the past handful of races, and now enjoy competitive race performance. Regarding Lewis specifically, he had very good pace at Silverstone. He had a lead that, while not huge, was one that Vettel was not closing up until the random tire explosion put Lewis at the rear of the field. He then overtook almost all of the field to come just shy of the podium. Granted, it helped having safety cars to bunch the field back up, but he still had to actually overtake everybody, and he had the pace to make it happen.
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The way he came through in the dry was Red Bull-esque, whenever I see a Red Bull driver have a bad race they still seem to come through just like Webber did at Silverstone. Up until Silverstone I'd only ever seen the Red Bulls come through to a strong points finish from nowhere in the dry.
 
Very impressive lap by Lewis under a lot of pressure, very tricky corners, so easy to mess the lap up at the end. I don't think he could get on the power any earlier on that last corner.
 
One thing about this track to point out that's strange is that more people have won from 2nd than have won from pole. Something like 17 to 4? (iirc) respectively.

No rhyme or reason to it I can think of, just how the cookies have crumbled.

Also, Vettel has never won the German GP or won a race in July before.
 
There's talk of conspiracy Brawn let it happen. Given they had 3-4 minutes to react I'm not completely ignoring the theory.
 
That would be so ridiculous for him to do though. Goes against everything they sacrifice so much time, sweat, dedication, stress, and work for. Just makes no sense why that would even be a possibility. I know you're not trying to say it happened, but the idea's just crazy in my opinion.

And so was Q2, no one could've predicted how the times would fall. I'm sure Rosberg thought he was in the clear too and were setting themselves for a better tire strategy for the race so they could conserve a set of tires for it and bring out new ones for Q3.
 
BHRxRacer
There's talk of conspiracy Brawn let it happen. Given they had 3-4 minutes to react I'm not completely ignoring the theory.
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Up until very late they looked safe and they wouldn't want to waste tyres, Rosberg could have set a faster lap anyway so he's partially at fault here, Lewis went much faster from Q2 to Q3 so I assume Nico could have done a 29 in Q2 to make himself safe.
 
Peasantslayer
Up until very late they looked safe and they wouldn't want to waste tyres, Rosberg could have set a faster lap anyway so he's partially at fault here, Lewis went much faster from Q2 to Q3 so I assume Nico could have done a 29 in Q2 to make himself safe.
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At the time he was on track, Nico could have maybe gone 2-3 tenth faster not more than that. Track became faster at the end of Q2, which is why everyone was in half a seconds at the end then went even faster in Q3.

It's again a bad strategy from Mercedes. Brawn admit it himself.
 
BHRxRacer
There's talk of conspiracy Brawn let it happen. Given they had 3-4 minutes to react I'm not completely ignoring the theory.
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I've heard some stupid F1 conspiracy theories in my time but this one takes the biscuit.
 

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