[Official] Azerbaijan Grand Prix 2019: Grand Prix Weekend Thread - Round 4 of 21

[willb]

2016 Monaco practice Jensen Button
1990 Group C Montreal during race Just over 9 1/2 minutes into video
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=74GxRTMVI3o

[Purist]

Yeah, I think that was Jesus Pareja who almost ate that one in his Porsche 962C at Montreal. Walter Brun was none too pleased about the damage caused to his equipment after that one.

Also, Bernd Maylander hit one during the DTM event in Shanghai in 2004.

[E.B]

Originally Posted by willb

2016 Monaco practice Jensen Button
1990 Group C Montreal during race Just over 9 1/2 minutes into video
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=74GxRTMVI3o

Montoya was a DNF at China 2005 (Williams) for the drain reason.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=05emotIYNQo

Rubens Barrichello crashed out of the 2010 Monaco Grand Prix when he hit a loose drain puncturing a tyre and causing a crash. Also while driving for Williams.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3QgLCqGAjP0

Not F1 but Mark Winterbottom had a problem with drains at China when V8Sc ran at the track in 2005. In that case it ripped out the floor and seat, passing very close to his gentleman's bits.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=sUwn8NIZBFg

[steve nielsen]

Bernd Mayländer at the DTM on the Shanghai street circuit in 2004

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=yUMbiHNJkpk

[S griffin]

Seems the performance between Ferrari and Merc are changing race by race, which means it's not going to be a straightforward run to the title by any stretch

[bjohnsonsmith]

Originally Posted by S griffin

Seems the performance between Ferrari and Merc are changing race by race, which means it's not going to be a straightforward run to the title by any stretch

Maybe Mercedes are sandbagging?

[djinvicta]

The one thing I quoted on months ago, was that Kubica would not be able to react fast enough on a street track to avoid crashing. His right hand was shown to have not fast enough grip reaction...At least he wasn't injured today.

[Anyopenroad]

Some of the onboards and slow-mos are really showing just how incredible these drivers and cars are. The precision required at huge speeds with narrow turns, blind apexes, flitting in and out of the sun, is truly awe-inspiring.

[ApexTurtle]

Oh dear, first cracks in Leclerc's armor there.

[djinvicta]

Go Bottas go! Phew! Great last bit of quali..

[Akrapovic]

That was a great finish to Q3, although the session itself was a bit of an endurance to watch with the long red flags.

Mercedes didn't look that happy did they? It looked like Vettel was about to take pole and Mercedes still managed to pull a 1-2, despite messing up when the cars were sent out and Wollf barely smiled. Wrong man on pole?

[ApexTurtle]

Brilliantly executed by Bottas. Also I am getting sick and tired of some media hyping up Ferrari every single weekend and then being disappointed when it turns out Mercedes are still dominant.

[djinvicta]

I'm fed up with Toto tactics of underplaying their chances. They just turn up the speed for qualifying.

[Anyopenroad]

This Mercedes F1 team is an awesome outfit. I consider it a privilege to watch them in action. Their car is not faster than the Ferrari, they are just better at every aspect of putting performance on track when it counts.

[ApexTurtle]

Originally Posted by Anyopenroad

Their car is not faster than the Ferrari

It very clearly is, I'm not sure how anyone can say otherwise

[Anyopenroad]

Originally Posted by ApexTurtle

It very clearly is, I'm not sure how anyone can say otherwise

Pretty much everyone seems to say otherwise, at least on the media I follow (ie Sky, Autosport). Mercedes wouldn't let Ferrari have such a large advantage in practice if they could avoid it (they never have before and you have to assume everyone is going as fast as they can). Merc are simply better at extracting the maximum from their car when it matters.

But even if the car is better, that doesn't invalidate my point. If so, they've made the best car six years in a row, covering three rule sets. That's awesome.

[Akrapovic]

Mercedes play a blinder. Every winter Toto tells everyone they're slow and Ferrari are ahead. Then they win some races and everyone says "But how can this be!? Toto said Ferrari are faster! How do Mercedes take poles and wins under these impossible circumstances!?"

Spoiler alert: The Mercedes is fast. Toto saying it isn't doesn't make it not fast lol.

[Anyopenroad]

Originally Posted by Akrapovic

Spoiler alert: The Mercedes is fast. Toto saying it isn't doesn't make it not fast lol.

Absolutely. It's one of the many ways Mercedes run rings around Ferrari.

Wolff's PR skills aside though, the timing screens for testing and practice suggest that this year, Ferrari have a car which could win if only they were able to put the performance on track at crunch time. The fact that they can't and Mercedes can is a reason to admire Mercedes.

An analogy from another sport I follow, athletics. Usain Bolt in his later years won mostly by being Usain Bolt, his times weren't actually that impressive. But he intimidated opponents with faster times into under-performing. You could see it on the start line. Athletes who had been tearing up tracks all year looked over and thought "damn, it's Usain Bolt" and they'd fall apart. I get the impression Ferrari and Vettel do the same thing. They know they are fast but Mercedes have got into their psyches and they under-perform. That's credit to Merc.

[ApexTurtle]

I see zero evidence of that. Mercedes just has something extra they save for Q3. That is proven time and time again.

[Akrapovic]

Practice and testing mean nothing. Why would Mercedes show their full hand in those sessions? They know they have that bit in reserve and just turn up the dial when needs-be.

That car is not only massively fast, but it's also easier to extract the speed out of than the Ferrari. It's visibly more stable and can take a bit more abuse than it used to, hence Bottas upturn in form.

[Anyopenroad]

Gary Anderson was asked pretty much this question in Autosport this week:

https://www.autosport.com/f1/feature...e-2019-ferrari

The question asked was:

"Are Mercedes boss Toto Wolff and the drivers serious when they say they are worried about the pace of the Ferraris, or are they just trolling/playing mindgames with Ferrari?"

I won't post the whole answer but the first paragraph is:

"There is probably a bit of both, but I think they should be worried. As we saw in Bahrain, Ferrari is not far away and they just need to get it right on more occasions and understand why the performance drops off more regularly than Mercedes. Put that right and they could be a real threat."

He suggests waiting till Barcelona for a clearer picture so let's pick up the discussion then :-)

[ApexTurtle]

I think we can all agree that Ferrari is not far away. That is different to 'they have the fastest car' though

[djinvicta]

As I said.. Toto needs to change his tune. Bloody ridiculous "talk" as though they are scared of Ferrari today! Maybe later in the year or next year.. The car and driver outfit at Mercedes is fantastic..watch Leclerc get "put down" at Ferrari over the next 6 months as Seb rules or tries to rule the top spot at Ferrari all this year as he cannot get near the Mercs and Mercedes taking Leclerc on as Lewis gets past his prime in the coming years.
Ferrari need a huge shake up. The Schumi years are gone...

[Adam43]

Max thinks getting a tow is a huge advantage here.
https://www.autosport.com/f1/news/14...ng-pole-fights

Excellent.

[ApexTurtle]

Except the onboard shows Bottas did not actually get any significant tow on his pole lap


https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ik5i5Y8Wqgw