2014 Gran Premio Español

[CapnCrunch]

Lets get this started. It's been 3 weeks!!

There's some big talking from a few of teams making major changes to their cars.

Any chance someone other than Mercedes is going to compete for a victory?

Or are we going to get the usual 15 position changes off the starting grid, and then 64 parade laps?

[CapnCrunch]

Mercedes is "ricing out" their cars this weekend.

http://www.f1today.net/en/news/merce...haust-in-spain

Fart cans for everyone!!!

[rage2]

Barcelona is a huge downforce track, so the only teams competing for a win this weekend will be Mercedes and Red Bull who are pretty much even on DF. Everyone else is pretty far behind on downforce this year. RBR is still struggling (compared to Merc) on tire wear, so I'm guessing this will be another walk in the park for Merc.

In RBR's case, the Renault Power Unit has no hardware updates, as the team already took on new spec hardware last race and can't afford to use up more engine allocations this early on in the season. There's software updates that claw back some power in terms of the MGUs, but doubtful that it'll be enough to really challenge the Mercs. Renault says it won't be till the Canadian or British Grand Prix before they have a hardware/software spec that they're happy with.

If there's any movement between the teams, it'll be between Force India, Ferrari and maybe Williams depending on their updates. I've lost all hope for McLaren this year, their aero team is bare thanks to RBR locking down their aero guys that were on the way to McLaren, and they're still completely lost on setup on a base launch car. I've come to the conclusion that it's Button's fault for not able to setup a car properly, and relying on Hamilton when he was still on the team.

[ExtremeSi]

Originally posted by rage2
Barcelona is a huge downforce track, so the only teams competing for a win this weekend will be Mercedes and Red Bull who are pretty much even on DF. Everyone else is pretty far behind on downforce this year. RBR is still struggling (compared to Merc) on tire wear, so I'm guessing this will be another walk in the park for Merc.

In RBR's case, the Renault Power Unit has no hardware updates, as the team already took on new spec hardware last race and can't afford to use up more engine allocations this early on in the season. There's software updates that claw back some power in terms of the MGUs, but doubtful that it'll be enough to really challenge the Mercs. Renault says it won't be till the Canadian or British Grand Prix before they have a hardware/software spec that they're happy with.

If there's any movement between the teams, it'll be between Force India, Ferrari and maybe Williams depending on their updates. I've lost all hope for McLaren this year, their aero team is bare thanks to RBR locking down their aero guys that were on the way to McLaren, and they're still completely lost on setup on a base launch car. I've come to the conclusion that it's Button's fault for not able to setup a car properly, and relying on Hamilton when he was still on the team.

Interesting analysis. I've enjoyed this season so far and this 3 week break feels too long now haha. Looking forward to see what happens. At least the two Merc drivers have shown that they can have some exciting battles even if they're leading the pack again.

[phreezee]

Will be interesting to see if Lotus will leap frog McLaren this race, according to Nick Chester. Very disappointing for McLaren after a promising finish in Melbourne.

[EK 2.0]

Seb is geting a new car this weekend...I'm not expecting a lot but gosh I can hope for improvement haha...

[CapnCrunch]

Hamilton trolled practice again lol.

[Gibson]

[Gibson]

FP1 was weird. Van der Garde nearly drove a Sauber into a wall, Perez's mirror fell off and a piece fell off Riccardo's car too.

Oh, and that's without mentioning that Seb's new car nearly lit on fire and he didn't get any runs in FP2. The two Lotuses also had separate issues in FP2.

And seriously, how is Caterham this bad? They had three weeks to try and get an edge on Marussia and they're now very clearly at the bottom of the pack. Bad time to be a Kobayashi fan.

[CapnCrunch]

Originally posted by Gibson

I know he probably let off, but that gif looks like he's still going balls out with one hand on the wheel.

[rage2]

Originally posted by Gibson
And seriously, how is Caterham this bad? They had three weeks to try and get an edge on Marussia and they're now very clearly at the bottom of the pack. Bad time to be a Kobayashi fan.

Either they, or Lotus is going to be losing their engines soon too. Apparently, some of the Renault teams are behind on payment, and they're likely going to pull the engines from the car if that doesn't get resolved soon.

Could be Caterham, could be Lotus, could be both.

[Gibson]

Originally posted by rage2

Either they, or Lotus is going to be losing their engines soon too. Apparently, some of the Renault teams are behind on payment, and they're likely going to pull the engines from the car if that doesn't get resolved soon.

Could be Caterham, could be Lotus, could be both.

Yeah, I'm concerned about both teams. Even if Haas ends up being a starter in 2015 or 2016, if Lotus and Caterham are both gone, we're down to a 9-team grid, and that's pretty sad. At least Lotus has potential though. I heard it was possible both teams might pull the plug by mid-season if things don't get better.

I know the voting F1 teams are against a cost cap, but seriously, F1 with anything less than 10 teams is just going to eventually collapse on itself.

[phreezee]

Caterham must be doing something wrong if they can't afford engines with a free driver this year.

[Gibson]

Nothing unexpected with the Mercedes 1-2 on the starting grid, but big surprise from Riccardo, Grosjean and Bottas who all out qualified Ferrari.

You gotta feel a bit bad for Seb, I mean Christ, what a weekend. He was waving to the crowd after he got out his car though so at least he's keeping his head up. Looks like he'll be starting 15th after the gearbox change.

And WTF MALDONADO! Are you SERIOUS? Three minutes into qualifying and he stuffs it into a wall, and not even on a difficult corner. Even with all the money he brought to Lotus, he's gotta be costing them more in repairs than he's worth haha. What a plug.

Keep in mind too that Vergne has a 10-place penalty for the botched tire job in FP2, so he'll be back there too. Caterham seems to have taken several step backwards with their new aero package, so it looks like Marussia has a clear advantage in Spain. A bit surprised by Force India's lack of pace given their recent success.

I read somewhere that ~75% of Barcelona winners started on pole, so it shouldn't be a surprise who will win tomorrow, but it'll be interesting to see the duels between 3-10. Alonso will be wanting to give his home crowd a good show, so we'll see how Lotus, Williams and Red Bull can do with him behind them.

[rage2]

Ricardo wasn't unexpected. Force India wasn't either, they're usually pretty bad at high downforce tracks such as Barcelona and Silverstone, and excel at tracks that reward aero efficiency with lower df requirements such as Spa.

Ferrari was expected to drop down after they announced Friday that they are not bringing their big update to this race because it's not ready. Reading my prediction, I pretty much nailed it haha.

[DJ Lazy]

Originally posted by rage2
I've come to the conclusion that it's Button's fault for not able to setup a car properly, and relying on Hamilton when he was still on the team.

But all the hamilton haters will tell you Ham's no good at setting up a car... He's just a wannabe rapper with no technical skill..


Awesome to see HAM turn it around between Q2 and 3 and beat Nico to pole position yet again... You could clearly see the dismay on Nicos face while waiting for the post qualy photo. The mental game is now is FULL effect for the rest of the season!

[phreezee]

The real story of the race is how dominant Red Bull still is over the rest of the field the way Vettel powered through everyone. The track suited them, but it's disappointing to see the other teams have really not progressed against RBR.

Brawn visited Ferrari, but denies it was for a professional reasons. And Ferrari basically offers Newey a blank cheque.

Button says Magnusson's inexperience is costing McLaren in regards to setup. Must be lots of pressure for him since I think it's uncharacteristic of him to point fingers.

Frustration and desperation sinking in.

[sidewaysD]

Just not working out for Seb.

[rage2]

Originally posted by phreezee
The real story of the race is how dominant Red Bull still is over the rest of the field the way Vettel powered through everyone. The track suited them, but it's disappointing to see the other teams have really not progressed against RBR.

This was a given. We knew before the race that Merc and RBR are up their on their own in regards to downforce. What's shocking is how much faster the Mercs were. I know Riccardo was held up by Bottas at the start, but still, 50 second gap to the winner. That Merc is fast everywhere, as long as Ham and Ros keeps their fighting clean, there's no reason they won't be able to win all races this year. I seriously doubt anyone can catch up to Merc's during in season upgrades. 1s a lap at Barcelona is pretty much a game over hand them the trophy now scenario.

Originally posted by phreezee
Button says Magnusson's inexperience is costing McLaren in regards to setup. Must be lots of pressure for him since I think it's uncharacteristic of him to point fingers.

As a McLaren fan, I now know how it feels to be an Oilers fan haha.

[CapnCrunch]

Originally posted by sidewaysD
Just not working out for Seb.

Lol. He actually had a pretty amazing race to finish 4th.