[Monster Hesh]

[Monster Hesh]

Cant look past Merc for lock out grandslam.
Ferrari aren't close enough, and are way off on race pace, with the worst deg especially on the HS tyre.
RedBull could be the only saviour, who are close enough to Merc on longer run pace.

Tyre gaps according to Pirelli:
• between HS and US: 1s/lap
• between US and SS: 0.3s/lap

[forzaferrari]

The sausage kerb added to the exit of the penultimate corner of the Abu Dhabi Formula 1 circuit is being revised after complaints following Friday practice.

https://www.motorsport.com/f1/news/sausa...d/4302821/

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A "surprising" gap between the performance of the hypersoft and the ultrasoft tyre at the Abu Dhabi Grand Prix makes it unlikely that the top three teams will be able to get through Q2 on the harder tyres, reckons Pirelli.
The large speed advantage that Mercedes, Ferrari and Red Bull have enjoyed over the rest of the field has meant that at times this year they have had the luxury of being able to pick a more durable tyre to scrape through Q2.

However, Pirelli's head of racing Mario Isola says that such a plan will not work at the Yas Marina because of the large delta between the two softest tyres.

"The biggest surprise is that the hypersoft is a lot quicker," explained Isola after the first day of running.
"We were estimating a delta laptime of 0.9-1 second, which is in line with last year – and last year we tested the older range here in Abu Dhabi.
"It actually seems it is a bit more, and in the range of 1.3 – 1.4 seconds. It means that for qualifying, it is very difficult to have somebody trying to go through Q2 with the ultrasoft.

[Jody Barton]

That gap between the Hypersofts and Ultrasofts will come down methinks, plus neither Merc ran "quali" mode on the ultras, and neither did RBR, who are back to using Renault's spec 3 engines this weekend. I think they might try to squeak through on the Ultrasofts still. The Hypersofts are just disintegrating and the Super Softs are just graining, seemingly only Mercedes being able to get them to work, do the Ultrasofts look like the tyre to be on in the race.

[forzaferrari]

.....And the sh*t luck continues for Danny Ricc

[Jody Barton]

.....And the sh*t luck continues for Danny Ricc

Depends what it is, but yeah, rotten luck. Looks like it could be clutch and or gearbox rather than engine issues... if it is another Renault PU failure then he'll need to accept he's made a hideous mistake moving to Renault.

However the real talking point is that Lewis actually looks quick enough to make it through to Q3 on the ultrasofts, and maybe Kimi was too.. but, the others? Maybe not. So that'll be interesting to watch in Q2.

Also, what the hell was Grosjean doing again? Pootling around on the racing line yet again, very nearly causing another crash. Totally understand Gasly's annoyance. For me Grosjean needs some more penalty points on that license, he was let off in Brazil, because he was close to a race ban, to me that's exactly what he needs.

[forzaferrari]

Also, what the hell was Grosjean doing again? 

Yeah, looked like a real brain fade moment from the frog....is he still a director of the GPDA???

[Monster Hesh]

Even for the last practice session they couldn't be bothered with tyre info. On a half way through the session infographic it had tyre data, oh yes, but the end of the session classification they couldn't be bothered, hilarious.

[Jody Barton]

He is a director of the GPDA, and quite frankly I have no idea how he still is. He's an absolute disgrace at times.

[forzaferrari]

He is a director of the GPDA, and quite frankly I have no idea how he still is. He's an absolute disgrace at times.

My bad Jody...was supposed to read ....(how) is he still a director of the GPDA???