27-04-2019, 05:30 AM
Sorry Hesh nope, it wasn't you. ?
It was some French blogger, had a very comprehensive list of analysis after each race and by Singapore GP he'd written a really nice analysis of what was going on in general. Any way long and short of it was this. If Ferrari were way off on Friday, they were normally way off on Saturday, but a tad better Sunday. If Mercedes were way off on Friday they were usually much, much closer Saturday and then quicker in the races. That's a really poor summary because there were percentages and performance gap windows to look for.
Ironically Ferrari had the most to worry about when Mercedes were seemingly between 0.5 and O.7 seconds off on ultimate pace on a Sunday. Why? Because they'd turn that gap around 9 times out of 10 and win the race, which I found interesting. And Mercedes had the most to worry about when Ferrari seemed 0.3 to 0.4 seconds ahead. So something tells me they play far more poker on a Friday than many think.
But, what is always more indicative of real pace on a Friday are those race stints and from last season the team that looked ahead on race pace on Friday took pole 18 out of 21 races and won 12 out of 21 races. However, when Mercedes had the fastest race sims on Friday they always converted it to pole position bar one race (China, where they went wrong on set up over night with Lewis, had the pace to win the race but didn't put under the safety car), and converted that race pace advantage everywhere except the opening 3 races Australia, Bahrain and China where Lewis was done by a safety car blip, Bottas Bottled it in Bahrain and Mercedes pit wall had a collective brain fart in China.
Truth is after these races they learned and just didn't put a foot wrong again. Which is why when I now think about it this start from them is ominous, because unless Ferrari really do have a way faster car they can unlock, history says Mercedes will do them... and do them comfortably. Morini is right as well Lewis is already in WDC mode. In Aus he turned his engine down when he knew Bottas had turned his up. In Bahrain he did the same, but when he got a sniff that something was wrong with Leclerc he suddenly upped his own pace by 0.9 seconds a lap, again hinting at engine saving. Ditto China where once he gapped Bottas both times he hit cruise control.
It was some French blogger, had a very comprehensive list of analysis after each race and by Singapore GP he'd written a really nice analysis of what was going on in general. Any way long and short of it was this. If Ferrari were way off on Friday, they were normally way off on Saturday, but a tad better Sunday. If Mercedes were way off on Friday they were usually much, much closer Saturday and then quicker in the races. That's a really poor summary because there were percentages and performance gap windows to look for.
Ironically Ferrari had the most to worry about when Mercedes were seemingly between 0.5 and O.7 seconds off on ultimate pace on a Sunday. Why? Because they'd turn that gap around 9 times out of 10 and win the race, which I found interesting. And Mercedes had the most to worry about when Ferrari seemed 0.3 to 0.4 seconds ahead. So something tells me they play far more poker on a Friday than many think.
But, what is always more indicative of real pace on a Friday are those race stints and from last season the team that looked ahead on race pace on Friday took pole 18 out of 21 races and won 12 out of 21 races. However, when Mercedes had the fastest race sims on Friday they always converted it to pole position bar one race (China, where they went wrong on set up over night with Lewis, had the pace to win the race but didn't put under the safety car), and converted that race pace advantage everywhere except the opening 3 races Australia, Bahrain and China where Lewis was done by a safety car blip, Bottas Bottled it in Bahrain and Mercedes pit wall had a collective brain fart in China.
Truth is after these races they learned and just didn't put a foot wrong again. Which is why when I now think about it this start from them is ominous, because unless Ferrari really do have a way faster car they can unlock, history says Mercedes will do them... and do them comfortably. Morini is right as well Lewis is already in WDC mode. In Aus he turned his engine down when he knew Bottas had turned his up. In Bahrain he did the same, but when he got a sniff that something was wrong with Leclerc he suddenly upped his own pace by 0.9 seconds a lap, again hinting at engine saving. Ditto China where once he gapped Bottas both times he hit cruise control.
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