I'm guessing if a driver could maybe make pole, they'll go with the 3-stopper, as it'll give a set of tyres to be dedicated to quali. It'll be more interesting for the teams further down the grid, who don't make Q3, or don't stand a chance in it. If you're maybe 7th or below you'll have the tyres to make a 4-stopper work, and if you're good at overtaking (Kobayashi I'm looking at you) then maybe you can fight your way forwards as you're tyres would always be fresher than the 3-stoppers. This could lead, in theory, to some more decent charges from the midfield, hopefully to the podium.
bring back a dedicated Qualifying compound like in the early 90's and allow all drivers to start on fresh tires for the start of the race. This suited well in the era of no fuel stops.
Bring back decent tyres which allow more flexibility for a driver to make the difference. That's all they need. Power to the driver - not the supporting act!
After all the speculation we are nearly there !!! Hold onto your hat guys we are about to go racing..... I just can't wait.
The tyre wear also depends on whether or not your stuck behind a car and overheating the tyres. Also if you starts attacking and locking tyres and going off line then again this will only cause more problems. Who ever is leading from turn one will be able to a have much less degredation and will easily be able to do a 3 stop strategy. Those constantly attacking whilst stuck behind a car will probably have to a) stop 4 times, or b) do what jenson did last year and ease off around 2 seconds behind the car in front and look after the tyres and try and gain through strategy. Overall its going to be interesting and I cant wait to see how i plays out. On a seperate note, the Mclaren looks very quick with these new updates.
The McLaen looked very good, plus Alex is right, Jensen did best part of 20 laps with very little drop off. I'd expect JB to be on a 3 and LH to be on a 4. It all depends on the race pace of the cars and how easy they can get within the magic 1s of the car infront. I don't think we'll see people stuck in the dirty air of a car i front for more than 2 laps with the new rear wings. I also find myself agreeing with Ferrari that qualifying is going to be less important. If quali goes the same eay as last year I can see the RBs at the front trading places with each other constantly after lap 3 using their wings, which could be good fun since we saw how good both RB drivers are at over taking, especially Webber who may as well of had an adjustable rear wing in Valencia given the speed difference between him and HK and he still stuffed it up. Personlly I can't see the pole sitter keeping P1 for very long in the race at all no matter who they are.
Tyre degradation seems to be less than expected. This may tempt some to try for a two-stopper but I think most will be three and some may even go for four! - Probably quite a mixed bag and a very busy pitlane (which is also rather narrow). I hope everything runs smoothly here because an incident or two is more than a slim possibility…
You are correct which is good news for McLaren, but all these laps were in clear air, put 3 or 4 cars in front of him all lined up and it would be a different story. Though if hes on pole then its good to know
You seem to have great faith in this new gadget Bob! I hope you are right. Something that has surprised me is how much better than expected the tyres seem to be holding up. It seems that the dreaded 'mega-marbles' have not manifested as expected, and if it stays this way, should not present the previously anticipated difficulties off-line - which might otherwise interfere with overtaking.
It's hardly a new gadget, McLaren have reverted back to a more simple design and an improved front wing. The octopus exhaust if it had work as predicted may have given then even more of an advantage, but it seems to have caused them more problems and not enough gainsplus had some leaglity issues. Given they spent so much time in testing trying to get it to work we didn't seen any true pace from the McLaren. Alonso himself said this. The clear air argument won't be quite so true either, if you're stuck behind a car that close then your going to be able to use your rear wing to pass him come the straight, so you're never going to be stuck behind a car for that long, and the front runner is going to be pressing his tyres hard to keep the car behind over a second away. P11 may be the best seat on the grid come the race Can't wait!!!!
I think the Australian GP is likely to be the most eventful GP we have ever witnessed, some incidents not nesessarily good and as Bob says, qualy will not be an imporant feature regarding the outcome of the race, it appear the drivers influence upon the race result has been compromised.
I think it will be a 3 but some will brave for less. do the top 10 still have to start on thier Q tyres?
yes, they use quali tyres, which is why I think P11 may be a pretty good spot. It would be a real gamble to get your car there. But if a smooth driver like JB ended up there on new tyres with a line up of slower cars in front of him, come the 3rd lap he can just start sailing past them using the rear wing/kers/speed advantage and perhaps close on the front runners who have worn tyres and are in need of a pit stop. If he can then make the race with a pitstop less it puts him in a good position. All theory but with the rear wing and increased tyre ware it's pretty possible.
so its a big gamble for poll, and how much risk you put into achieving it. 11th place does look better than 10th. cant wait to see what we learn this weekend
If any of the top 4 teams ended up with a driver in 11th I could quite easily see that driver up into 6th by the time the front runners begin pitting, but getting the times just right to get 11th would be very difficult but a t least if you go a little bit over you then get a chance to put the car higher up the grid in Q3. Given past season I expect a Mercedes under the instruction of Ross Brawn to be the first to try this
