In the sense of getting behind one driver more than the other, I am quite certain Mercedes have not used team orders thus far. As things stand, the rules of engagement are as per last season and the single objective is a 1-2 (sic). Whether or not they will at some future point is an entirely different matter.
Hammys 3rd WDC is in the bag, just a matter of time, Ferrari are not in the same league as Mercedes, Vettel had a lucky win due to Merc being complacent and asleep regarding strategy, it won't happen again.
Wouldn't rule out Kimi having a strong result, he has very good record in Bahrain and he has been close to Vettel's pace so far this season but just hasn't had the luck to show it.
I don't think they would've won regardless of their strategy, the only luck in that result was Raikkonens bad luck that stopped a Ferrari 1-2. The win came a bit out of the blue but they were well worth the win, closely matching the pace of the Merc with better tyre wear, if Merc had tried the same strategy the tyres would've gone. I'd say they were in the same league, just in the Europa cup spot rather than the Champions league, otherwise Mercedes wouldn't be worried. Well there's a lot of racing to be done, but unless Ferrari find half a second I'll say yes
Had Kimi managed some luck it could have been interesting, I assume it would have meant he would have been in a battle with Hamilton at some point. We never got to see a battle with Vettel as Hamilton peeled into the pits when Vettel caught him
This being a night race plays massively into Mercedes' hands, should ease the degradation on the options, and Ferrari may struggle to heat up the primes. Hoping Ferrari are able to take a more aggressive strategy though, I think it will probably be a two-stopper for both teams but Ferrari will be in play again if Mercedes need to run two stints on primes to make the finish. Ferrari really need more raw pace though. Mercedes can drive real cautiously to protect the tyres. If Ferrari were just 3/10ths quicker it would force the issue a bit more.
It's a matter of being close, "but just not close enough" so far. Europe won't be as warm as Malaysia was so Ferrari do need to find some pace somewhere.
I don't think it necessarily has to be hot. Every race apart from Monaco will be at least two stops, if Ferrari can make a faster strategy work they'll have a chance, as long as they can switch the harder compounds on in cooler temperatures.
STR ignoring subtlety in enlarging coke bottle region for bonus cooling... please log in to view this image
I know this race will be hot but that is a lot of extra cooling. Points to STR underestimating the cooling requirements of the Renault engine. I wonder if that is one of the problems that STR and RedBull are causing for the Renault engine?
Thursday PU Count: please log in to view this image I've read that Ferrari plan to switch to a second PU this weekend at some point. They found micro-fractures in the engine blocks of both drivers apparently.
Historical 2014 P1 @ 1:37.502 (LH) 2014 P2 @ 1:34.325 (LH) 2014 P3 @ 1:35.324 (LH) 2014 Pole @ 1:33.185 (NR) Same compounds.
