Don't be baffled be happy! Thing is, could still be a 'boring' race if Vettel now romps ahead at 0.5s per lap without a challenge. Or is most peoples view of a 'boring' race just one where Mercedes win? All signs are good for a decent race though!
It's long Monaco, scene of crash-gate, which says it all about the on-track action, although sometimes it throws up something, like Massa on Senna.
Any word on why the Mercs have been slow this weekend? Any upgrades on the Red Bull/Ferrari? I know the circuit suits Red Bull and Ferrari better but Merc were pretty dominant in Monaco the past two seasons.
Looks like Lotus have had to scrape the bottom of the barrel for parts. I wish Bernie would give Renault the historic payments that he should give them. Lets face it if Red Bull get 'historic payments' then Renault should in a big way. I am sure on BBC radio coverage of quali I heard that Button was using an older spec of engine than Alonso! I thought they had incurred lots of penalties last 2 races to get a stock of latest spec. Anyway nice to see McHonda do a little better all be it at a track that doesn't need power.
Two scintillating laps from Vettel – the last of which was completely unnecessary, except to underline a significant psychological advantage he has here. But despite what I've just said, I really would like to emphasise that his final lap was fantastic! Mercedes are most definitely on the back foot and with four cars ahead of them, they may struggle to get just one of the cars on the podium. One thing to watch out for which may put some excitement into what might otherwise be something of a procession is the likelihood of at least one Safety Car. And if it is not of the 'virtual' variety (due to significant debris or difficulty recovering a car), the restarts will present opportunities for the more adventurous. An interesting race in prospect. Vettel's race to lose; but if he keeps it all together he could finish well ahead of second place.
How were the long runs respectively this weekend? Red Bull was good with tyres apparantly? It'll be interesting off the line- Raikonnen has something to prove after his last start, the Red Bulls havent been electric themselves. Could be Vettel out alone and a real battle for 2nd at the first corner but hoping its a right battle!
When I saw it I was baffled. The only thing I think that could explain it is that since Nico is on his final engine they are being overly cautious and turning them both down. Both so they are still on equal footing and Nico doesn't feel hard done by that Lewis has a full powered engine. I just can't see any other way they could lose/others gain THIS much. We will know more tomorrow I think as if this is the case I can't see them leaving the engines turned down after this bad of a Quali. If they still struggle then I'm stumped!
Mercedes saying they can't get heat into their tyres. This would explain the massive gap, no way has Ferrari and the others found 1 - 1.5s per lap on them just like that. If the conditions are cool for the race, can't see Mercedes getting any quicker and they may well continue to struggle. Tyre wear will be bad as well for them as well if they are sliding around all over the place so could be double pain for them. The others should take advantage of the wounded animal, can't see it striking back tomorrow.........
Given that all the Mercedes teams seem to be struggling my best guess is they're struggling with the low end of their engine, either spinning the wheels too much or too little.
“Hamilton, meanwhile, said in his news conference: ‘It’s a bit like doing a good lap on the prime tyre and then you go and do exactly the same lap on an option tyre and it’s a second and a half faster. I do the lap, and like, ‘that was a really good lap’, but it’s a second and a half slower than the guys up ahead, so.... “‘We’ve not lost any performance in the car, the drivers have not lost any performance, and so there’s only one way it can come from and that’s obviously the rubber. But I have no way of knowing that is the case, so I’m very interested to find out. I actually challenge all you guys to go and find what the reasons might be, and I’m challenging my team to find out where we’ve lost time – whether it’s in tyre pressures, temperatures of blankets, ride heights, I’m challenging everyone to find out.’ Without trying to sound like an aniti-Mercedes conspiracist, I do have concerns that their performance has now dipped in the race immediately after their tyre pressures come under scrutiny. However, I hope there is another explanation!
