It depends what the 'fix' was! Essentially, the penalty is only incurred if the gearbox needs to be replaced. However, this still looks like a possibility because Mercedes are going to have to test the solution during Friday's practice.
Cheers. Just found this: 'Although gearbox ratios are fixed for the season, teams may change gears or dog rings at any time during an event providing that the FIA technical delegate is satisfied that there is physical damage to the parts in question.' So looks like as long as it's a gear or dog rings you are fine if there is damage.
I would really love to see Red Bull and Ferrari pressure Merc with an aggressive strategy from both Riccardo and Vettel, and then let Kimi and Max play the alternative strategy. The only way to beat Merc is to take them out of their comfort zone and the one thing they don't like is having to factor another variable in their intra team battle. This is where they often trip themselves up. This race will undoubtedly be affected by track position and early aggressive pitstops are likely to put you back into traffic.
Hoping for rain as the Mercedes seems to have 1.5 seconds in their back pocket. Better news.... Hamilton in the barriers
I fear Merc may have more than 1.5 sec. My guess is they are not using the engine in full quali mode yet!!!!! As the year goes on the Merc Power Unit just seems massively better than anyone else. I wonder if they are doing 1 thing better than the competition or is it just little optimisations everywhere? Hopefully with the limits removed from PU development next year things will improve.
I think it must be that Merc are doing everything a little better than the rest, because if it was just 1 thing, surely the rest of them would of found it by now.
Merc have just got an unbelievable machine and they are at an advantage over their customers too. McLaren Honda are showng why their chassis is considered better than midfield- if only they could get a power unit up to scratch they could then start to develop closer to the front. For Merc to have 9 tenths on Ferrari round Hungary is crazy. Red Bull will be closer tomorrow but even half a second will be a tough one to make up in race sim unless they can go longer on their tyres.
Smithers, and others fearful of procession, might want to look away. Based on the evidence of Friday practice, I admit some surprise at Mercedes appearing to be so far ahead. However, I still believe it possible Red Bull and/or Ferrari may be attempting to complete the race with one less stop. If Mercedes do elect for an extra stop – which could be problematic with extra traffic – average lap time will need to be at least half a second faster over the course of the race. I also admit I didn't expect the new, smoother track surface to be quite so significant. It appears to be helping Mercedes in three subtle and complementary ways, which could mean they do not need the extra stop. This is because, all else being equal, a smoother track surface… … helps offset the Achilles Heal often associated with greater traction: that of increased tyre degradation. … further rewards a chassis with good traction due to the increased contact with track surface, thus magnifying the original advantage. … can offset the biggest advantage of greater downforce (Red Bull?) which is to overcome losses in mechanical grip. The downforce advantage is relatively reduced because competitors with less of it tend to struggle even more with rougher surfaces (hence my earlier assessment that Mercedes' advantage might well be reigned in for this event, especially by Red Bull). Net result: on a smoother surface, the relative merits of downforce v traction tend to swing in favour of traction, all else being equal. P.S. I've read the discussion about whether Mercedes may have improved the power unit in one big way or lots of little tweaks. For what it's worth, I'd go with the latter; but I think it more likely the new surface is highlighting the pre-existing advantage.
Formula 1 needs to sort out its phobia of rain. Pinnacle of motorsport, unless the weather is not perfect. After all in the real world no one drives in the rain.
There does seem to be lots of standing water. Seems like too much for even the wets to clear. I want to see quali but don't want to put drivers to too much risk. Once standing water is gone they should get out. The proposed new wet start system would help. i.e. get cars out behind safety car to clear standing water then start quali.
Is it my imagination or did Button used to be very good at picking when to change tyres in drying conditions and also used to be able to make his tyres last well? Seems like the McHonda doesn't enable him to feel the tyres enough or the newer Pirelli's don't give him the feel he used to have. Any ideas?
