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#399787
They were Ferrari are only 3-4mph slower than the Mercedes at the speed trap on the long straight that was practice, they were competitive I'm thinking the new road car specialist they've transfered to be team boss has brought the team a better understanding of the engine requirements to be competitive.

They have made some progress on straight-line speed, although they are being cagey on the details."

Source of the practice results I read are from the BBC website...http://www.bbc.co.uk/sport/0/formula1/27076346
#399789
Those Friday times are very misleading, because as we know, Mercedes were not running anywhere near capacity on Friday.

For sure Ferrari have made up significant ground since Bahrain, but the true measure of how much top end speed they still give away to Mercedes was when Nico caught Nando on the long straight during the race and drew almost level with him before he was allowed to open his DRS.
#399792
Those Friday times are very misleading, because as we know, Mercedes were not running anywhere near capacity on Friday.


The Sky analysis in the build-up indicated that Ferrari were 6/7mph behind Merc, but 6/7 ahead of RBR. When they showed the comparison Ferrari were right in between RBR and Merc, and that was showed in the race. Rosberg breezed past Alonso but when Vettel tried to do the same Alonso pulled away despite DRS.
#399793
Those Friday times are very misleading, because as we know, Mercedes were not running anywhere near capacity on Friday.


The Sky analysis in the build-up indicated that Ferrari were 6/7mph behind Merc, but 6/7 ahead of RBR. When they showed the comparison Ferrari were right in between RBR and Merc, and that was showed in the race. Rosberg breezed past Alonso but when Vettel tried to do the same Alonso pulled away despite DRS.


Really good points and comparisons!

But I do believe Mercedes is head and shoulders ahead of anyone in straight line speed, as was shown today. Ferrari is ahead of Red Bull in that department now, just by a tiny bit, but I think Red Bull is slightly ahead of Ferrari in downforce and overall speed - but Ferrari have done a great job of closing the gap to 2nd place. Lets see what they can do in Spain :yes:
#399794
... Ferrari is ahead of Red Bull in that department now, just by a tiny bit, but I think Red Bull is slightly ahead of Ferrari in downforce and overall speed - but Ferrari have done a great job of closing the gap to 2nd place...

The one difference we haven't mentioned is a very significant difference: Alonso!!
The man is one tenacious driver and we're lucky to have him in the fold!! :clap:
#399835
Also finishing just 23 seconds behind Hamilton indicated progress was being made.

Progress relative to RBR but to see it as progress against Mercedes can be very misleading as Hamilton used a couple of percentage points less fuel than anyone else, he was doing just enough and no more.
#399847
Ferrari's overall pace is close enough to RBR for Alonso to make the difference. Today was by far Ferrari's best showing of the season, took Rosberg quite a while to catch Alonso - although the pass was pretty easy. Also finishing just 23 seconds behind Hamilton indicated progress was being made.


Well, watching the F1 timing app it was quite easy to see what happened to Rosberg a few times...

He was gaining about half a second to a second a lap and then when he got to ~2 seconds he locked up just before pitting which lost him a fair bit of time so once they had both done their pits he was back to something like 8 seconds, he then chased again and was going half a second to a second faster but Alonso kept finding the backmarkers on the straights and Rosberg collected a few backmarkers in awkward locations.

He also used more fuel catching back up after the lap 1 incident and then on top of that he had no telemetry so was having to give feedback a lot (more than you hear on the radio) and wasn't going flat out because they needed to protect the car as without telemetry they couldn't tell anything about the car, just before he overtook Alonso he was told over the radio to go full power to overtake and that's what he did and then breezed past and then sat in cruise.

Ferrari's pace was impressive today but anyone saying Raikkonen is rubbish or not able to challenge Alonso... Kimi's just taking longer to adjust to the car and the break by wire (he locks up a lot because of it), he's still a classy driver and will up his game sooner or later.

I'd say Red Bull are still ahead but the Ferrari Engine has better power output, the thing that helps Red Bull stay in contention is their downforce and low tyre wear.
#399854
Also finishing just 23 seconds behind Hamilton indicated progress was being made.

Progress relative to RBR but to see it as progress against Mercedes can be very misleading as Hamilton used a couple of percentage points less fuel than anything else, he was doing just enough and no more.

Exactly.

If you're happy to finish 23 seconds behind the leader who was coasting then by all means progress, progress, progress. Still a long way to go.
#399856
If you're happy to finish 23 seconds behind the leader who was coasting then by all means progress, progress, progress. Still a long way to go.

Not sure why anyone would be "happy" to be 23 seconds behind!! Ferrari man 009 very clearly stated:
Also finishing just 23 seconds behind Hamilton indicated progress was being made.
Nothing to do with being "happy"!! :nono:
#399894
If you're happy to finish 23 seconds behind the leader who was coasting then by all means progress, progress, progress. Still a long way to go.

Not sure why anyone would be "happy" to be 23 seconds behind!! Ferrari man 009 very clearly stated:
Also finishing just 23 seconds behind Hamilton indicated progress was being made.
Nothing to do with being "happy"!! :nono:

In English the word "just" as Ferrariman used it, is acting as an adjective indicating his opinion that (23 seconds) it's a small gap. It is therefore indicating optimism, and I'd take it from his tifosi standpoint, joy, happiness. So maybe you should be messaging Ferrariman for clarification?
#399901
:rofl::rofl:

Ferrari man 009, I hope you've learned your lesson. And if you think we've been tough on you this time over "just" then just wait til you try and use about. Expect the forum to come down on you like a ton of bricks :hehe:

However, I do agree with you .... just

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