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[Hammer278]

looking ok for lotus here. hope RGs new chasis sorts him out. hes fast!!

and nice to see merc going backwards a bit :p

Still ahead of McLaren, most importantly.

[What's Burning?]

looking ok for lotus here. hope RGs new chasis sorts him out. hes fast!!

and nice to see merc going backwards a bit :p

Still ahead of McLaren, most importantly.

a bit harsh.

[elfinitty]

^^Not for this season perhaps?

[al4x]

looking ok for lotus here. hope RGs new chasis sorts him out. hes fast!!

and nice to see merc going backwards a bit :p

Still ahead of McLaren, most importantly.

hardly a claim to fame :p

[What's Burning?]

Not a claim to fame indeed, but neither is McLaren's aspirations to beat the lowly Mercedes. They should focus on Force India first.

[al4x]

Not a claim to fame indeed, but neither is McLaren's aspirations to beat the lowly Mercedes. They should focus on Force India first.

from FP Force india do seem to be alright again this race..as long as they dont fluff it

[Hammer278]

Not a claim to fame indeed, but neither is McLaren's aspirations to beat the lowly Mercedes. They should focus on Force India first.

Lewis says they're not as far back as they seem to be, but still well behind expectations. Currently they have 3 teams ahead of them comfortably, Ferrari, RB and Lotus. 5th should be the target this time...at least beating Grosjean and Massa/Webber (whichever one falters).

[bud]

looking ok for lotus here. hope RGs new chasis sorts him out. hes fast!!

and nice to see merc going backwards a bit :p

Still ahead of McLaren, most importantly.

Obsessed much?

[racechick]

looking ok for lotus here. hope RGs new chasis sorts him out. hes fast!!

and nice to see merc going backwards a bit :p

Those practise positions didnt look great I admit. But Mercedes aren't short of one lap speed and they have two drivers that can turn it on when needed. Could it be that during practise they were concerning themselves more with race pace and understanding more the behaviour and management if those pesky tyres??

That said they're looking fourth which isn't good enough. But the drivers could rectify some of that.

[SingaporeSling]

Alonso looked really strong on Ferrari. then comes Vettel, Kimi maybe Massa and Webber too, before Merc. Mercs long runs looked quite bad actually, was surprised about that. But maybe they improve in race itself. Even Mac seemed to same or faster laptimes.

From FP2 it is Alonso's to lose. But I've been wrong before, if I hadn't I'd be rich.

[Ferrari man 009]

From practice I think it'll be similar to Australia.

Vettel on pole, the Red Bull looks quick on a single lap, but Kimi and Alonso will fight for the win!

[RyRy]

Before their qualli runs in P3, what it looks like for me:

Red Bull: Fairly stable car, will more than likely have cooling issues during qualli/race but they're pretty fast.

Ferrari: Looks to have very good long run pace, slightly unstable on the rear so might have rear graining issues during the race however they seem like they're joint fastest along with the Red Bulls and also with the Lotus's

Mercedes: Seems to have one of the more stable cars but seems pretty slow, their long run pace wasn't that good either. I don't think they'll be challenging this weekend unless Hamilton's friday trying multiple setups pays off.

Lotus: Seems to be on pace with the Red Bulls and Ferrari's, we know they have good tyre management and good long run pace. Looking promising.

Force India: Team 5, looks like they're faster than the McLarens but slower than the top 4 they're gaining all their time on the straights with the fastest straight line speed by a long way. This will be interesting for the race.

[Hammer278]

FP3 Top 10

1 F Alonso (ESP) Ferrari 1'33.247
2 S Vettel (GER) Red Bull 1'33.348
3 M Webber (AUS) Red Bull 1'33.380
4 KM Räikkönen (FIN) Lotus 1'33.446
5 LC Hamilton (GBR) Mercedes 1'33.455
6 R Grosjean (FRA) Lotus 1'33.464
7 A Sutil (GER) Force India 1'33.596
8 P di Resta (GBR) Force India 1'33.700
9 N Rosberg (GER) Mercedes 1'33.764
10 N Hülkenberg (GER) Sauber 1'33.922

Lewis had his tyre disintegrate on the straights and damage the left rear suspension. Seriously Pirelli, WTF are these tyres made of, marshmallows?

F**k, gearbox change for Hamilton...5 place drop. Reports suggesting its the f8cking tyre which caused this.

[CookinFlat6]

He must have suffered more than just a tyre blowout on the inlap. This is Nicos chance to prove what he is made off. He has no excuse not to max the teams quali potential

[Hammer278]

Merc has no option but to get into Q3 with Lewis and then just do what Vettel and Button did in China. Nothing else can work.

EDIT...actually just remembered they have similar spec tyres for this weekend...so maybe just go for it in Q3. Tough call.