Practice 1 - 2018 Chinese GP

I think the problem with mclaren honda last few years is that mclaren didn't want to compromise on their 'best chassis' to accommodate honda design... Unlike TR

McLaren seems more stuck up! Typical of a team which has such a rich winning history and still got money.

Statistically speaking, Kimi has outperformed Vettel on most sessions this year but race day luck has not been on his side.

Australia P1
4 Kimi Räikkönen FERRARI 1:24.875
5 Sebastian Vettel FERRARI 1:24.995

Australia P2
4 Kimi Räikkönen FERRARI 1:24.214
5 Sebastian Vettel FERRARI 1:24.451

Australia P3
1 Sebastian Vettel FERRARI 1:26.067
2 Kimi Räikkönen FERRARI 1:28.499

Australia Quali
2 Kimi Räikkönen FERRARI 1:23.096 1:22.507 1:21.828
3 Sebastian Vettel FERRARI 1:23.348 1:21.944 1:21.838

Australia Race
1 Sebastian Vettel FERRARI 58 1:29:33.283
3 Kimi Räikkönen FERRARI 58 +6.309s

Australia Fastest Lap
2 Kimi Räikkönen FERRARI 57 1:26.373 221.027
4 Sebastian Vettel FERRARI 53 1:26.469 220.782

Bahrain P1
3 Kimi Räikkönen FERRARI 1:31.458
4 Sebastian Vettel FERRARI 1:31.470

Bahrain P2
1 Kimi Räikkönen FERRARI 1:29.817
2 Sebastian Vettel FERRARI 1:29.828

Bahrain P3
1 Kimi Räikkönen FERRARI 1:29.868
5 Sebastian Vettel FERRARI 1:30.719

Bahrain Quali
1 Sebastian Vettel FERRARI 1:29.060 1:28.341 1:27.958
2 Kimi Räikkönen FERRARI 1:28.951 1:28.515 1:28.101

Bahrain Race
1 Sebastian Vettel FERRARI 57 1:32:01.940
NC Kimi Räikkönen FERRARI 35 DNF

Bahrain Fastest Lap
6 Kimi Räikkönen FERRARI 22 1:34.337 206.527
7 Sebastian Vettel FERRARI 21 1:34.453 206.274

China P1
2 Kimi Räikkönen FERRARI 1:34.358
6 Sebastian Vettel FERRARI 1:34.861

demm full of details. yeah iceman always didn't have luck since with mclaren. only have best luck renault last period. hahaha

kimi still vet for practice behind ham +0.007. iceman quite fast!!!

The thing is Vettel is faster when it matters i.e. raceday. too often kimi is slower on some stints of the race or throughout the whole race. I think he is just racing for the pay cheque, no motivation to win and accepted his no2 role in Ferrari.

Thoughts on upcoming Chinese GP.

First time Pirelli bring tyre compounds that is not in sequence. Ultra Softs, soft and Medium for this China GP. Interesting to see who will try to qualify on the Softs in Q2 if the Ultra Softs cannot last long enough. Starting on the softs will give teams more options in their pit strategy. Last year the fastest strategy is to start on the Supersofts and then Soft to the end.

My point is,last few years he was almost always outperformed in almost all sessions by his team mate. This year it seems kind of consistently ahead.

Some more statistics for you guys. All time fastest lap records. Guest who holds the most of the current drivers.


no Driver Nb
1 SCHUMACHER Michael 77
2 RAIKKONEN Kimi 45
3 PROST Alain 41
4 HAMILTON Lewis 38
5 VETTEL Sebastian 33
6 MANSELL Nigel 30
7 CLARK Jim 28
8 HAKKINEN Mika 25
9 LAUDA Niki 24
10 FANGIO Juan Manuel 23
11 PIQUET Nelson 23
12 ALONSO Fernando 23
13 BERGER Gerhard 21
14 ROSBERG Nico 20
15 MOSS Stirling 19
16 SENNA Ayrton 19
17 HILL Damon 19
18 WEBBER Mark 19
19 COULTHARD David 18
20 BARRICHELLO Rubens 17
21 STEWART Jackie 15
22 REGAZZONI Clay 15
23 MASSA Felipe 15
24 ICKX Jacky 14
25 JONES Alan 13
26 PATRESE Riccardo 13
27 ASCARI Alberto 12
28 BRABHAM Jack 12
29 ARNOUX René 12
30 MONTOYA Juan-Pablo 12

Kimi got most of his fastest laps when he was in McLaren and during his first Ferrari period, basically when he was still on top of his game. Anyway fastest laps doesn't mean much, just look at Senna whom I and many still considered as the fastest and best ever racer only managed 19 fastest laps, less than even Gerhard Berger and Nico Rosberg! It's the pole position that counts more as the showcase of pure speed/talent.

I'm all about stats today lol. In Kimi's 4 years at McLaren, he had 31 retirements, In his 8 (combined) years at Ferrari, he only had 24 retirements. I believe without as many retirements, he would've been a multiple world champion at McLaren. You can't compare Senna anyway, different era, different rules, different mindset. In those days most of the fast cars blow up. The theme then was to "win in the slowest possible time". Senna undoubtedly is one of the greatest.

Kimi are more likely testing setting that sure works... While vettel are on settings that 'might' work.

Yes, I know Kimi should've been a multiple champ if not for many technical retirements and Schumy getting away with cheating. For example in 2003, he would have been champ with only a single win (like KK Rosberg) if Schumy was not conveniently pushed back on track by the marshals in Nurburgring hairpin. Also same case in 2005, Alonso would not have been champ if Kimi had less technical problems. Those days he was really fast at least in the dry (not so in the wet). But in his 2nd Ferrari period, he is already a shadow of himself, easily beaten by Alonso and now Seb (even when Seb just join in their first year together). His fastest laps, or anyone's fastest laps doesn't mean that much coz got other variables in the race that are in play, unlike pole position. Pole position is different because that's the time you go all out in the fastest setup with a clear track, hence a true showcase of pure raw speed, the essence of driving skill I'd say. Like real55555 posted above, when it matters (qualifying and race), so far it's Seb who can get better results despite also having less fastest laps record than Kimi.

That approach to win in the slowest possible time is ALWAYS valid in racing, even more so today! That's why now engineers play an even more important role in determining the target lap times so that they can win while still preserving the machinery, especially since nowadays engines and gearboxes have to last so many races. Actually this approach is even more evident in this last few years and that's why drivers often complain that they cannot race all out. During Senna's era, they only need the engine & gearbox to last 1 race, so they can actually go flat out more but in Senna's case apparently he did not! Coz he had crushed his opponents during qualifying and therefore he can manage from the front, not needing to record fastest laps so often. I think he learnt his lesson the hard way during the 1988 Monaco where he had a big lead yet crashing due to him still trying to record fast laps. That's why I also think pole position means so much more than fastest laps to showcase who are really the faster/more talented drivers. (it was a bit distorted during Schumy era where they introduced fueling strategy into qualifying though).

Man, that was heart-breaking for Kimi. Thought he got pole sealed up but he lost too much time in the final sector. Looks like Mercedes have a lot of work to do to catch Ferrari this weekend

Vettel n ferrari looks strong. Kimi also fast this year. Hopefully his ice hearts didn't breaks.. Haha

It is expected the radical changes on this year's Ferrari race car to be more effective than the conservative design of Mercedes.

If Qualifying Mercedes can't even beat Ferrari, then it just a walk for win for Ferrari. I was actually hoping to see Mercedes stealing the pole and watch Ferrari-Vettel catching up overtaking on race. Mercedes sucks on following behind so Ferrari can safely secure their position on race with even performance or better PU.

"No driver has ever won the first three races, and not gone on to win that season's title."
Wow, if Vettel gonna win tomorrow, the championship pretty much belongs to Vettel. Mercedes, try again next year if tmr you lose the game, haha.

This post has been edited by voscar: Apr 14 2018, 07:57 PM

Nowadays... With limit in engine components, it hard to predict.

Even if Seb does win tomorrow, there’s no way one should count Mercedes out this early. If they are still not back to where they are when they are back on the Euro circuits, only then there’s a big problem