[deetjohn]

FP1 and FP2 got completed and Ferrari looks strong if Mercedes isn't sandbagging and hiding their pace.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8v5nWH5hC68

Originally Posted by JamesAllen

It was a productive day opening day for Ferrari as Sebastian Vettel topped the leaderboard in Free Practice 2 in Russia with a 1:34.120. The Italian team raised the first question mark of the weekend after Mercedes’ historic domination at Sochi.

Vettel’s fastest time of 1:34.120 on ultra-softs was 0.263s quicker than team-mate Kimi Raikkonen’s in second – both times set around 30 minutes into the 90-minute session.

Lap-times were noticeably faster than last year’s where Hamilton went fastest with 1:37.583 in FP2 and team-mate Rosberg, the retired champion, qualified at 1:35.417. Gains on the slick Sochi surface are evident due to the 2017 cars’ increased downforce.

Whether on ultra-softs or super-softs, the trend showed that Ferrari was quicker in Sectors 1 and 2, which are more dependent on power with longer curves and straights, while the tighter Sector 3 was where Mercedes made its gains. Ferrari was around 4mph faster on average than the Silver Arrows in the Sector 1 speed-trap.

source

And thanks to Liberty Media, we have this!

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=oqpBhrQGQYs

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=cRBx51ue7vw

[jfxavier]

Team principals PC:

https://youtu.be/WW0iFWpGcZA

https://youtu.be/uTgcz99HSyQ

[ecenandu]

My prediction for the starting grid.

Vettel, Bottas, Hamilton and Kimi for the front two row, within .275 seconds covering the four.

[ashwin.terminat]

Ferrari already using their 3rd turbo this season.

http://www.espn.in/f1/story/_/id/192...ility-concerns

Potential grid penalties in future?

They say it is a strategic decision. But considering a component once used cannot be updated or upgraded, that leaves Ferrari with only one turbo that they can update/upgrade.

Is there some rationale or is it all hogwash?

Hope Kimi and Seb can lock out the front row today!

[ecenandu]

Originally Posted by ashwin.terminat

Is there some rationale or is it all hogwash?

Hope Kimi and Seb can lock out the front row today!

They wanted to downplay the turbo problem, in fact when Haas had a turbo failure in Australia, it was reported as water leak issue. In next round during the press meet, Guenther Steiner accidently told they had a turbo failure but covered it nicely by saying water leak led to turbo failure.

Watch from 3:05

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ZfQR9AMif5M&t=3m5s

watch 7:20
http://www.dailymotion.com/video/x5h...conference_fun

[ashwin.terminat]

Mercedes really turned on the heat in Q2.

0.7s faster than the Ferraris.

Hoping for an interesting Q3!

[ashwin.terminat]

2 prancing horses on the front row!

1) Vettel
2) Raikkonen
3) Bottas
4) Hamilton

[deetjohn]

Wow! A front row lockout. Been a long long time.

And that too at Sochi means really something! So, that pace in free practice was genuine.

The gap between Vettel and Raikkonen is just 0.059s. Means Kimi is also back. SF70H is riding the kerbs very well, totally planted.

That's the first time Ferrari has locked out the front row in just under nine years! And, that's also the first Ferrari pole position since Singapore 2015.

[ecenandu]

Oh you Kimi, you blew it at the last corner. Almost an another pole after 2008, Hamilton looks rattled. I hope he will be back on it tomorrow, its a long way till the first braking point, the start will be super crucial.

Excited for the race .

[shibujp]

After 9 years a Ferrari front row lockout. What a tremendous qualifying session. The Ferraris look exceptionally strong this year especially on the tyres. In Q1 they used the soft and beat the rest of the grid before reverting to ultra softs for the final qualifying run.

Shame though that Raikkonen overcooked the final corner.

There was a lot of talks about it being generally tougher this year to get the tyres up to temp. However given the immense amount of torque in the turbo engines and the higher amounts of down force I would have thought it would be easier.

His father's bankroll aside Lance Stroll looks to be shaping up quite nicely. Hope he manages to finish the race strong.

Hamilton is rattled no doubt. This is the second race where Bottas has pulled one over him clearly indicating that he is not going to play second fiddle. Along with Hamilton, Toto and Lauda look pretty glum too. It's one thing to pontificate when things are going your way but character is seen in how you react when things ain't working out. Gonna be interesting how things play out at Mercedes.

Drive on,
Shibu

[SilentEngine]

Originally Posted by ecenandu

Oh you Kimi, you blew it at the last corner. Almost an another pole after 2008, Hamilton looks rattled. I hope he will be back on it tomorrow, its a long way till the first braking point, the start will be super crucial.

Excited for the race .

Absolutely! Last time Kimi was on front Row, it didn't turn out too well! It will be fun if he can out gun Vettel in the mini drag race.

[ecenandu]

Originally Posted by shibujp

His father's bankroll aside Lance Stroll looks to be shaping up quite nicely. Hope he manages to finish the race strong.

F3 to F1 is a huge jump and his lack of experience is quite evident. We never complained the same about Carlos Sainz, Max Verstrapen or Kvyat, right.

The main difference I can see is, he is able to match or come close to Massa's time in practice but not able to pull a clean lap in qualification. His driving is similar to that of Sainz, jerky steering inputs. He was sliding all over the place. Would love to see how he drives in Monaco and Singapore.

I would rate Rio Haryanto's F1 performance to be better than Stroll's. William is literally throwing away valuable points now, the team is the best of the rest at the moment. Anyway, the season have just started, hope he will up his game, say from tomorrow onwards.

Originally Posted by SilentEngine

Absolutely! Last time Kimi was on front Row, it didn't turn out too well! It will be fun if he can out gun Vettel in the mini drag race.

Yup, I remember it well. Nearly stalled on the grid, luckily managed to escape without a crash, thanks to all the drivers who dodged him with super quick reflex. Monza 2015.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=WnPshzMx_uU

[ecenandu]

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zPYyGTf-UXU

[shibujp]

Originally Posted by ecenandu

F3 to F1 is a huge jump and his lack of experience is quite evident. We never complained the same about Carlos Sainz, Max Verstrapen or Kvyat, right.

The main difference I can see is, he is able to match or come close to Massa's time in practice but not able to pull a clean lap in qualification. His driving is similar to that of Sainz, jerky steering inputs. He was sliding all over the place. Would love to see how he drives in Monaco and Singapore.

I would rate Rio Haryanto's F1 performance to be better than Stroll's. William is literally throwing away valuable points now, the team is the best of the rest at the moment. Anyway, the season have just started, hope he will up his game, say from tomorrow onwards.

Yes I agree. There are better rookies on the grid than him. Williams has done this before - Pastor Maldonado came with Venezuelan oil money. However his qualifying performance and especially since his sponsorship has been a main factor in his selection, I feel has redeemed him to some extent. Verstappen has been a rare find that does not come often. Stroll is still a teenager, green around the gills. I don't see the natural talent from him that drivers like Verstappen have who incidently also made the F3 to F1 jump. To overcome that he would need a combination of attitude and good technical acumen to get there.

As for Williams putting points on the table, I don't think they are there yet as a package to challenge the top three. Even for fourth this year I think they have a stronger challenge for fourth.

But it would be interesting to see how he develops. If at the end of the season he proves to be a great asset would we find more drivers making the jump from F3 to F1?

Drive on,
Shibu.

[arun_josie]

What a boring first half of the race. Perfect example of a procession. No one in the DRS zone.