May 14 2017

Formula One 2017: Circuit de Catalunya

Happy Mother’s Day!

Well they can’t claim to not know the track, Circuit de Catalunya is the official test track of Formula One and each team has spent at least 8 days testing here.

Teams with money are rolling out chassis and aero adjustments but the big story is tires. Pirelli is going with Hard, Medium, and Soft (the 3 hardest compounds). The Hard is basically useless, Catalunya is pretty abrasive but you could drive the whole race and never stop if the rules allowed. The Medium is 3 seconds a lap slower than the Softs but teams will be forced to use it, so the question is- do you run a 2 Stop and stay on them only long enough to satisfy the regulations or do you run a 1 Stop and grind your Softs into dust in the hopes you build such an insurmountable lead that switching to Mediums at the end doesn’t hurt you too much. Of course everyone will be starting the Softs.

I’d talk about other things but it’s all crap in terms of performance other than than to note the new aero rules create such turbulence (though on average 5 seconds per lap faster cars) that passing is damn near impossible. Racing, such as it is, is due to Grid position, Start performance, accidents and equipment failures, and strategic idiocy on the part of the teams. So far strategic idiocy has been limited to Tire changes but after only 4 races many teams are down to their last engine of the 4 they’re allowed and will soon face serious Grid penalties. Sweet tricks like Hamilton pulled last year by taking all his in one race have been outlawed.

Speaking of the Grid we finally have the one everyone expected when the season began- Hamilton, Vettel, Bottas, Raikkonen with Red Bull filling up the 3rd Row. Alonso managed to Qualify his Haas in 7th which is exceptionally good for Honda. This is the last time he’ll take the track before he skips Monaco to participate in the Indy 500. I suppose I’ll have to write a piece.

Vettel is currently leading the Drivers’ Championship with 86 points, Hamilton has 73, Bottas 63, and Raikkonen 49. Everyone else is an ‘also ran’ and will be for the rest of the year barring a miracle. In the Constructors’ standings it is surprisingly close- Mercedes has 136, Scuderia Marlboro 135, and Red Bull an out of contention 57.

rustymancuso581

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  1. Vent Hole

  2. Recon Laps

  3. Formation Lap

  4. We race

  5. Raikkonen stopped

  6. Palmer, Verstappen, Massa pit

  7. Verstappen stopped

  8. Lap 5 of 66
    Vettel
    Hamilton
    Bottas
    Ricciardo
    Perez
    Ocon
    Hulkenberg
    Magnussen
    Sainz
    Grosjean

  9. Start Replays

  10. Lap 10 of 66

    Vettel
    Hamilton
    Bottas
    Ricciardo
    Perez
    Ocon
    Hulkenberg
    Magnussen
    Sainz
    Grosjean

  11. Alonso and Stoll pit

  12. Vandoorne pits

  13. Magnussen and Sainz pit

  14. Vettel pits

  15. Massa pits

  16. Lap 15 of 66

    Hamilton
    Bottas
    Vettel
    Ricciardo
    Perez
    Ocon
    Hulkenberg
    Grosjean
    Werhlein
    Ericsson

  17. Hulkenberg pits

  18. Ocon pits

  19. Perez pits

  20. Grosjean pits

  21. Lap 20

    Hamilton
    Bottas
    Vettel
    Ricciardo
    Werhlein
    Perez
    Ocon
    Hulkenberg
    Magnussen
    Sainz

  22. Hamilton pits

  23. Ricciardo pits

  24. Hamilton on Mediums, could go to the end

  25. Lap 26 of 66

    Vettel
    Hamilton
    Bottas
    Ricciardo
    Perez
    Ocon
    Werhlein
    Hulkenberg
    Magnussen
    Sainz

  26. Lap 30 of 66

    Vettel
    Hamilton
    Bottas
    Ricciardo
    Perez
    Ocon
    Werhlein
    Hulkenberg
    Magnussen
    Sainz

  27. Werhlein, Magnussen, and Hulkenberg pit

  28. Kvyat pits

  29. Stroll, Erricsson, and Massa pit

  30. Vandoorne done

  31. Perez, Sainz, and Grosjean pit

  32. Contact with Massa. Virtual Safety Car

  33. Hamilton in for Softs

  34. Vettel pits again

  35. Ricciardo pits again

  36. Bottas stopped

  37. Lap 40 of 66

    Vettel
    Hamilton
    Ricciardo
    Perez
    Ocon
    Hulkenberg
    Werhlein
    Sainz
    Magnussen
    Grosjean

  38. Lap 45 of 66

    Hamilton
    Vettel
    Ricciardo
    Perez
    Ocon
    Hulkenberg
    Werhlein
    Sainz
    Magnussen
    Kvyat

  39. Werhlein 5 second penalty

  40. Lap 50 of 66

    Hamilton
    Vettel
    Ricciardo
    Perez
    Ocon
    Hulkenberg
    Werhlein
    Sainz
    Magnussen
    Kvyat

  41. Lap 55 of 66

    Hamilton
    Vettel
    Ricciardo
    Perez
    Ocon
    Hulkenberg
    Werhlein
    Sainz
    Magnussen
    Kvyat

  42. Lap 60 of 66

    Hamilton
    Vettel
    Ricciardo
    Perez
    Ocon
    Hulkenberg
    Werhlein
    Sainz
    Magnussen
    Kvyat

  43. Magnussen pits

  44. Final

    Hamilton
    Vettel
    Ricciardo
    Perez
    Ocon
    Hulkenberg
    Sainz
    Werhlein
    Kvyat
    Grosjean

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