Ah, I didn't realize they were out of tires. That makes a lot more sense, thanks.

 

I heard it on the race feed when LH was complaining about tire selection. They told him they didn't have much of a choice.

 

Absolutely not. If anything all those experimental parts that Merc didn't use at Malaysia will be on the car. I honestly expect the Merc to be a second clear of the pack and for them to romp off into the distance.

 

They we're often a lot faster than the fezzas but they had lost track position and were burning tyres up trying to either get through traffic or catch Vettel who was a lot further down the road. The last stint both mercs started to catch the Ferrari fairly quickly but then dropped off the pace (look at rosbergs fastest lap). In my opinion they realised the tyres were marginal to the end of the race if they tried that pace and they would have too much to lose. They could live to fight another day of risk losing a lot of places if the tyres went off badly.

 

Look at the attached link
http://www.f1fanatic.co.uk/2015/03/2...-beat-ferrari/

Deselect everyone but the two mercs and Vettel
After the restart the mercs are significantly slower until they cleared the traffic.
Vettel then stops for tyres allowing him to go much faster but by that point Hamilton was complaining about the tyres starting to go off and Vettel is coming back of new rubber.
The rest of the race the mercs are faster but alway playing catch up and never lasting as long

 

"We're on the wrong tyres, man". As Brundle says you can tell when he's unhappy as that's when he ends his radio messages with "man".

I think everybody thought he'd put on mediums at the end and at least catch Vettel. But don't forget Vettel was third in Australia, so it's not like Ferrari's performance was just about tyres. And just to underline how good Ferrari were, Raikonnen was last after his early puncture but finished fourth, beating fast cars like the Williams along the way.

 

Are you trying to claim the Ferrari is as fast as the Merc and on an equal footing?

 

The Ferrari is much kinder to its tyres than the Mercedes. James Allison was largely responsible for the Lotus which won races in Kimi's hands a couple of seasons ago, and that was easy on tyres as well.

Normally, Mercedes still have an edge, but track temperatures of 60c exacerbated the Merc's tendencies to take more life out of their tyres. According to Mark Hughes of Motor Sport, as soon as Ferrari saw Mercedes leave the pits on the softer (Medium) tyres at the start of Qualifying, they knew that they had a chance. Staying out on the Medium tyres during the Safety Car early in the race when the Mercedes pitted and rejoined in traffic sealed it. That, and Hamilton having to do the final stint on the Hard tyres meant that Vettel could pace himself in the lead, something that he's always done well.

Whether Ferrari can pull another rabbit from the hat in China, which is a similar Tilke-designed circuit but with much lower ambient temperatures is another matter.

 

The cool temperatures see the tyres run out of tread before degrading in China. Ferrari won't be able to pull the same kind of preservation stunt as Malaysia. It's too risky and you could end up with a situation like Kimi in 2012 where performance drops off a cliff.

No it will be business as usual for Mercedes and Ferrari will be battling Williams. Behind them I'd expect Sauber and Lotus to be fighting, followed by Red Bull, Toro Rosso and Force India all around the same pace. Finally McLaren in their own battle with reliability and which ever car Manor choose to run that weekend.

 

Toys out of pram time for Massiveshit.

http://www.autosport.com/news/report.php/id/118424