Right there I'm shaking my head in disbelief. I'll never understand that kind of attitude. He so got that backwards.
As of now here's my take: Admittedly, I did not rank Mercedes as high at first. 3rd or 4th was where I had Merc at first, but this latest test showed real stability and speed, especially out of turn 1 and turn 2, Merc hammered the throttle more solidly than pretty much anyone. And I don't think Lotus are quite as quick as everyone is thinking, and the car seems unreliable with them having so many hydraulic issues during testing. Red Bull still may have a qualifying gremlin since they cannot run DRS everywhere, but based on race pace I say: Red Bull Mercedes Lotus = Ferrari Mclaren Williams Sauber And for qualifying pace I believe the same order to be correct only with advantage being to Mercedes simply due to Red Bull's lack of DRS useage which clearly gave them a distinct advantage during 2012 (they could use DRS much more than others). Malaysia should be very interesting, I hope it's dry as Red Bull will be very tough to beat there and that track will be the best indicator to show where they are. And for Street circuits, advantage Mercedes. Anywhere there's a slow chicane I give advantage Mercedes really, the proof is in Sector 3 in Barcelona was just massively quick and I of course already mentioned turn 1 and 2. If Mclaren deduce their car, I believe they have a rocket on their hands. I like Mclaren hugely and it wouldn't surprise me if they figure out their car and cream the field with it. Same for Ferrari, they have a potential rocketship if they straighten out the back end grip a bit.
Great....so after 3 years of giving MS and NR a crappy car, Mercedes finally get it right? I'm sure MS will feel just great about that, if true.
Certainly a rational view. It is testing and he reports what he see's. We report what we feel about what he see's lol!!
I sense an 'oh crud' moment coming from Red Bull. Vetted not sounding particularly pleased and it sounds like they don't fully understand these tires with their car. They will still be very fast though so I don't see this lump they are perhaps having as a big issue. Barcelona F1 testing: Sebastian Vettel disappointed with final days - F1 news - AUTOSPORT.com
Im sensing the impression of well, it was not perfect. As in the usual perfectionist in him being let out. The lad is obsessed with stats and details. I agree they are probably in good shape overall. My dark-horse pic is JB and I dont sense much well with him or the car.
Red Bull will get there if they're not there already. I just think they're old design philosophy is finally being matched or beaten, and not by just one team. Also, I bet they are going to find that their ramp and tunnel exhaust system is not worth the on-throttle benefits compared to its braking instability. Vettel was in the gravel with it a couple times today so we know he was pushing it. Mclaren will get their stuff together, and there will be at least one race where they will be untouchable. I have a lot of faith in that design, although I am not overly fond of Mclaren as a team (that's another story).
I see a grey area still outside and before your bolded portion. FIA and other teams have yet to protest so...
[ame=http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=uCxMc2bfJoM]2nd F1 Test at Barcelona Day 4 2013 - Teds Notebook (Part 2) - YouTube[/ame] Sky does such a good job with this stuff
OK! I'll bite - This is exactly the reason Whitmarsh (?) said recently that they hire "kids" outta college! And I'm not trying to be "funny" here - Please explain Here again is the rule; As an old fart, I can't see any way that thing is legal.... No protests needed. Beyond (new this year) passing crash tests before you can run, everything else is "free" in testing. This will probably come back & haunt me, but I'll say there is zero chance that tailpipe shows up in 2 weeks........ Cheers, Ian
My 2 cents worth after testing has been completed. It never fails to amaze me how people talk in stark contrasts about cars and performance when they are fully aware that they simply do not know the full story - "expert pundit" and "forum members" alike. Gary Anderson trying to extrapolate times based on guestimates of fuel loads without any consideration of tire compound or condition is a prime example. Hence my aversion to comments claiming this car has a few tenths over that car. Similarly I think it is a total mistake to have pecking order lists. The sort of track, weather conditions, surface, driver, tire performance and "setup" on the car in the specific conditions make pecking order lists irrelevant. Truth be told, different cars + setup + specific conditions will produce a different "pecking order" each time you change one variable. There are so many people saying all will be revealed in Australia - personally I don't think so. Like last year we will leave Australia with a winner and lots of variables and questions. 7 races into last year it was still unclear who really was the best. I think setup is far more important than a perceived one tenth advantage one car is supposed to have over another. Getting your setup right was critical last year and, IMO, it will be more-so this year. Merc got things right in China last year and look at what a difference it made. There was no major change in their car there, it was mostly, IMO, them simply getting the setup right. So, what do I see as the important factors in deciding this years setup:- 1) competitive car 2) setup 3) tire management 4) driver 5) team performance If you can place a tick next to each of those boxes then you have a chance of winning that race. In summary - my thoughts about cars and tenths. I'd rather have the 4th or 5th car in a pecking order list with the best driver and getting the setup and tire management spot on. I don't know if the F138 is first or fifth in the pecking order, but I do think we have a competitive car, the best driver on the track and a team clearly working very cohesively and performing at a high level.
How much they're gaining / losing by being able / unable to channel the exhaust gases down onto the floor. Either that or it's truly legal and will be raced, contrary to Fast Ian's assessment! =D
I think that preseason testing time is too limited for them to engage in academic exercises so there must be some thought that the configuration will pass muster.
Such a farce. Vettel could win an Oscar one day and Newey, with all his experience, could get a good job at loading and unloading sandbags.
AMuS posted this but I do not know how correct it is. Anyway if it's correct it means Red Bull and Mercedes are about equal over one lap pace, closer to Ferrari actually. 10kg of fuel is .380-.400 in Barcelona. rosberg 1 20 130 6,3 kg di benzina alonso 1 20 4 8,9 kg di benzina hamilton 1 20 5 20 kg di benzina vettel 1 22 5 50-60 kg di benzina Ross Brawn machte die Andeutung: "Wir haben hier nicht nur neue Aerodynamikteile zum letzten Test mitgebracht. Einige Neuentwicklungen sind unter der Verkleidung versteckt."
Great post. Pat Fry is saying they have big upgrades coming in Australia and there is a good correlation between the wind tunnel data and the on-track data, something they've lacked in the past due to the wind tunnel debacle. Ferrari understands the car and how it responds to changes, something they couldn't say last year......
I agree with the above post as well, but just for testing purposes only at that circuit I stick by my evaluation. How much that translates to other circuits has yet to be known, but last year the running order in Australia was not that far from what it was for the rest of the year now was it. And during testing everyone successfully deduced within a good margin of error who was fast and who was having tire deg issues. Testing is hot and cold but last year there was quite a bit known going into the season so it's not cometely worthless.
This has been a very confusing Monday. In one article Alonso is stating Ferrari are ready to compete, they will be every bit as quick as anyone. Yet in another article he says they will be happy if they are within a couple tenths of Red Bull and McLaren and that those two teams are the only two top running teams. This is of course despite the McLaren still having understeer issues and McLaren themselves stating they don't fully understand the car. This is also besides Ferrari's rear end grip still being a bit loose. And lastly, this is besides Red Bull themselves stating they would like to have more testing, although it's not difficult to find anyone who was present during testing to say the Red Bull was massively planted.
