F1 2015 Test 3 - Barcelona

AUTOSPORT Live: Test day one - F1 Barcelona third 2015 test

 

The times look very familiar from last year....Mercedes in front and almost nothing within a second, then Williams and Red Bull.
It looks like not much changed over winter...

 

Williams flexes some muscles today, with Massa clocking a 1:24.6 on mediums and 1:23.5 on softs, the FASTEST time of the testing sessions.

Perhaps they are the ones best prepared to take the fight to Mercedes...

 

nothing will be certain until saturday afternoon in Australia.

 

Am starting to get a nervous feeling about Ferrari.... Miles off the pace today as the Mercs and Williams start to turn it up.

 

Their publicly stated goal is to win two races.

 

+1

Truer words....

No need to be nervous - yet anyway.....

When the Mercs are slow it's because they're sandbagging, when Ferrari are slow it's because they're crap.... Different run programs is all IMO.

Can hardly wait for Melbourne. And specifically Q2/3.....

"When the flag drops, the BS stops".

Cheers,
Ian

 

i lol'd when i saw these on the merc:

https://pbs.twimg.com/media/B-w1DlqWsAAmgvs.jpg:large

 

I think those are (faux) camera spots.

 

+1 bring on the racing. Its time lol!!!

 

Merc presumably was testing new parts for a big token spend. Car broke in MGUK. Hmmm. Tomorrow will be interesting.

 

FWIW;

Sorry about the formatting.... Seems 'tabs' don't copy well.... But at least the data's all there.

Cheers,
Ian

 

According to Chandhok (surely one of the nicest guys inside racing IMO, just loves racing and cars as much as us idiots on the forums) the Mercedes looks absolutely on rails and the best (surprise surprise), Williams have a solid base and from his wording, seems like 2nd best. Ferrari look good but not quite as good as Williams just yet. Red Bull looks quite good also.

Seems we're looking at Ferrari and Red Bull having a solid battle with Williams for podiums.

Torro Rosso might have a form of traction control by cutting the cilinders. Car doesn't look that good unfortunately. I suspect they'll be regularly in the points though. More from him over the coming days.

 

Interesting report and no surprise overall. No matter I think we will have a fun and good season to enjoy, with much to chat about here lol!

 

Ignoring that we all know that Mercedes will take the title, looks like we're up for an exciting season regardless.

Williams/Ferrari/Red Bull fighting for the podiums and perhaps challenge for a win. Mclaren looking quite good speed wise but hugely unreliable so far compared to others.

Sauber and lotus much improved, maybe fighting with Torro Rosso (Force India we can't comment on yet).

Manor fighting themselves, unlikely to score any points.

 

Add in the driver changes - should be good times for us!

 

As an excited Alonso-McLaren-Honda fan, I have to say, the McLaren-Honda is looking to be a pos. This year might absolutely be a growing-pain-learning year for them entirely and will prove rather difficult to watch lol.

I also think folks are giving our beloved #teamred too much credit to be honest. I don't see them anywhere close to being the best of the rest. That will be a fight between Williams & RB.

 

I think Mclaren (when it works) will be trailing on the top 4 but ahead of the others.

Ferrari look comfortably faster/better than last years. We'll see!

 

Interesting that last years force India is only 12 seconds slower than Williams fastest time. Either everyone is still sandbagging or this years cars are not a significant step up from last years...

As for Ferrari looking strong - I just don't believe it at present. The car looks stable, but the times don't look that hot. Are they running a proper 2015 PU turned up to 100% yet? I hope not...

 

The Force India set that time on Super Soft tires. Merc and Williams beat that time running with medium tires

 

And for more context, Mercs on Meds on a race sim, rather than qualifying lap are only 8 tenths slower than a Williams on Softs going after a qualy laptime...wonk wonk, no real fight there.

http://e0.365dm.com/15/02/660x350/ftimes-test-fastest-small-f1-times_3269784.jpg?20150226181930

 

Yeah...based on what we currently know (which doesn't amount to much), I think the pecking order is:

1. Clearly Merc
2. Clearly Williams
3. Battle between Ferrari and Red Bull

I'd love for Ferrari to be fighting with Merc, but I don't think anyone realistically expects that this season. Williams will be the equal of Merc at some circuits this year (I think) and will keep things interesting at least.

I think Vettel vs. Ricciardo may turn out to be the most compelling fight this year.

 

12 seconds is the end of the world in F1. Might as well stay in your trailer; you aren't challenging.

Make sure you compare equal tires.

Ferrari claims they will reserved tokens and make PU changes during the season to attempt to be more competitive. So, if that is true, then there is more power coming.

 

...and Merc hasn't even fully turned up their PU yet. LOL. Ugh...

 

This is probably why they were so fast in initial testing, minimal engine changes.