lots of laps AND fastest car? Sounds good to me! Alfa Romeo and Haas not so many laps, not good for the Ferrari engine. I agree that not having spectators or TV coverage makes no sense for the fans.
Can't really put too much into the times. I read on quite a few occasions (Autosport Live Blog) where drivers were hitting purple secotors and then pulled off massively before the finish line. What's interesting to me is that I don't think these cars will be slower than last year's, based on these early times. In fact, I believe they may actually be quicker (though the FIA intent was to wash away some of the speed). Someone posted on a social media site that 'F1 used to be the pinnacle of innovation'. I quickly replied that 'these vacuum-cleaner sounding V6 cars would wipe the floor with those glorious V-12's that hearken back to an earlier romanticized time. That IS innovation.'
yes I agree with you. I don’t know if they will be faster but I think they will be on par with last years cars. So much for slowing the cars down. Next year we could see them breaking track records again.
Speculation time How do we interpret RB's early addition of extra cooling vents here? Is the ambient temperature high? Do the narrow pod openings result in poor cooling? Does this translate into their slower posted times, in that they were concerned about too much heat generated? Did anyone else add cooling vents? Or is this just normal procedure to test aero in different configurations? So many questions, so few answers Love it!!
I think of full systems testing today. I think now the teams with most laps/use will expand the 'envelope' tomorrow and more and more. Reliability was evident today!
At some moment they have to test the cooling vents too. Mercedes also put some extra vents. And Alpine closed them with duct tape; I suppose at some moment they´ll make a proper closed lid.
Obviously everybody is just doing a shakedown, not going for fastest times yet. Didn't see any headline runs. Only Ferrari truly know how much is left in the car, but two things are good. 1. We put the most laps on the board without any drama. 2. The drivers looked to be having fun for once with the car, and that's always a good thing to see. Solid day. My expectations for the season are not for a championship run, even though obviously I'd like that. The goal for the team needs to be getting some race wins under their belts, and finishing races without drama. If we wind up in the title fight, great. But lets get some race wins.
Ferrari, Mclaren, Mercedes and Red Bull all looking really good. Times aren't saying anything at the moment, sector 2 trap speed Red Bull was almost slowest, Mclaren/Ferrari fastest. We don't know anyones fuel load or engine settings. The really positive is with Ferrari's all new engine, is that so far it's appeared totally faultless. Leclerc coming out on track and practically instantly began hustling the car, showing he has plenty of trust in the car. Great start.
With that view of innovation, why screw around with hybrids, why not just make it Formula E and go only electric power units? The road to hell is paved with good innovations.
Nothing wrong with hybrid if it keeps the ICE alive. The ecolos want to reduce/stop carbon emission, and that could be achieved with ICE if we use alternative fuels. There is some research going on with synthetic fuels to replace the dependence on fossil fuels. Unfortunately, it doesn't receive as much attention (and subsidies) as the switch to electric power. The ICE isn't dead yet, and it would be stupid to throw away 150 years+ of technology in haste when electric doesn't satisfy all needs.
That both RBR and Merc have louvers already created shows that Ferrari and Aston Martin weren't off the path at all (as I was ho I think hybrid is the best of both worlds. Total electric dependence seems fraught with problems. I understand lithium mining is getting to a critical point already, and we’ve barely entered the age of electric cars
I think ICE will always exist simply because in some parts of the world electrification will be impossible. Refuelling an ICE vehicle will always be more practical that finding an electrical charging point in low density areas.
Porsche synthetic fuel + NA 3.0 V10. Just dust off the old units, add direct injection, add Porsche fuel and go.
