Not to nitpick on MB (honestly not ), but that doesn't sound good: Seems to me that their entire aero package around the car is going through a massive overhaul. As Nico said: The car in Bahrain will be fundamentally different from the test car. No kidding.
I´m actually a bit worried about Mercedes here. If they really have this huge update which i don´t doubt they do. wouldn´t you want to test the stuff and make sure it all works? It a different thing when you just have a rearwing but the rumours are rear wing, different exhaust, sidepods, front wing etc. That´s a whole ´nother ball game. If you guys want somethign to do. Try and find out where Mclaren´s exhausts are. Nobody knows really We have located all the other ones but Mclaren is a complete mystery atm.
Totally massive. MB has always been saying the current W02 is an interim car, but I still have my doubts as to how much they will change things. Sidepods will be different for sure though. Here's my take on Mclaren so far. The current car has not begun to unlock its potential. No setup changes and with the delay of the first race I think Mclaren is getting just what it needs in the form of more time to figure things out on their ride. Ferrari: Alonso has a helluva race pace time. Question will be, can he qualify the thing well. I'm thinking if Ferrari has a difficult time qualifying but is riding Red Bull's gearbox during races, Ferrari needs to do nothing more than out-strategy Red Bull in the form of clever tire swaps. I may be right about Williams. The may be stupid fast. hmm
Lol, bitter McLaren fan. Ferrari just kicked everyone else's ass in the early 2000s, had nothing to do with the FIA.
Agreed on all. The thing that makes me shiver is Ferrari "to be clever with tire swaps". If Abu Dhabi was an indication of things to come, Ferrari will be anything but clever. I totally expect Vettel to dominate qualifying and the race. My only hope is that they have similar reliability issues as in 2010 and that Vettel looses his temper occasionally and that Webber will steal some Vettel points away. Somehow it sounds like 2010 all over again.
I love these comments. The mechanics must know the secret F1 voodoo which makes or breaks your championship. One of the mechanics said to me that when things go well in Barcelona, we don't win the championship, while if we have problems here, then it's a different story: let's hope that's really the case! he said. I still believe that, at the moment the Red Bull is the strongest car, but there are at least four other teams us, McLaren, Mercedes and Renault that are capable of fighting for the wins. It is always very difficult to assess the results from testing: it only takes ten kilos more or less fuel or for worn tyres to be used at any one point in the day, to make a difference that can amount to seconds.
He said that last year. And you know how I feel about him. They've dropped another .385 this year they could ill afford. With Seinfeld helming Renault or 'real' Lotus this year, I'm not worried they'll continue their role as current day Arrows. Seinfeld's Renault wll be lucky to hang on to Team P5 ahead of those old buggers at Team Saudia. . I still can't believe Renault didn't make a move on Hulk. They had their chance.
I can't say that's a bad thing! 2010 was a thriller. Now we just need the boys in red to bring it home this time around.
I have to say the last years of F1 have all been thrillers. 07 - Champion was decided on the last lap in the last corner. Top three had 1 point differentiating them 08 - Champion was decided on the last lap in the last corner. Top two had 1 point differentiating them 09 - Not so much really. 10 - Champion was crowned the minute Ferrari and Alonso got stuck behind Renault´s Vladimir Putin in the last race. Vettel never lead the championship during the season but still managed to clinch the title. All we need is a tiny bit more overtaking and i´m sure 2011 will be a terrific year.
more out of Nico setting the quickest time at Barc testing thus far 1m23.168. I think Red Bull and Ferrari will break 1:22
breakdown of all times from everyone. Looks like Nico, Hammy, and Petrov were all an qualifying style runs. Others were as well, but not really worth mentioning. http://f1tests.mine.nu/2011_1eng.php?rev=on Red Bull pulled their best time of 1:24.995 on an 18 lap stint. I am guessing they made the time with either softs or supersofts as Webber's lap immediately following his hot lap (hot lap was on the first lap) took a huge nosedive to the tune of 3.5 seconds.
Predictions for tomorrow: Red Bull, Ferrari, MB (yes, I said that) will lay down a time in the 1:22s.
lol.. you cannot compare times from different days during TESTING. But for sure, use your television as a tool to compare the abilitys of drivers while i rather go for facts like telemetry.
