It all is based on what the team was looking for in the testing. Remember that the second Jerez session had Merc in the 1:18's (?) last year, so while Ferrari is off to a good start, hopefully they will move forward in the same increments as the other teams. The car is by all accounts a step forward from the F14t, so that is definitely encouraging. Merc are sandbagging, no doubt, but it's still good to hear Rosberg say the Ferrari was an 'eye opener'. Based on all of the changes that have occurred the last 6 months, I really like where the Scuderia is with the new car.
I still believe Jerez laptimes mean a whole lotta nada...here are past laptimes on Day 4 2012 Alonso - Ferrari - 1:18.877 - 39 laps Vergne - Toro Rosso - 1:19.597 - 80 Vettel - Red Bull - 1.19.606 - 50 Hamilton - McLaren - 1:19.640 - 86 Grosjean - Lotus - 1:19.729 - 95 Kobayashi - Sauber - 1:19.834 - 76 Hulkenberg - Force India - 1.19.977 - 90 Senna - Williams - 1:20.132 - 125 Trulli - Caterham - 1:22.198 - 117 2013 Raikkonen - Lotus - 1:18.148 - 83 laps Bianchi - Force India - 1:18.175 - 56 Vetttel- Red Bull - 1.18.565 - 96 Gutierrez - Sauber - 1:18.669 - 142 Vergne - Toro Rosso - 1:18.760 - 92 Hamilton - Mercedes - 1:18.905 - 145 Perez - McLaren - 1:18.944 - 98 Bottas - Williams - 1:19.851 - 92 de la Rosa - Ferrari - 1:20.316 - 51 Pic - Caterham - 1:21.105 - 109 Razia - Marussia - 1:21.226 - 82 di Resta - Force India - 1:23.435 - 49 2014 Massa - Williams - 1:28.229 - 86 laps Alonso - Ferrari - 1:29.145 - 115 Juncadella - Force India - 1:29.457 - 81 Magnussen - McLaren - 1:30.806 - 110 Hamilton - Mercedes - 1:30.822 - 41 Bianchi - Marussia - 1:32.222 - 25 Sutil - Sauber - 1:36.571 - 69 Rosberg - Mercedes - 1:36.951 - 91 Kobayashi - Caterham - 1:43.193 - 54 Kvyat - Toro Rosso - 1:44.016 - 9 Ricciardo - Red Bull - 1:45.374 - 7
Don't compare the v8 vs v6 t. Mercedes should win the titles but don't discount the gains ferrari have made!
In 2013, Riakkonen in the Allison designed Lotus was the eye opener and people didn't believe it was legit. He went on to have a pretty good year.
in case anyone is also following the development stuff, here's Ted's Notebook w the Development Corner feature: [ame]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hiXVVOqXpk4[/ame]
I'm quite taken aback my Mclaren Honda. I've never expected so much of teething issues. I did expect issues, but not until the car lasts till end of the pit lane. Anyhow, i think it will be foolish to write them off, and it will also be foolish to expect lots from them. I think this will be a trial and error year for them.
The surprise with McLaren Honda is that they had a whole year to develop the engine and weed out the issues with their PU. They had a whole year to see what mistakes everyone else had made. They had a whole year to see what goodies worked really well on every other team. Then they took a year to assimilate all this wisdom into the best and brightest F1 brains on Earth and produced…. a dud.
that is a statement you might regret in a couple of weeks or months They are too fresh out of the blocks to discuss the potential of the motor. Thus far there has been a list of problems with rather noteable consequences. But as far as I understand nothing has yet suggested that the engine is fundamentally not competitive. I'd be surprised if they were able to start into the season being very competitive after what we have seen thus far, but they may well ramp up power soon.
I hope for the sake of the sport that you are right and they come back strong. My comments are more a reflection of my frustrations with McLaren for not hitting the ground running. We need more competitive teams in the sport, and we need them from championship day 1 not half way through the season when all is lost As for Ferrari - great to see them have a productive test and generate great mileage. At least we have a promising base from which to build. Let's hope the gap to Merc et al isn't too big when we get to Aus.
McLaren-Honda did a lot more laps in their first test than Red Bull in 2014 (I think they did 70 vs 30 or something like that), and yet Red Bull had a decent season. I think Honda are doing well. Of course, they´re far behind Mercedes, but that´s not their target for 2015. BTW, Red Bull´s first 2015 test has been troublesome too. I´d be more worried about them at this point.
How can anyone be surprised by honda they made junk Jordan almost won it in 1999 after micheal got hurt with a mugen honda . F1 you need leadership not a group of people sitting in a office thinking what they should do you need to do not talk
That is a good point. Here is an article with the new Scuderia boss. He is saying the right things. Ferrari: Rivals sandbagging
BBC Sport - Ferrari better. Mercedes brilliant. What we learned from F1 testing Hard to say how Mclaren really look. Interesting data below on them... -- On the one hand, racing director Boullier said he was "confident the base was good", and added that the "driver comments were very, very positive". Equally, on the third day of the test, Alonso was lapping on intermediate tyres on a damp track at the same time as Rosberg's Mercedes. He was not losing much time, and at one point the timing screens showed a 'purple' time - for fastest of the day so far - in the first sector of the lap. The McLaren car itself is a thing of beauty, with a wonderfully tightly packaged rear end, and leaning heavily on the lessons learned at Red Bull by new chief engineer Peter Prodromou. On the negative side, though, the car was never remotely close to the pace in the dry. And when it finally got some dry running on the final day, Button was 16.6km/h slower through the speed trap than the next slowest car - and a whopping 30km/h off Felipe Massa's Williams, which was fastest. Rivals looked at that and concluded the Honda was way down on power. But sources close to McLaren said the car was running on 50% power for much of the day, and chairman Ron Dennis has already made it clear there will be new, more developed engines for the second test, and another iteration again for the final one. It will, as Boullier says, take some time before it is clear exactly how much work McLaren and Honda have to do. --
Actually, that's not quite correct. McLaren's first Honda engine test was after the last GP of 2014 at the Abu Dhabi test in November and they managed the grand total of 5 laps - all with no time. They have had nearly 3 months to improve their package since then and fix the reliability issues. They have made some progress, but not nearly enough. The reliability issues have not been fixed. The performance potential is a complete unknown as they remain 7 seconds off the pace. To say they are on the back foot right now, would be an understatement.
"It is true that even when they say 'yes' it does not always mean the same as when we say it," Button added. LOL - that drives me insane.
You´re right, technically it´s their second test. BUT at this date they still are much better than Red Bull was in 2014.
This is not entirely a Japanese problem. I once had a chat with a staff accountant (college educated) in Dubai that went like this: Me: Are the quarterly revenue and outlay reports completed? Acct: Yes Me: Have them sent to my office. Acct: OK Me: Can we meet at 2:00 to review them? Acct: No. Me: Why? Acct: Because they are not completed.
It is so true. I live in the Philippines and I've learned its never a good idea to ask a question that has a yes/no answer. It's like saying "no" to someone is, for them culturally, being rude, so they choose the lesser of 2 evils and answer yes (even if the answer really is no).
