Barcelona Testing 2019 (Circuit de Catalunya)

My *favorite* time of year. Love this.

 

I agree on the 4th best team. But there will be races where they finish 2 or 3. Haas never did that for Ferrari.

 

Oh dear. Purely unintentional, I assure you. Or just a Freudian Slip. My deepest apologies.

Did I mention my dad's family comes from just North of Venice?

 

My dad’s family too.

 

Yes if the wing proves to be the secret for the year, they'll certainly have their days for podiums. Certainly with Kimi behind the wheel

 

Paisan!

Testing is going well. Love the pace and the lap count. Lots and lots of data to extrapolate and refine the cars.

I missed it. Who is getting seat time tomorrow? Both Seb and Leclerc?

 

You've been pretty accurate last few years, lets hope you're right!

 

Like Renault coming from France and not Britain, you mean ?

Or Alfa being really Italian and not Swiss, or HAAS being made in the States and not Italy ?

And what about Austrian Red Bull also made in Britain ?

It's all very confusing, isn't it?

 

That's BRL territory

 

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I would imagine the guys back in Brackley are already hard at work producing a 'plan B' car ..just in case.Or they could have already assessed it over the winter and decided they have the best solution.

 

Or maybe Ferrari never did that for Haas. The Ferrari/Alfa relationship has always been closer than the one with Haas. These first four days are all about finding base lines. The next week will be more about showing what they've got. I think all the teams, if they felt this week that they were really really fast, would hold back and sand bag as much as possible. At least until the last two days of testing next week when they could let it all out for a psychological advantage. Mercedes isn't worried at this point...they have lots of time and money to make any adjustments they need. FP 1, 2 and 3 in Australia will be the proof in the pudding.

 

New floor going on the Alfa

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FW42 arrived at the airport this morning

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Image Unavailable, Please Login Tight aero packaging on the Red Bull aft and near motor

 

Incredible how everybody is being pulled a leg by Mercedes.....
Ferrari is the big hero team during the tests. That's where its succes will stop
Mercedes isn't multi World Champion in racing only.... In throwing dust in everyone's eyes as well.
As long as Mercedes is in F1, Ferrari will never win the championship.

 

I dont think we can make that assumption. Last year errors around Ferrari driver and team were the difference. I think we can say Ferrari were the fastest but not the most complete team. They have potential this year of course to win. The car seems to be a refinement for Ferrari. I think things will be close again, unless after testing it is obvious a car is dominant. Fine if that is early but development at the front is never ending. I think it will be close for Mercedes and Ferrari. I offer no prediction yet lol

 

I hope I am wrong. I just don't trust this Toto, nor Lauda.
The Italians party to early . True, they have a great package and Binotto is an extremely capable guy.
But the difference is in the overall organisation.

 

Yes the difference currently is, as you state!

 

Alfa's new floor...again

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Yes indeed, it's all rather confusing and disingenious to viewers, especially when the constructors national anthems are played at the podium.

 

Yep, many teams work Under a flag of convenience, very much lile the merchant navy.

Personally, I don't think flags and national anthems have their place at sporting events, but that's only my opinion.

 

They have been in the beginning of the year... but was it because Mercedes needed some time to understand their own car (tires) or that they simply outdeveloped Ferrari but I do not think the Ferrari was the fastest in the second half of the year...To put it all down to drivers errors is way to simple

 

I agree. This doesn't look like glory running at all from the Red team. One would be a fool to rule Mercedes out, of course.

I like Ferrari/Saubers wing concept. And I like it even more that a lot of people in the know are thinking that they have found something here and are publicly commenting on the fact that implementing the same system on their car is pretty much ''mission impossible''. The same wing won't work on a car with a different concept. The whole car is designed around this front wing. Barge pods, side pods, intakes, rear wing, floor...the lot. Of course, Chassis limits design as well to a certain degree. If this concept is the ''golden ticket'', no team will be developing the same concept as effective this season.

 

I stated driver and team errors. They had both of course.