I told everyone that if Honda figured it out, and I mean really figured it out, everyone is doomed. Honda is the juggernaut with more resources than anyone on the field combined. If Mercedes and Ferrari have 2 dynos running engines 24/7, Honda has 6 dynos running 24/7. It's just a numbers game with them. The question for Honda is, what is bagging a few championships worth to them these days? Merc proved they're worth a few hundred metric tons as the Merc brand has taken over the luxury market since.
I'm sure that's what RB saw and why they switched. Renault is a dead end. RB is never going to get a Ferrari engine and doubtful Merc would sell them one of theirs unless forced to. Too much competition. What would be interesting is if eventually Honda buys a complete team like Ferrari and RB have done.
Mileage covered in day 3 by teams Image Unavailable, Please Login Mileage covered in day 3 by engine manufacturer Image Unavailable, Please Login THIS WAS DAY 2 Image Unavailable, Please Login Image Unavailable, Please Login
As we know, Honda have been down that rabbit hole, really dumped a huge amount into it and built a fabulous championship winning car, which they sold to Ross Brawn for nothing. What gives me pause is Honda's earlier prefacing in that they already whined about Ferrari and MB 'loopholes' regarding oil burning in fuel which Honda intend on at least attempting to close which tells me they're not confident they have that level of power just yet. They still have some tricks to either learn or have banned
Gary Anderson Analysis today - https://www.autosport.com/f1/feature/8858/rating-the-2019-f1-grid-from-trackside Watching the new cars from trackside at the first test allows you to get a read on how they are performing, which ones are well-balanced, who is struggling with a weakness, who is in good shape, and who has some work to do. Based on what I've seen from around the circuit over the first three days of testing at Barcelona, other than the Williams that I've only seen cruise past once, none of the teams have too much to worry about. That doesn't mean they are all the same pace, because downforce levels will vary and there is a spread of performance. But none of the cars have any major vices and right from the first day they looked like proven cars that were in the middle of a season rather than straight out of the box. But there are still differences, and while analysing lap times gives us a good steer on how the pecking order might shake out, there are still some things to learn from what we see on circuit. --Mercedes mainly concentrated on race running on Wednesday with both Valtteri Bottas and Lewis Hamilton, so it never looked like the most lively car on the track. For some reason, the team decided to do all of its stints on the C2 compound, which is probably the hardest compound that will be used for the majority of the season. Probably it was to ensure the car remained consistent, and by staying on that tyre the degradation was reduced. Out on track, the lap times stayed fairly stable, but that means the degradation was there because as the fuel load goes down the car should get quicker. Over the long runs you could hear the amount of time the drivers spent off the throttle was increasing, and that led to lower corner speeds than some. But the car didn't have any visible balance problems. The Mercedes team is in a solid position. It is building its understanding of the car and hopefully on Thursday we'll see more of a performance run.-- --The Ferrari looks really good on track, probably the best that we've seen. We're not so confident about what fuel loads it is carrying because Ferrari hasn't done a 66-lap run without heading into the garage, but even so it looks so consistent. The drivers can place the car very well. There are no lock-ups, the rear is not nervous, and that's why I believe this is such a good package. Yes, fuel loads can impact the lap times, but on track it looks right. Ferrari has the basis it needs to build from. But we haven't seen the drivers looking like they have gone beyond cruise control and worked hard, so that effort might not come until Mercedes starts to push a little harder. Watching at Campsa, the fast, uphill right-hander, any movement of the car was very controlled and not snappy. The car will always move a little, but it's just a nice gentle drift rather than anything horrible for the driver.-- --The Red Bull does look good on track and the drivers can turn in aggressively to corners such as Campsa and Turn 1, knowing the front end and the rear will stick. Max Verstappen seems to be very happy with the RB15, and the Honda engine, so we haven't seen anything like the potential of the car as yet. But I've not seen it do anything unpredictable and the speed can be carried into the corner with confidence. Other than Pierre Gasly's crash on Tuesday, when he didn't quite catch the rear, things have looked very under control. It bodes well for the top three teams that their cars look so well-balanced, so it could come down to the power units to make the difference. Interestingly, the Honda sounds less distinctive and raspy than it did last year from trackside, so clearly there have been changes there.--
Amazing how some people “forget” this fact when it suites them. And still claim Ferrari are disadvantaged. Wonder if they will still be whining if Ferrari win this year? At the end of the day it’s not a fair deal to the other teams. Was their deal not cooked up long before Ferrari floated, so I don’t think they need it anymore and it should go to the lower teams and that doesn’t include Ferrari’s 2nd team!!!! Imagine what s few of the lower teams could do with that cash...result much better racing all round.
Mclaren and Williams also receive a heritage bonus. Don't hear anyone complaining about that. Especially with Williams about to go belly up?
I don't understand why people who either actively dislike Ferrari or "don't care" about Ferrari come here for F1 stuff. And before folks say I am saying that non-Ferrari can't come here, I am not saying that and not trying to discourage anyone from posting. But I am curious why bother to come to the F1 section of a Ferrari site when you are indifferent, at best, to Ferrari. There must be general F1 sites out there or sites specific to teams that perhaps you do care about.
Bob spot on, Alonso ran out of patience and with RD gone, he had too much say on the team, too bad for McLaren. I have a feeling that the Honda will be the standout performer this season.
LOL Fingers crossed! either Ferrari or Red bull as champions, I'm happy either way. As above...fingers crossed they build something decent. Someone needs to dethrone the merc.
You might not care about Ferrari but you will certainly care about what F1 will become when Ferrari is gone!!! F1 is going down, fresh blood (visitors) is missing.... the millennials do not care about racing anymore. But they do care about brands (Apple, RB...) so if there is a brand in F1 then it is Ferrari, I doubt a lot of new spectators are coming around to root for Honda or Renault! So we see F1 dying anyway and without Ferrari this will happen much faster... So if you do not care about Ferrari leaving you obviously do not care about F1 in general and yet you spend your time here talking about it
I think you miss my point and the question The point raised was the FIA is giving "advantages" to Ferrari. Well, where's the results? Ferrari hasn't won either title in over 10 years. Seems to me the "advantages" aren't helping And yes, I wish all the teams used the same sliding scale.
We agree on that. F1 being a business, being handed over part of your budget every year is a huge advantage compared to other teams. Ferrari cannot translate that in winning every year.
We have been told that Ferrarichat is open to anyone, regardless of their interest in Ferrari or not.
If we are talking about industrial might and Financial resources, Mercedes, and Honda are more or less in the same league. That's my assesment. The Renault team will never spend as much as the others, because the management just won't allow it, for political reasons. Ferrari is not part of the Chrysler-FIAT conglomerate anymore and is very much independent now. So, in the long run, it should be Mercedes against Honda, but bear in mind that interest in F1 is sporadic for both, as the past has proven. The picture could be very different after 2021, or in 5 or 10 years time.
I agree with you . F1 without Ferrari is just another racing series . To piss off you main draw would be a huge mistake , i have no issue with Ferrari getting paid extra , they earned it .
Why I pay very little attention to pre-season testing. Anyone who really believes that a Toro Rosso is 1.8 seconds faster than the fastest Mercedes is an idiot. I won't care about lap times until Melbourne qualifying.
It boggles my mind that every little piece of that is there for a very specific reason. How they figure out that these pieces need to be longer... those need to be angled...some close together and put exactly the way they are just blows me away. I can’t get my head around these cars. The science behind it all is truly amazing...even if it is Mercedes