2014 Pre-Season Testing

[RS]

Vergne has put quite a few laps on the Toro Rosso today though and is 'only' 6 seconds off the pace now.

[i_max2k2]

At the end of Day 3,

Pos Driver Team Time Gap Laps
1. Kevin Magnussen McLaren-Mercedes 1m23.276s 52
2. Felipe Massa Williams-Mercedes 1m23.700s +0.424s 47
3. Lewis Hamilton Mercedes 1m23.952s +0.676s 62
4. Jenson Button McLaren-Mercedes 1m25.030s +1.754s 40
5. Fernando Alonso Ferrari 1m25.495s +2.219s 58
6. Nico Hulkenberg Force India-Mercedes 1m26.096s +2.820s 17
7. Jean-Eric Vergne Toro Rosso-Renault 1m29.915s +6.639s 30
8. Adrian Sutil Sauber-Ferrari 1m30.161s +6.885s 34
9. Robin Frijns Caterham-Renault No time - 10
10. Daniel Ricciardo Red Bull-Renault No time - 3
11. Max Chilton Marussia-Ferrari No time - 5

Mercedes is looking good, and I'm happy for RB, even if its a bit unsporting, but I'd love to see Vettel in sort of a Ferrari 2005 situation, and see how good he really is.

[dj_bytedisaster]

Mercedes is looking good, and I'm happy for RB, even if its a bit unsporting, but I'd love to see Vettel in sort of a Ferrari 2005 situation, and see how good he really is.

The 2005 Ferrari didn't have an engine that the manufacturer limited to 250km, less than the distance of the shortes GP of the year (Monaco), so that comparison is a wee bit flawed. Word is that Renault needs at least 20 weeks to sort the thing out, which I would say is catastrophic news for Fake!Lotus and Caterham.-

[TheFamousEccles]

Sound like V6's to me.

I can't imagine RBR fielding a POS, I would imagine regular transmission will soon be resumed.

[RS]

Sound like V6's to me.

I can't imagine RBR fielding a POS, I would imagine regular transmission will soon be resumed.

Yeah, the moment Vettel gets a clear lap in he will probably go 2s quicker than everyone else

I am really surprised Red Bull got it so wrong though. Ok, they are normally tight on packaging but to have stuff running so hot it can't even complete a few laps is amazing.

Ricciardo has just completed a lap this morning though! A better day for Renault?

[jens]

I am really surprised Red Bull got it so wrong though. Ok, they are normally tight on packaging but to have stuff running so hot it can't even complete a few laps is amazing.

Red Bull's packaging may be tight (when it hasn't been the case with Newey?), but since all Renault-engined cars seem to be in trouble, there is clearly a bigger issue going on with Renault powerplants.

Personally I believe Red Bull's aerodynamics and chassis in general is top-notch, so if they have a bad season, it will be down to the engine. Like Ferrari's 2005 was largely attributed to Bridgestone tyres, as in 2006, when they got 'competitive' tyres, Ferrari was up there again.

[RS]

Interesting comments from Sutil:

"It's so different and you can feel it in every gear. It's not about using all the rev band anymore. The torque is in the middle of the rev band so you can sometimes shift a bit earlier, or use different gears in a corner, it doesn't really make a difference.

"So the engine is a lot more powerful in the rev band than the V8. The V8 was more operating between 15 and 18,000rpm so you always had to keep the revs up.

"Also we have eight gears, so you never run into a limiter at the end of the straight, you can go at almost 400km/h with these gears so it's very different, a massive change in every direction."

[RS]

Red Bull have packed up and gone home.

Renault have problems, but it is affecting Red Bull and Toro Rosso the most it seems as Caterham have done 45 laps today.

[Tazio]

Yes RS it has been suggested that Caterham's battery and engine components are more loosely packaged allowing sufficient cooling.

[Malbec]

Red Bull's packaging may be tight (when it hasn't been the case with Newey?), but since all Renault-engined cars seem to be in trouble, there is clearly a bigger issue going on with Renault powerplants.

Personally I believe Red Bull's aerodynamics and chassis in general is top-notch, so if they have a bad season, it will be down to the engine. Like Ferrari's 2005 was largely attributed to Bridgestone tyres, as in 2006, when they got 'competitive' tyres, Ferrari was up there again.

I don't think you can simplify things like that and blame Renault. Today one Renault powered team has done more laps than every Renault powered car in the whole week up till now and there isn't a single red bovine on the car.

All the teams were provided information about the packaging and cooling needs of the powertrain and only one has used the information sufficiently well to allow its car to run, but the fact that one team has got it right indicates that the powertrain itself is not the sole issue.

It also sounds like RBR in particular left the development and construction of the current car very late indeed which compounded the problems, I think a large chunk of the blame has to be laid at Milton Keynes' door.

I'm sure if/when the RBR runs it will be very quick indeed but Newey has always sacrificed reliability for speed with extremely tight packaging that puts an extra strain on components. Putting KERS next to the gearbox in previous years may have helped aero packaging but it hurt reliability badly, just ask Webber... Thats the risk you run by pushing the envelope so far isn't it?