Best time first week 2014: 1:23.2
2015: 1:20.8
That's quite the improvement! Read that Ferrari and Renault have found some HP. I'm sure the aero has improved as well. Anxious to see where McLaren fit into all this....
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Best time first week 2014: 1:23.2
2015: 1:20.8
That's quite the improvement! Read that Ferrari and Renault have found some HP. I'm sure the aero has improved as well. Anxious to see where McLaren fit into all this....
I realized this year I will be cheering for Ferrari.:D What a difference a driver switch makes. But I am not going to declare myself a tifoso (though I once did), because in my case drivers influence any kind of supporting more than teams do.
In Ferrari's case the whole management clean sheet also helps. You get the feeling of freshness and a new start instead of 'same old'.
Today was the first day this year I've given Ferrari a thought. I'm not sure what their chances are but early signs are encouraging. I'm pulling for Kimi to whup up o n Seb, but 'm not holding my breath. I had this crazy thought earlier today, that if Kimi gets punked by Seb, I wonder if he would drive for Haas in 2016? :angel:
Well... I am pretty sure Räikkönen would not drive for Haas.:p: Which means he'd retire if he can't get a seat in a strong team. Maybe Vergne or Gutiérrez could drive for Haas, they are Ferrari reserve drivers right now.Quote:
Originally Posted by Tazio
As for Ferrari's chances. Probably Mercedes is out of reach, but they'd do well if they can compete against Williams and Red Bull for "best of the rest" tag. And that's possible.
:sailor: What about Slash, I mean he is a man after Tony Stewart's heart? :rolleyes: :angel:
Slash? Now. THAT'S the question! But... NO! :smokin:Quote:
Originally Posted by Tazio
Has Alonso been taking the team in the wrong direction ?
Seems odd that in his years there the car has been crap,he leaves and hey bingo the car improves !
Or was it the staff members that have been sacked/finished/retired that were the problem
OR in qualifying for the 1st race are we going to see that the Ferrari,s are STILL a second a lap slower than the Mercs ?
Mercedes are sandbagging. They'll still have a second on the rest.
As for Ferrari being better?
Easy, James Allison.
I thought last year's Oz race was pretty interesting but this year looks like it's going to have more than just a few surprises. Last year's Oz was cool because the cars were not sorted and drove like pigs. You could see big gobs of opposite lock and the in car cameras were really spectacular. Now the teams have a better grip on it, but in the beginning the cars were very difficult.
This year looks to be interesting because we really don't know who has what. Mercedes could possibly not have anything more, Ferrari could be sandbagging, and McLaren-Honda could possibly pull it all together in time to be competitive, not to even mention how well the Sauber is running. Max Verstappen could surprise us one way or the other too, so I am looking forward to this season more than any I can remember.
Agreed. James Allison is a first rate technical designer, and this years Ferrari is really the first one he has been responsible for. Just look at what happened to Toleman when he left them - last years car was an absolute pig, and to be honest last years Ferrari was not much better.Quote:
Originally Posted by Koz
As to where Ferrari stand after the Jerez test. They look strong, plenty of laps done with no real issues, and decent pace..... but the Ferrari teams (Fezza and Sauber) both seemed to be concentrating on low fuel speed testing, where as others appeared to be doing more high fuel race pace testing, so their actual position was (probably) a wee bit lower in the pecking order than it appeared. The two Barcalona tests will be more revealing, as teams testing strategies will start to merge, giving us a better picture of where everyone is at.
But will Mercedes show ALL their cards ?
They show potential for 3/4 of a lap ,and then coast for the last 1/4
Think the Red Bulls will be nearer the mark when the sh** hits the fan in Australia
You are undoubtedly correct. Merc will follow their own testing path, and if full speed runs are not in the plan, they wont do them. I wouldn't exactly say they are sandbagging, as it serves no purpose, especially if the other teams know they are doing it. Think back to when they were Brawn in 2009. They arrived and blew the opposition into the weeds in testing, then continued to do the same thing for the first half of the season. During testing there was much speculation about them running an illegal car (which is ok in testing) just to fly the flag for the prospective sponsors, but their testing was at race pace. They are doing the reverse now, with a different agenda for their testing.Quote:
Originally Posted by driveace
Usually the final test will see most teams true pace as they are trying to get the final pieces in place before they are shipped over to this side of the world for the Melbourne race.
A few things here: First of all, if you read the Jerez analysis from James Allen, it was heavily opined that Ferrari ran low fuel-Quali trim vs Mercedes heavy fuel-race trim. The Ferrari looked promising and got hype, but when hasn't it in preseason testing? Massa recently verified this to be common every year.Quote:
Originally Posted by Koz
As far as Allison is concerned, he's also benefited from Byrne's input. He's been rumored to consult for the last two seasons.
Now, i know that Allison has not much to do with the PU, and Ferrari look to have found some HP for this year as well. Reports are that the engine has an additional 60-80HP this year. If they were off 75HP last season to Merc, and Merc supposedly has an additional 50 added for this year, then the Ferrari still has a deficit.
I'm sure there are additional things that have gone better for them, but i think it is never just one thing (person) that brings such an improvement. As hard as that pill may be to swallow for some diehard Schumacher or even VET fans.....
I don't think anyone doubts that Mercedes is still the car the beat, and comfortably so. The question is what happens behind them. And if Ferrari can genuinely fight against Red Bull and Williams, it would be an improvement over last year, clearly.
Testing is not a place for showing 'cards' or "sandbagging". These things happen very rarely. You are more likely to see an underfunded small team going for fast laps, but deliberately playing fool and going slowly is wasting time. You have to concentrate on your testing programme and get as much data as you can. Difference in times is explainable by ongoing testing programme. Mercedes doesn't need to "coast" for quarter of a lap - everyone knows that they have the best car anyway. So there is nothing to hide. Except put some blankets on when the car gets back to the garage to hide some details....:) But I am unsure, how much does even that help nowadays, because a photographer with an eagle eye can catch all details, when the car is out on track doing lap-times.Quote:
Originally Posted by driveace
I don't know if anyone saw the "development special" on Sky last night, but they had an ex-Ferrari engineer on there who had an interesting theory about Ferrari's and Sauber's pace. Given that it was Ferrari who instigated the whole business about not having to homologate their engine before the start of the season, he speculated that they might still be running their 2014 engine, or a lightly modified version, and were therefore able to run it at full power, while Mercedes would have been more cautious for the first test with a brand new motor.
I have to agree that testing often doesn't show the hand very well due to the type of testing and fuel loads.Quote:
Originally Posted by kfzmeister
And I would agree even more that one person usually doesn't have huge influence on the team. In the case of Ferrari, I think it is just as important (if not more so) to look at who is NOT on the team. They have been a capable team for years, being misdirected and pressured from the people driving the show IMO. And as much as I admire Alonso for being the "never give up" guy that always gets 110% from the car, he often did so at the expense of the car being set up for him and disregarding the other driver.
One thing is for sure. With yet another season of WDC drivers at the helm, the pressure is on the team to fix the car. Likewise for McLaren having Alonso in the seat and Honda money behind them.
Though I expect Mercedes to remain on top, I seriously doubt it will be another walk in the park. The other teams have had a long time to figure out what they did wrong. I hope for a much more competitive 2015.
well fred is sucking wind at the moment - they need to get that rice rocket dialed in !!!
From f1today.net:
I hope Force India have a substitute, otherwise their testing programme will go from bad to worse!Quote:
Lewis Hamilton won't be testing anymore today. The reigning world champion is feeling unwell. Mercedes calls Pascal Wehrlein back from Force India to take over testing duties from Hamilton.
Apparently Perez is on hand so it's worked out OK for them. They've got Mercedes' money for running Wehrlein and now they've got their own driver back in the car.Quote:
Originally Posted by AndyL
Jerez test day 2.
Kvyat loses front wing. Vettel sends text to Marko: Don't you (Red Bull) have wings anymore?
Marko: You, especially, should know that Red Bull loans (front) wings! Btw, congrats on the best time. I bet you drove it with about 50 kilos fuel!
Another problematic day for McLaren. They got some respectable running in early on, but then suffered an MGU-K failure and have to change the engine for tomorrow.
And Lewis only does 11 laps ,and pull out with tummy bug
I love to see things like this between former driver and former boss. Shows there are no ill feelings between the two and they still have a decent relationship - good stuff!Quote:
Originally Posted by kfzmeister
Banter :p
It still seems really odd that he is not there. I would not be surprise to see him go back there one day.Quote:
Originally Posted by anfield5
Ricciardo showed him as an AVERAGE driver last year though!
21 laps for Button today. Hope they can solve their problems until tomorrow.
Interesting preseason testing. It looks like a lot of teams have made strides towards Mercedes position on the grid. Whether or not it will be enough is too early to tell but I'm really looking forward to next weeks test. I think we'll have a better idea when teams start doing low fuel runs. I wouldn't be too concerned if I were Mercedes yet. I reckon they are running a lot of fuel.
Alonso has had a nasty crash in Barcelona and although reports say he is concious, he has been airlifted to hospital.
http://www.bbc.co.uk/sport/0/formula1/31575734
Quote:
Originally Posted by steveaki13
There's a rumor going around that it may have been due to an electrical shock from the KERS. Just a rumor.Quote:
#F1 Vettel was behind Alonso before the crash: "The speed was slow - maybe 150kph. Then he turned right into the wall. It looked strange."
I hadn't seen that rumour, but was wondering that myself - seen some pics on marca of the crash, basically rubbed up the wall, no head on impact, all wheels still on the car, no major impact damage, but needed to be stretchered out and taken to hospital. Seems something untoward happened to Alonso to cause the accident, and shock would fit the bill.Quote:
Originally Posted by Tazio
Anyone still think the cars aren't too complicated?
Good news about Alonso:
http://www.motorsport.com/f1/news/my...lonso-incident
Quote:
His McLaren team has confirmed that the Spaniard has undergone a full CT scan in hospital and has no injuries. A spokeswoman added: "He is fine, that's all I can say."
The best info that i found was from a German website.
It stated that ALO seemed to be unconscious, or perhaps slightly disoriented for nearly 10 minutes and could not get out of the car by himself.
VET was directly behind him and said that ALO was not going very fast and that it just looked strange, not like an accident.
It is possible that electroshock, poisonous gasses from the hybrid system and, or the flu had something to do with the mishap.
El Pais is quoting Alonso's manager saying that the accident was caused by the strong winds in that part of the circuit and that the driver was not incapacitated in any manner before the crash.
Now Motorsports.com is reporting that Alonso has a concussion and might miss this weekend's testing which starts on Thursday.
http://www.motorsport.com/f1/news/al...it-after-crash
Also, the artice is titled "Alonso remains in intensive care unit after crash." Why would they put someone with a concussion in intensive care?
Meanwhile, and most importantly, according to McLaren, Alonso is "fine."
Seems odd someone in intensive care could be "fine." In fact, all of this is pretty odd.
This is certainly a pretty strange incident. I guess we're going to see all sorts of rumours until some hard facts emerge. Like whether Alonso is in the car for the second Barcelona test later this week. I really hope it's a lot of fuss about nothing and Alonso is OK.
Apparently it's standard to be in intensive care for a concussion (especially when you are one of the country's most famous and highly paid sportsmen)Quote:
Originally Posted by Doc Austin
According to Fred's manager this extended stay in the ICU is precautionary;
I was kept overnight for observation when I was concussed, and look how normal I am :dork:Quote:
“The impact was quite strong but fortunately, it was nothing. He was conscious and able to speak.
“He was taken to hospital as a precaution and they have done all the necessary tests, which have all come out well.
“But he will need to spend another 24 hours under observation. The tests will be repeated on Monday.”