2015 F1 Pre Season Testing Thread

[kfzmeister]

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....

[jens]

I realized this year I will be cheering for Ferrari. 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'.

[Tazio]

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?

[jens]

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?

Well... I am pretty sure Räikkönen would not drive for Haas. 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.

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.

[Tazio]

What about Slash, I mean he is a man after Tony Stewart's heart?

[jens]

What about Slash, I mean he is a man after Tony Stewart's heart?

Slash? Now. THAT'S the question! But... NO!

[driveace]

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 ?

[Koz]

Mercedes are sandbagging. They'll still have a second on the rest.

As for Ferrari being better?
Easy, James Allison.

[Doc Austin]

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.

[anfield5]

Mercedes are sandbagging. They'll still have a second on the rest.

As for Ferrari being better?
Easy, James Allison.

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.

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.