This could get boring. Red Bull look very quick so far. Merc well off the pace.
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Yep, all hopes of a close battle at the top for the season dashed after one day of testing.
Same as last year really, RBR way out front, Ferrari 2nd and Merc a distant third with Alpine and perhaps a couple of others popping up in the 3/4/5 mix. Plus ca change and all thatâŚ
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Way too early to say where teams will end up throughout the season. RB is putting in the times at the moment and looks good, but in reality, we wonât know until next weekend. Important to remember that teams have been known to sandbag through testing. Then even if RB does start strong they do have reduced spending, wind tunnel and CFD time due to breaking the spending cap, which could hamper their in-season developments. We need to wait and see what will happen rather than forecast the results of the season, that being said, RB is likely the bookieâs favourite to win both titles at the moment.
You could be right but we can just see how the cars are going around the track, how they sit, how they enter and leave the corners, RBR are visibly miles ahead at moment.
The wind tunnel cap penalty makes very little difference overall, despite Christian Hornerâs bleatings. I canât remember the exact numbers but the penalty is 10% of the 70% they had for being title winners, so 7%, which takes their wind tunnel chips down from something like 230 to about 210. And Anthony Davidson let slip yesterday that âsome teamsâ frequently massage the numbers anyway by being fairly loose with when the timings for wind tunnel use actually start and finish!
Rip Slim Borgudd, also known as ABBAâs drummer. His best result was P6 in British GB 1981.
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Remind me, who is he a test driver for?
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A simulator driver, so he should know!
I dont doubt him. But maybe not the smartest thing to say out loud.
When they describe them as tokens I was picturing the wind tunnel with a coin slot like the arcade machines.
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As it was before my time on the forum, how did everyone survive the seven years of Merc dominance?
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Doesnât really matter whoâs dominant, it gets boring fast when anyone is.
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Yep
By my count weâve had maybe 2 exciting seasons in the last 10. And for one of them the rivalry was within one team.
Fascinating listening to Pat Symonds on the Sky coverage of testing just now, detailing many aspects of energy sustainability and efficiency.
Someone whoâs gone to the trouble of investigating and learning about the subject in great depth, who actually knows what heâs talking about and can discuss current and future reality in detail and with common sense.
As opposed to those with vested interests on either side of any fence who clearly know bugger all.
Agree with comments. RBR looking class of the field with Ferrari close second. Merc good but not quite there but itâs testing who knows
Question. Given the limited testing why donât they have both cars and drivers i.e. 20 cars rather than splitting. Doesnât Lewis have a slight advantage having two early evening sessions to Georgeâs one.
Iâm assuming they have âaâ car and switch seats, pedals between sessions rather than each individuals
The rules only allow them to run one car.
There has been some comment by drivers that due to such limited testing, only 3 days this year, having 2 cars would allow both drivers to get a decent amount of seat time. Several of them have commented that 1.5 days is not really enough and if a test driver gets one session it would be less.
Yeah was watching on F1TV. They swop seats and such in between and meanwhile they are building up the second car as they go. Got a glimpse of the second RB chassis on camera.
As for all cars on track I could imagine the track getting too crowded with 20 cars meaning no one can get proper testing done.
Of course itâs all about saving costs but they naturally gravitate towards the no. 1 driver. Fernando has used the time wisely. Max seems to have had better timings than Sergio for example
I didnât get to watch myself yet, but have read that the Ferrari, while quick, is devouring itâs tires like crazy. Unless they sort that, they might qualify well, but wonât do well in the race.
I may have to watch the recording. Pat was always interesting when he used to be on.
Good idea. It reaffirms the thought that while electric vehicles have their place, in reality sustainable fuel powered cars and planes are likely to feature heavily in the future. And weâre almost there.
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Iâm not really sure what testing has shown us.
That said Iâm not sure what these limited test sessions do in the scheme of things.
Red Bull look to had had the better test & appear to have been the better/faster/trouble free team
Ferrari look quick (the newly found ability to use extra power) but questionable tyre
Mercedes, hard to say, not shown much, are they sand bagging
Aston Martin seem to have found something, plus the FA effect maybe
Anyhow, thanks to F1 we have the team total laps & fastest laps
AlphaTauri - Total Laps 456 - Fastest Lap 1m 31.261s (Yuki Tsunoda)
Williams - 439 - 1m 32.549s (Logan Sargeant)
Ferrari - 416 - 1m 31.024s (Charles Leclerc)
Haas - 414 - 1m 31.381s (Kevin Magnussen)
Red Bull - 413 - 1m 30.305s (Sergio Perez)
Alfa Romeo - 402 - 1m 30.827s (Valtteri Bottas)
Mercedes - 398 - 1m 30.664s (Lewis Hamilton)
Aston Martin - 387 - 1m 31.440s (Fernando Alonso)
Alpine - 353 - 1m 32.762s (Pierre Gasly)
McLaren - 312 - 1m 32.160s (Lando Norris)