F1 2013 Testing: Week 3 Barcelona

I tihnk the Mercedes will be better than last year, i still dont think it will be up there fighting for the title but i think Hamilton could certainly get a few podiums, maybe a sneaky win or two.
 
I did say before testing even began that I thought Hamilton would still out score Button this year, I still stand by especially if they are equal reliability wise. It will be somewhat embarrassing for Whitmarsh to have Hamilton ahead.

I hope it happens purely so they can get someone a bit less conservative in.

Even if Hamilton doesn't outscore Button you can bet he still beats him on a saturday more often than not.
 
Supposedly Merc got comparitively worse throughout last year as they gave up on last years car to work on this years car, with more people, more staff and more money than they'd had to work on the 2010-2012 cars.

They also nabbed Lotus's aero guy IIRC, one of Merc's weaker spots(wasting a lot of time on a non working double drs, or not very effective) and putting more focus on what the car needs. LIkewise if Merc aren't miles out of it, they have no reason to stop development on this years car through the season. Last year had they improved drastically they would only have caught up with the top, too late in the season to gain any ground, it would have been money wasted. If you're up there in the top 5 every race then you have more to gain by developing the car further.

They've also got a significantly better driver, for me, best on the grid. Hamilton alone in last years car I sincerely believe would have done a lot better, qualified higher, better pace in race, etc, etc.

AS for teams being phased or not, what else would they say, Merc say they're slow and everyone else is fast, everyone else says they are slow and everyone aside from them is fast. I don't doubt most cars can go faster, but i don't doubt Hamilton can go faster as well. Currently the Merc and Hamilton together as a pair look the only team that has a shot at a sub 1:20.

A bit of a shame the "fast" drivers weren't all on the same day, Rosberg might be slower than Vettel/Button/Alonso tomorrow, and they go sub 1:20, but on a warmer day. Also possible Rosberg is fastest tomorrow and weather is worse and times are generally slower.


Force india looked to have not awful pace in the last couple weeks when they go their fastest, but Sutils longer stint times look pretty woeful at the moment, and if a semi accurate race sim that car appears to be losing huge time to tyre deg on heavy fuel, 5 seconds slower over 10 laps, second stint was somehow slower(maybe reusing tyres like they might have to in a race?) and 40 laps in the times are really weak.
 
Hamilton stays top for day 3.


Code: 
[b]Pos  Driver                Team          Time       Gap      Laps   [/b]
 1.  Lewis Hamilton        Mercedes      1m20.558s            117     
 2.  Felipe Massa          Ferrari       1m21.266s  + 0.708s  94      
 3.  Adrian Sutil          Force India   1m21.627s  + 1.069s  109     
 4.  Pastor Maldonado      Williams      1m22.305s  + 1.747s  34      
 5.  Valtteri Bottas       Williams      1m22.468s  + 1.910s  31      
 6.  Esteban Gutierrez     Sauber        1m22.553s  + 1.995s  99      
 7.  Mark Webber           Red Bull      1m22.658s  + 2.100s  59      
 8.  Sergio Perez          McLaren       1m22.694s  + 2.136s  101     
 9.  Jean-Eric Vergne      Toro Rosso    1m23.223s  + 2.665s  114     
10.  Romain Grosjean       Lotus         1m23.380s  + 2.822s  46      
11.  Davide Valsecchi      Lotus         1m23.448s  + 2.890s  16      
12.  Jules Bianchi         Marussia      1m24.028s  + 3.470s  74      
13.  Giedo van der Garde   Caterham      1m24.235s  + 3.677s  126
 
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That lap time is pretty damn good from Hamilton. Looks like he will be fighting for Poles.

Look at these Barcelona pole times:
Hamilton Pole (before DSQ) 2012 - 1.21.7
1:20.981- 2011 Pole - Mark Webber
1:19.995- 2010 Pole - Mark Webber

Hamilton time from today is 1.20.5....

2010 had the double diffuser etc which is why it's so quick. 2011 was full engine blown diffuser.
 
If Massa in the Ferrari is close to 7ths of Hamilton's time, then I reckon Vettel will absolutely smash it.

That being said It looks like Merc will be able to fight for top 6 finishes, which is good news.
 
XeNoN89 said:
That lap time is pretty damn good from Hamilton. Looks like he will be fighting for Poles.

Look at these Barcelona pole times:
Hamilton Pole (before DSQ) 2012 - 1.21.7
1:20.981- 2011 Pole - Mark Webber
1:19.995- 2010 Pole - Mark Webber

Hamilton time from today is 1.20.5....

2010 had the double diffuser etc which is why it's so quick. 2011 was full engine blown diffuser.
Click to expand...

So he is over a second quicker than his Mclaren was at this circuit last year?
 
I wonder what the DRS use was for Hamilton? His use for pole last year would have been everywhere. If he used it just on the main straight then that makes his time very impressive.

However, if he used it all over the track today then it makes it less impressive, plus we also don't know how much others used it.
 
Mercedes seem to be the most consistent in terms of laps too since the first couple of days of issues,hitting hundred laps minimum on pretty much every day?
 
Jono8 said:
I tihnk the Mercedes will be better than last year, i still dont think it will be up there fighting for the title but i think Hamilton could certainly get a few podiums, maybe a sneaky win or two.
Click to expand...
mercedes weren't to bad last year until they got out developed by almost every other team.
from fighting for podiums to fighting for 10th and often even non points scoring positions.

I can see merc giving up on development this year again unless they are a top 3 team
 
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