Poll: F1 2022 - Pre-season testing and discussion

[Feek]

Interesting.

Lewis Hamilton says Mercedes cannot compete for wins after Bahrain testing:
https://www.bbc.co.uk/sport/formula1/60722566

I definitely got the impression that both Red Bull and Ferrari seem quicker.

 

[Deleted member 651465]

I still maintain that Ferrari will come out with something special. They’ve completely redesigned the power unit (going for a split V design aka Merc) plus there’s rumours that they’ve found gains in the synthetic fuel.

Will be happy for anyone to win bar RB. Bonus if it’s a British driver… not really bothered if Russell or Nando win it but would prefer Lewis purely to avenge that disaster of a final race last year.

 

[woppy101]

I still maintain that Ferrari will come out with something special. They’ve completely redesigned the power unit (going for a split V design aka Merc) plus there’s rumours that they’ve found gains in the synthetic fuel.

Will be happy for anyone to win bar RB. Bonus if it’s a British driver… not really bothered if Russell or Nando win it but would prefer Lewis purely to avenge that robbery of a final race last year.

Fixed that for you

 

[Entai]

Interesting.

Lewis Hamilton says Mercedes cannot compete for wins after Bahrain testing:
https://www.bbc.co.uk/sport/formula1/60722566

I definitely got the impression that both Red Bull and Ferrari seem quicker.

Is that similar to each time he said across the radio to Bono, "my tyres are shot need, to pit"

And then promptly set fastest lap after fastest lap.

 

[Slam62]

Yeah what did Max say? The car is brilliant give me the championship, everyone else don't bother.

 

[Mr Jack]

I guess it's time to make predictions for the season ahead:

Max to win the WDC.
Ferrari, Red Bull, and McLaren in contention for the WCC.
Mick gets a podium.
Drivers make a lot more mistakes, and the racing is better.
Alonso leaves at the end of the season.

Things I hope happen but don't think will:

Lewis gets his eighth.
All teams can compete for podiums, if not quite wins.
Stroll finally gets it together and has his breakout year.

 

[bayo000]

Still don't know what to think. McLaren (especially in the 1st test) and Ferrari looked decent. Red Bull kept pretty much out of spotlight until yesterday just doing their things. The latest Merc design looks awful and doesn't seem to be that quick. Haas was bit of a surprise and may surprise.

I'd like Danny Ric to win WDC but wouldn't mind any of the McLaren or Ferrari drivers to win it and Merc to finish 3rd or 4th in WCC after their 8 straight wins. I also hope we don't end up with another team dominating for such a long time ever again.

 

[BuffetSlayer]

I wouldn’t write Merc off just yet. They might be sandbagging or they might not. But they do have a track record of pulling it out of the bag when it matters.

Look at the start of last season which was similar in testing then they turn up and win the first race (and 3 of the first 5).

 

[bayo000]

Yeah it's way too early to say and why I've not bothered voting in the poll. Hopefully we'll have 4 or 5 closely matched teams.

 

[CaptainRAVE]

https://www.reddit.com/r/formula1/comments/td0zhh/im_seeing_a_pattern_here/?utm_source=share&utm_medium=ios_app&utm_name=iossmf

This is why we don’t read too much into testing.

 

[chrismscotland]

Look at the start of last season which was similar in testing then they turn up and win the first race (and 3 of the first 5).

True but they had a longer gap between testing and Race 1 and were dealing with a car in the W12 which was largely the same as the year before's.
I suspect some level of sandbagging but the car did genuinely look pretty horrendous on part of the track - I'm sure they'll get there though.

Hopefully we see 3-4 teams challenging this year, would make it far more interesting and especially when there appear to be 8x excellent drivers in those 4 teams (McLaren, Red Bull, Ferrari & Merc)

 

[Locky]

I feel sorry for Russell moving from one poor performing team to another. I feel merc are bang in trouble and have royally messed up.

 

[woppy101]

I feel sorry for Russell moving from one poor performing team to another. I feel merc are bang in trouble and have royally messed up.

I’m glad I’m not the only one that gets that feeling, gutted as I really want Lewis to get the 8th

 

[englishpremier]

I'm guessing with the race as the same track as the last test we're going only going to see long runs on the hardest tyre in FP1 & FP2, perhaps with teams even limiting their running to save engines for what is going to be the longest season on record.

I'm disappointed Danni Ric wasn't well. He really needed a good test, and think the McLaren could be up there fighting for podiums. I wonder how much running he will get in FP bearing in mind the need to save the engine.

 

[DeliciousStorage]

I still think Mercedes will win it, even if it takes them a few races to sort out issues with their car. Surprised so many people have Red Bull or Ferrari as favourites when Merc have won both championships for the last 8 years in a row.

 

[Jono8]

Yeah what did Max say? The car is brilliant give me the championship, everyone else don't bother.

Well he was just given in last year because his team asked for it (one more lap...), so why not try again?

 

[Slam62]

Well he was just given in last year because his team asked for it (one more lap...), so why not try again?

Are yes, if Lewis fails to get his eighth then that will be immortalised.

 

[woppy101]

I still think Mercedes will win it, even if it takes them a few races to sort out issues with their car. Surprised so many people have Red Bull or Ferrari as favourites when Merc have won both championships for the last 8 years in a row.

Doesn’t really work like that after a change to the cars though

 

[Entai]

Doesn’t really work like that after a change to the cars though

Yes there has been a big change to the rules.

However.

The most likely scenario is the top teams will remain the top teams.
They already have the facilities and personnel and investment so they will be ahead of lower teams who do not have those.

Very rarely, if ever, do teams go from the bottom to the front of the grid overnight, even after massive rule changes.

Also a lot can change in a week.
I will be extremely surprised if the Mercs are not right up there again come qualifying.

 

[Housey]

I think the new cars look terrific and if they have the racing through corners bit sorted out it could be a good season.