F1 Testing 2014: Week 3 Bahrain

Haha did anyone else notice Ted jump out of his skin at a wheel gun noise right at the end of the Day 4 notebook? You'd expect him to be used to pit lane noises surely!
 
Im looking forward to Kimi V Alonso but I can't wait see this Magnussen and what he does.

Its always hilarious when Button is squirming and I think we might see a lot of 'muh balance' and crying if he has the audacity to overtake him.
 
smr said:
Shame about Mclaren's running today, testing a new FW intended for Melbourne which had shipped over in time. Unfortunately engine problems thereafter though...

if ever there's a season to put a bet on one of the smaller teams winning Aus this would be it methinks!
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I've had £2.50 each way on Chilton and Bianchi at 2500/1 in the hope everyone else breaks down and they plod around at their own pace. Won't happen but hey.

Interestingly, Massa's gone from 125/1 to 16/1 for the Australian GP and Bottas from 200/1 to 25/1.
 
Mercedes pace looks very ominous.

Hamilton's quick lap yesterday was set on used softs whereas Massa's was set on new super softs.
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i think that order might end up applying for qualifying in Melbourne but come the race Williams may have the advantage purely on reliability. I saw Williams comment that the stoppage they had I think yesterday, maybe it was saturday, was the first stoppage they'd had on track in testing(I presume just the third test) and it was right outside the pits so never used the recovery truck which they were proud of :p

That is mighty impressive though, their reliability has been immense. Of course it's possible they went not hard enough in a lot of their testing and didn't find problems that might crop up in race.

Also will be interesting to see how cars react, and which ones react, to following close behind another car, hotter air will be a problem for some cars(as it always has been to a degree). I don't think anyone on the grid has a clue how tyres will react over the race to being close behind someone.

While you certainly get the feeling Merc have something left over to use and I think Hamilton is the better driver than Massa, we're presuming Williams ran only the minimum fuel to finish such runs and that they didn't go a tad slow in a few different corners every lap to hide a few tenths or half a second. That kind of sandbagging is easy enough to do. Drivers getting a feel for the car at almost max speed can still pull out of a few corners and hold a little back without taking away from knowing what the car can do and the team knowing which corners you slowed in and by how much can work out their own real pace while hiding it from others a bit.

The Ferrari has struggled for balls out qualifying pace for years though, yet their race pace has been excellent. Merc being brilliantly fast at their fastest didn't do an awful lot for them last year in races. Qualified brilliantly yet race pace was not at all competitive with the top guys for the majority of races.

The only semi obvious thing we could see was that Red Bull's fastest runs were WAY off the pace, and their longer stints(which weren't very long) were WAY WAY off the pace. I just can't at this stage see RBR being competitive at least for the first couple races. IF they eat some humble pie and bring along a semi new design (in terms of engine cover/sidepods/cooling) to Melbourne and the thing actually lets them run properly, can then use Melbourne as a shake down and be in a stronger position fairly quickly?

Caterham's impressive lap count/reliability for a small budget team with that engine and insane cooling surely points to increased cooling being a huge help with that engine?
 
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Mr Jack said:
You keep saying this. The facts disagree. RBR was leading the championship after the second race. Vettel was leading after the third. This is not starting the season "on the back foot".

As always, you're entitled to your own opinion; you are not entitled to your own facts.
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Well, embarrassingly - especially so after that tag line - I got my facts wrong. Vettel was leading after the second race not the third. My bad.
 
drunkenmaster said:
The Ferrari has struggled for balls out qualifying pace for years though, yet their race pace has been excellent.
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I've heard that Ferrari don't think they can run an entire race distance on the requisite fuel load without turning their engine down. I can't find a reliable source for that, though. If true, I guess they'll be hoping for a lot of safety cars in Australia!
 
Mr Jack said:
I've heard that Ferrari don't think they can run an entire race distance on the requisite fuel load without turning their engine down. I can't find a reliable source for that, though. If true, I guess they'll be hoping for a lot of safety cars in Australia!
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Ted hinted at that in on of his notebooks. Saying he felt the murmurs he heard suggested the Ferrari was thirstier than the Renault and Mercedes.
 
As fun as it is seeing RBR struggle, I really hope we don't end up with another one-sided season just with a different car at the front (even if it is Hamilton).
 
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