Bit premature to be saying that surely? That 1:22.7 was done in the third week of testing last year.
This is the first day, when teams are mainly doing system checks.
F1 Testing 2016: Week 1 Barcelona (22nd - 25th)
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Bit premature to be saying that surely? That 1:22.7 was done in the third week of testing last year.
This is the first day, when teams are mainly doing system checks.
Soldato
*Ignore, didn't realise there was another page of this thread*
First time following testing? Times are meaningless pretty much.
Associate
Of course, but when you see Ferrari and Mercedes putting in 1:24s and 1:25s when they too will be doing mainly system and aero checks then its not very promising.
You'd expect some faster laps by now surely, especially when there's only 8 days of testing and any of those could be wiped out if it rains?
Still, time will tell I guess. I think the speedtrap data would be useful to see if they've solved their power issues.
Caporegime
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It's not at the same point last year though, I'm not sure why people don't get that. Last year a lot of their lack of running was basic electronic problems with the car rather than the engine which you get with a complete new car. This car is an evolution, IE 100 times easier to get running.
Same way Merc did like 18 laps first day of testing in 2014 and 157 in first day of testing in 2015.
This day is incomparable for Mclaren compared to the first day last year because it's not at all the same situation. Comparing the evolution of Mercedes from 2014-2015 means you compare 2014 Merc to 2015 Mclaren 18 vs 6 laps, and 2015 Merc to 2016 Mclaren, 157 vs not 157 laps.
More to the point, the engine sounds as god awful as it did last year. It sounds rather similarly to be throwing a hell of a lot more noise out of the wastegate than everyone else by a simply huge amount. Last year this was rather than mgu-h slowing down the turbo and harvesting the energy they had to dump it out of the wastegate. Everyone else will have brought a new mgu-h/compressor/turbine.... but the other engines are running well.
When did Haas switch from Ferrari to Mercedes?
Have they actually told anyone that?
Mercedes & Ferrari are chasing efficiency on their established engine designs and can concentrate on aero and balance much earlier than McLaren Honda.
Yes this is Honda's second year, but they threw out much of last year's design and will be carrying out far more mapping work I'm sure than all other engine suppliers for the coming days.
I don't think any of us are expecting McLaren to be competing for the title this year, even the biggest McLaren fanatics.
Yes this is Honda's second year, but they threw out much of last year's design and will be carrying out far more mapping work I'm sure than all other engine suppliers for the coming days.
I don't think any of us are expecting McLaren to be competing for the title this year, even the biggest McLaren fanatics.
Caporegime
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When did Haas switch from Ferrari to Mercedes?
Have they actually told anyone that?
Bah, I'm missing there being no Lotus, I see a Renault and I think Lotus, and I see Grosjean mentioned and I think Lotus. I see Maldonado and I think crash. F1 will be the worse without him, less safety cars to tighten up the pack, less crash footage, more predictable races.
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Caporegime
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One, they didn't throw out much of last year's design, that's complete nonsense. There is a token limit, all the teams have the same number of tokens, by and large all the teams will make exactly the same number of changes.
Second, Honda appear to have decided to stick with their compressor in the V design, it's supposed to be bigger but it's very limited in how much bigger it can get. The ICE was supposedly good and won't be hugely changed.
Efficiency gains for Ferrari/Merc come from new engine parts, it's really that simple, new engine parts means chance for screw ups, need to change engine maps, need to change and relearn most of how the engine works.
By all accounts Honda have made a evolution on last year's design, they'd have more chance for bigger problems if they'd thrown out the compressor in the V concept and come with a much bigger conceptual change but they haven't done that.
Hamilton has now done twice as many laps as his nearest contender.
How many laps did Rosberg do last year on testing day 1? That was a record wasn't it?
Edit: Rosberg did 157 laps on day 1 at Jerez, thats 695km. Hamilton has done 113 at Barcelona (so far) which is 526km.
How many laps did Rosberg do last year on testing day 1? That was a record wasn't it?
Edit: Rosberg did 157 laps on day 1 at Jerez, thats 695km. Hamilton has done 113 at Barcelona (so far) which is 526km.
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Completely incomparable points, the front wing failed after those 18 laps and speared Hamilton in the barrier. If memory serves it was very early in the day as well.
Looking back over the first test in 2014 Merc did 309 laps over the 4 days, remove the 18 laps wing failure on the first day and Merc did 97 laps average for the next 3 days.... so judging by the form book Merc are pretty much where they always have been in the new PU era.
edit:
Jerez 2014
Merc - 97 lap average
McLaren 62 lap average
Ferrari 60 lap average
Williams 40 lap average
Force India 40 lap average
Sauber 40 lap average
anything with a Renault engine in was lol
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They've increased the size of both the turbine and compressor for this year as they've self admittedly said they were too small. Yes of course Mercedes & Ferrari will have new bits, but I haven't heard them making such changes - as they already seem to have an optimal formula. So I still think McLaren will be putting more focus on the power unit at the start of testing than the competition.
Soldato
The Mclaren isn't using a race engine according to Sky it is a 2016 Mk1 engine then at the next test they'll be using a Mk2 then combine them both to make a race engine for Melbourne. Times are academic as it is mileage they need to do..
Soldato
Interesting !
Caporegime
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You haven't heard because the media isn't focusing on it. Tokens spent by Ferrari/Merc/Renault last year.... all of them. Come the end of 2016, tokens spent by Ferrari, Merc, Renault and Honda... all of them.
The focus is on Honda because the media has it that way, nothing more or less. They have tokens, they use them, they have the same number of tokens. honda can't and won't make more changes than the other teams. Ferrari increased the size of their turbo and compressor, moved the location of the compressor and made many other changes. Did that stop that Ferrari running well in 2015 testing? Merc brough variable intake valves, a fairly big step in terms of layout of the top of the engine, they increased the size of their compressor last year. They've supposedly increased the size of the compressor again this year.
Soldato
I think it's safe to assume that McLaren have had to make the most radical changes - the car for the first time has been utterly and 100 percent led by Peter Prodromou so there are a raft of changes to the nose/FW/rear wing and everything else in between on the surface of the car. The innards were in a complete mess as well, they've increased the size of the turbo yet shrunk the size zero concept when reliability was a massive problem last year, that's a fair chunk of R&D.
The McLaren is also running a ton more rake than last year, affecting the gearbox, suspension and aero.
I think that Merc are polishing an already sorted concept, yes the turbo may be bigger but the changes they'll have made will be more refinements rather than the rebuilding which McLaren and Honda have had to go about.
The McLaren is also running a ton more rake than last year, affecting the gearbox, suspension and aero.
I think that Merc are polishing an already sorted concept, yes the turbo may be bigger but the changes they'll have made will be more refinements rather than the rebuilding which McLaren and Honda have had to go about.
Caporegime
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Not incomparable except because you want them to be. A lot of the reasons Mclaren didn't run during testing last year were electrical, not the engine. New car, parts fail that you don't know are going to fail. Merc had a front wing failure, same as Haas this year, that reduced their running. Mclaren had more electrical than engine problems in the first test last year. Plenty of teams had electrical issues on a new car. Things will stop you running in testing, that is what it's for. All teams have more things fail and more problems with a brand new car than the following year. This happened for Merc, it will happen for Haas/Renault in that they'll start off stronger next year, it's happened for Mclaren.
To prove this point
2015 Jerez
Merc average 129
Ferrari average 86
Sauber average 95
RBR average 41
Williams average 70
TR average 88
Each team improved, RBR. FI didn't go to the first test but at the second test they still averaged 76 laps.