F1 Testing 2017: Week 1 Barcelona (27th - 2nd)
- Thread starter Shimmy
- Start date
This was after 4 days last year:
1. Sebastian Vettel (Ferrari) 1:22.810
2. Nico Hulkenberg (Force India) 1:23.110
3. Kimi Raikkonen (Ferrari) 1:23.477
4. Daniel Ricciardo (Red Bull) 1:23.525
5. Sergio Perez (Force India) 1:23.650
6. Daniil Kvyat (Red Bull) 1:24.293
So its pretty cool that this has been broken on the first day.
Soldato
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Well he's been back out since so it couldn't have been much of an issue.
Caporegime
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- 18 Oct 2002
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Meh, intentions are one thing, it's not like tire manufacturers haven't screwed up before. Either way it would be nice to get confirmation they can be pushed harder.
That sounds like Anderson is being a bit of a ****. There is going slower, then there is going slower. It could be setup or driving style, lol. Even Williams with consistently the worst tire wear, I wouldn't expect to get anything like that. My guess is he saw a 16 lap stint, assumed they were a simulation as in trying to run a real stint at normal pace, took the first and last time and did his calculation but in reality He was out there doing slow and fast laps randomly and a slower last lap before coming in. Tire deg we should be looking at if extreme, 5-6 second drop off, if minor 2-3 seconds. So many so called experts chat such ridiculous crap all the time.
Caporegime
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On reddit someone commented this
Reports show Charlie Whiting ******* himself laughing on the floor after listening to Alonso's team radio on that 2nd "lap". If only we could hear it
I'm guessing something along the lines of "can we go back to the GP2 engine"
periscope stream of someone watching testing.
https://www.periscope.tv/w/1nAKEVqwEZAGL
From the BBC live feed:
Red Bull team boss Christian Horner just met with the media here at the track, and he had this to say about the shark fins on the bodywork which are now legal again for the first time since 2010:
“I think the cars look fantastic. What lets them down is the shark fins, proportionally. It is something that we raised at the Formula 1 Strategy meeting last year, to ask that all teams remove them because it is pretty marginal, the performance gain that they offer.
"In the interests of aesthetics, it was requested that they be removed. That went to the Formula 1 Commission, and unfortunately it was immediately rejected by the majority of the teams.
"Hopefully it is something that can be addressed for next year because the cars look great, it is just a shame that this shark fin has crept in through another loophole in the regulations.”
He has a point that they don't look nice but i can't help thinking that there are other motives for wanting them banned. Lol
Red Bull team boss Christian Horner just met with the media here at the track, and he had this to say about the shark fins on the bodywork which are now legal again for the first time since 2010:
“I think the cars look fantastic. What lets them down is the shark fins, proportionally. It is something that we raised at the Formula 1 Strategy meeting last year, to ask that all teams remove them because it is pretty marginal, the performance gain that they offer.
"In the interests of aesthetics, it was requested that they be removed. That went to the Formula 1 Commission, and unfortunately it was immediately rejected by the majority of the teams.
"Hopefully it is something that can be addressed for next year because the cars look great, it is just a shame that this shark fin has crept in through another loophole in the regulations.”
He has a point that they don't look nice but i can't help thinking that there are other motives for wanting them banned. Lol
From what I am hearing it is the newly designed, and smaller, oil tank that caused the problems with the McLaren, not the engine. Some good laps by Vettel on the mediums, of course though Mercedes could be sandbagging and it is only the first day of testing.
Vettel went on to the hard not supersoft (though colouring looks similar hence confusion). Solid day from Ferrari and Merc. Vettel did two race distances in the supposedly 'tougher cars' would be interesting to hear his feedback on how tough it was but apparently Ferrari have put a media blackout on driver interviews until Wednesday? (Not sure how true that is, read it on another forum).
Man of Honour
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Mercedes quickest already. That car is stunning. The corner and exit speeds are blowing my mind at the moment. That grip!
Testing pics - http://imgur.com/a/CFnvn
Man of Honour
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- 21 Nov 2004
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- 46,783
Neat, thanks 
Sorry it is late - we had a cracking day at the circuit, probably the best day at testing we'd had in the last five years. Great weather and most of the cars running. A few thoughts from the day, bearing in mind that it is only day one of testing...
Sauber and Haas look noticeably slower than the rest of the grid. It wasn't possible to really judge RBR or McLaren today. Starting at the business end with Mercedes - absolutely awesome. I didn't see a lap that was put together in every corner but the car looks amazing. Bottas was great in the morning, and slowly stepped up the pace in parts of the track. The real test for me was in turn 9 - he steadily got quicker and quicker until one lap, just before lunch, he made it round with only a minimal lift off the throttle. That performance was night and day with the other cars, including Ferrari, who were just not able (or chose not) to do the same. The other real noticeable difference was the exit of turn 15 and entry into 16 - the Mercedes could get the power down all the way through whereas all other cars were feathering the throttle or oversteering. The Mercedes braking and turn in to turn 1 is simply awesome - they were braking 5 - 10 metres later than everyone else and were carrying so much speed through turn 1.
Ferrari looked very settled too, but were more twitchy at the same speed as Mercedes. They didn't have the same drive as the Mercedes coming out of the corners on the curbs, often spinning the rears. Williams were a measure behind Ferrari.
Both Toro Rosso and Renault looked fantastic too, albeit it slower. They didn't seem to have the power but the cars were very solid. Both were awesome coming around turn 3 - Toro Rosso with far more drive than Wiliams. Every car last year took the curb on the exit, but Toro Rosso, Mercedes and Ferrari didn't today. The speed through the faster corners is so much faster - it took a while to adjust to taking decent pictures.
The Toro Rosso livery looks absolutely great, with the metallic Red Bull logo on the side. Renault looks great live on track too. Williams looks worse than last year, with the livery extended to the shark fin. The T wings are barely noticeable at the circuit. McLaren didn't run much but their livery is certainly distinctive. It is a bit like a child's toy, but would look great if they had the speed to compete - too early to tell today.
There was much mockery from the crowd for McLaren today. When Alonso emerged in the afternoon for a couple of laps the crowd were jeering and laughing. The laughter went once he started to get up to pace (we left a few laps afterwards) but you do wonder at the damage being done to the McLaren and Honda brands. Crowds were pretty low - nowhere near Jerez on a day when Alonso is in the car.
My long lens also died in the morning, so not as many pictures as I'd have hoped for. Here are a few - YouTube video of various clips is still uploading as I type. Full album: https://flic.kr/s/aHskRMHsVA
DSC_0407 by Greg Kingston, on Flickr
DSC_0414 by Greg Kingston, on Flickr
DSC_0380 by Greg Kingston, on Flickr
DSC_0502 by Greg Kingston, on Flickr
DSC_0729 by Greg Kingston, on Flickr
DSC_0771 by Greg Kingston, on Flickr
Sauber and Haas look noticeably slower than the rest of the grid. It wasn't possible to really judge RBR or McLaren today. Starting at the business end with Mercedes - absolutely awesome. I didn't see a lap that was put together in every corner but the car looks amazing. Bottas was great in the morning, and slowly stepped up the pace in parts of the track. The real test for me was in turn 9 - he steadily got quicker and quicker until one lap, just before lunch, he made it round with only a minimal lift off the throttle. That performance was night and day with the other cars, including Ferrari, who were just not able (or chose not) to do the same. The other real noticeable difference was the exit of turn 15 and entry into 16 - the Mercedes could get the power down all the way through whereas all other cars were feathering the throttle or oversteering. The Mercedes braking and turn in to turn 1 is simply awesome - they were braking 5 - 10 metres later than everyone else and were carrying so much speed through turn 1.
Ferrari looked very settled too, but were more twitchy at the same speed as Mercedes. They didn't have the same drive as the Mercedes coming out of the corners on the curbs, often spinning the rears. Williams were a measure behind Ferrari.
Both Toro Rosso and Renault looked fantastic too, albeit it slower. They didn't seem to have the power but the cars were very solid. Both were awesome coming around turn 3 - Toro Rosso with far more drive than Wiliams. Every car last year took the curb on the exit, but Toro Rosso, Mercedes and Ferrari didn't today. The speed through the faster corners is so much faster - it took a while to adjust to taking decent pictures.
The Toro Rosso livery looks absolutely great, with the metallic Red Bull logo on the side. Renault looks great live on track too. Williams looks worse than last year, with the livery extended to the shark fin. The T wings are barely noticeable at the circuit. McLaren didn't run much but their livery is certainly distinctive. It is a bit like a child's toy, but would look great if they had the speed to compete - too early to tell today.
There was much mockery from the crowd for McLaren today. When Alonso emerged in the afternoon for a couple of laps the crowd were jeering and laughing. The laughter went once he started to get up to pace (we left a few laps afterwards) but you do wonder at the damage being done to the McLaren and Honda brands. Crowds were pretty low - nowhere near Jerez on a day when Alonso is in the car.
My long lens also died in the morning, so not as many pictures as I'd have hoped for. Here are a few - YouTube video of various clips is still uploading as I type. Full album: https://flic.kr/s/aHskRMHsVA
DSC_0407 by Greg Kingston, on FlickrDSC_0414 by Greg Kingston, on FlickrDSC_0380 by Greg Kingston, on FlickrDSC_0502 by Greg Kingston, on FlickrDSC_0729 by Greg Kingston, on FlickrDSC_0771 by Greg Kingston, on Flickr