Who's surprised? He may be faster but he's also poorer!
I know it's testing and I make this mistake every year... But that gap between Ferrari on Softs and Mercedes on Mediums was interesting.
F1 Testing 2018: Week 1 Barcelona (26th - 1st)
- Thread starter Shimmy
- Start date
Who's surprised? He may be faster but he's also poorer!
I know it's testing and I make this mistake every year... But that gap between Ferrari on Softs and Mercedes on Mediums was interesting.
Soldato
And snowing now...
Man of Honour
- Joined
- 21 Nov 2004
- Posts
- 45,037
Well at least they will be well prepared for the numerous cold and snowy F1 races on the calendar.
Man of Honour
I'm surprised but the new logo is growing on me. Watch an old clip earlier with the previous logo and it's starting to look a little dated.
Soldato
I see you got some of your videos on the BBC, @The_Abyss 
Soldato
Yep - dominating the live feed for the past 2 days 
Off home tomorrow though - another fun year of testing. I’ll share a few more thoughts from today once I get back in.
Off home tomorrow though - another fun year of testing. I’ll share a few more thoughts from today once I get back in.
Oh, here it can snow in April, actually it does quite often, and sometimes, though more rarely in May, and even in June
I doubt that even though they are ugly as hell. They are part of the crash structure, so they are pretty integral to the car now, and the reason for forcing it into use (the fear of being sued if they didn't use it and a driver died) hasn't changed.
Soldato
So that's the end of my F1 testing for 2018. I didn't take many photos today, and we spent less time out on the circuit as we also had a paddock tour booked. A few observations after watching the cars for two days, and I'll post what I saw rather than voice my own opinion on whether it is positive or negative - others here can be the judge.
The weather was far, far colder than the previous six years of testing I've done in Spain. At times, the cars were acting in the same way that they would putting on a set of slicks just as conditions changed from wet to dry, i.e. ice rink. Once up to temperature though, it looked like business as usual, other than perhaps at the end of the straights.
I use turn 9 as a very crude measurement of the car's aero. There's heavy braking into turn 7 (and drivers often mess up there on the exit) before an uphill climb through turn 8. Turn 9 is very borderline on whether it can be taken flat out. Stroll crashed there last year trying to do that, and Hamilton binned it yesterday late on trying to do the same after the rain got a bit heavier. Today was quite interesting.
The Ferrari took a good few laps, presumably getting heat into the tyres and burning off fuel, before it didn't have to change down for turn 9 and could just lift. After a few more laps it was pretty much flat out. The Toro Rosso never quite got there, always either changing down or noticeably lifting. The Mercedes just lifted a little, but also often used that corner for some sort of engine mapping testing (spanners in a washing machine sounding stuff). Haas managed a couple of mild lifting laps but mostly changed down a gear. The Red Bull, three laps into a stint once their fuel issues were sorted, just hammered straight around the turn like it wasn't there.
The track was very cold, and it was changing quite rapidly as the weather changed. Kubica was dreadful for his first couple of laps, but then managed to get up to a decent pace quite quickly. Force India and Renault took longer (although Renault were up to speed more quickly yesterday). I couldn't see the slower corners in sector three, as they've torn down the stands there and it is all fenced off.
On his fastest laps today, Vettel was really pushing hard, especially in sector three. He consistently ran wide more than other drivers, and often put two wheels in the gravel in the stadium section. Sauber seemed very slow, if they're truly running a 2018 Ferrari engine. Force India were also slow, but they seemed to have some problems getting heat into the tyres, more so than other teams. I didn't see enough of McLaren today, as most of their running was while I was doing the paddock tour.
The circuit tour was pretty good - we saw the driver briefing area where they also do the press conferences, got to stand on the podium and saw race control too. We met Alain Prost in the paddock and saw a couple of non-driving drivers. Anyway, just a few photos from the day:
The weather was far, far colder than the previous six years of testing I've done in Spain. At times, the cars were acting in the same way that they would putting on a set of slicks just as conditions changed from wet to dry, i.e. ice rink. Once up to temperature though, it looked like business as usual, other than perhaps at the end of the straights.
I use turn 9 as a very crude measurement of the car's aero. There's heavy braking into turn 7 (and drivers often mess up there on the exit) before an uphill climb through turn 8. Turn 9 is very borderline on whether it can be taken flat out. Stroll crashed there last year trying to do that, and Hamilton binned it yesterday late on trying to do the same after the rain got a bit heavier. Today was quite interesting.
The Ferrari took a good few laps, presumably getting heat into the tyres and burning off fuel, before it didn't have to change down for turn 9 and could just lift. After a few more laps it was pretty much flat out. The Toro Rosso never quite got there, always either changing down or noticeably lifting. The Mercedes just lifted a little, but also often used that corner for some sort of engine mapping testing (spanners in a washing machine sounding stuff). Haas managed a couple of mild lifting laps but mostly changed down a gear. The Red Bull, three laps into a stint once their fuel issues were sorted, just hammered straight around the turn like it wasn't there.
The track was very cold, and it was changing quite rapidly as the weather changed. Kubica was dreadful for his first couple of laps, but then managed to get up to a decent pace quite quickly. Force India and Renault took longer (although Renault were up to speed more quickly yesterday). I couldn't see the slower corners in sector three, as they've torn down the stands there and it is all fenced off.
On his fastest laps today, Vettel was really pushing hard, especially in sector three. He consistently ran wide more than other drivers, and often put two wheels in the gravel in the stadium section. Sauber seemed very slow, if they're truly running a 2018 Ferrari engine. Force India were also slow, but they seemed to have some problems getting heat into the tyres, more so than other teams. I didn't see enough of McLaren today, as most of their running was while I was doing the paddock tour.
The circuit tour was pretty good - we saw the driver briefing area where they also do the press conferences, got to stand on the podium and saw race control too. We met Alain Prost in the paddock and saw a couple of non-driving drivers. Anyway, just a few photos from the day:
But....Did they bring the showchains, and winter tyres??
Soldato
Interesting write-up, thanks! I do wonder how much frustration the conditions are giving the teams regarding the tyres. If the track is cold and Ferrari can still generate some heat, is that good? None of the races will be this cold, will it just mean their car has higher degradation?
Soldato
I think we just don’t know yet.
I think the different approach to aero between Mercedes and Red Bull - visible in my two last pics above - is fascinating. But I don’t pretend to understand it!
Dodged snow in Barcelona this morning and then again in Stansted to make it safely home. In hindsight we saw the best part of testing this week!
I think the different approach to aero between Mercedes and Red Bull - visible in my two last pics above - is fascinating. But I don’t pretend to understand it!
Dodged snow in Barcelona this morning and then again in Stansted to make it safely home. In hindsight we saw the best part of testing this week!
Soldato
Have they changed the size of the tires from last season? These look huge!