F1 Testing 2021: Bahrain (12th - 14th)

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CaptainRAVE said:
It’s a tricky testing to read into. Hard to imagine Mercedes losing their huge advantage from last year, but who knows, maybe the downforce reduction has screwed them.
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Testing is always tricky to read into :)

My take is that the pecking order hasn't changed all that much, and despite a few difficulties for Mercedes, Aston, and Haas no-one has had a terrible testing. Mercedes look more like the level of '17/'18 than '20 compared to the others, but I still expect them to be WCC again with Lewis picking up his 8th WDC. The Red Bull still seems a handful, Ferrari aren't such a mess as before but won't be fighting at the pointy end. Aston have teething problem but are probably alright for pace. McLaren/Alpine are closely matched, but may be joined by AlphaTauri who look to have taken a real step forward. Williams haven't made much improvement and will be stuck at the back with Haas all season, but Alfa look like they'll be capable of battling for points.

And, no, I'm not confident about any of that.
 
Inclined to agree with others and say its hard to read much from this testing.

Honda are looking good.

Even sandbagging, I doubt Mercedes are happy with where they're at.

Reasonably confident (preseason optimism) Hamilton will have to work for it this year!
 
Mr Jack said:
For some reason, people are insisting it's supposed to be pronounced in the French fashion despite that not being what people do for other car brands. Who do you know who calls BMW Bey Em Vey for example?
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Makes sense. Everything should be pronounced as it should be.

I've also wondered why we don't just call Germany Deutschland etc... it's not like it's impossible to say in English which can usually be the reason for a slight pronunciation change in some names.
 
Mercedes sandbagging so much they've caused an actual sandstorm!

Wonder how Ferrari have fixed their power issues without resorting to the sneaky tricksy engines though :o
 
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I’m not so sure on Mercedes sandbagging. In the past, they’ve rarely topped the timesheets in testing but the cars has been pretty bullet proof and looked good. This year though there’s been a few issues and the car has looked a bit unstable on track.

I don’t think they’re suddenly going to be at the back of the grid but they might not be at the front either.

If we had the normal pre season testing maybe we could have gotten a clearer picture. Either way qualifying in a couple if weeks is going to be interesting.
 
Moley said:
Just re-subscribed to Sky Sports F1 for the season - 31 day rolling contract is acceptable.

So are Mercedes sandbagging again?
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It looks like the car balance isn't quite there yet but it should be something they get to grips with; I kind of wonder this year if we might see a bit more variability; races where one car is just faster and some where a car is just not at the front (a bit like Merc at Singapore over the last few years).
 
Moley said:
Just re-subscribed to Sky Sports F1 for the season - 31 day rolling contract is acceptable.
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Got forced to do the same. The return of the Schumacher name meant Sky Germany bought the rights and so we don't get F1TV anymore, and only 4 races will be free-to-air on regular TV. Even more annoyingly Sky moved F1 out of their €10/month package Sky Ticket Sport package so we had to go the whole hog.
 
It definitely looks like Red Bull are closer to Mercedes than in recent seasons and that the Mercedes similar traits to the 2020 Red Bull (sudden rear end instability), but assuming a standard race I'd be staggered if between the top two steps of the podium aren't Hamilton and Verstappen sharing the top two spots. I'm less certain about who will take the third step - barring a safety car it will probably be Bottas though.

The Red Bull itself wasn't immune to sudden instability either.

Remember last season Mercedes had a relatively poor start to pre-season testing both in terms of handling and pace, but for the second week they brought a massive upgrade package which transformed the car and they looked nearly untouchable from then on.

If a similar upgrades is coming this time it will turn up at the grand prix itself, which is obviously more risky, but it's too early to say they won't be clear leaders again this year.



It will be interesting to see where McLaren are. None of Alpine, Aston Martin or Ferrari looked capable of challenging Bottas or maybe even Perez if he can settle in quickly, but McLaren have looked most likely of showing they're starting to bridge the gap.

Alpha Tauri looked initially looked good, especially so Sunday, but then Peke_Formula1 saw that Tsunoda had been opening DRS 200m earlier than anyone else! They still look good and appear to have a car that gives their drivers good confidence and might even head the midfield or come in just behind McLaren.

 
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