2017 Pre-Season Testing: Barcelona

For about the first time ever.. I'm with Jack!

 

The Mercedes has been voted the best looking car on the BBC poll, getting twice as many votes as the next best.

How many accounts does Benson have?

The Merc is fine, but is a boring silver. Torro Rosso and Sauber look miles better.

 

Pulling our leg

 

To be fair to Honda it's not been made clear whether the new oil feeder tank which is smaller and lighter is a McLaren design/part or an integral part of the Honda power unit design. Either way though it's unacceptable #groundhogday

 

The fact it failed after a handful of laps means it's not even close to being fit for purpose. Two giants getting it so so wrong

 

So is it too early for the annual round of "Will Fernando Alonso quit before the season even starts"?

 

Day one scores on the doors..
Merc being Merc, pound round, don't break down, throw in the odd quick lap time...
Ferrari, very encouraging, good mileage, good performance, please don't be a false dawn!!
Williams, good day, loads of mileage data, a bit of pace too.
Hass, Early session issues but good pace, all be it on the softer compounds, will they face a second year slump or improvement?
RedBull, got some good miles in the end and testing is to find out the cars faults so breakdowns here can be seen in a positive light, fix them here rather than have them bite your arse during a race weekend!
Force India, in what is likely to be a battle between them Williams and McHonda and ToroRosso for 4th, they won't like the lack of mileage but again, testing is here to not only hone the car to but to identify issues and fix them before the season starts.
Toro Rosso, limited number of laps, but didn't read about any reported issues and don't think they were too worried about chasing times, solid start!
Renault, not the most miles but still some good data, pace already better than last year, which wouldn't be too hard!
McLaren, FFS, do something right, 3rd year now and they still have "basic" issues with their engines, was hoping they'd be on top of it by now, maybe not generating Ferrari level performance (let alone AMG) but at least have it not go pop from the very start!
Sauber, good mileage, don't think they were chasing times either, a car that looks that good will hopefully go quick too!

 

From here - http://www.skysports.com/watch/video/sports/f1/10784650/paddock-uncut-8211-test-one-day-one

Craig Slater brings you all the latest news and stories from day one of the first 2017 test in Barcelona.

 

Jack Horner is morphing in to Steve Jobs.

 

You know what, the more I see of the Renault the more I like it. Just don't focus to much on certain bits

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Day 2

 

Oh dear. Failing on the installation lap now.

 

jesus, they are doubling it already

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nice rims

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Pacesetter Hamilton is back in the garage after bringing his lap count up to 32, meaning that most recent stint on soft tyres was 19 laps.
His 1:21.766 time came at the very start of that run so, with the fuel that would have been on board the W08 at that time, the pace was rather ominous indeed...

From SkyF1..

 

As expected really, they rarely run low fuel in testing. However, Vettel's time yesterday on the medium tyre was set in the early stages of a run and then matched at the end of a different run, so theoretically they should be there or there about. Also we are unsure on the delta between the compounds.

What I find interesting is that last year Merc only used the medium and Ferrari concentrated on the softer compounds, which continued throughout the race calendar in 2016. In the early stages of testing it seems reversed with Ferrari concentrating on the harder compound?

 

Sauber are having an engine change as their tried and tested motor went kapput

 

Of note, Merc appear to be down on top speed down the straights, looks like they've yet to open the taps on the new engine as well..
The worry for most F1 fans would be that this performance is coming and they haven't even turned the engine up to 7 let alone 11