I know its only testing but the pace of red bull is not there. The teams are running different set ups and drivers are doing long runs to test tyre degration etc but for me red bull dont seem to have the pace. Its only testing however I thought I would point it out.
Really? I think Red Bull have the fastest car, and are sandbagging a lot. Vettel showed good pace yesterday when he did a 16 lap run, with most of the times in the 1.22-23's - which proves that it was not a low fuel run, and he was on medium/hard tyres. No other team have been that quick on a long run. They may not be setting the fastest lap times, but I think they could easily do that if they wanted to.
On Friday Webber did a 19 lap stint in the 1:24s, something nobody else has been able to match. Having read articles and the forum on the Autosport website, and James Allen's blog, the general feeling seems to be that Red Bull are probably the quickest, along with Ferrari.
12:14 AUTOSPORT news editor @glenn_autosport is back from a trip trackside: "Very interesting spell trackside - one team in particular clearly holding something back. Will reveal all in tonight's AUTOSPORT.com blog" I think he is referring to Red Bull.
Also, yesterday Vettel was driving through the pits at the end of his laps to disguise his pace. They've got plenty in reserve, they just don't want to show it and have everyone going over their car with a fine tooth comb. Renault setting the pace with their exhaust system is the ideal scenario for RBR and Ferrari because it deflects attention away from their own cars.
Apparently Red Bull haven't been using KERS yet either. Vettel should be using it this afternoon, which means we'll either see an improvement in times, increased sandbagging or the car spending the afternoon in the garage because of poor reliability.
Autosport could be talking about Ferrari. "One insider at a top team told BBC Sport that while it was hard to be definitive about comparative pace because of the differences to lap times created by fuel loads and tyres, Ferrari appeared to have a slight advantage over Red Bull at the moment as the team with the fastest car. Other sources agree that the Red Bull and Ferrari are the two quickest cars, but say the Red Bull has a significant speed advantage over longer runs." http://news.bbc.co.uk/sport1/hi/motorsport/formula_one/9395581.stm
Mclaren will surely be quicker than Ferrari as they were in 2010 and hopefully they kick red bulls ass.
At the moment, it's fairly accurate to say that Red Bull and Ferrari are faster than all the other cars apart from McLaren. We have no idea where McLaren are in terms of pace because they team have not done many laps, and are still doing system checks and aero tests. Their car may be the most extreme, but that doesn't make it the quickest. I think at the end of the Barcelona test, we will know a bit more about McLaren's pace.
Red Bull would have been stupid not to have the KERS in the car already, or at least ballast where the KERS should be. So by using the KERS this afternoon, the weight of the car should be the same, but KERS would be active - so in theory, lap times should get faster - but then Red Bull always hide their true pace. It will be interesting to see the lap times.
Agree 100%. Turns out Red Bull have been using KERS. I read on the Autosport forum that they hadn't, but then someone posted a link to RBR's website where it said Vettel was using it yesterday.
What I said was in response to LewisWDC. It just so happens that my opinion the same as Autosport's ---- "So for McLaren at Jerez, it's still learning about the new car, getting over teething troubles etc. We still haven't seen anything approaching a long run, so we can't possibly know how it compares to Red Bull and Ferrari. Given the red flags so far today and forecast rain for this afternoon, it will probably be a couple of days into Barcelona before we get any indication as to where it stands."
Correct. Rather predictably. He was watching at sector 1 (turns 1-4) apparently Seb was opening the slot in his rear wing on the exit of turn two and leaving it open through turns 3 and 4. There's a speed trap on the exit of turn four, apparently Red Bull and Renault were consistently clocking the fastest exit speeds. By the sound of it RBR are fastest, Renault and Ferrari just behind. No mention of McLaren who have admitted they struggled getting the car set up because of the gusting winds, I reckon they'll be competitive when they get their act together though.
He also mentions the Red Bull looking like it's accelerating towards braking zones. This was something I noticed watching Webber on a video taken at the chicane the other day: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=KUCHVZEK7FU He's second to take the chicane, seems to have incredible traction between the first right hander and the left hander, and the car looks firmly planted throughout. They must be sandbagging massively.
the cars that look off the pace by a margin of roughly where you would expect them to be are McLaren, Mercedes & Force India. The Red Bull and Ferrari seem to be happy and well advanced with thier testing programs also Renault look like they are not letting much out of the bag but still topping the times. If I had to guess what order the cars are in best to worst I would say: Ferrari Red Bull Lotus Renault McLaren Mercedes Williams Sauber STR Force India Team Lotus Hispania Virgin
Pretty much agree with your list El_Bando, however I have a feeling that Team Lotus arent going to be the back of the midfield, but actually firmly in it, and that Red Bull are ahead of Ferrari. McLaren I would say are behind Renault, who could be a surprise this season.
well I think Team Lotus will eventually be mid mid field but at the moment they are struggling to get laps in
