Sensible approach, make the car bullet proof then ramp up the speed.. Vettel said yesterday that he doesn't think teams will sandbag.. but I think Ferrari are and to more of a degree so are Merc.. I'd be surprised if we see the true potential of the Merc during Pre-season.. Why show their hand until P3 at Australia!
Back to Honda.. 150 laps and no real issues? That's also a major step in the right direction! Not only was the damn thing slow but it was the least reliable car in 2015..
I think Renault have given Horner a smug factor of +10. I can see that factor increasing as the season goes on. As to the times, anyone remember when Williams were no.1 in testing a few seasons ago, they looked good until the races started.
Interesting looking at the tyres the teams are using. They are listed on the right hand side here: http://beta.autosport.com/live/commentary/id/1866595/formula-1-testing-2016-barcelona-f1-test-day-2 Merc Using Mediums, Vettel and Ricciardo on Ultra Softs and they are only 2 seconds in front of Merc!!! I would guess they should be more like 3-4 seconds faster than a Merc on Mediums! Doesn't look like there is going to be anyone to challenge the Mercs but the rest of the field looks interesting.
Ferrari will have good race pace so they won't be far behind Mercedes. Both of those cars look good but Merc once again a bulletproof PU. I agree with those comments about Honda-200 laps chalked up in the opening 2 days- what a difference from 2015. I know the pace is miles off but that isn't what they're after on day one and two. They have something to build on now and it will be really interesting to see what they do and what issues they deal with in week 2.
Lap Chart Rosberg, 172 Bottas, 134 Vettel, 126 Verstappen, 121 Alonso, 119 Ricciardo, 112 Ericsson, 108 Perez, 101 Gutierrez, 79 Wehrlein, 71 Palmer, 42
Wonder why the Ferrari conked out at the end? In these days of flow sensors and fuel samples you can't really blame running the tank dry any more. Normally end of day breakdowns are chalked up as semi on purpose though. Bit more intrigue to tie us over till tomorrow
Honda seem to have made some improvements, but I'll wait to see what they're like with their new PU setup in place at the next test before I say 'well done McHRT'
If the all new 2016 PU is as reliable as the 2105 "with 2016" bits PU but has a bit more power too.. then I too will be impressed! But 320+ laps in two days, Merc really are taking the piss! Just hope the others have caught up a bit to make it more exciting, another Merc borefest is not what this sport needs right now!
Not sure, Catalunya is 2.9 miles, across the 8 days of pre-season, and 4 days in-season, that's 287 laps a day. 246 if the wet running at Paul Ricard is included.
I still think Merc will have an out and out pace advantage, but Ferrari matched rosbergs time on the same tyre, Merc are traditionally stronger in cooler lower grip conditions and the Ferrari in hotter higher grip conditions. We often saw Merc struggle to have the same delta improvement as others on the softer compound. Barca is also very unique even though it is considered the bench mark of circuits - too many variables.
No chance would the delta be that big, especially at Barcelona where such a soft compound is likely to be completely shagged by turn 3.
