Observation 1: Ferrari looking very good If the experts are right about Red Bull being the car to beat, then Ferrari are looking very strong as well. James Allen said: "The feeling persists though that when the time comes for Red Bull to see what the thing will do over a single lap on a low fuel run, it will lead to a collective intake of breath in the F1 paddock." Well that proved to be untrue as Vettel's best was a 1.23.315. No one else has done qualifying simulations yet, but Alonso did a 12 lap run today, and set his fastest lap right at the start with a 1:24.449. Based on the tyre degradation, it looks like Alonso was using the soft/super soft tyre, and he had at least 12 laps of fuel onboard when setting a lap time 1.1 second's slower then Vettel's fastest lap in the qualifying simulation - although I suspect RBR could have been really clever and put more fuel into the car than was necessary. Given that Torro Rosso set a lap time just 0.204 behind Red Bull, you'd have to think that Red Bull were sandbagging a bit in their qualy sims. Pat Fry also says that the car is still in it's launch spec and that there will be a major upgrade for Bahrain (as in the final pre season test). He says that the new package will include a new rear wing, new floor, new bodywork, and that most of the visual parts of the car will be changing. Observation 2: McLaren in trouble? Ted Kravitz seems to believe that McLaren's car isn't very good: "McLaren's running has been compromised by a lack of reliability and the car has not looked particularly quick when it is out on the track." I think it's too early to be making these sort of judgements - McLaren haven't had much running, but their car has a lot of potential, however I read this: "An unnamed engineer from the Woking-based team admitted yesterday that they needed to find a full second to be able to challenge the RB7 and F150." http://motorsport.nextgen-auto.com/Barcelona-Test-Vettel-back-on-top.html Observation 3: Race Simulations: RBR vs Merc vs Virgin please log in to view this image As you can see from the graph, Red Bull are clearly ahead of Virgin and Mercedes. I was critical of those who said Mercedes were lacking pace, and I stand by that, because we still don't know about tyres and because Red Bull encountered a few problems in their simulation, but Red Bull do look very quick and for the moment, faster then Mercedes. Michael Schumacher seems faster than Rosberg overall in the race simulation. Rosberg's fastest race sim lap: 1:28.219 Vettel's fastest race sim lap: 1:27.575 I can't wait to see what McLaren and Ferrari are capable of when they do their sims.
"An unnamed engineer from the Woking-based team admitted yesterday that they needed to find a full second to be able to challenge the RB7 and F150." No I dont believe that.They will crank it up when it really matters I think although it is concerning the reliability problems they are having. And anyway apart from being a BBC pit lane reporter what else has Ted Kravitz got on his CV to do with F1?
Mclaren not being happy with the car during preseason reminds me of 2009. Sorry guys but it might be another bad year for you.
I'm sceptical on these things until the first race, I think last year it was suggested the Ferrari was a lot better than it turned out to be, and the Red Bulls were clearly better than the testing suggested. I fully expected Schumi to be ahead of Rosberg this time, with the car designed with his preferences in mind. I actually find Ted Kravitz to be quite clued up on F1 generally, though not saying he is right in this instance. The first race will be a better indicator of where everybody is, assuming it goes ahead as planned
He doesn't do just F1. He used to present BTCC when ITV had F1 as well as his job down the pitlane. I'm sure he's done a lot of other things as well
A bit more on the McLaren situation: Gary Anderson (from Autosport) has posted a blog today but unfortunately it can only be viewed by those who have subscribed to Autosport PLUS. http://plus.autosport.com/premium/feature/3294/gary-anderson-preseason-tech-blog The preview on the page says: "The McLaren just doesn't look like it has got the grip. They are complaining about the tyres, but the tyres are the same for everybody - and the FIA has controlled the weight distribution so everyone is making the same use of the tyres. So it's largely down to aerodynamic balance, especially on entry, to dictates how you use them. It's very easy to accelerate the degradation of the rear tyres if the car is nervous on corner entry." If anyone can view the whole blog, please post it here or tell us what it says.
Not wealthy enough to subscribe to Autosport unfortunately, but hope somebody posts that, could be interesting.
Someone on the autosport forums produced a very small summary of the blog: "The McLaren just doesn't look like it has got the grip...It seems that they have a lot of work to do before they have a car that's capable of challenging at the front. The Ferrari, in general, looks like a very well-settled car that doesn't do anything too dramatic and works well with the driver. Red Bul.. But the car is definitely quick and, as you'd expect with Adrian Newey packaging it, needs a little honing to reach the chequered flag." http://forums.autosport.com/index.php?showtopic=142581&st=1040&p=4855093&#entry4855093
Vettel drove two days in Barcelona. Both days he was fastest. At first glance, it could have gone much better for the Germans. But above all, the tires make the Red Bull drivers still worried. "For too long do not keep. And then it is just pretty slippery," grinned the champion. On Saturday Vettel wanted to simulate an entire race weekend. He drove three qualifying runs and then still wanted to complete a race distance - with lap, start practice and pit stops. But no, he could not run through the proposed program. "In the afternoon we have the red flags cut out. We then had a little problem," said Vettel. A crack in the exhaust forced the Heppenheim in a 30-minute repair break. "In the morning we had to make a short stop. But that's more security things so if something breaks. As you take the time and change the parts. As the car will then have a little longer. This is to test it." Despite the two best times will be the Red Bull driver does not let the talk favorites. "It's still very difficult because you do not know who at what time by what tires out there was. Then there is, as always, even the gasoline issue. But all in all I think that Ferrari back on top this is. McLaren is a bit difficult to read, because the dangers are very irregular. Even if Mercedes can not say much. I hope we can ride the front there." It may take a little longer, until the balance of power as the first time. The season starts in Bahrain is at risk after the turmoil of the cancellation. "Right now, the decision has been made yet whether we should start in Bahrain or not," said Vettel. "When we drive, it will probably be safe enough. If not, we must look for what else. Or do we only start in Australia. This is still in the stars." http://www.auto-motor-und-sport.de/formel-1/sebastian-vettel-ferrari-wieder-vorne-dabei-3473898.html
The question everyone is asking during pre-season testing is what is the competitive order? The fans want to know. The teams have an inkling, but still can't be sure about where they will be come the end of qualifying for whichever race opens the Formula 1 season. But with nine days of testing in the books, we're beginning to see some faint patterns emerging. For this test, AUTOSPORT has a secret weapon in the form of our technical contributor, Gary Anderson. As a designer of grand prix-winning cars and with Formula 1 experience stretching back to the James Hunt days, a few hours spent wandering the pit lane and watching track side with him offers tremendous insight, not to mention a way to verify your own impressions. You'll have read in Gary's blog some of his impressions from track side, and indeed it is from behind the tyre wall that you can learn an enormous amount. The Mercedes, for example, looks every bit as bad as you would expect from what became clear at the Jerez test. Nico Rosberg was having to work the car hard to get it to turn into the faster stuff – at Turns 1, 3 and 9 this is particularly obvious. He just can't get it to turn in as he would like and carry the speed into the corner. There's a big upgrade planned and it had better be huge, because this car doesn't even look like a Q3 contender on its performance so far. The McLaren, as Gary pointed out, isn't much better, while some of the less-fancied cars also caught the attention. The Sauber, in the hands of Kamui Kobayashi, looks very well-planted on turn in and he can carry good speed through the corner, although is a little less eye-catching in the slow stuff. I'm a little more confident than Gary of Kobayashi's ability to keep it on the black stuff - he has an impressive ability to look like he's near an accident without getting involved in as many as his rookie status last year might suggest. The Williams also looked good and stable, while the Toro Rosso was, although not spectacular, consistent and seemed very driveable. All of that is bad news for Mercedes, in particular. If it continues to struggle, there is a very competitive midfield pack ready to fill the spots ahead of it. Looking at the longer run times, the car is slow and chews its tyres whoever is at the wheel. But let's accentuate the positive and say at least it topped the mileage chart today, which at least suggests reliability has been ameliorated. Teams have turned around pre-season struggles before, but it's incredibly difficult and extremely rare. Remember BMW Sauber in 2008? It was deep in the mire until the final test and only a rare Robert Kubica blunder during qualifying cost the team pole position. Back in the pit lane, there's the opportunity to take a closer look at some of the cars. One of the prime spots is at the pit exit, where drivers sometimes stop to complete a practice start. It's an ear-shattering experience to stand two metres from a grand prix car doing a full race start, but one car in particular stood out. While the rest were merely loud, the Renault was at a whole new level - rattling your rib cage and sending shockwaves through your eardrums that made you question whether you had forgotten to put your earplugs in. The Renault certainly looks promising, and there were times on-track when it really looked the part. Standing on the outside of Turn 1, Nick Heidfeld came through one lap awesomely committed, turned in, got on the power early and the car stuck. The next, the car didn't take kindly to the application of the throttle in the same place and he had to feather a little, so perhaps the blown floor isn't yet quite as consistent as he would like. But the car certainly has potential that, just maybe, will take the bearded wonder to his first grand prix win. So, colours to the mast. If a grand prix were to be held tomorrow, my money would be on Red Bull or Ferrari with a sneaky each-way on Renault. The first two cars look quick and good on their tyres, while there's enough about the Renault to get excited about. That begs the inevitable question what of McLaren? Let's give them a couple more days, but I wager that if that car went into a qualifying session tomorrow it wouldn't set the world alight. Fortunately for me, there's not going to be a grand prix tomorrow, so that prediction will never be falsified. http://plus.autosport.com/premium/feature/3323/inside-testing-daily-barcelona-blog/
Cheers for that Lorca. No way am I signing up to autosport to read this though, as it seems to just be what every other site is posting for free.
Yes he is also good at multiple ids and repetitive dumb bigoted **** He neverheard of copyright although I'm sure autosport have, thank god Mick makes sure that he has no formal role on this site
Yes I know about his antics on 606, I was there. It gave me a good laugh in my free lessons at school
oo. since he got stripped of his mod role he has actually been ok posting some pretty decent stuff. sure some of it is Ferrari biased but he is a ferrari fan if you want to post mclaren biased stuff thats fine too. But i do warn if he steps majorly out of line it will not be tolerated
Nice article RogerMellie66 or was it SpaFrancorchamps or nope it was Joseph Lorkey MBE worng again sorry about this it was El Sueno de Morfeo or Bernarda Alba or Bodas De Sangre.
Guys, take a look at this: http://forums.autosport.com/index.php?showtopic=142581&st=1800&p=4862620&#entry4862620 McLaren and Mercedes set their best times in qualifying trim? So the McLaren is only capable of a 1.24.003?
