Something to lighten the mood. <br>[video=youtube;lCQtzqPfleM]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=lCQtzqPfleM[/video]/// Nico is overwhelmed Lewis has joined Mercedes....
Andrew Benson says Webber and Grosjean's "overall times were almost identical". Also just something about laptimes compared to yesterday: It looks like the colder temperatures today combined with track evolution made sector times and laptimes almost identical to yesterday, which imo makes Perez's 1.21.8 and Vettel's 1.21.1 comparable to the fastest laps today. Here's what we know: Perez - 1.21.848 (one lap run) Alonso - 1m21.875 (four lap run, not pushing 100% in final sector) Hulkenburg - 1m22.160 (one lap run) Grosjean - 1m22.188 (two lap run) Vettel - 1m22.197 (one lap run, "someone who should know says no way Vettel's fastest time this a.m. was on empty tanks") Not sure what to make of any of this, but I get the feeling the top teams could have have done low 1.21's or high 1.20's if they wanted to.
Anthony Rowlinson ‏@Rowlinson_F1R Impressions from morning Barcelona testing: Alonso aggressive + quick; Chilton impressively composed; Caterham looks a handful; Button fast and car looks very connected. JEV looked confident in STR. Force India looks very tidy. [On Maldonado:] quick and stable. Nothing stood out... Webber looked steady. Don't think they were trying for times. Alonso though was very obviously on it! [On RB's pace] think they know they're fast...
Watching some clips of the Lotus and have to say it looks very tidy. It's lap times are consistent too, I wouldn't be suprised if they were contenders in Australia. Maybe not a pole but a win possibly.
It seems a bit odd to me, admitting to this at a time when everyone's trying to hide everything from their rivals; part of me wonders if it's not a bit of a mind game. It's very believable if it is!
ScottMB Autosport: As noted on here, a few race sims were being done today. I decided to spend the morning on the inside of turns 6 (or 7) then on the inside of the run into turn 1. Get a good view of braking and who carries the most apex speed. To my eye that seemed to be Mark Webber and Nico Rosberg. The Mercedes seems a different car in his hands, looks very quick. Adrian Sutil really was driving like he had something to prove, and drove aggressively and showing no sign of rust. I think he may be inking the deal in the Sahara Force India motorhome as I type! Intersting to compare Maldonado and BOTTAS (you have to type his name in capitals apparently) on the same day, very similar divers; Williams looked strong again. In the afternoon I stood outside the very fast long turn 3, the amount of marble build up was unbelievable, the Pirelli's are shredding themselves, massive graining seen on all cars front right (except Red Bull strangely.) Similar at turn 9 where again loads of marbles, and good to see who was working well on the fast corners. I'd say Webber, Alonso, Grosjean and Nico all looked more comfortable, like they were happy. Now, on to JB. Was I watching the same McLaren today? It didn't look bad, but some how just didn't look as fast as the four chaps I have mentioned above. Marussia were running a very strange sensor duck taped very inelligantly to the rear of their car late on, and Max Chiltern was a moving chicane he was driving so slow. Well, looks like rain showers tomorrow, so may sit in the expensive seats in the top tear of the main grandstand, and I will provide feedback on who looks good.
I love this guy, Pius Gasso. He's taken a picture of McLaren's data: http://twitpic.com/c5ojeh/full Also a slip from Rosberg: "Definitely progress from last year and for sure we are going to be closer to the top guys," - closer, but he's just confirmed that they are off the pace compared to the best. Mercedes suck in the development race so I think Hamilton's chances in 2013 are over.
Very interesting, especially comparing it to what he said yesterday: Could Perez outdrive Button next year?
That Mclaren data looks like calculating tyre wear by mass loss, surely that's pretty helpful to other teams?
Lol he's blocked me for some weird reason must be because of Brazil 2012 with the twitter war of the flags and that he is an Alonso fan . I was after all leading the front line on the Seb army that day and the fact I would of likely made a lot of enemies on the Ferrari/Alonso side Many people were lost that week.... Oh well!
The data isnt that useful without the fuel loads, mclaren need to be a bit more careful though, maybe use invisible ink
Can we have more analysis of smells, please? Our anglophone observers are evidently not providing all the most critical information.
