2016 Pre-Season Testing Thread

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So, seems like there is a chance that Ferrari may have closed in. If true, the question will be is it enough for Vettel to make the difference? Would help if Hamilton makes some mistakes or suffers unreliability early on. Will give Merc something to think about in terms of whether to increase their focus on the weaker driver.

RedBull look surprisingly good and have gone under the radar, (big) if Renault can get their act together, maybe they could get in the mix towards the end of the season.
 
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RB does seem to have had a decent pre season and subject to fuel a reasonable amount of pace. However, if they don't look reasonable here they have Bob Hope for the rest if the season.
 
Quite a few people saying Red Bull were looking surprisingly stronger. What sort of times were they doing relative to the Merc and Ferrari?

Hugely, hugely positive report re: Torro Rosso on the Sky F1 testing review- couple of journos saying they looked absolutely planted and also good in low speed corners.
 
TopClass said:
Quite a few people saying Red Bull were looking surprisingly stronger. What sort of times were they doing relative to the Merc and Ferrari?

Hugely, hugely positive report re: Torro Rosso on the Sky F1 testing review- couple of journos saying they looked absolutely planted and also good in low speed corners.
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I think they will be there or there about, however they will no doubt be flattered at Barca due to their cars inherent strengths.
 
The evidence so far from winter testing is mixed. The Honda engine was reliable. "The step forward in reliability at least is huge," said Alonso. But the MP4-31 still lagged 20kmh or so through the speed traps, relegating the car to only around seventh or eighth in the pecking order.
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Two sides to any partnership
Privately, McLaren insiders have also admitted they could - and should - have done better in 2015. After qualifying 2.6 seconds behind Mercedes for the Italian GP, Alonso said: "On a circuit of six corners, we lose two or three tenths in those corners. The rest we need to find on the straights." While the remark was interpreted as a public rebuke of Honda, the analysis also confirmed that the McLaren was significantly inferior to the Mercedes aerodynamically.
Moreover, the pressure is on McLaren to justify fixing their future to the Honda mast.
 
TopClass said:
Quite a few people saying Red Bull were looking surprisingly stronger. What sort of times were they doing relative to the Merc and Ferrari?

Hugely, hugely positive report re: Torro Rosso on the Sky F1 testing review- couple of journos saying they looked absolutely planted and also good in low speed corners.
Click to expand...

Wasn't really the times, I just thought it looked good on track. Good traction out of the corners and solid turn in.

RB haven't started that well for the last few years, so it's a step forward.
 
Good race pace from Red Bull apparently, very little tyre deg which is surprising because it's never really been a strong point of theirs before, they've never burnt through them quickly but they've never been light on their feet the way Ferrari and Renault often have. Hopefully they'll be in a position to compete again next year.
 
Of course the other thing that we will all be intrigued by this year is the sub plot of Renault v 'Renault' engines.

I know they are behind right now but so often Renault come good in F1 that they will eventually get it right, and I'm looking forward to the steps they produce and also whether Red Bull will out develop or be out-developed on the engine side.

For the fans and competitiveness, we need Renault (and Honda) to close the gap.
 
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TopClass said:
Of course the other thing that we will all be intrigued by this year is the sub plot of Renault v 'Renault' engines.

I know they are behind right now but so often Renault come good in F1 that they will eventually get it right, and I'm looking forward to the steps they produce and also whether Red Bull will out develop or be out-developed on the engine side.

For the fans and competitiveness, we need Renault (and Honda) to close the gap.
Click to expand...

I thought in the end the decision was that Ilmor would support Renault, I'm not expecting the two engines to diverge?
 
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