2023 Pre-Season Testing Discussion

Thought a thread would be handy for a these crucial 3 days of testing. No doubt, plenty of hype, rumour mill and discussion will appear in the media so a good chance to get an angle on the new season ahead of the first Grand Prix next week!

 

Anyone watched anything? Any cars looking better than others or imposed to tell?

 

only important data

Driver Team Time Laps
Max Verstappen Red Bull 1:32.959 71
Carlos Sainz Ferrari 1:33.253 72
Alex Albon Williams 1:33.671 74
Zhou Guanyu Alfa Romeo 1:33.723 67
George Russell Mercedes 1:34.174 69
Nico Hulkenberg Haas 1:34.424 51
Felipe Drugovich Aston Martin 1:34.564 40
Yuki Tsunoda AlphaTauri 1:34.671 46
Pierre Gasly Alpine 1:34.822 60
Oscar Piastri McLaren 1:34.888 52

aston caused a red flag early but got 40 laps in. a few teams.only did about 50 laps. the stop mark was 70 or so.

all teams look reliable so far which only stands to reason given engine freezes etc.

merc was not bouncing along but I cannot for the life of me remember 2022 f1 race. I presume that was far too long ago to compare to.

aside from that i don't think times mean anything at all.

 

the front of floor (vanes) on red bull are quite different this year.

they have green dye flowing over the parts to give idea of air flow.

 

My brief glimpses through the day suggest quite a lot of teams still with a bit of a bumpy ride but for day one that’s normal tbh. Last year it was only on the last day I think where Red Bull booked up their set up and looked like a contender.

Ferrari and Haas both very bumpy even in corners. Although Ferrari again looks like it has some nice mechanical grip.

Merc actually quite smooth but looked conservative- be interesting to see them in day 2/3 with the wick turned up.

The Aston Martin looked one of the smoothest rides on the occasions it’s been around- I think they might have a proper car on their hands if they can tune it in and keep it reliable. They just can’t quite hook up the middle sector yet but are very handy in S1 and S3.

Rumours about McLaren having a front wheel issue….surely not brakes again??

 

ESPN not streaming it on ESPN+, so going to be counting on you guys.

Urgh... Hate they're not showing it

 

All seems very comfortable indeed for Max and Red Bull. The only question is how far behind Ferrari and Merc turn out to be, and whether that Aston has taken a big step forward. And whether the McLaren has big problems. The only three questions.

 

Lewis has got the Merc within 6/10ths of Max so far. Weren’t they about 6 seconds behind Max in testing last year?

 

Well anything's an improvement on last year! I think at this stage they'll be happy with a smooth stable car with the potential to dial in the speed.

 

the race lap record is 1:31.4 the pole last year was 1:30.558

Verstappen did 1:32.8 on medium tyres and slowed down in sector 3.

So think on that.

Last year after 6 days of test (last 3 at Bahrain) Verstappen was fasted on 131.7 on the softest tyres.

now Verstappen pulled another second (1:30.68) from his fastest time last year in testing to qualify 2nd on grid.

If you simply ignore sand bagging in sector 3 and take 2 seconds off his time today which is really just warming up then he'd be on 1:30.8 on final day of test.

Ferrari need to be a second quicker than last year to compete. Lets see. I think its possible.

 

I'm not so sure about Ferrari competing. Looking at today I can only see RB domination, at least until the summer.

 

It’s day one so I don’t think you see the real differences between the genuine contenders yet, but you do get a feel of the general consistency and pace - obvious to me that Red Bull and Ferrari are in the top 3, and possibly on long run data Mercedes. Aston the possible ace up the sleeve but too early to really know.

 

Not had chance to really keep track, but seems as though RBR are likely going to be the team to beat again.

It's impossible to really say for sure, but having the best all-round package last season, they have the best platform to utilize going in to this season with the rest playing catch-up.

Just hoping for a close season all around.

 

yes the lap numbers and general view say the two are right up there. verstsppen only cranked it a bit.

he is out of car after tomorrow morning, I am willing to bet good money he will not allow pères steal the fastest lap in testing by leaving it to him. I am betting on low fuel, soft tyre lap tomorrow morning that touches on 1:31:5

 

https://en.mclarenf-1.com/2022/gp/s8973/lap_times/833-482/

Link 1 is Lewis' long run data today.

Link 2 is Lewis' times in the race last year.

I get we're comparing to a bad car from the start of last year, but that's still encouraging given this is day 1 of testing.

 

Interesting vid from Ted using Cheese!!!

 

Cheese Egg & Ham

 

Day 1 testing highlights

 

Love this photo