I'm beginning to believe that Mercedes might actually be off the pace. I also pre-emptively nominate myself for "muppet of the month" in the Australia awards thread.
Merc are inconsistent with their times which for me says they are not interested in posting fast times, more interested in understanding their car, which they have previously talked about mid season, we need to understand the car better. I think their tests are only aimed at that, with no interest in posting a headline time.
If they can do a 1:18.0 on the 2nd slowest C2s tyres. Then what can they do on the C5s, the fastest tyre of all? I wonder...lol
If there is 0.5 sec between compounds then that's about 1:16.5. I think Perrelli were quoting bigger gaps than 0.5, so they might be a lot faster!!!!! Just checked: Pirelli's tyre gap estimate C1 to C2: 0.8-1.0 seconds C2 to C3: 0.7 seconds C3 to C4: 0.6 seconds C4 to C5: 0.6 seconds So in theory 1.9 sec faster on C5 so Lewis closer to 1.16.1 !!! That said Ferrari may still be sandbagging!!
Ducking hell did he actually do that 17.2 on a C2? I was hoping it was a live feed typo. If that’s the case then they are seriously fast.
Its a fact that they haven’t. Tyre and fuel corrections puts them in the ballpark- they’ll be fighting for pole in Melbourne for sure. Long run pace also very consistent.
Mercedes showing there hand now. But are we all overlooking the McLaren. Is their speed actually genuine
Well the one thing with McLaren is that they’ve posted very respectable times on every single compound in both weeks testing. Another excellent lap on the C3 yellow tyre this morning (1.17.4). Their race sims aren’t as headline grabbing as their hot laps, but we will see. I really hope they do well- the media are treating them like laughing stock but McLaren is undergoing a culture change that will bring the best out of the talent at MTC. I think they have improved and that they will be in the fight for 4th. However, Renault may have the edge on them at the moment (they have put together a really decent solid test and I saw a couple of Hulk and Ricciardo interviews that makes me think they have a good bit up their sleeve) Just reading some things across the web as we speak... McLarens best lap by the way- they actually almost match Bottas in S1 and S2- it’s the slow S3 where they lose half a second apparantly. So the aero for high speed is much better this year- they need to try to understand how Merc have been so amazing with mechanical grip these past few years.
They have done laps on the softest tyres. As it stands, they are 1.2s slower then the next fastest car on that tyre. So they could be lapped by the entire field, let alone multiple times by Ferrari/Merc if we have seen the true pace of all the cars today. Oh dear.
Ferrari did a 1:16.22 on C5s, Mercedes did 1:16.6 on C4s and then 1:16.22 on C5s. Interesting when Mercedes did the 1:16.22 the first and second sectors were nothing to shout about, but it was extremely quick in the 3rd.
I am impressed with McLaren though, i hope they do well. Renault isnt doing.too badly. I like the Pink Panther too, but the fact that a Stroll could get a drive before many other much better drivers..because daddy owns the team...well i kinda lost inrerest in them a bit.
So we've learnt all the cars are fairly reliable. Just got to wait till Aus and then we can see who has what speed
