Guess the testing ranking.

I know the headline time towards the end of the day was on softer tyres, but I was pleased to see McLaren ciriculating primarily on the hard tyre throughout the day. This is more akin to the Mercedes and ferrari ways in recent seasons, whereas McLaren were usually on quicker tyres than their rivals in recent years.

First impressions it does look like they’ve designed a much improved race car.

I’d say unlikely to trouble the big three but should put them up the grid.

 

That was an impressive first day. Not a single PU failure!!!! Ferrari seem to have messed up their paint mix when going for a matt finish and not created a scarlet car, it's closer to Mclaren orange!!
Mercs front wing seems to have a big gap under it apart from the end plate bottom channel, so it's not just a setting.
I am guessing that most of the PU's are down tuned at the moment while the teams gather all the aero data they can to correlate wind tunnel and cfd. I think that that is their number 1 priority this early on as they still have a short amount of time to fix aero issues before Aus.

Looks like the midfield will be getting tighter and fuller.

I do hope Williams delay was not due to something fundamental that will hurt them all year. Hopefully it was just a human error that created a part to the wrong dimensions and it can be fixed by Wednesday.

 

205 laps for Honda PU

228 Laps for the newly designed Renault PU.

Let’s hope this is the start of these two manufacturers hunting down the Merc and Ferrari engines.

Reliability in general today I have to say was stunningly impressive from all power units.

Let’s hope it continues.

 

Except for Red Bulls parts . On Max car in particular

 

I just can't believe that they're a real company. Can an F1 team have a parody as a sponsor? Is that a thing?

 

Has to be a joke.... Or some tactic to get other sponsors... right?

 

Mercedes didnt take the bait though...lol

Team chief Toto Wolff was wary of unleashing the beast too early, “You need to be disciplined because we are all keen and looking at lap times, and obviously you want to be quick and on top of the leaderboard at every single session, but it’s not the purpose of the test.”

“It’s to go through all the parts that you want to look at and what the data and sensors tell you. But yes, I’ve seen the time… definitely the Ferrari has been going strong this morning.”

 

If they can show that on day one, makes you wonder what they may have left in the tank... Who knows where everybody stands ATM.

 

i dont know that ferrari were all that as a mclaren was not that far off.

last year I recall it was bitterly.cold during testing and fastest lap was vettel.on 1:17:182 on hypers.


yesterday was 1:18:161 on 2019 softs... however the mclaren on 1:18:5 was on hypers

I'd expect last year's times to be beaten just cos it's not bitterly cold.


however I'm now waiting for me cleric to smash that time today

in reliability terms.... most did ok.

 

I don’t think it was the equivalent to hypers yesterday - Sainz 18.5 was C4 versus Vettels 18.1 on C3. So my understanding was that it was more akin to a super soft (one step softer?).

But the point being Vettels time was potentially very good on the slower tyre.

The midfield could be an absolute battleground this season.

 

The dark horses yesterday by the way...

Very ‘underwhelming’ from a Renault when you looked at the timing screens, but what went under the radar was the fact they did not use DRS.

There’s a chunk of time up their sleeve that will clear them from the bottom of the time sheets when it matters. Just not sure how much exactly though.

 

I was going off sky sports report saying c4=hyper and c3=soft. you could be right. i dont know..

 

I might be wrong! it just seems to be a big jump from one to another.

 

08:03 Red Flag- Alex Albon is in the gravel!

But fear not young Alex, Max Verstappen binned a Red Bull at some show event before he’d ever tested for them

 

Watch out, Seb...

 

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Le clerc flying.

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Last years ferrari? Not sure 100% from my quick google as wing mirrors were not where they finally ended up.

Gives a very clear impression of front wing rule changes doesn't it.

not as good an impression of the higher rear wing but you can get a feel.

Same for barge boards

you can also see the opening up of side pods more as the space around rear is so tight now from all the cars

However the front wing is really the thing

 

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Winner for nicer car?

Ferrari looks extreme but boxy.

Mercedes wins for me just as a head to head.

 

The Ferrari paint scheme does look really good. Leclerc looks really good..

 

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bbc give us interesting over head shots of the big two.


lots to see.

Ferrari end plats on wings very different to what you can see on the merc.

Merc noce is much much tight and cleaner that ferrari which is nothing new.

Suspension geometries.

Its had to see the barge boards etc due to all the black paint

 

Whats with the different colours of 'rain lights'? Seems like some teams using green and others using red on the rear rain light and the new end plate strips on the rear wings.
Any ideas?