Do what I did last year, find a friend with Sky and ask if you can be one of the extra devices (usually up to 4 are allowed) and watch via Sky Go with an HDMI lead to the TV, from the laptop in my case, or just on the computer. Sometimes I get a bit of repeat commentary which in the case of crofty can be a shame but at least you get to watch live and all the races you want.
It's being suggested in the media that Merc have gone down the wrong aero route and they may have to design a 'B' spec car to be competitive!!! They are saying that as Merc and Red Bull are using 2018 style front wings they may not give a good enough aero package! I find it difficult to believe that Merc have dropped the ball on this plus Adrian Newey and Red Bull getting aero wrong????? I am wondering if we have seen the 'real' Merc or Red Bull front wing yet? I have a sneaky suspicion that we will see a vastly different front wing on both Red Bull and Merc come Aus. Maybe even a different one in the test starting tomorrow.
I will be amazed if Newey has missed a trick . I think you are right , we will see different wings soon .
Thing is, the entire aero philosophy is based on the front wing design. Where that leading edge directs airflow has implications for all the aero behind it. That Ferrari/Sauber concept can't simply be bolted on to a Merc, it won't work together with the rest of the aero. If Merc/Red Bull do have an alternative front wing design they've wanted to hide, it would have to be really different to justify hiding it. The week 1 test would have had to be conducted with completely non-functional aero. I think in reality the differences are going to be minor, Sauber aren't going to leapfrog Merc/Red Bull on the strength of their front wing.
Fascinating to see it play out. It’s interesting because I watched Martin Brundle preview the 2019 season over the Christmas period and one of the things he said would be intriguing is that Red Bull haven’t always got it right first time out of the blocks when it comes to new regulation. He also said that they always get there in the end and usually become the best, but he felt they might not necessarily come out firing to begin with. To my naked eye, and I’m a ****ing amateur, I thought the RBR looked the best car on track through the sweeping turns. Who knows!
Red Bull are very interesting. Reason being is effectively they are 2 teams under the same owner. It looks like this year they hedged their bets the 2 cars are similar concepts but with differing front wings. So they sort of can change from 1 wing to the other with minimal additional changes. So we might see the Red Bull move towards the Torro Rosso or visa versa as the season goes on. It's hopefully going to be an interesting season.
Ferrari were fastest in testing in 2018, 0.6 secs over the next team and more than 1.2 secs faster than Lewis. Lewis still secured pole and came second at the first race. Lets not predict too much after the first week of testing, if there is a significant gap at the end of this week then Ferrari may well be on it this season.
Worth noting that Mercedes were obviously superior in the long runs last year. It was a surprise that Ferrari were so close in Melbourne. The headline times are mostly meaningless, but we still learn a lot. I'm pretty sure Merc were legitimately behind last week, but now they've made huge updates, so we'll see.
Yeah Mercedes have turned up to test 2 with a completely different car. Definitely playing games. For all the hype I feel Ferrari could find themselves behind Red Bull, unless they've got some equally large hidden changes. Their front wing massively works the outwash but sacrifices pure efficiency to do so.
Williams not appearing to be as far back as predicted/feared, general reports suggest car is looking a lot more stable than last year. I wonder if by Friday that will still be the case when you would think we will see some of the ultimate pace of all the teams as they do some pure quali runs.
Merc the first to publicly admit to changing a PU!!!! Bottas with oil pressure issue, well that's what Merc say. Looks like they are really pushing things. Can't imagine that the 'B' spec car was only built in last 7 days. So it must have been in their plan. Maybe they are doing a sort of A vs B spec to see which works best or which has most development potential? I do hope Williams is reasonable this year, they do have a few trick bits that will hopefully work well.
Okay, so tyres used have just been updated and Russell did his time on the softest compound, not on the C3's as originally put. So it seems they are still struggling a bit.
They did thier fastest, 2+ off Mclaren, on the softest, I think they may be closer, but still at the back. still, not reall ybothered about Williams, nbever really been a fan I'm just hoping those new wings allow for a bit of following, if they do, will we see a shortening, or even removal, of the DRS zones?
I was a bit disappointed in the McLaren ‘glory run’ initially as it was reported it was done on C5 (softest tyre). However it was corrected and Norris did it on C4 which is better news. The same three teams remain clear though- it’s obvious from the tyre times on C3 (or in Mercedes case C2). Renault gone along quietly and punched in some good long runs today, but they look like they’re still outside of the exclusive front three club, at this still early stage. They have updates over the final few days according to Hulkenberg.
Think that’s what will happen. Charles is going to take a couple of races to feel his way in...then, well let’s see.
Those in the paddock seem to believe Merc have turned up with Melbourne-spec this week. Less of an A Vs B spec, more that there's no point showing off their aero secrets when their testing program focuses on mechanicals. Supposedly every aero surface this week is different to the last test. This has definitely been the plan all along. Toto and the gang were merrily saying "Ferrari look quicker at the first test" without adding "than our testing mule".
