Official: Testing Thread

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Twitter said:
  • Alonso might look slow on the timesheets, but his runs have been very consistent and his cornering is ace. Lots of aero work underway.
  • Looking LOADS better than yesterday. Not fast atm, but they're not going for pace. Consistent lap times, which is always good.
http://bit.ly/w4rkNh http://bit.ly/vZqDk0

Autosport said:
15:18 Ferrari suddenly looking a deal more planted as Alonso takes a look up the inside of Grosjean at Sito Pons

BBC said:
1522:
Fernando Alonso may not be setting blindingly quick times, but he is at least having fun out there. The Ferrari looks glued to the track as he first passes Romain Grosjean in the Lotus and then Sebastian Vettel's Red Bull as the Spaniard searches for some clear air.
Much better :smile:
 
Fin.
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<table class="tableizer-table">
<tr class="tableizer-firstrow"><th>P</th><th>Driver</th><th>Team</th><th>Time</th><th>Laps</th></tr> <tr><td>1</td><td>*Rosberg</td><td>Mercedes</td><td>*1m17.613s</td><td>118</td></tr> <tr><td>2</td><td>*Grosjean</td><td>Lotus</td><td>*1m18.419s**+0.806</td><td>117</td></tr> <tr><td>3</td><td>*Vettel</td><td>Red Bull</td><td>*1m19.297s**+1.684</td><td>96</td></tr> <tr><td>4</td><td>*Hamilton</td><td>McLaren</td><td>*1m19.464s**+1.851</td><td>80</td></tr> <tr><td>5</td><td>*Vergne</td><td>Toro Rosso</td><td>*1m19.734s**+2.121</td><td>79</td></tr> <tr><td>6</td><td>*Perez</td><td>Sauber</td><td>*1m19.770s**+2.157</td><td>48</td></tr> <tr><td>7</td><td>*Alonso</td><td>Ferrari</td><td>*1m20.412s**+2.799</td><td>67</td></tr> <tr><td>8</td><td>*Senna</td><td>Williams</td><td>*1m21.293s**+3.680</td><td>125</td></tr> <tr><td>9</td><td>*Van der Garde</td><td>Caterham</td><td>*1m23.324s**+5.711</td><td>74</td></tr></table>
 
What are peoples thoughts on Mercedes at the moment? they seem like they are dulling down any massive improvements.. but why leave the car so late?
 
I've just realised the implication of my bets at the gambling game. Because of a couple of punts on Schumi, the best result for me is probably for Rosberg to win the WDC <yikes>
 
I feel a bit better about Williams after today, the fact they have a reliable base is nothing but a huge positive. Just got to turn the wick up now and try and push back into the midfield.
 
I feel a bit better about Williams after today, the fact they have a reliable base is nothing but a huge positive. Just got to turn the wick up now and try and push back into the midfield.

Im sure Senna will relay some very usefull infomation on the car today. Everything is starting to look rosier at williams now =)
 
Williams closer to the pace, very good day for them.
Also note Toro Rosso and Sauber.
Less good perhaps for Caterham and especially Ferrari - for all their talk of "data acquisition" the fact is they did half the laps of Mercedes and Lotus and are still ****e.

(Also: I totally called that the reactive ride height on the Lotus was a smokescreen for their other aero parts. Looks at the moment like they'll be very in the hunt for 4th in the CC.)
 
Looks like Bianchi has ruined FI's day.. quite major to be fair.
Bianchi has immediately blotted his copy-book. I am not impressed.

Crashing out during testing is bad enough, but doing it by pushing too hard on one's first lap is an almost unforgivable 'Rookie error'.

Too excitable: he needs to calm down - and fast.
 
Contrasting moods coming out of Mclaren and Ferrari.

McLaren too has been taking small steps with its car, but today engineering boss Paddy Lowe said that Jenson Button had given the car a thumbs up as one he could &#8220;do business with.&#8221;


When asked by AUTOSPORT about whether Ferrari was where it wanted to be at this stage of testing, technical director Pat Fry said: "I am not happy with where we are at the moment.

"I think there is a lot of room for us to improve from where we are. Reliability wise it is good. Performance wise I think we are okay, but we can play around with the performance and improve [the car in] some corners and some particular parts of the corner, but I would not say I am happy yet until we get the whole thing working."
 
You could have the most planted and best balanced car in the world, but if it doesn't have the raw speed it isn't going to be much worth to you

I remember Eddie Irvine summarising his Jag a few years ago, saying it felt perfect and was still slow. He said that this was worse than handling like a dog and being slow, because at least in that situation you know there are quick wins to be found.
 
What do you mean mate? that they are doing a Brawn GP thing..

Pretty much.

Even if I'm wrong, Mercedes were pretty hit/miss with the tyres last year. In this test the track is familiar, the equipment is familiar, the drivers are the same, and the tyres are the main variable. If they're remotely confident in the package then this week shouldn't be a disadvantage.