Ot: Formula One

Sadly, V8s are a thing of the past now... RIP

 

So the final test is underway in Barcelona ahead of the first race in Melbourne on March 15.

Points of interest:

Mercedes are still in a class of their own. Banging in the laps seemingly effortlessly with no issues and the ease at which they're suggests they have nowhere near shown the car's true potential and 3rd quali / race pace yet.

However the chasers look like they have all made significant progress - Red Bull and Williams are closest and have cars that can be race winners. But Ferrari and Sauber have both taken a big step forward from last season and their cars look good. Torro Rosso look quite tidy and Lotus also look like they have made a big leap forward after last season's dud.

McLaren have been having continuing problems throughout all the tests with both their car and its new Honda engine. Alonso crashed heavily in the penultimate test last Sunday and spent three nights in hospital with concussion. He is out of this test but expected to make the first race.

Force India's new car has barely even made it to Spain yet, let alone been out on the track. They'll run it for the first time tomorrow.

 

Hamilton won, only saw the highlights. Not many cars finished

Hopefully its not going to be Mercedes 1 2's all season

 

And you lazy batards couldn't be bothered to setup a fantasy league for it

 

pretty dull imo

 

Wasn't a great start to the season but good to see a couple of newbies score points for Sauber and Torro Rosso.

 

Impossible not to #nocarsleft

 

It is going to be Merc 1-2s all season. Sorry. But no other team is close to their level now and it's unfeasible - taking into account where all the closest teams are at in terms of development - that any of them will catch the Mercs. Especially since the Silver Arrows (the ones that aren't currently dead last ) will be developing and honing their own car throughout the season.

The only chance anyone else has is if the Mercs have some dodgy reliability which is fairly improbable since they were near bulletproof last season and will only have improved that area through the winter.

I can't remember being less excited about the start to an F1 season and I'm someone who has watched the sport regularly for years and been to quite a few races. They need to sort out the financial and developmental side of things to make the metaphorical playing field more even and the races more competitive. What we're seeing are eras emerging where there is one dominant team who has exploited and made the most of the regulations, Ferrari and Schumacher for years, Vettel and Red Bull for years, now Hamilton and Mercedes it seems for however long it lasts.

A lot of F1 fans aren't like football fans where they just want to see their man / team win all the time (there are some loyalists like that of course), most fans want close, competitive and unpredictable racing. You sort of get that down the grid but fans want several teams competing for the wins not for best of the rest with one team streets ahead, which is what it has been like since 1998 really when Häkkinen got his first WDC of two, with the exception of 2007 - 2009 when you had a different WDC each year Räikkönen, Hamilton and Button respectively.

 

Wow, nearly a year since this got posted on ...

So it's that time of year when the new cars are being launched and new liveries revealed meaning the new F1 season can't be far away.

Not keen on some of these designs so far with what looks to be a trend towards the 'jigsaw piece' noses as I call them over the more attractive rounded off ones last season on the Ferrari, Williams and McLaren

In fact the McLaren looks dreadful overall, design and livery, the first ever Haas car seems better looking and may well be quicker if they're as uncompetitive as last season, depends a lot on what tweaks Honda have made to the engine

Mercedes have simply evolved last season's world beater so there dominance looks like it will continue although the other teams closest to them last season will get incrementally closer again I feel, but it will be either Hamilton or Rosberg who takes the big prize away

 

Couple more weeks till season starts isn't it?

Not had a look at what's expected for tangos year but thought I saw something saying Ferrari should be a lot better this year.

Hopefully get some decent competition up top end.

 

First test is up shortly.

Most cars are out.

I think it will be interesting cos the ferrari guys are very bullish again.

 

Ferrari sound confident yeah. Their new car isn't as good looking as last year's (livery is nice) but it's speed not looks that count in this game, so if it being less pleasing on the eye means that there's a stiffer challenge for those Mercs then great. Still think both champs the silver cars' to lose though

Would be good to see them and Williams, Red Bull, and maybe newcomers Haas mount a more serious challenge to make it interesting, also hopefully the midfield can up their game some

Not bothered about McLaren, not a massive fan of the team and Dennis really so enjoy the comedy of them being at the back, Alonso and Button are top drivers tho

 

I've seen delusion in ferrari many times to go with the bullish talk. They had one year of oh we might win 2... after that it's physically impossible for that team/country to admit they are ****e and if they don't back the talk they'll start infighting immediately.

They should have beaten red Bull and Vettel really but they were too busy squabbling back then.

 

Anyone going to setup a fantasy F1 thingy? I did it last time but I'm a fully fledged member of CBA now

 

meh....

 

hamilton has punded round today in testing ... done 66 laps compared to next best willimas on 42.

veteel did 36.

all lookig reasonably solid so far.

times are irrelevant?

probably. vettal no 1 and hamilton no 2... nothing much to report.

 

Yeah fast times or not aren't really part of the equation in testing for various reasons, teams sandbagging, not wanting to break new parts/components that they only have one of etc ...

What you should focus on is mileage, laps completed and reliability i.e. teams hammering out laps you know are going to have a good season, teams doing dribs and drabs won't, so the Mercs look rock solid again and behind them nothing has really changed ...

This is as expected. When they bring the new regs in next season and the cars fundamentally change again then we might see a true shift in the pecking order

 

Did Hamilton do 65 consecutive laps?

 

Just about.

428km or whatever that's a long days work.

It's interesting to note that this seems to have been a signal to all.

It's very slow times though so I doubt anyone is too pushed.

 

Think he did 66 consecutively ... full race distance at Barcelona

150 in total though