2022 Winter Testing Part 2: Bahrain International Circuit 10-12th March

[chrisc90]

Good to see the hatred coming out so soon in the new season. Bravo.

FACT :There is an age difference of 13 years between the two. Its gotta be worth at least one tenth.

Younger doesn't mean faster. If Russell is not as talented as Hamilton, he'll always be slower, regardless of his age. We'll see what happens. Russell can be faster than Hamilton in 2022, but at the same time, its possible that he'll not be - Or allowed to be

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Cleared it up a bit more for you.

[shamyakovic]

FACT :There is an age difference of 13 years between the two. Its gotta be worth at least one tenth.

Younger doesn't mean faster. If Russell is not as talented as Hamilton, he'll always be slower, regardless of his age. We'll see what happens. Russell can be faster than Hamilton in 2022, but at the same time, its possible that he'll not be - Or allowed to be

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Cleared it up a bit more for you.

Really? Merc since 2014 is the only team who have allowed their driver to race each other... only when one driver was hopelessly slow they used team orders or when championship was online they used team orders.. this is not ferrari or redbull

[shamyakovic]

Hamilton already making up excuses. He said Pirelli tyres are not good. They need more grip. Reality the Mercedes weakest link is fast curves. This car is ill conceived. If the FIA bans their spaceship mirrors this will set them back 2 or 3 tenths slower.

What’s wrong with the mirrors?

They are supposed to join the side of the tub, but they join to their down wash wing.

They are connected through a thin line of stay to the tub which is under the covering... if its so much of an issue then its very easy for merc to connect visibliy them with a very thin line of material to the tub. No performance lost. Its not as critical as people make it out to be
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Hamilton already making up excuses. He said Pirelli tyres are not good. They need more grip. Reality the Mercedes weakest link is fast curves. This car is ill conceived. If the FIA bans their spaceship mirrors this will set them back 2 or 3 tenths slower.

Please post the exact source and quote for it please.

[Vanja #66]

"Ferrari and McLaren are clear outsiders."

Why do you say that? What do you base that on?
...

What makes you think that exactly?

What else do we need to conclude this other than every season since 2009? Those two teams were the strongest in these last 12 years and not to expect them to be strong again now (no matter the problems either team might have now) would be ludicrous. Ferrari and McLaren looking good in winter testing doesn't mean they will translate that to WDC or WCC.

What makes you praise Mercedes so much? What evidence is there that Mercedes is sandbagging? I have almost watched the last couple of days in full, and Mercedes looks just awful on track, compared to Ferrari and Red Bull. You don’t fake that.

They have a history of faking poor form since 2014, missleading the competition and FIA as well. No reason to trust anything they say. Based on recent history, it's much more probable they've stepped up their sandbagging game than made a bunch of poor design decisions.

[radosav]

just remember in past seasons how many times Hamilton said they are in trouble after preseason tests, that ferrari is half sec ahead, engine reliability problem, or red bull way ahead ...

[shamyakovic]

just remember in past seasons how many times Hamilton said they are in trouble after preseason tests, that ferrari is half sec ahead, engine reliability problem, or red bull way ahead ...

4 times I remember
In 2017 - ferrari was equally fast until vettel blew it
In 2018 - and ferrari were very fast with their engine until vettal blew it
2019 - similar and ferrari were equally fast and almost won it
2021 - redbull was the fastest car.

So if they say it there is some substance to it... that doesn't mean merc won't catch them

[Aesop]

just remember in past seasons how many times Hamilton said they are in trouble after preseason tests, that ferrari is half sec ahead, engine reliability problem, or red bull way ahead ...

4 times I remember
In 2017 - ferrari was equally fast until vettel blew it
In 2018 - and ferrari were very fast with their engine until vettal blew it
2019 - similar and ferrari were equally fast and almost won it
2021 - redbull was the fastest car.

So if they say it there is some substance to it... that doesn't mean merc won't catch them

There is a difference between acknowledging tour opponents strength and exaggerating your own problems.

[silver]

They have a history of faking poor form since 2014, missleading the competition and FIA as well. No reason to trust anything they say. Based on recent history, it's much more probable they've stepped up their sandbagging game than made a bunch of poor design decisions.

All models are wrong, but some are useful — George Box

Probability derived out of past data, does not necessarily translate into predictability.

[shamyakovic]

just remember in past seasons how many times Hamilton said they are in trouble after preseason tests, that ferrari is half sec ahead, engine reliability problem, or red bull way ahead ...

4 times I remember
In 2017 - ferrari was equally fast until vettel blew it
In 2018 - and ferrari were very fast with their engine until vettal blew it
2019 - similar and ferrari were equally fast and almost won it
2021 - redbull was the fastest car.

So if they say it there is some substance to it... that doesn't mean merc won't catch them

There is a difference between acknowledging tour opponents strength and exaggerating your own problems.

People feel its exaggeration because in most cases it didn't end up like they excpeted it to be... for example people wanted ferrari to win in 2018... but due to many reasons it didn't end up like that ... so in retrospect people think they exaggerated early in the season.

It's the same in 2021, merc said redbull are faster... but that doesn't mean merc were slow for the entire year.. they caught up and a single race like Brazil 2021 now people say merc is the fastest.
Hence in retrospect it sounds exaggeration... but the goal posts are moving all the time... hence merc were behind in the beginning but it doesn't mean they stay there forever

[_cerber1]

Could driving with full tanks at the Bahrain test mask Red Bull's weight problems? If they have a serious advantage of several kilograms relative to their rivals, then in qualifying with empty tanks and in the race for the full distance, they may face problems.

[Mattchu]

Hamilton already making up excuses. He said Pirelli tyres are not good. They need more grip. Reality the Mercedes weakest link is fast curves. This car is ill conceived. If the FIA bans their spaceship mirrors this will set them back 2 or 3 tenths slower.

Thanks for the expert analysis.

Honestly, if the cars look like they have in testing, I think I'll be watching a lot more Indy Car this year. They aren't exciting on tv and look like they handle like dump trucks in the slow stuff (relative to how they use to, and especially compared to 15-20 years ago).

Yep after watching quite a bit of testing these new cars do nothing for me at all, they don`t look nimble or agile, more like Maybachs! The big rims/tyres look stupid, the rear wing like an ice cream scoop, front not much better and don`t get me started on them blinkin wheel covers! Whose idea was it to take one of the most promenant visually appealing features of F1 cars (the OZ, BBS, etc wheels) and replace them with some ridiculous plate things that just look awful!

Rant over

[variante]

What makes you think that exactly?

What else do we need to conclude this other than every season since 2009? Those two teams were the strongest in these last 12 years and not to expect them to be strong again now (no matter the problems either team might have now) would be ludicrous. Ferrari and McLaren looking good in winter testing doesn't mean they will translate that to WDC or WCC.

Even ignoring the aforementioned indicators, Ferrari beat either RedBull or Mercedes 5 times during such period. There's no reason to believe they can't do that again, or better.

[JPower]

Even ignoring the aforementioned indicators, Ferrari beat either RedBull or Mercedes 5 times during such period. There's no reason to believe they can't do that again, or better.

Agreed. I don't understand the underrating of Ferrari during the turbo hybrid era. Some people make it sound like Red Bull has been in another league during that time frame when that's clearly not the case.

I get that Ferrari has been down over the last 2 years but I see that as an anomaly more than a trend.

Not to say Ferrari is a championship contender this year, we don't know for sure, but it wouldn't be surprising at this point.

[mzso]

What else do we need to conclude this other than every season since 2009? Those two teams were the strongest in these last 12 years and not to expect them to be strong again now (no matter the problems either team might have now) would be ludicrous. Ferrari and McLaren looking good in winter testing doesn't mean they will translate that to WDC or WCC.

Ah, so you base it on nothing. Williams and Ferrari was a dominant team, so logically they will be the fastest, right?

[LM10]

Even ignoring the aforementioned indicators, Ferrari beat either RedBull or Mercedes 5 times during such period. There's no reason to believe they can't do that again, or better.

Agreed. I don't understand the underrating of Ferrari during the turbo hybrid era. Some people make it sound like Red Bull has been in another league during that time frame when that's clearly not the case.

I get that Ferrari has been down over the last 2 years but I see that as an anomaly more than a trend.

Not to say Ferrari is a championship contender this year, we don't know for sure, but it wouldn't be surprising at this point.

I'm sure Vanja knows too that Ferrari might be at the sharp end and actually be a title winning car this year. But he does not want to keep the expectations high - probably just not to be disappointed IN CASE.

Maybe he's just playing the Mercedes game . I've never seen such a trolling team. Having listened to them year for year they should have not won a single title since 2014. And because they have a record of doing that, it's better to wait for the actual performance on track, just to be sure.
Redbull - or Helmut Marko to be precise - on the other hand don't hide behind false accusations and outright say their opinion. I can remember multiple times when Helmut Marko said they were the fastest car or just about there in pre-season testing. He's done it again this time. Yesterday he told that with the new upgrade they are as fast as Ferrari at least.

Just to make it clear though, I generally am a pretty optimistic person and I don't see a reason not to be optimistic as a Ferrari fan after such a strong testing. Ferrari has gone through their programme calmly, not caring for glory runs. As per Helmut Schmidt they have neither turned up the wick nor pumped off the fuel when doing their fast laps. People tend to go by history and say that historically Ferrari runs lighter and turns the PU up in testing - but not this time around apparently.