2024 Pre-Season Testing - Bahrain International Circuit, Feb 21 - 23

[vorticism]

In the Merc era there was 2 seasons of fighting with Ferrari
A season of fight with Max
Several seasons of fighting with Rosberg

with Redbull Max isn't even having to fight his team mate.
Even with Ferrari we still had a few fights with WIlliams and McLaren.

Max doesn't have to fight another team, or even his team mate.

I'm surprised that so many people like that there is no competition.

So the answer is no, you did not voice the same concern during the Merc era. Did you voice this concern during the first RB era? Or was there enough parity at that time? How about for the Ferrari era?

[f1isgood]

Max's last stint (C3)
[...]
George's last stint (C1)
[...]

Mercedes and Red Bull have similar degradation. This bodes well. What is the expected lap time gain from C1 to C3?

Similar degradation.. But Merc on a C1 (hard tyre for bahrain) vs Red Bull on the C3 (soft tyre for bahrain)

Compared to last season, this is still a very good step for Mercedes. RB was running softs in race even last year though. As far as I can recall, no other team managed to do that. I think others might have fixed fundamental flaws.

[dialtone]

you folks are getting stressed too much and getting a bit OT for this thread, could you create a new one to talk about the 2024 competitive landscape and the end of F1?

[kHz33]

you folks are getting stressed too much and getting a bit OT for this thread, could you create a new one to talk about the 2024 competitive landscape and the end of F1?

agreed, I thought I was going to come here to read some interesting insights about laptimes/etc., but the majority of comments from the past hour is people claiming this season is gonna be the same as last year, which, while a possibility, is not definitive after the first day of testing.

[mendis]

In the Merc era there was 2 seasons of fighting with Ferrari
A season of fight with Max
Several seasons of fighting with Rosberg

with Redbull Max isn't even having to fight his team mate.
Even with Ferrari we still had a few fights with WIlliams and McLaren.

Max doesn't have to fight another team, or even his team mate.

I'm surprised that so many people like that there is no competition.

So the answer is no, you did not voice the same concern during the Merc era. Did you voice this concern during the first RB era? Or was there enough parity at that time? How about for the Ferrari era?

ah, so, even though we had better racing and competition during the merc era, even though we have absolutely no competition with this era, you think that gives you right to try and make others shut, no, sorry.
If Max had competition, if had had to fight another team LIKE WE HAD DURING THE MERC ERA then maybe you'd have a point, but unfortunetly we do not.

We also didn't have Merc
1. Having FIA ignore their own rules to give them a WDC
2. Have Merc break a spending budget cap
3. Have Merc run two teams and possibley gain data, which FIA has admitted they have no way of controlling.

STOP! Please take your fight to another thead. This thread is becoming eye sore from whining.

Mods, please do something otherwise, this would drag on for the remaining 2 days too. I have reported so many posts, not sure how long it would take for mods to act.

[Artur Craft]

Redbull has one of the worst drivers on the grid as their number two. Not only that, the poor bloke generally gets a strategy that had a single aim of benefiting Max.

What makes you think that Perez, who got many podiums before ever driving a top car like RB, is inferior to, say, Bottas, who never did anything remarkable without a rocketship Mercedes?

Mercedes had their drivers fighting because none of them were too good. Max makes all his team mates look bad, that´s the thing about it. It seems his 4th tittle is in the bag already

[dialtone]

Did anyone keep track of how many tires RedBull used? I think they have been the only maker to do actual fast lap attempts on brand new tires, after the first fast attempt the 2nd one on the same tires was 0.7s slower or so for Max. Did I only notice this?

[Cs98]

Redbull has one of the worst drivers on the grid as their number two. Not only that, the poor bloke generally gets a strategy that had a single aim of benefiting Max.

What makes you think that Perez, who got many podiums before ever driving a top car like RB, is inferior to, say, Bottas, who never did anything remarkable without a rocketship Mercedes?

Mercedes had their drivers fighting because none of them were too good. Max makes all his team mates look bad, that´s the thing about it. It seems his 4th tittle is in the bag already

It's venting, not thinking. They have their check list of talking points to cross off before they can calm down. Complaining about Perez is on that list.

[langedweil]

There is a danger that a second year of unopposed domination will turn off many viewers.

We shall see, but I personally don't think it's good for the sport. Great if you're a fan of Red Bull and Max of course though.

The dominance of Mercedes didn’t scare viewers away, and that was worse. Just a few fake battles and Mercedes turning engine and up later when needed. Stop whining and fix your --- car.

You think the battles between Rosberg and Ham were fake? You think the battles with Ferrari were fake?

As for whining, I remember Redbull never stopped whinning, they even threatened to leave, engine rules were changed for them and then they back tracked on it.

This is the team that also broke the budget cap, had FIA ignore their own rules to win a WDC and also has the advantage of two teams.

So please, spare me the "stop whining"

Come on, stop the dragon tears man.
Whomever did a not-as-good job as any top dog, just step up and improve. Don't drag these silly things into it, there is no need.
Let's keep this thread about testing plz?

[dialtone]

Please, I beg you... Start another thread, I even agree with you all but can we discuss the test here instead of how bad perez is?

[organic]

Please, I beg you... Start another thread, I even agree with you all but can we discuss the test here instead of how bad perez is?

Save that for day 3 of testing!

[cplchanb]

The dominance of Mercedes didn’t scare viewers away, and that was worse. Just a few fake battles and Mercedes turning engine and up later when needed. Stop whining and fix your --- car.

You think the battles between Rosberg and Ham were fake? You think the battles with Ferrari were fake?

As for whining, I remember Redbull never stopped whinning, they even threatened to leave, engine rules were changed for them and then they back tracked on it.

This is the team that also broke the budget cap, had FIA ignore their own rules to win a WDC and also has the advantage of two teams.

So please, spare me the "stop whining"

Come on, stop the dragon tears man.
Whomever did a not-as-good job as any top dog, just step up and improve. Don't drag these silly things into it, there is no need.
Let's keep this thread about testing plz?

they wouldve if they couldve... but the budget cap prevents drastic changes without sacrificing a year. had it been 2020, merc wouldve brought an entirely new chassis to address last years concerns by barcelona. under this current ruleset, there are no silver bullets to be found and the goalposts are continually moved away each year due to the cap. the only real answer to this is BoP/success ballast. Or actually a real penalty for their 2021 cheating.

[FittingMechanics]

On a positive note - tomorrow is Perez in the car.

[Sphere3758]

Given how confident Redbull sound, is this already over ?

[organic]

On a positive note - tomorrow is Perez in the car.

Only for the morning. Perez is in all of day 3 though