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

[AR3-GP]

I agree that it may take until European leg to find out who the leader is of the chasing pack.

The leader of the chasing pack can change over time. So someone leading early doesn't invalidate that bit of time, and someone leading a bit later on isn't necessarily going to maintain that lead either.

[mendis]

I agree that it may take until European leg to find out who the leader is of the chasing pack.

The leader of the chasing pack can change over time. So someone leading early doesn't invalidate that bit of time, and someone leading a bit later on isn't necessarily going to maintain that lead either.

It means, Perez can still fight for finishing 2nd. Yay!

[dialtone]

@thomasmaheronf1

“Suspicions from within some teams that Red Bull’s advantage over the winter has actually increased, not closed up. Hearing talk that it could be as much as a second a lap advantage…”

This seems either to be too blown up or each team talking about themselves and the journos aggregating across all.

Ferrari hasn’t said where they are, but for RedBull to be 1s ahead of them it means they would have improved 2.5s from last season, which seems frankly unbelievable, not with SAI’s race sim today.

Currently it’s looking like RBR and Ferrari are 1-2, unclear where they stand but RBR in front obviously, MER seems a bit behind Ferrari, like 0.6+ on race pace, MCL or AMR I don’t know. If RBR is 0.3s ahead of Ferrari it would match what Marko was saying and also the 1s ahead of most of the pack.

[organic]

From McLaren team principal Andrea Stella:

McLaren had a small problem with the fuel tank today, but it has been resolved.

In terms of performance, the car is meeting expectations at the moment, nothing negative.

But Stella commented: "There is a car that has made a big step forward. Unfortunately, this is the fastest car from last year."

[AR3-GP]

From McLaren team principal Andrea Stella:

McLaren had a small problem with the fuel tank today, but it has been resolved.

In terms of performance, the car is meeting expectations at the moment, nothing negative.

But Stella commented: "There is a car that has made a big step forward. Unfortunately, this is the fastest car from last year."

I find it interesting that comments like this come after Perez's extremely average looking pace today...

[chrisc90]

RB in a very nice little place then.

The things we like to see

[SoulPancake13]

From McLaren team principal Andrea Stella:

McLaren had a small problem with the fuel tank today, but it has been resolved.

In terms of performance, the car is meeting expectations at the moment, nothing negative.

But Stella commented: "There is a car that has made a big step forward. Unfortunately, this is the fastest car from last year."

I find it interesting that comments like this come after Perez's extremely average looking pace today...

I guess the GPS data is showing something we don't see. Maybe super low engine modes plus a ridiculous amount of fuel for the Red Bulls?

[DGP123]

From McLaren team principal Andrea Stella:

McLaren had a small problem with the fuel tank today, but it has been resolved.

In terms of performance, the car is meeting expectations at the moment, nothing negative.

But Stella commented: "There is a car that has made a big step forward. Unfortunately, this is the fastest car from last year."

Wow. Just straight out admission there. I mean, it doesn’t really need to be spelled out anymore. Shame, but the reality of how this regulation panned out. An utter domination.

[Cs98]

@thomasmaheronf1

“Suspicions from within some teams that Red Bull’s advantage over the winter has actually increased, not closed up. Hearing talk that it could be as much as a second a lap advantage…”

This seems either to be too blown up or each team talking about themselves and the journos aggregating across all.

Ferrari hasn’t said where they are, but for RedBull to be 1s ahead of them it means they would have improved 2.5s from last season, which seems frankly unbelievable, not with SAI’s race sim today.

Currently it’s looking like RBR and Ferrari are 1-2, unclear where they stand but RBR in front obviously, MER seems a bit behind Ferrari, like 0.6+ on race pace, MCL or AMR I don’t know. If RBR is 0.3s ahead of Ferrari it would match what Marko was saying and also the 1s ahead of most of the pack.

2,5s? Ferrari may have improved a lot, but they will not be 1,5s faster than RB19.

[dialtone]

@thomasmaheronf1

“Suspicions from within some teams that Red Bull’s advantage over the winter has actually increased, not closed up. Hearing talk that it could be as much as a second a lap advantage…”

This seems either to be too blown up or each team talking about themselves and the journos aggregating across all.

Ferrari hasn’t said where they are, but for RedBull to be 1s ahead of them it means they would have improved 2.5s from last season, which seems frankly unbelievable, not with SAI’s race sim today.

Currently it’s looking like RBR and Ferrari are 1-2, unclear where they stand but RBR in front obviously, MER seems a bit behind Ferrari, like 0.6+ on race pace, MCL or AMR I don’t know. If RBR is 0.3s ahead of Ferrari it would match what Marko was saying and also the 1s ahead of most of the pack.

2,5s? Ferrari may have improved a lot, but they will not be 1,5s faster than RB19.

Sorry my bad on the math.



SF-24 appears to be 0.6s faster than Max's race, on trimmed down Ferrari engine. So it would need to be a 1.6s improvement to be ahead of Ferrari. Still seems a lot.

[Cs98]

This seems either to be too blown up or each team talking about themselves and the journos aggregating across all.

Ferrari hasn’t said where they are, but for RedBull to be 1s ahead of them it means they would have improved 2.5s from last season, which seems frankly unbelievable, not with SAI’s race sim today.

Currently it’s looking like RBR and Ferrari are 1-2, unclear where they stand but RBR in front obviously, MER seems a bit behind Ferrari, like 0.6+ on race pace, MCL or AMR I don’t know. If RBR is 0.3s ahead of Ferrari it would match what Marko was saying and also the 1s ahead of most of the pack.

2,5s? Ferrari may have improved a lot, but they will not be 1,5s faster than RB19.

That's not the comparison.

So SAI race sim was 0.6s/lap faster than Max race last year and a comfortable 1.46s faster than SF-23.

So to still be 1s faster than Ferrari, it would mean that RBR improved by more 0.6s over the 1.46s improvement from SF-23. for Ferrari, so at least 2s+, assuming there's some more in the tank for Ferrari with engine modes and such, 2.5s seems like a good guess.

I don't believe it's going to be that big of an improvement for RedBull.

That data is not very reliable since we all know Bahrain 2023 was a management fest for RBR, and they were managing a reliability issue with the PU (turned down). Secondly, you said for them to be 1s ahead of Ferrari they would need to be 2,5s faster than last year. If they are 2,5s faster than last year and Ferrari is 1s behind, it would mean Ferrari are 1,5s faster than RB19. I don't see that happening. Fair bet they are 0,5s faster, maybe even a full second, but not much more IMO.

[dialtone]

2,5s? Ferrari may have improved a lot, but they will not be 1,5s faster than RB19.

That's not the comparison.

So SAI race sim was 0.6s/lap faster than Max race last year and a comfortable 1.46s faster than SF-23.

So to still be 1s faster than Ferrari, it would mean that RBR improved by more 0.6s over the 1.46s improvement from SF-23. for Ferrari, so at least 2s+, assuming there's some more in the tank for Ferrari with engine modes and such, 2.5s seems like a good guess.

I don't believe it's going to be that big of an improvement for RedBull.

That data is not very reliable since we all know Bahrain 2023 was a management fest for RBR. Secondly, you said for them to be 1s ahead of Ferrari they would need to be 2,5s faster than last year. If they are 2,5s faster than last year and Ferrari is 1s behind, it would mean Ferrari are 1,5s faster than RB19. I don't see that happening. Fair bet they are 0,5s faster, maybe even a full second, but not much more IMO.

My post contained errors, I updated it after posting.

[Cs98]

That's not the comparison.

So SAI race sim was 0.6s/lap faster than Max race last year and a comfortable 1.46s faster than SF-23.

So to still be 1s faster than Ferrari, it would mean that RBR improved by more 0.6s over the 1.46s improvement from SF-23. for Ferrari, so at least 2s+, assuming there's some more in the tank for Ferrari with engine modes and such, 2.5s seems like a good guess.

I don't believe it's going to be that big of an improvement for RedBull.

That data is not very reliable since we all know Bahrain 2023 was a management fest for RBR. Secondly, you said for them to be 1s ahead of Ferrari they would need to be 2,5s faster than last year. If they are 2,5s faster than last year and Ferrari is 1s behind, it would mean Ferrari are 1,5s faster than RB19. I don't see that happening. Fair bet they are 0,5s faster, maybe even a full second, but not much more IMO.

My post contained errors, I updated it after posting.

Yeah... your math is wrong. Think about this logically. If Ferrari improved by 1,46s and RB improved by 2,5s, they would be 1s faster only if Ferrari and RB were equal in 2023 (2,5 - 1,46 = roughly 1). They obviously weren't equal in 2023, RB was much faster, probably by a whole second in Bahrain.

[dialtone]

That data is not very reliable since we all know Bahrain 2023 was a management fest for RBR. Secondly, you said for them to be 1s ahead of Ferrari they would need to be 2,5s faster than last year. If they are 2,5s faster than last year and Ferrari is 1s behind, it would mean Ferrari are 1,5s faster than RB19. I don't see that happening. Fair bet they are 0,5s faster, maybe even a full second, but not much more IMO.

My post contained errors, I updated it after posting.

Yeah... your math is wrong. Think about this logically. If Ferrari improved by 1,46s and RB improved by 2,5s, they would be 1s faster provided Ferrari and RB were equal in 2023. They obviously weren't equal in 2023, RB was much faster, probably by a whole second in Bahrain.

Let me copy my edited post here:

SF-24 appears to be 0.6s faster than Max's race, on trimmed down Ferrari engine. So it would need to be a 1.6s improvement to be ahead of Ferrari by 1s. Still seems a lot.

[organic]

Too early to say