2015 Pre-season Testing

[henra]

Tell me about it Anyone know the estimated lap time difference between soft and supersoft? I'd estimate 0.5s a lap.

For Kimi it was ~1s, for Felipe ~0,7s.

If conditions didn't change much from yesterday to today we are back at that dreaded 1s+ gap of Merc to the rest (read Williams, Ferrari, RBR, which at least seem to be quite close together).
Looks like a great season... if it wasn't for the Mercs.

[Hail22]

For people wishing to catch up on the events from the last two days of testing please find #Askcrofty shared videos as TK is home with family before the season gets underway!

#Askcrofty from Day 1 of the 3rd test in Barcelona:



#Askcroft 3rd test Day 2:

[felix]

Nasr did a 1:24.071 on softs, less than 1.3 s from Rosberg's lap.

A Sauber with a rookie driver getting within 1.3 s of Rosberg tells me things will be closer than last year, at least.

[Cale24]

Tell me about it Anyone know the estimated lap time difference between soft and supersoft? I'd estimate 0.5s a lap.

For Kimi it was ~1s, for Felipe ~0,7s.

If conditions didn't change much from yesterday to today we are back at that dreaded 1s+ gap of Merc to the rest (read Williams, Ferrari, RBR, which at least seem to be quite close together).
Looks like a great season... if it wasn't for the Mercs.

Ok thanks. And yeah, agree with that order and likely gap. Red Bull once they get their drivability sorted might jump to a clear 2nd place, although we don't know how much extra engine performance the three manufacturers will bring to Melbourne. Exciting...

[iotar__]

So Williams and Ferrari very similar on super softs but still 0.5s slower than Mercedes on softs yesterday.

Clutching at straws: is there some logic to ss actually wearing out too soon in these conditions? Perhaps softs are actually better.

Tell me about it Anyone know the estimated lap time difference between soft and supersoft? I'd estimate 0.5s a lap.

It's 0,6. For Grosjean on previous test it scaled exactly like that, may depend on a car as Button said about softs. On softs Williams/Ferrari were closer and that's more important, from poor memory/Amus live timing: Merc didn't even order supersofts for Barcelona.

[Mesteño]

https://pbs.twimg.com/media/B-7aSyqXAAAffa_.jpg

This is just happening now in Mercedes motorhome.

I spot (right to left) Mattia binotto, james allison, maurizio arrivabene for ferrari toto wolf for mb and yasuhisa Arai for honda. I'd bet the other one are gonna be horner and some renault guys

I suppose they are talking about tokens. Anyway I miss some Red Bull people.

[Hail22]

https://pbs.twimg.com/media/B-7aSyqXAAAffa_.jpg

This is just happening now in Mercedes motorhome.

I spot (right to left) Mattia binotto, james allison, maurizio arrivabene for ferrari toto wolf for mb and yasuhisa Arai for honda. I'd bet the other one are gonna be horner and some renault guys

I suppose they are talking about tokens. Anyway I miss some Red Bull people.

Could be tokens, could be 2017. Or it could be a ploy for them to be seen in order to start another "rumor mill" for 2015 / 16.


Back to the test, the morning session has now been completed and the lunch break has begun, mornings timing sheet below with laps completed (Source - Autosport):

The lunchtime lap counts:

Hulkenberg - 76
Ricciardo - 60
Sainz - 53
Raikkonen - 51
Ericsson - 50
Massa - 45
Grosjean - 44
Magnussen - 38
Hamilton - 36

12:03 As the last cars trickle back into pitlane, here's how the times finished up:

1 Felipe Massa Williams 1m23.262s
2 Kimi Raikkonen Ferrari 1m23.276s +0.014
3 Marcus Ericsson Sauber 1m24.477s +1.215
4 Nico Hulkenberg Force India 1m24.939s +1.677
5 Kevin Magnussen McLaren 1m25.225s +1.963
6 Lewis Hamilton Mercedes 1m25.471s +2.209
7 Daniel Ricciardo Red Bull 1m25.742s +2.480
8 Carlos Sainz Jr Toro Rosso 1m26.330s +3.068
9 Romain Grosjean Lotus 1m27.950s +4.688

[Cale24]

Yeah, 0.6 is still a chunk of time. Other team engineers when Merc do bolt on those tyres will look something like this:

[Lorenzo_Bandini]

Sauber with Nasr did 1.24.0 with the soft IIRC...

And Williams and Ferrari 1.23.2 with super soft.. There is a gap of 1 second between the two compound, so if Nasr time was with the soft tyres, it would mean Sauber is as fast as Williams and Ferrari ?

There is many choices :

- Sauber in Ferrari, WIlliams league ( imho NO WAY )

- SS could be only a tad faster than Soft, ( less than one second )

- Williams and Ferrari were on SS but with a good amount of fuel, while Sauber was on very low fuel ( i think this is the case )

[henra]

And yeah, agree with that order and likely gap. Red Bull once they get their drivability sorted might jump to a clear 2nd place,

That's the big question mark to me. The RB visually looked rather wild/difficult to drive of the Top Teams so far. Maybe too peaky DF + peaky engine? A bit like the 2014 Ferrari. That might still be due to their testing scheme but it seemed to pull through all the sessions so far.
If they don't get that sorted I don't see them filling the gap between Williams/Ferrari and the Merc, yet.

[felix]

Sauber with Nasr did 1.24.0 with the soft IIRC...

And Williams and Ferrari 1.23.2 with super soft.. There is a gap of 1 second between the two compound, so if Nasr time was with the soft tyres, it would mean Sauber is as fast as Williams and Ferrari ?

There is many choices :

- Sauber in Ferrari, WIlliams league ( imho NO WAY )

- SS could be only a tad faster than Soft, ( less than one second )

- Williams and Ferrari were on SS but with a good amount of fuel, while Sauber was on very low fuel ( i think this is the case )

And for reference, last year Sauber's best effort in Q2 was 2 seconds off Q2's fastest time and 3 seconds off pole...

[Cale24]

And yeah, agree with that order and likely gap. Red Bull once they get their drivability sorted might jump to a clear 2nd place,

That's the big question mark to me. The RB visually looked rather wild/difficult to drive of the Top Teams so far. Maybe too peaky DF + peaky engine? A bit like the 2014 Ferrari. That might still be due to their testing scheme but it seemed to pull through all the sessions so far.
If they don't get that sorted I don't see them filling the gap between Williams/Ferrari and the Merc, yet.

I think RB are in a fairly similar situation to last year- another great chassis but a package slightly compromised by the engine (at present). Ricciardo's comments that the car feels great and is a step forward, plus trackside observers saying the RB at times looks great through corners, suggests that they will be a strong force come Melbourne... They may be sandbagging a bit, as could anyone of course, but I'd put my money on them being at least a match for Williams/Ferrari who at present seem identical on pace...

[iotar__]

Sauber with Nasr did 1.24.0 with the soft IIRC...

And Williams and Ferrari 1.23.2 with super soft.. There is a gap of 1 second between the two compound, so if Nasr time was with the soft tyres, it would mean Sauber is as fast as Williams and Ferrari ?

There is many choices :

- Sauber in Ferrari, WIlliams league ( imho NO WAY )

- SS could be only a tad faster than Soft, ( less than one second )

- Williams and Ferrari were on SS but with a good amount of fuel, while Sauber was on very low fuel ( i think this is the case )

1. WIlliams/Ferrari also were on softs, why ignore that?
2. Forget Nasr from yesterday, Ericsson just run on SS - 1,2 slower than Massa/Raik. Maybe he had more fuel Plot thickens.

Red Bull hasn't shown anything yet and complaining about engine is not a good indication. Camouflage brand and budget and few would bet on this car based on tests but that's a normal adjustment. At least they have the best possible pair of drivers in case the car is not the best.

[SiLo]

The only thing I'm taking from testing is reliability. Times still won't really tell us too much apart from the long run pace. IM SO EXCITED THOUGH

[Vasconia]

Sauber with Nasr did 1.24.0 with the soft IIRC...

And Williams and Ferrari 1.23.2 with super soft.. There is a gap of 1 second between the two compound, so if Nasr time was with the soft tyres, it would mean Sauber is as fast as Williams and Ferrari ?

There is many choices :

- Sauber in Ferrari, WIlliams league ( imho NO WAY )

- SS could be only a tad faster than Soft, ( less than one second )

- Williams and Ferrari were on SS but with a good amount of fuel, while Sauber was on very low fuel ( i think this is the case )

Sauber has improved a lot but I am sure that they are running with a very low fuel. They must be 1-15 seconds behind Ferrari and Williams.