2015 Pre-season Testing

[Manoah2u]

Yeah, your fears regarding Merc team could be pretty accurate, both drivers seems to be moaning for some degree about the new rear tyre, particularly ...

You forgot the most important part, why they are moaning. They moaned, because they couldn't get enough heat into them to keep them in operating window. This is mainly do to the cold temperatures seen during testing this year. This could easily be seen as a good thing, because it could be read as they can push harder without overheating the tires.

true, but the problem with testing in cold conditions is that they can't be too sure how the car wil affect the tires under heat. at one side it could look like they couldn't get too much heat in the tires, which might be a benefit in hot condition so the tires are less prone to get 'burned up'.

However, since Pirelli brought special winter testing tires, with accordingly adapted compounds to deal with the temperatures, and they'll offcourse bring compounds adjusted for hot veneus, it remains to be seen whether it is such a positive thing, because they probably are going to have just as much problems on getting proper heat into the hot-compound tires.

they probably would have preffered to overheat the tires at a certain point so they can discover the crucial 'edge' to improve and perfect set-up.

[dans79]

true, but the problem with testing in cold conditions is that they can't be too sure how the car wil affect the tires under heat. at one side it could look like they couldn't get too much heat in the tires, which might be a benefit in hot condition so the tires are less prone to get 'burned up'.

However, since Pirelli brought special winter testing tires, with accordingly adapted compounds to deal with the temperatures, and they'll offcourse bring compounds adjusted for hot veneus, it remains to be seen whether it is such a positive thing, because they probably are going to have just as much problems on getting proper heat into the hot-compound tires.

they probably would have preffered to overheat the tires at a certain point so they can discover the crucial 'edge' to improve and perfect set-up.

I completely agree.

I think the season just needs to start as it seems the press and various fans are looking to grab onto anything that might suggest Merc won't walk the championship.

[minillac]

I think that This New engines sound louder than the past season's, look
F1 2015 Mercedes (Hamilton) | Ferrari (Vettel) En…: http://youtu.be/sSIJe252BAg

[ParkerArt]

true, but the problem with testing in cold conditions is that they can't be too sure how the car wil affect the tires under heat. at one side it could look like they couldn't get too much heat in the tires, which might be a benefit in hot condition so the tires are less prone to get 'burned up'.

However, since Pirelli brought special winter testing tires, with accordingly adapted compounds to deal with the temperatures, and they'll offcourse bring compounds adjusted for hot veneus, it remains to be seen whether it is such a positive thing, because they probably are going to have just as much problems on getting proper heat into the hot-compound tires.

they probably would have preffered to overheat the tires at a certain point so they can discover the crucial 'edge' to improve and perfect set-up.

I completely agree.

I think the season just needs to start as it seems the press and various fans are looking to grab onto anything that might suggest Merc won't walk the championship.

One of the reasons that I liked the 2014 test in Bahrain. Good quality tire info and representative conditions.

But 'cost control measures...'

[PlatinumZealot]

Quite true

What this is ignorance.
Nasr is one of the best young drivers out there. He did better than Palmer; his 2013 teamate (who became the 2014 gp2 champion in another team) despite the fact Nasr had much less experience (a season less). Nasr was way better than Ericcson too. You simply cant compare them.
One of Nasrs problems in GP2: he drove for Carlin. Thats all. He deserves a seat in F1, a good car and a good team.

Nasr has poor raw speed. Ericsson got two poles in 2013, Barcelona and Silversone. Palmer got 1 in 2013, when he was team mate of Nasr, and then 3 more last year.

Nasr only got 1(in Hungary last year) despite having car for more, as his team mates showed with Palmer pole already mentioned in 2013 and the 2 poles of Valsecchi in 2012.

In terms of fastest laps, Ericsson had 1 in 2012 and 3 in 2013. Palmer had 2 in 2013 and 7 last year. Nasr have only 2, both from last year.

Now, if that wasn't bad enough, here comes the embarrassing part: Ericsson already won his first race on his first season, then won 2 more despite never being on the best team. Palmer won 1 in 2012, 2 in 2013 while being Nasr's team mate(1 of them from the pole and with the fastest lap) and 4 last year.

Nasr was easily in the best team already in his first season when Valsecchi got 2 poles, 5 fastest laps, 4 wins and the title while mediocre Felipe got nothing, nil, zero, nada, null.

Hell, in the 2012 season, even a guy like Max Chilton got 2 poles and 2 wins(from feature races) and his team wasn't even as good as Nasr's. It took until Barcelona, last year, for Nasr to manage to win his first race. And he only got 1 win from a feature race, during all his carreer despite being only on good teams due to his sponsors. Already mentioned DAMS being the best in 2012 and Carlin is a great team with top results in many series. Blaming Carlin for his lack of success if just fan excuse.

Nasr's main quality is consistency and regularity but that is not good enough for being in F1

That's why fanboyism does to people: makes them post "dumb" things

Nasr handed Ericsson his butt out there today.

[Blackout]

Nasr is mediocre, he said
The difference between me and you: I never exagerated and said Nasr is the new Hamilton while you are exagerating by saying he's madiocre an has poor raw speed. You can't win F3 and do well in GP2 with 'poor raw speed'. And you're focussing too much on raw speed while I'm talking about the whole package. In that case Nasr seems to be better than Ericcson.
And I'm not his fan, I suppport no driver. Obviously I have some preferences like everybody but F1 for me is 'all' about cars... but you, you're behaving like a hater.
Yes Carlin made some big mistakes and sometimes had poor reliability.

Ericsson got two poles in 2013, Barcelona and Silversone. Palmer got 1 in 2013, when he was team mate of Nasr, and then 3 more last year.
Nasr only got 1(in Hungary last year) despite having car for more, as his team mates showed with Palmer pole already mentioned in 2013 and the 2 poles of Valsecchi in 2012.
In terms of fastest laps, Ericsson had 1 in 2012 and 3 in 2013. Palmer had 2 in 2013 and 7 last year. Nasr have only 2, both from last year.
Nasr was easily in the best team already in his first season when Valsecchi got 2 poles, 5 fastest laps, 4 wins and the title while mediocre Felipe got nothing, nil, zero, nada, null.

As you admitted it; Ericcson qnd Valsecchi where in their 46th and 52th season in GP2...

Nasr's main quality is consistency and regularity but that is not good enough for being in F1

2 important qualities added to the good enough raw speed
He definitely deserves a chance in F1. And his performances will show wether he deserves to stay or not.

[efuloni]

I just wanted to come back here read again all those posts saying how bad Nasr is. lol

Of course its too early, but he was great in the qual.

[PlatinumZealot]

I never followed Nasr but he looks fast to me. Early signs point to him dominating Erickson. And Ericson was not that slow compared to Kobayashi by the end of last season. I think Nasr could be a future star.

i said he may be mediocre in past series as people claim but testing show he is quick enough to trounce Ericson.

[Sevach]

The fact that people highlight Palmer getting a pole and a victory while they were team mates while forgetting Nasr wide superiority during the whole season is kinda irksome.

[Artur Craft]

Nasr is mediocre, he said
The difference between me and you: I never exagerated and said Nasr is the new Hamilton while you are exagerating by saying he's madiocre an has poor raw speed. Y

I still don'r rate him above average and won't do for this season because his team mate is a guy who was, on average, 2s slower than Kobayashi, last year. Let's not forget Ericsson was outqualified by Lotterer, who knew nothing about the car, Pirellis.....

All I take from this is how fast Sauber is.

He's consistent and showed that in this race and it was a very good result. I respect everybody's opinion, but imo, this guy will never reach a podium, get a pole or any more relevant result in his entire career, which I don't think will be very long.

Again, we can all agree to disagree and see how it plays out from now

[ChrisF1]

Nasr is mediocre, he said
The difference between me and you: I never exagerated and said Nasr is the new Hamilton while you are exagerating by saying he's madiocre an has poor raw speed. Y

I still don'r rate him above average and won't do for this season because his team mate is a guy who was, on average, 2s slower than Kobayashi, last year. Let's not forget Ericsson was outqualified by Lotterer, who knew nothing about the car, Pirellis.....

All I take from this is how fast Sauber is.

He's consistent and showed that in this race and it was a very good result. I respect everybody's opinion, but imo, this guy will never reach a podium, get a pole or any more relevant result in his entire career, which I don't think will be very long.

Again, we can all agree to disagree and see how it plays out from now

Completely agree, but I am sure we all said that about Maldonado, and somehow he has done those things...

[Blackout]

So now Ericcson is a bad driver and you claim this bad driver did better than Nasr in GP2... while the very near past, the present and (the future : p) show that Nasr is dominating Ericcson.
Nasr's carreer in F3 and the lower categories definitely show he has also very good raw speed. He was AFAIK best rookie in his first F3 season and dominated it (and his 'very bad' teamate Kevin Magnussen) in the second season...

That means his carreer in GP2 was kinda anamalous, it seems he couldnt manage to show his true level regarding raw speed right from the start...

Nasr could simply be that kind of trivers who sometimes needs more time than the others to adapt. But when everything is in place, and when the car is good enough, he can bring you the poles, the fastest laps and the victories.

[efuloni]

Well, I followed Nasr's career on GP2 a bit, but was not a close watch, I admit.

In his interviews he always said that the lack of victories was for strategy matters. According to him, the regulation of GP2 allowed you to put all your bets in one of the races while blowing your chances in the other, because of the tires (I guess you can't change in the second race, is that right?).

So, since he was trying to be champion, the best strategy was to equilibrate both races, meaning he could not go for a victory no matter what in the first race, otherwise he could be without chances in the second one.

Also, I might be wrong, but I dont think he was in the best team last year...

My opinion watching a few races in GP2 is that he is, indeed, consistent. I see him somehow like Hulkenberg (not saying as good as hulk, just see resemblance in their styles). He can bring lots of points to a medium team and, maybe, in a good car, get even better results, but it all depends on how he will evolve, of course.

But his first race and quali showed that he may be even better than I think. Or he may be a flop that just took the chance in an empty race... We have to wait, in any case.

[efuloni]

So now Ericcson is a bad driver and you claim this bad driver did better than Nasr in GP2... while the very near past, the present and (the future : p) show that Nasr is dominating Ericcson.
Nasr's carreer in F3 and the lower categories definitely show he has also very good raw speed. He was AFAIK best rookie in his first F3 season and dominated it (and his 'very bad' teamate Kevin Magnussen) in the second season...

That means his carreer in GP2 was kinda anamalous, it seems he couldnt manage to show his true level regarding raw speed right from the start...

Nasr could simply be that kind of trivers who sometimes needs more time than the others to adapt. But when everything is in place, and when the car is good enough, he can bring you the poles, the fastest laps and the victories.

You are right. He simply may not have adapted that well with the cars/tires/driving style of GP2. It happens, sometimes.

[Artur Craft]

Completely agree, but I am sure we all said that about Maldonado, and somehow he has done those things...

I always believed Maldonado, albeit clumsy, had great raw speed, even from GP2

So now Ericcson is a bad driver and you claim this bad driver did better than Nasr in GP2... while the

Ericsson is, indeed, a bad driver. That's just shows how not impressive Nasr was in GP2, because even guys like Ericsson and Chilton managed to get some eye catching results before him.

But now I agree with your post. Nasr results in Formula BMW and F3 were encouraging, indeed. My problem with him is exactly his career in GP2, which did not live up to it. I can't rule him totally off because of that but it makes me very circumspect with him