2017 F1 general testing thread

[drunkf1fan]

Proving why he was demoted.

I really can't fathom why they kept him. If Red Bull only wants future world champions then move on to Gasly.

It was too windy today in the circuit, he is not the only driver that finish on the barrier

Yup, having a pop at him over losing the car and not hitting the barrier. Yet can we think of any top drivers who have binned it in testing, probably all at one time, but I was thinking specifically rated by the best driver by many(not me as it goes) Alonso managed get himself pretty bashed up by losing it around here in 2015(it was 15 right?).

There are times in testing where you need to be cruising to get data, but there are times you need to be pushing also. If you aren't close to finding the limits you aren't really learning anything new. If you want a driver to be able to perform in Australia, he needs to be able to find the limits of the car. Multiple people have spun already, Bottas who just moved to the best team around at the moment put his nose in a wall today. I can think of lots of spins over the past few years of testing from drivers in every team.

But Kvyat overcooked one corner and suddenly he's a terrible driver? He had a bad year, some of it was blown out of proportion(the first contact with Vettel wasn't remotely his fault). But from day one everyone was talking about Verstappen moving up to RBR, he probably knew Verstappen was pushing for it and he probably knew other teams were sniffing around, which means he knew RBR needed to consider moving him up earlier to keep hold of him. Basically he was under pressure the whole season and he definitely didn't cope with it well, then after being demoted he was under pressure again to perform. Realistically he was demoted because Verstappen is so damn good, not because he was so damn bad.

[FW17]

Hope Ferrari and Red Bull does a lot of Qualy sims they really need to knock Mercs off the front row

Race pace is not going to be that important as overtaking is going to be difficult

[GPR-A duplicate2]

Yup, having a pop at him over losing the car and not hitting the barrier. Yet can we think of any top drivers who have binned it in testing, probably all at one time, but I was thinking specifically rated by the best driver by many(not me as it goes) Alonso managed get himself pretty bashed up by losing it around here in 2015(it was 15 right?).

The fact that you don't remember which year it was, shows how uninformed you are. If you would have been informed, you would have known the gravity of situation around that incident. Do some research before throwing up. If it is all about berating Alonso, you should do it more openly, you don't need a garb.

But Kvyat overcooked one corner and suddenly he's a terrible driver? He had a bad year, some of it was blown out of proportion(the first contact with Vettel wasn't remotely his fault).

He is lucky that he is still driving. He has to thank his stars. He is in fact a terrible driver, who doesn't deserve to be there and there are other better junior drivers waiting in the wing. In any case, it's a matter of time.

[f1316]

I really can't fathom why they kept him. If Red Bull only wants future world champions then move on to Gasly.

It was too windy today in the circuit, he is not the only driver that finish on the barrier

Yup, having a pop at him over losing the car and not hitting the barrier. Yet can we think of any top drivers who have binned it in testing, probably all at one time, but I was thinking specifically rated by the best driver by many(not me as it goes) Alonso managed get himself pretty bashed up by losing it around here in 2015(it was 15 right?).

There are times in testing where you need to be cruising to get data, but there are times you need to be pushing also. If you aren't close to finding the limits you aren't really learning anything new. If you want a driver to be able to perform in Australia, he needs to be able to find the limits of the car. Multiple people have spun already, Bottas who just moved to the best team around at the moment put his nose in a wall today. I can think of lots of spins over the past few years of testing from drivers in every team.

But Kvyat overcooked one corner and suddenly he's a terrible driver? He had a bad year, some of it was blown out of proportion(the first contact with Vettel wasn't remotely his fault). But from day one everyone was talking about Verstappen moving up to RBR, he probably knew Verstappen was pushing for it and he probably knew other teams were sniffing around, which means he knew RBR needed to consider moving him up earlier to keep hold of him. Basically he was under pressure the whole season and he definitely didn't cope with it well, then after being demoted he was under pressure again to perform. Realistically he was demoted because Verstappen is so damn good, not because he was so damn bad.

No no, my comment had nothing to do with this specific incident - I only mentioned today because people were discussing Kvyat's incident and it followed on.

My point is that Red Bull's driver program is about finding new world champions and they've jettisoned perfectly good drivers in the past (e.g. JEV, Algersuari etc.) not because there was anything particularly bad about their driving but because it became clear to management that they weren't going to hit that goal.

To me it's clear Kvyat's not going to be world champ - it's clear to me that Sainz is a step better - and if that's the case, you might as well move onto the next guy who they already have treading water in super formula; but that's just my opinion

[Hail22]

2017 Barcelona Test 1, Day 2 - Ted’s Notebook



Credit to Sky F1, News ltd. and its affiliates.

[Vasconia]

Massa says dirty air is more noticeable

That's the one that concerns me.

Since the aerodinamic downforce was increased we all knew that this was going to be a big problem. Now add tyres with less degradtion. Not expecting great races unless there is a great competence between big teams.

[Italiano]

Race pace is not going to be that important as overtaking is going to be difficult

Read that back a couple of times and think about what you said. Please.

[bonjon1979]

Massa says dirty air is more noticeable

That's the one that concerns me.

Since the aerodinamic downforce was increased we all knew that this was going to be a big problem. Now add tyres with less degradtion. Not expecting great races unless there is a great competence between big teams.

I've read in a couple of places that these Pirellis are going to have a very noticeable cliff in performance. Hopefully we have a tyre that doesn't thermally degrade when pushed but will start to lose performance dramatically with wear.

[Thunder]

Well the McLaren is cruising around with Aero Rakes. Lets see how long it lasts.

[max_speed]

Well the McLaren is cruising around with Aero Rakes. Lets see how long it lasts.

yes quite interested , seemingly they can't even cruise for long ..may be for 29 laps

[BosF1]

Palmer is in the gravel and has caused the first red flag.

[BosF1]

Autosport live:

"Alonso was out on track when that red flag came out - all eyes were on the timing screens waiting for him to trigger another sector to prove that the McLaren hadn't suffered another early-morning stoppage. To the relief of Honda, this time the MCL32 did make it back."

So the positive note for this morning: For the first time in 2017 McLaren has been able to do an installation lap at the start of testing that hasn't exposed a problem. Progress people...!

[Anthropolyte]

Progress indeed.

Trust Jolyon to end up beached at the very start of the session... I had such hopes for him, but he really seems to have had trouble. Part of it was the car he had last season, admittedly.

[f1316]

What I find interesting is that - whilst teams like Ferrari seem to be catching up in terms of putting mileage on the car from the off (the shakedown probably helped - never understood why they didn't do that sooner) - Mercedes are still the only ones who start lapping right from the start of testing. Everyone else goes out for an install and then pisses about for a bit before starting work proper (I'm being flippant - I know they're not messing about).

But what's interesting is that Mercedes doesn't need that; they have what they need to start work right away and, in a world where testing is *so* restricted, making every second of the tiny window of testing you have count seems very logical.

I wonder what they do differently? How is that other cars always have to make changes after the install lap and Merc don't?

[wickedz50]

What I find interesting is that - whilst teams like Ferrari seem to be catching up in terms of putting mileage on the car from the off (the shakedown probably helped - never understood why they didn't do that sooner) - Mercedes are still the only ones who start lapping right from the start of testing. Everyone else goes out for an install and then pisses about for a bit before starting work proper (I'm being flippant - I know they're not messing about).

But what's interesting is that Mercedes doesn't need that; they have what they need to start work right away and, in a world where testing is *so* restricted, making every second of the tiny window of testing you have count seems very logical.

I wonder what they do differently? How is that other cars always have to make changes after the install lap and Merc don't?

Shows their strength and confidence. Ruthless for the competitors.