2018 pre-season testing thread

[dren]

Had the decision been made at the end of the year, I think Mclaren might have stuck with Honda. It seems they made their mind up this time last year. Can't blame them.

[godlameroso]

Nice run from Hamilton, probably running about 35kg of fuel as there's still a good second and a half left on these tires if he was trying on low fuel.

[the EDGE]

i read on 3 different Spanish sites that Alonso will soon replace Vandoorne but nothing official from Mclaren yet!?

look's like you were correct

from Sky

14:16
Stoffel Vandoorne is back on track currently, but will hand over to Fernando Alonso for the final couple of hours of testing after the Spaniard's running was disrupted yesterday.

[PhillipM]

Had the decision been made at the end of the year, I think Mclaren might have stuck with Honda. It seems they made their mind up this time last year. Can't blame them.

I can't help but think the same thing, if the Honda had been where it was at the end of the year a few months earlier, they would - and should - have kept it. But the decision was already made by then and it was just waiting on paperwork.

[godlameroso]

Yep 15 lap stint that's about 35kg worth of fuel, on the medium tires which are last year's soft tires. Hamilton managed a very low 1:19 to take pole last year with those tires, a 1:19.9 means there's still another second and a half there at least. Wow, we may just see 16's by the end of next week.

[the EDGE]

Had the decision been made at the end of the year, I think Mclaren might have stuck with Honda. It seems they made their mind up this time last year. Can't blame them.

I can't help but think the same thing, if the Honda had been where it was at the end of the year a few months earlier, they would - and should - have kept it. But the decision was already made by then and it was just waiting on paperwork.

wow... a grown-up conversation about the subject... it can be done

Honda made lots of promises last year that turned out not to be true. I think they did their hardest to convince McLaren, but in the end the call had to be made and Honda just run out of time to deliver. Looks like they've made solid progress this year for sure, but its to early to see if thats on the power front as well as the reliability front

[dren]

I'm glad at this point they made the switch. Honda seems to be fitting in better with TR. I'd love to see Honda propel the RB ahead of Mercedes and Ferrari next year to win the championship.

Back to testing...the Mercedes is looking good on those mediums.

[godlameroso]

https://www.f1today.net/en/live/f1/2364 ... st-in-2018

Alonso is about to drive the Fernando 14? or is he going back in time to drive the 2014 Ferrari?
edit* they changed it to MCL33

Mercedes is looking good on the 2018 medium/2017 soft tire, but there's still easily another 1.5 seconds he's hiding. Maybe due to fuel load, guessing 30kg, it was a 15 lap stint so it may have been as low as 20kg.

[BrunoH]

mercedes looking very fast....

[Talisman]

Had the decision been made at the end of the year, I think Mclaren might have stuck with Honda. It seems they made their mind up this time last year. Can't blame them.

I can't help but think the same thing, if the Honda had been where it was at the end of the year a few months earlier, they would - and should - have kept it. But the decision was already made by then and it was just waiting on paperwork.

wow... a grown-up conversation about the subject... it can be done

Honda made lots of promises last year that turned out not to be true. I think they did their hardest to convince McLaren, but in the end the call had to be made and Honda just run out of time to deliver. Looks like they've made solid progress this year for sure, but its to early to see if thats on the power front as well as the reliability front

I think the decision was made to ditch Honda for any of the other three manufacturers before the season had even begun but after the two test sessions. McLaren probably set almost impossible targets for improvements during the season that Honda had to hit if McLaren were to abandon their plans to drop them knowing they wouldn't, and they didn't.

From a sporting point of view it might have made sense to make the decision later in the season but from a financial point of view and also in terms of negotiations with third parties knowing clearly that McLaren would not be racing with Honda PUs from 2018 as early as possible was better. Woking made sure they were financially covered in the short term to take the hit from losing Honda's significant funding by going back to their shareholders for more money. That would have been the single most important step in finding a new manufacturer for their PUs.

We know that McLaren were openly chasing Mercedes customer units early in the season, they were certainly doing everything possible through the whole year to secure another supply. I think Renault were the least favoured option, they were certainly the third out of three manufacturers McLaren spoke to regarding a supply.

From Honda's point of view I think the split was worthwhile. If they do a good job with STR they can get a tieup with RBR which is a superior team all round than McLaren giving them a better shot at the title. For McLaren it depends on them securing a very generous sponsorship package which so far they have completely failed to do. A lot also depends on Renault improving significantly and being equal to Mercedes or Ferrari customer units, otherwise regardless of how good the chassis is they may well end up fighting off challenges from the likes of FI and Williams with inferior chassis but with a customer Merc more than making up for that deficit, just as RBR has had to do on occasion.

[Bill_Kar]

The point is that regardless what will actually happen, McLaren actually chose the rational decision. And maybe it was the best for Honda too, working under less stressful conditions and a chance to prove that they can't fail for too long.
So, I find it a little disturbing when someone says 'oh look at Honda now, of course it was McLaren's problem', and of course vice versa.
Don't forget, there is a chance we will end up together in the (not so distant) future.

[Talisman]

Don't forget, there is a chance we will end up together in the (not so distant) future.

I don't think Honda would ever supply McLaren again, not unless F1 becomes a spec PU series and Honda becomes the only supplier.

[Thunder]

While i applaud everyone to keep a McLaren / Honda discussion on a level that brings Tears of Joy to my Eyes i would ask you to keep this Thread on the Topic of Winter Testing.

[djones]

This from Mercedes reminds me of 2016 testing.

Able to bang in fast laps at the end of runs, on the harder tyres.

[dans79]

Looks like Merc is starting to show their hand!