2018 pre-season testing thread

[F1Krof]

Seeing some footage. That Ferrari though , seems so planted to the ground.

[mrluke]

https://pbs.twimg.com/media/DXOb6iVW0AAxzEU.jpg

Shame to see Mclaren are still struggling with their PU, 10kmh down, when are Honda going to step up??

[atanatizante]

Just going back to the tyres- is it palpable to suggest that the Mediums could genuinely perform better than the softer options in these cold conditions?

Those of you with tyre knowledge and understanding can help me out here!

Obviously keen to understand whether the suggested Pirelli tyre delta guides would hold true in these winter conditions or not.

(Like you all, just trying to compare some of these lap times and know whether it’s even worth it)

I'd like to know that as well. I do remember the soft last year, more or less the current medium tyre, had a wider operation range than the other tyres. Maybe it has to do with that.

@Turbo, one of W08` issues was that it has a narrow sweet spot/tyre temp window operation and now we have 2018 medium tyre being practically 2017 soft tyre compound and more of that this year medium tyre has the widest working range as Mario Isola - Pirelli - said on an interview :

"Moving all the compounds one step softer – and the selection will follow the same approach – means warm up will be less of an issue but potentially there is a higher risk of overheating. To reduce this effect and to reduce blistering as well, we have designed compounds with a higher resistance to temperature.

The working range philosophy is also changed with decreasing working ranges from the medium to the hypersoft compounds, instead of alternating high and low working range compounds as in previous years. This should make compounds easier to use.

Last but not least, new compounds have been developed starting from last year's soft - the compound with the widest working range - with the target to enlarge working range also for the other compounds."

[ferkan]

Seeing some footage. That Ferrari though , seems so planted to the ground.

Link us mate!

[F1Krof]

Here you go:

[Restomaniac]

Here you go:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=nIsQWSiZbOE

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=aLvdb_YiILM

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=eijcVd1WUQA&t=69s

What struck me is.

Both the Ferrari and Mercedes have huge amounts of power. However Mercedes looks to have frightening amounts of it.

[TAG]

[willmesquita]

Global test conclusion after week 1 :

http://image.noelshack.com/fichiers/201 ... driver.png

concidering both Ferrari, Mercedes and Renault all have 3 teams, and Honda just 1, it's rather positive to see three hundred something laps from Honda. if you'd multiply that by 3, then compared, ToroRosso-Honda has more laps than their competition. Or, should you devide the other manufacturers by 3, then they have two hundred something each team, which means Honda is putting in more laps than the competition - right?

after last season, that is definately good news, also since they're not bottoming out the timing sheets, and their topspeed is also great.

So that means we can finally get positive about what we're seeing with Honda, which is very good news.

But data wise, 1/3 of Km still is 1/3 of Km, so Ferrari/Mercedes/Renault have 3 times more data to develop a good PU.

[f1316]

Worst...test...ever

Seriously though, very hard to get much of a sense of anything, given the running.

From simply observing the types of laps being set - the kind of ‘always looking fast, on any type of tyre’ casual observation - you’d say the Mercedes looks strong. Cold day, medium tyres, consistently in 19s - seems pretty good.

But from the on track observations, the general perception is that the Ferrari- and to lesser extent RB and McLaren- appear very stable and drivable, more so than the Mercedes. For this to translate to faster car, it would probably mean Ferrari working a very different kind of program to Mercedes, with higher fuel; this is not the usual pattern - usually the reverse - so you’d have to assum that Ferrari would have to be consciously going for higher fuel runs, knowing the pace is there, and this could be linked to the stories about their wind tunnel data (which was said to be very strong) having been confirmed.

Intriguing but I’m anxious for Tuesday!

[Vasconia]

Worst...test...ever

Seriously though, very hard to get much of a sense of anything, given the running.

From simply observing the types of laps being set - the kind of ‘always looking fast, on any type of tyre’ casual observation - you’d say the Mercedes looks strong. Cold day, medium tyres, consistently in 19s - seems pretty good.

But from the on track observations, the general perception is that the Ferrari- and to lesser extent RB and McLaren- appear very stable and drivable, more so than the Mercedes. For this to translate to faster car, it would probably mean Ferrari working a very different kind of program to Mercedes, with higher fuel; this is not the usual pattern - usually the reverse - so you’d have to assum that Ferrari would have to be consciously going for higher fuel runs, knowing the pace is there, and this could be linked to the stories about their wind tunnel data (which was said to be very strong) having been confirmed.

Intriguing but I’m anxious for Tuesday!

This test has given us more questions than answers. Its true tha Hamilton´s lap was pretty impressive and may be an indicator. But I tend to think(or hope) that Ferrari should be very close, the car looks very stable and the power is there. RB and Mclaren look good too but Mclaren´s lap times are little bit out of place.

I am totally amazed by Honda´s work. They have made a huge step forward, perhaps Mclaren´s narrow chasis was the true nightmare for them. Who knows..

Can´t wait for the second test!!

[Mansell89]

Have to agree with you there- the Ferrari has glided around effortlessly and looks planted. They look very well set to be the team to beat at the twisty circuits. In the same breath, the Merc works team looks to have more power than anyone, they look a hit ahead of all Renault power visually, which is ominous. So they remain the team to beat on power circuits maybe?

Really hoping for some surprises and there’s no doubt that Red Bull, McLaren, and Renault have all looked decent either visually (McL/Renault) or on the lap times chart (RBR very competitive on mediums in line with Ferrari and Merc).

Top two from last year still look the ones to beat at this early stage. Looking forward to test 2 to show a bit more of the data.

[techman]

mclaren doing glory runs a la sauber in an effort to attract new sponsers?

wow super

[johnny comelately]

Regarding the weather problems, the MotoGP people just finished their testing at the same time in Qatar with good weather as far as I could see....CC: FIA.

[SiLo]

Looking at the videos of the cars, I really can't see how the Ferrari looks as planted as everyone says. All the cars were twitching with oversteer or understeer in corners, usually indicative of a very cold and slippery surface.

Historically, Mercedes runs heavier loads during testing than everyone else as well. I would assume that hasn't changed for this year, but I do understand they can run a lot less fuel because their engine is much more efficient.

[dren]

Looking at the videos of the cars, I really can't see how the Ferrari looks as planted as everyone says. All the cars were twitching with oversteer or understeer in corners, usually indicative of a very cold and slippery surface.

Historically, Mercedes runs heavier loads during testing than everyone else as well. I would assume that hasn't changed for this year, but I do understand they can run a lot less fuel because their engine is much more efficient.

That's my take, too. They all looked to be fighting to get the tires working.