2018 pre-season testing thread

[Mansell89]

I watched Vettel last night on Teds notebook and he looked just about ready to explode with excitement under that calm exteria he tried to show on camera.

If Ferrari were way behind Vettel would give it away (a bit like when the RBR of 2014 was testing).

I don’t think we can say they are outright fastest, but they are certainly bang in the mix and have looked very assured all week.

[Restomaniac]

As an F1 watcher who has no actual leaning in 1 way or another I do sit here and chuckle sometimes.
In 14,15,16 it was clear that Mercedes were the class act and were miles ahead going into Melbourne, which the press spotted and reported on. There was much gnashing of teeth with comments like 'What do they know as they cannot be THAT far ahead' the press were proved right.
12 months ago it was clear that the Ferrari was ahead going into Melbourne, which the press spotted and reported as such and certain fans started with the 'what do they know? Nothing!'. Of course they were right.
Now it's clear the Mercedes is ahead going into Melbourne, which the press have spotted and reported as such and a different set of fans have started with the 'what do they know? Nothing!'. History shows us they will probably be right.

Do I like it that we cannot get a level fight? No I don't. But history shows us that the F1 press as a whole do have a damn clue (Plenty of which have actually been at trackside and personally SEEN how the cars drive). So when most are pretty much pointing in 1 direction it's unwise to sit there with your fingers in your ears saying 'la-la-la I'm not listening'.

[Vasconia]

Hamilton said in his press conference today they haven't taken the fuel out of the car yet. To me at least, it sounded very much like "we know very well that we can beat Ferrari's lap if we take the fuel out".

I guess they can but Ferrari didn´t show all the pace. What worries my more is the race sim, I hope we can see today a better pace from Ferrari and RB.

[ripper]

I think that Ferrari and Red Bull were driving to a delta. Nevertheless what I am reading on a couple of italian blogs is that MER and RB look a little more stable than FER on track (those people are in Spain watching test session). As a "tifoso" i'm a little worried about that and I really hope that yesterday race sim wasn't representative of real pace (and I hope the same about RB too, otherwise it's gonna be a walk in the park for MER).

One thing I haven't understand is the picture about FER and RB tyre wear: FER's one looked in good condition while RB one looked like it suffered an orbital bombardment (and did less laps too). Could it mean that VET had more pace to extract?

[johnny comelately]

Silly question of the day, but have we got testing today - Friday, 9th March 2018 ?
From Formula1.com - Barcelona, Spain March 6 - 9

[LM10]

I think that Ferrari and Red Bull were driving to a delta. Nevertheless what I am reading on a couple of italian blogs is that MER and RB look a little more stable than FER on track (those people are in Spain watching test session). As a "tifoso" i'm a little worried about that and I really hope that yesterday race sim wasn't representative of real pace (and I hope the same about RB too, otherwise it's gonna be a walk in the park for MER).

One thing I haven't understand is the picture about FER and RB tyre wear: FER's one looked in good condition while RB one looked like it suffered an orbital bombardment (and did less laps too). Could it mean that VET had more pace to extract?

If the description of the images were right (26 laps for Vettel and 15 or so for Max) then yes, they clearly would show that Vettel was not even close to limit.

[ripper]

Silly question of the day, but have we got testing today - Friday, 9th March 2018 ?

Yes, last session is going to start in 20 minutes

[johnny comelately]

Silly question of the day, but have we got testing today - Friday, 9th March 2018 ?

Yes, last session is going to start in 20 minutes

Thanks very much for that.

[LM10]

I'm not so worried (yet). Of course i ask myself how representative the times and articles are, how to interpret different sayings, but i can't believe that Ferrari might be that far away. The reasons are simple:

1. They already had a very good car last year, aerodynamically spoken. Probably the best overall car.
2. Ferrari was, by far, the first team to publish a launch date (December) and in the same time they were already speaking of significant improvement. Meaning: "We are confident".
3. They also improved their engine, not just in terms of reliability, but also power. A journalist close to Ferrari even told that they achieved 1000 hp on peak performance. (However, I know engine power alone wouldn't be enough, you have to put that power on the road properly.)

Maybe they have not understood the car as good as the others have done until now. They changed their car more radically than Mercedes. The longer wheelbase alone would be a possible reason to have trouble setting the car up in the right way.

Whatever it is, I'm really curious about what will happen in the following weeks and months.

[F1NAC]

The good thing is that there is good correlation between computers and real word. I just doubt that Ferrari has falleb behind RB.

But will see

[bauc]

The good thing is that there is good correlation between computers and real word. I just doubt that Ferrari has falleb behind RB.

But will see

Or RRB simply have made the biggest jump. This is why I love preseason, full of speculations, and when the season starts reality kicks in

[Vasconia]

Maybe they have not understood the car as good as the others have done until now. They changed their car more radically than Mercedes. The longer wheelbase alone would be a possible reason to have trouble setting the car up in the right way.

Whatever it is, I'm really curious about what will happen in the following weeks and months.

We were expecting to see Mercedes changing its wheelbase´s lenght but finally it has been Ferrari who has changed it. This may make things more difficult for Ferrari, I guess they will need more time to understand the car properly, though once again their comments about the car sound confident. It has been a risky move because their philosophy was a good ideat but I think they realice that they coudn´t beat Mercedes on fast circuits with a short wheelbase.

[SiLo]

Hamilton said in his press conference today they haven't taken the fuel out of the car yet. To me at least, it sounded very much like "we know very well that we can beat Ferrari's lap if we take the fuel out".

I guess they can but Ferrari didn´t show all the pace. What worries my more is the race sim, I hope we can see today a better pace from Ferrari and RB.

Merc have traditionally run very heavy for most of testing. I assume they figure that without fuel the car will be fast, but being fast WITH fuel can be really huge.

[techman]

Hass looks quick, i believe they and renault are pretty even.

[Restomaniac]

'Well I'm shocked'. Said nobody.
McLaren stopped again.