F1 2020 Pre-Season Testing Thread

[Just_a_fan]

I think Ferrari are sandbagging. I can't help thinking RedBull are also playing their cards close to their chests. Testing Day One is no indication of the season's outcome.

[foxmulder_ms]

I'm amazed that people still need to clarify that winter testing isn't representative of any team's performance, especially on day 1.

rrr. Because you can tell a lot from testing mate. It is actually very much representative for the majority of the teams for the most of the time.

[carisi2k]

Hamilton went quickest with a 1.16.976 on the C2 Tyre, and was at the start of a 14 lap stint!!!!

laptimes doesn't mean anything

Yes and no. But lap-time matters in this case because it's the first day of testing and its an ominous sign that the Mercedes, in the hands of Hamilton, can do such a quick lap at the start of a 14-lap stint. Mercedes never run their cars underweight for hero lap-times. The car looks good, very good.

They may not have been running light but they certainly weren't running full either and Max's time which was only 5 tenths off was done on the harder C3 and he did a string of almost identical times to this lap. Bottas went faster on the C3 on one lap but his other laps were nowhere near as consistent as Max's. Not predicting but also I would like to pour cold water on those who think that Mercedes is just going to run away with it this year.

[holeindalip]

laptimes doesn't mean anything

Yes and no. But lap-time matters in this case because it's the first day of testing and its an ominous sign that the Mercedes, in the hands of Hamilton, can do such a quick lap at the start of a 14-lap stint. Mercedes never run their cars underweight for hero lap-times. The car looks good, very good.

They may not have been running light but they certainly weren't running full either and Max's time which was only 5 tenths off was done on the harder C3 and he did a string of almost identical times to this lap. Bottas went faster on the C3 on one lap but his other laps were nowhere near as consistent as Max's. Not predicting but also I would like to pour cold water on those who think that Mercedes is just going to run away with it this year.

I’ll put a franklin on that wager, mercs wcc,wdc

[Phlumbert]

laptimes doesn't mean anything

Yes and no. But lap-time matters in this case because it's the first day of testing and its an ominous sign that the Mercedes, in the hands of Hamilton, can do such a quick lap at the start of a 14-lap stint. Mercedes never run their cars underweight for hero lap-times. The car looks good, very good.

They may not have been running light but they certainly weren't running full either and Max's time which was only 5 tenths off was done on the harder C3 and he did a string of almost identical times to this lap. Bottas went faster on the C3 on one lap but his other laps were nowhere near as consistent as Max's. Not predicting but also I would like to pour cold water on those who think that Mercedes is just going to run away with it this year.

The C3 is softer:

https://www.pirelli.com/tyres/en-gb/motorsport/f1/tyres

[Wouter]

[LM10]

Why was Lewis covering the top left part of his steering wheel while doing a practice start?

[DChemTech]

I'm amazed that people still need to clarify that winter testing isn't representative of any team's performance, especially on day 1.

rrr. Because you can tell a lot from testing mate. It is actually very much representative for the majority of the teams for the most of the time.

Indeed. Recalling from last year, top times say nothing indeed. But long run laptimes and consistency, especially when corrected for tyre compounds, clearly shows mercedes ahead, Ferrari second (at that time), red bull third, and McLaren ahead of the midfield (iirc, couldn't find the graphs so quickly). Based on that, the long run pace between Verstappen and Bottas seems promising for a good fight, but theres still 5 days ahead to paint a clearer picture of the pecking order.

[pimpwerx]

Why was Lewis covering the top left part of his steering wheel while doing a practice start?

I think it's how he manipulates the clutch. He did it all of last year as well. Not sure about 2018, as I can't remember.

[Just_a_fan]

They may not have been running light but they certainly weren't running full either and Max's time which was only 5 tenths off was done on the harder C3

The C3 Max used is softer than the C2 Hamilton used, not harder.

[DChemTech]

They may not have been running light but they certainly weren't running full either and Max's time which was only 5 tenths off was done on the harder C3

The C3 Max used is softer than the C2 Hamilton used, not harder.

Indeed. But most of the longruns by RB were done on C2 (and even C1), whereas MB mostly used C3 in the morning - and especially in the morning, Verstappens times on C2 were not that far off Bottas on C3. Hamilton's runs in the afternoon with C2 looked very good though, starting with a top time, and running mostly 18' and 19' laps after that while verstappen was in the 19'/20' on both C2 and C3.

[waynes]

[Chuckjr]

The Red Bull is a Newey masterpiece. Looks absolutely stunning.

91 laps is outstanding. If the engine and parts don't fail on first day, that is a great start.

Is the much higher mount point of the rear suspension more for aero or more for feel and control? All?

Hoping for a competitive season. This car looks capable and we know the team is more than able to develop all year.

[Restomaniac]

They are talking about tracks we don’t visit anymore during testing coverage. They mentioned Istanbul........I miss turn 8!

[izzy]

Why was Lewis covering the top left part of his steering wheel while doing a practice start?

i think they must have an ergonomist in the team, they did those finger slot holes in a lever as well. He stabilises the whole palm of his hand on the top of the wheel and uses two or three fingers in a pinch grip, which gives him the best fine control, basically he takes the rest of the hand out of it so only those fingers are moving, relative to the wheel