godlameroso wrote:Anyone think they'll breach into the 1:20's? Last year's pole time was a 1:25.232, granted it was quite warm that day so of course the cars and the track itself would be quite a bit slower than in the relatively cool weather we're currently having would allow. Still if we take 2013, which had the most advanced versions of the exhaust blown diffuser cars, the fastest time in pre-season testing was a 1:20.130, and the pole lap was set by the same person (N.Rosberg) was a 1:20.718, less than .6 seconds slower. If we apply the same logic here, the fastest time at the test should definitely be within +/- one second of the fastest car's ultimate pace. With such limited testing it's almost insane to not at least push the car to it's limit at least once, Mercedes did last year.
Probably not widely available but interesting to know the different compounds use in 2013 from testing to quali. Probably find a softer one was used in testing and this accounts for the difference (+ likely additional fuel load in testing).
1:25.5 from Kimi already not looking too shabby.