F1 2019 Pre-Season Testing Thread

[Big Tea]

Even if Merc have dropped the ball, I do not think they will plod on in a Mclarenesque manner hoping for a fix to what they have, but expect a 'B' spec car to show up by the 4th or 5th race with the problems 'addressed' and possibly, due to what they have learned in the mean time, a better car than this one would have been by then. They do not to 'patching up', they say yip, we muffed it, here is the new one.

[Jozsusz]

Well, according to AMuS Toto went back to Brackley together with Allison.

The Merc has at least 0,5 sec disadvantage over Ferrari. At lest...
We'll see, not looking good at the moment for the Merc.

[FrukostScones]

Well, according to AMuS Toto went back to Brackley together with Allison.

The Merc has at least 0,5 sec disadvantage over Ferrari. At lest...
We'll see, not looking good at the moment for the Merc.

yes, these cheeky Michael Schmidt guy
NEW MERC TOO SLOW, HOW MUCH DEFICIT TO FERRARI?
https://www.auto-motor-und-sport.de/for ... f-ferrari/

all with grain of salt... maybe just a big show how do you call it, Red Hering?

[JPBD1990]

I think Mercedes is being Mercedes. I think they’ll come out in Melbourne and get pole, or be right in it.

It seems the internet goes crazy every time testing starts.

Not saying they’re going to dominate the field, but they’re still one of the top 3, and it’s still close. Anyone considering any other possibility is deluding themselves.

[Phil]

No one is saying they are not going to be top 3? Mercedes arent in it to come 2nd. They want to win.

[F1NAC]

Didn't AMuS predict RB in front Ferrari last year?


I fully expect Merc fighting for pole...

[muramasa]

But it hasn't been that same guy talking. This has been the 'gist' by other teams. Like it or not, many credible journalists who are actually at pre-testing right now talk to the teams. They have their contacts, they pick up on things. Some things more subtle than others, but nevertheless, a picture forms.

There is no such thing as credible journalist in F1, they are all tabloid writers who cannot even apply the basic-est of the most basic in writing and literacy ie 5W1H.
And that is exactly what causes echo chamber and fake news. Just topic on Honda alone I cannot count how many fake news, false and lies spread out there.

We know for a fact that these new front-wings have triggered a major change and rethink. What worked in 2017 and 2018 likely doesn't apply in 2019 anymore. That's a fact.

Employing this much abused method of unilaterally declaring "that's a fact" does not make you right. You know Mercedes was early adopter or originator of outwash so why and how 2019 reg change that basic principle? The logic is collapsed from the beginning.

There are different philosophies at play here. For one, we have high-rake vs low-rake. There have been concerns that high-rake might be problematic because the new front-wing regs make it more difficult to seal the floor. In theory, this should have helped Mercedes. Yet, from the concepts we are seeing on the Ferrari and AlfaRomeo, it seems that they at least have found a way to make it work.

Mercedes have clearly gone the other way. They have retained the low-rake concept and their front-wing follows that concept. 2018 was extremely close between them, Ferrari and RedBull. It is only reasonable to expect that this year with closer engine parity, getting the aero right will be crucial.

I dont know why some people and media single out Ferrari and Sauber for the sloped down outwash config. Every single teams bar Merc and RBR run the same taperered down outwash wing, it's just about different implementation of the same philosophy.
Also you are losing perspective as well, RBR is currently running conventional wing and they have high rake? And according to "rumors" RBR car is good, and that's despite having conventional wing? You see "pieces" do not stack up.

The level of denial in this topic at the sheer possibility that Mercedes may have got something wrong [vs Ferrari or RedBull] to me shows that some fans are actually worried and therefore ready to downplay anything that hints at that at being comical, absurd or blatant spam. Think again.

At least I do not dismiss possibility at all that Merc got wrong and I shouldnt be the only one, sure of course Merc can always get it wrong, Williams can dominate, Ferrari can fail, etc. The point is legitimacy of source of info and the contents of the info. You can actually get the result right from fake and false info sometimes but that does not make you right, you just got lucky. And as pointed already by others too, the contents of the info not only does not make sense, but also are self contradicting.

[LM10]

I think Mercedes is being Mercedes. I think they’ll come out in Melbourne and get pole, or be right in it.

It seems the internet goes crazy every time testing starts.

Not saying they’re going to dominate the field, but they’re still one of the top 3, and it’s still close. Anyone considering any other possibility is deluding themselves.

At some point the dominant years of every team has come to an end in the history of F1. I’m not saying it’s the case this year. We don’t know anything yet, but just because they are Mercedes doesn’t mean they will automatically get pole in Melbourne (as you stated). Of course they’ll remain top 3, regardless of what’s going on right now, but claiming they’ll dominantly be first anyway is a bit overreacting as well.
It could be or it couldn’t be - we will see in a few weeks/months.

[djones]

The bookmakers still have Hamilton and Mercedes as firm favourites.

And so do I because all they seem to be doing is very specific lap times on high fuel. Very consistent lap times on the long runs and their best times are generally set at the start of race sims with ease.

All the regulations changes were set to favour the Mercedes philosophy.

The only Mercedes weakness was tyre wear/heat problems and that has been their top priority... so I suspect is now fixed.

The Ferrari engine magic went after it was raised as a rules issue. So any hope of a magic Ferrari engine has long gone.

[zibby43]

I'm not expert. Just what I heard.

From what source?

Also, I wasn’t criticizing you, but the info. Just wanted that to be clear. That information was a mashup of things that aren’t even accurate from a technical perspective.

The best analogy would be: it sounded like a leaked piece of fan fiction that somebody claimed to be the real leaked plot synopsis of a forthcoming blockbuster film.

You can always tell when something isn’t professional, because although it tries to draw on some known info. and attempts to hype things up, it doesn’t make sense in the end.

A photographer friend in Catalunya, briefed on stuff that is circulating among fellow observers.

I don't know how much of that is true either.

Thank you for sharing. I'm sure he's got good intentions. Information can get distorted as it gets passed from person to person. Like the game "telephone."

[Jolle]

I think Mercedes is being Mercedes. I think they’ll come out in Melbourne and get pole, or be right in it.

It seems the internet goes crazy every time testing starts.

Not saying they’re going to dominate the field, but they’re still one of the top 3, and it’s still close. Anyone considering any other possibility is deluding themselves.

At some point the dominant years of every team has come to an end in the history of F1. I’m not saying it’s the case this year. We don’t know anything yet, but just because they are Mercedes doesn’t mean they will automatically get pole in Melbourne (as you stated). Of course they’ll remain top 3, regardless of what’s going on right now, but claiming they’ll dominantly be first anyway is a bit overreacting as well.
It could be or it couldn’t be - we will see in a few weeks/months.

Yes, domination always comes to an end, but in the past always trough a clear reason. McLaren dominated for almost eight years, before Honda dropped out and they missed the active car. Williams lost their funding and Renault. Ferrari lost their core team/tire advantage and RedBull lost their advantage of frozen engines. Mercedes got control on a level not seen in F1 before. They got their own funding, their own PU, a big team that can take a blow... Their weakest point might be Hamilton, he will leave a gap.

I'm hoping on a '86 or '91 season. nice close between two teams.

[Capharol]

make it 3

[Just_a_fan]

Their weakest point might be Hamilton, he will leave a gap. .

How is Hamilton the weak point? What gap will he be leaving?

[holeindalip]

I think Mercedes is being Mercedes. I think they’ll come out in Melbourne and get pole, or be right in it.

It seems the internet goes crazy every time testing starts.

Not saying they’re going to dominate the field, but they’re still one of the top 3, and it’s still close. Anyone considering any other possibility is deluding themselves.

At some point the dominant years of every team has come to an end in the history of F1. I’m not saying it’s the case this year. We don’t know anything yet, but just because they are Mercedes doesn’t mean they will automatically get pole in Melbourne (as you stated). Of course they’ll remain top 3, regardless of what’s going on right now, but claiming they’ll dominantly be first anyway is a bit overreacting as well.
It could be or it couldn’t be - we will see in a few weeks/months.

Yes, domination always comes to an end, but in the past always trough a clear reason. McLaren dominated for almost eight years, before Honda dropped out and they missed the active car. Williams lost their funding and Renault. Ferrari lost their core team/tire advantage and RedBull lost their advantage of frozen engines. Mercedes got control on a level not seen in F1 before. They got their own funding, their own PU, a big team that can take a blow... Their weakest point might be Hamilton, he will leave a gap.

I'm hoping on a '86 or '91 season. nice close between two teams.

Hamilton a weak point?????? i would consider bottas a bigger weak point than hamilton and that is by far a wide margin....

[Jolle]

Their weakest point might be Hamilton, he will leave a gap. .

How is Hamilton the weak point? What gap will he be leaving?

Yes. From all of the, lets say, 10 or 20, important people within the Mercedes team, he's the hardest to replace (at the moment)