343 replies to this topic

[Quiet One]

#46, on 03 March 2012 - 01:45 AM, said:

I heard HRT just stared. Their engineers had not seen fire before.

Gold.

[LabradoRacer]

Day 2 of testing: I think Mercedes AMG GP might have been a tad optimistic in targetting podiums this year. They have issues with soft tire degradation. Schumi lost about 4 or 5 seconds over 5 laps or so

[Massa]

So where do we see the teams so far?  I know testing is testing, but it's fun to speculate a little, and I think we could all use a little fun around here because it's getting kind of touchy (and I am guilty of getting involved there, too).

I figure Red Bull have the best package, mostly because of my gut feeling and my recognition that not much has changed to allow Red Bull to get it wrong or another team to get it totally right.

I want to be bold and place Lotus second.  The car is quick.  It may also be fragile, and that quickness isn't purely legitimate.  I still think a car that Grosjean can go fast in must be a fast car.  If they can qualify well, which I suspect fast cars can, they can defend their way to something decent at the very least (though I figure Räikkönen is good enough to do more than that).  Call it optimism, about wanting an anti-Vettel, but know, too, that I am a big Kimi critic.  I just have a feeling about him and this team doing something pleasant.  Still, I've been far off the mark before, I may as well be far off the mark again.

McLaren are probably joint-second, to me, maybe the third car but will take second by year's end in the standings.  They're faster than they are, but I don't think they've done enough to go from 2011 to 2012.  Luckily for them, I don't think many teams are showing a whole lot from 2011 to 2012, either, and they have a great driver lineup, no question, stronger than Lotus because 1) they aren't stuck with Grosjean and 2) their drivers did race F1 last year, as much as I will argue that Räikkönen won't be setback terribly by it, it still helps; they know how to manage a race without refueling and with Pirelli tires and all that, even if Räikkönen is still quick as ever.

Ferrari strikes me as a hit-or-miss car.  It's going to be great some tracks, terrible at others.  Most radical cars are.  Just not convinced this team has it together and the armchair GM in me has them cleaning house yesterday, or at least by the end of the year.  Will a pull-rod suspension do anything to help the car handle the dirt mounds of the Austin motocross circuit?

I'd guess Mercedes, Force India, STR, Sauber, Williams, and Caterham follow after that.  All above Williams will take points in multiple races, I would think.  Williams might get a point or two in a fluke.  Caterham's still not a points-scoring team, I don't think, not yet, but development throughout the year can always change that.

HRT and Marussia...well, it's probably better for securing investors and partners to not test.  At least someone could still be hopeful it won't be so bad.

[AleHop]

Massa, on 03 March 2012 - 05:42 PM, said:

So where do we see the teams so far?

Red Bull, McLaren

Lotus, Mercedes

Ferrari

Sauber, Force India, STR

Caterham



















HRT, Marussia

[Ikyrotz]

AleHop, on 03 March 2012 - 06:33 PM, said:

Red Bull, McLaren

Lotus, Mercedes

Ferrari

Sauber, Force India, STR

Caterham


.....



HRT, Marussia

Poor Williams, you think they will go bankcrupt before the season?

[Caesar]

Autumnpuma, on 03 March 2012 - 01:32 AM, said:

No fair. Jet engines are *not allowed* under the current rules. Red Bull should be banned for this outrage.

toro rosso

[AleHop]

Ikyrotz, on 03 March 2012 - 06:49 PM, said:

Poor Williams, you think they will go bankcrupt before the season?

I didn't know where to place them.

[Quiet One]

http://www.f1zone.ne...he-press/12725/

Ferrari's "mini crisis" has grown into a full blown crisis or these guys are seriously into greek tragedies now.

[Massa]

Last paragraph of that interests me the most...

...which I guess is a contradiction from my usual "MORE PERSONALITY MORE ACCESS MORE FAN FRIENDLINESS" stuff.

[Caesar]

fernando alonso made statement to spanish press tonight during barcelona  football match, asked about ferrari he said :“We are well, although we  still have many things to improve”.

“We are now in the last days  of coaches and want to see where we are.” “We have work and we must  tighten the teeth and keep improving little by little,”

[Quiet One]

http://www.pitpass.c...es_art_id=45663

Ah, Twitter...God's way to test just how idiotic we could get.

[Insider]

So far, I have been impressed by the progress of McLaren, [compared to last year's testing shambles] and Button's continuing good form. Also, Sauber's highly efficient exhaust and Bruno Senna' s performance in a much-improved Williams. Both driver and car have been right up there on the time sheets in the past two days and it's heartening to see. What hasn't been impressive is the shed Ferrari have brought to the party and the gagging of their driver team. Is RBR's last minute chassis change and side pod mods a sign that Newey was caught on the back foot this term? This quite radical change so late in the proceedings must give the real fan some hope that someone else may get their nose in the trough this year. Lotus have problems, STR and Force India have quickish cars, Caterham should improve but HRT and Marussia continue to embarrass themselves at every opportunity. There again, today is another day.

[Insider]

Well, smack me down with a kipper! Kimi goes quickest and Seb damages the car which in turn decides to misbehave itself in the shape of a malfunctioning gearbox. Lotus clearly made a huge effort today despite their mid-term chassis problems after a bright start to this year's testing. Macca have a quick one and There is going to be an almighty battle in last season's trailing pack of Mercedes, Force India, Lotus, Sauber and STR.  Ferarri wil be stuck in that log jam too unless the get their fingers out.  Surprise of the week for me? Bruno Senna and Williams. An excellent performance from both car and driver. Will this be the season when both their pedigrees shine through?

[Massa]

Just wondering about Räikkönen's lap count.  Not very high compared to other runners, about 20 laps shy or so.  Problem, planned?  I was interested to see they were better with hard tires than Ferrari were, not that Ferrari are the benchmark of anything, but their endurance has been questioned by some so I'd like to know if that shorter day is indicative of that.  I wonder if they have a fast, fragile car?  Kind of thing that wins poles but not races?

Typical Red Bull, never running into issues during a race, only during testing and free practice.

Not as optimistic about Williams/Senna as you are, but I also know a lot less than you do!

[BradSpeedMan]

Massa, on 04 March 2012 - 09:53 PM, said:

Just wondering about Räikkönen's lap count.  Not very high compared to other runners, about 20 laps shy or so.  Problem, planned?  I was interested to see they were better with hard tires than Ferrari were, not that Ferrari are the benchmark of anything, but their endurance has been questioned by some so I'd like to know if that shorter day is indicative of that.  I wonder if they have a fast, fragile car?  Kind of thing that wins poles but not races?

Typical Red Bull, never running into issues during a race, only during testing and free practice.

Not as optimistic about Williams/Senna as you are, but I also know a lot less than you do!

huh, what r u talkin 'bout? he did them 121 laps today?

or r u sayin in general over dem all testing days?

[Massa]

What am I talking about?

I could have sworn the results on Autosport said something like 43 laps next to Räikkönen.  Check again, it says 121.  I have no explanation, so I'll just blame converting European metric system laps to American ones.

[Rainmaster]

Massa, on 04 March 2012 - 10:25 PM, said:

What am I talking about?

I could have sworn the results on Autosport said something like 43 laps next to Räikkönen.  Check again, it says 121.  I have no explanation, so I'll just blame converting European metric system laps to American ones.

You probably saw the lap count for yesterday where he did 40-something laps, due to an issue with the car (iirc). But yeah, by all counts Lotus are looking good, although apparently a little shy of Mclaren on long or short runs from what I read (would link the report but I don't remember where I read that). Seems like they have a reasonable car; perhaps a podium challenger. The order seems to be something like Red Bull/Mclaren, Lotus/Mercedes, followed by Ferrari and the mid pack of Force India, Sauber etc, and Caterham and pals at the back. The testing has been interesting, let's hope the season is too.

[Massa]

Thanks, George.  That must have been it.  McLaren have struck me as really quiet this test, which may mean they're the ones with a real good shot going into the season.  Plugging away, none of the controversies some of the other teams are having with changes late in the game or problems with all sorts of stuff.  Quietly getting it done, a lot like their driver Jenson Button.

[BradSpeedMan]

I feel Ferrari is playing the victim with all their dramas. The car is good, but not beaters (I hope) so they reverted to this strategy. Ok, they had some struggles but they are 2nd on the timesheet and runs well on their stints...

Or were they expecting to pulverize the competition?

[AleHop]

BradSpeedMan, on 05 March 2012 - 09:16 AM, said:

I feel Ferrari is playing the victim with all their dramas. The car is good, but not beaters (I hope) so they reverted to this strategy. Ok, they had some struggles but they are 2nd on the timesheet and runs well on their stints...

Or were they expecting to pulverize the competition?

Rumours in Spain are different. They say the revolution didn't work at all. No, I don't belive they are far behind Lotus/Mercedes but they'll fight with them for the 5th place at least until F1 get back to Europe and they solve the problems with a full upgrade.

[Quiet One]

AleHop, on 05 March 2012 - 01:20 PM, said:

Rumours in Spain are different. They say the revolution didn't work at all. No, I don't belive they are far behind Lotus/Mercedes but they'll fight with them for the 5th place at least until F1 get back to Europe and they solve the problems with a full upgrade.

Apparently, the "radical" design wasn't that radical after all. It is still plagued with the same issues as last year's car, only that they don't even know much about this car as they did about last year's.
I don't know the technical mumbo jumbo, but it seems that the car is reasonably fast, although as easy to drive as a wild bronco (which means that Alonso's "magical touch" will be spent more in keeping the car on track than in actually producing any significant result with it) and the fact that with certain tire compounds the car becomes a sitting duck just like last year.

On the bright side, Nando will now probably have his old friend PDLR besides him on the starting grid so they can have a good time while waiting for the race to start

[BradSpeedMan]

Quiet One, on 05 March 2012 - 02:32 PM, said:

Apparently, the "radical" design wasn't that radical after all. It is still plagued with the same issues as last year's car, only that they don't even know much about this car as they did about last year's.
I don't know the technical mumbo jumbo, but it seems that the car is reasonably fast, although as easy to drive as a wild bronco (which means that Alonso's "magical touch" will be spent more in keeping the car on track than in actually producing any significant result with it) and the fact that with certain tire compounds the car becomes a sitting duck just like last year.

On the bright side, Nando will now probably have his old friend PDLR besides him on the starting grid so they can have a good time while waiting for the race to start

[BradSpeedMan]

Quiet One, on 05 March 2012 - 02:32 PM, said:

I don't know the technical mumbo jumbo, but it seems that the car is reasonably fast, although as easy to drive as a wild bronco (which means that Alonso's "magical touch" will be spent more in keeping the car on track than in actually producing any significant result with it) and the fact that with certain tire compounds the car becomes a sitting duck just like last year.

apparently they went totally the opposite way and now the car is over-agreesive on it's hard tyres which means high tyre degration of course...

which bring me to the point I made that they should've just worked on last year's car sorting these things out , they should have gone evolutionary!

[AleHop]

Quiet One, on 05 March 2012 - 02:32 PM, said:

On the bright side, Nando will now probably have his old friend PDLR besides him on the starting grid so they can have a good time while waiting for the race to start

Peter of the Rose might be very helpful if he gives Alonso HRT's secrets so he can test it in Ferrari's simulator.

[Quiet One]

BradSpeedMan, on 05 March 2012 - 03:00 PM, said:

apparently they went totally the opposite way and now the car is over-agreesive on it's hard tyres which means high tyre degration of course...

which bring me to the point I made that they should've just worked on last year's car sorting these things out , they should have gone evolutionary!

Nah, that car was an evolutionary dead end. They needed to take a fresh approach with all the risks involved so they knew from the start that this would be a hit or miss...what is surprising is that they made a new start with a different approach and ended up in  the same spot

On the bright side, for Alonso fans, and for those who still ponder what Vettel needs to do to become a 'Great One', all Seb has to do is inspire something like this phrase:

Quote

James Allen Reply:
March 5th, 2012 at 11:19 am

I suspect that the second half of Ferrari’s season will look very different from the first half. If they are lucky, the RBR and McLaren drivers will share out wins and so no-one (particularly Vettel) will be able to build an unassailable lead in the championship) If that happens Alonso could come through, very much as he did in 2010

It takes an enormous faith in a driver's skill to think that a guy can be capable of doing it once, not to mention twice. If the roles were reversed, I don't think anybody other than Seb hard die fans would dare to imagine such a come back scenario. Not because he could not actually do that, but because nobody has enough faith in his actual skills to predict that Seb could come back from the dead. He never needed to.

[BradSpeedMan]

Where is Stefano is all of this, I have'nt heard a word from him???

[Quiet One]

BradSpeedMan, on 05 March 2012 - 03:44 PM, said:

Where is Stefano is all of this, I have'nt heard a word from him???

That's a question many people are posing right now.

Oh, well, it was a rather eventful test month for a change. If that's a hint of whatever is to come then roll on 2012!

T minus 13 days arghhhh

[AleHop]

Quiet One, on 05 March 2012 - 03:55 PM, said:

T minus 13 days arghhhh

HRT #F1 mechanic just ran down Barcelona pit lane, asking GP2 teams to borrow bolts. I'm not kidding! My god they are in trouble!

RT by Patri_tweets

[LabradoRacer]

To hell with HRT.

[Caesar]

BradSpeedMan, on 05 March 2012 - 03:44 PM, said:

Where is Stefano is all of this, I have'nt heard a word from him???

who are you kidding, you haven't been listening him since kimi got fired!
stefano is good and safe, he has been hiding somewhere  in the White Mountains of eastern Afghanistan!