Pre-Season 2018-2019 Winter testing and car launches

Quite funny...

Bottas under pressure?
"If you look up and down the paddock, there is a headline story at every team.
"At Mercedes, it's Valtteri Bottas."
 
Hmm no. They do complain today, however I do not recall the same level of noise 20 years ago. Maybe with advent of internet much more is transparent. Dennis was different from Brown.

You can't just so No Izumi it's my opinion. You asked what's changed and thats what I believe has changed. Back in 1999 there were 7 engine suppliers and only one of them had its own team. Now there are 4 and three of them have their own team. Basically (as Red Bull found out) if you don't play ball with the main teams you don't get an engine. The engine regs are now in such a way that no one else is willing to try and get into the sport due to how far behind they are. Boy didn't they make it hard for Honda coming in!

That's my view. I know it's one you don't share and that's cool. But in my opinion the sport is now run by Merc/Ferrari not the FIA who have realised they need each other to make the sport work but are working very hard to make it seem like the sport is full of other competitive teams but really they are pulling the strings. That's my view and I'm sure others share it.

You are very much entitled to yours though.
 
Last edited:
a word on the new RBR

The view from trackside: Red Bull impressing
Reports new Sky F1 signing Karun Chandhok:

"The Red Bull has massively impressed me. They have a sharpness on turning, especially into Turn One. They are able to turn really sharply but the rear end keeps up with the front. They have fantastic grip on the front end."
 
Quite funny...
Bottas under pressure?
"If you look up and down the paddock, there is a headline story at every team.
"At Mercedes, it's Valtteri Bottas."

Binotto suggested last week that Vettel may be prioritised over new team-mate Leclerc
if the championship situation calls for it.
"Mattia has a tremendous task in front of him, and I believe he wants to do it his own way," said Wolff.
"Team orders are always a very controversial topic, we've discussed it last year, be it within Mercedes or Ferrari,
and coming out with that at the beginning of the season is a statement."
 
You can't just so No Izumi it's my opinion. You asked what's changed and thats what I believe has changed. Back in 1999 there were 7 engine suppliers and only one of them had its own team. Now there are 4 and three of them have their own team. Basically (as Red Bull found out) if you don't play ball with the main teams you don't get an engine. The engine regs are now in such a way that no one else is willing to try and get into the sport due to how far behind they are. Boy didn't they make it hard for Honda coming in!

That's my view. I know it's one you don't share and that's cool. But in my opinion the sport is now run by Merc/Ferrari not the FIA who have realised they need each other to make the sport work but are working very hard to make it seem like the sport is full of other competitive teams but really they are pulling the strings. That's my view and I'm sure others share it.

You are very much entitled to yours though.
I do respect your point of view RasputinLives, despite some quirks around edges.
 
Sometimes I can't edit too?
You can only edit for a short amount of time when you first join the forum. However if you choose to be a supporter of the forum (which I was happy to do as you can see by the blue colour around my name) you get benefits that include a much longer amount of time to edit your posts.
 
You can only edit for a short amount of time when you first join the forum. However if you choose to be a supporter of the forum (which I was happy to do as you can see by the blue colour around my name) you get benefits that include a much longer amount of time to edit your posts.
#MeToo please.
:)
 
"Bottas straight down to work
Almost 50 minutes into the afternoon session and Valtteri Bottas has just pitted after racking up 25 laps after taking over from Lewis Hamilton.

The Mercedes drivers have set near-identical 1:19.9 times, suggesting they are both hitting the specific targets set by the team with today's programme."
Yeah, but I do not understand what it all means. Some articles implied that Ferrari was concentrating on speed, whereas Mercedes on reliability, which explains their slower lap times. Point however is, Vettel raked still more laps than Hamilton and Bottas cumulatively together, which seems like reliability run to me as well. How is Mr. Wolff will explain the difference? Sandbagging?
 
Yeah, but I do not understand what it all means. Some articles implied that Ferrari was concentrating on speed, whereas Mercedes on reliability, which explains their slower lap times. Point however is, Vettel raked still more laps than Hamilton and Bottas cumulatively together, which seems like reliability run to me as well. How is Mr. Wolff will explain the difference? Sandbagging?

Can you at least wait until after 4 days of these tests to hint at some Mercedes problems?
This is only a tests. And teams have no target here and now to show the best circle time.
And in terms of reliability Mercedes seems to be all right.
And judge is only the race.
 
Yesterday Grosjean, today Hamilton voicing concerns about (inadequate) tires temperature. Is this going to be a chronic issue for a full season?
 
I'd be interested to see what budgets were earlier than that. Found a forum post here from 2003 showing Ferrari supposedly spent around $300m in 2002.
https://tentenths.com/forum/showthread.php?t=47466

that ten tenths is what i saw. & obviously im talking in pounds not dollars as i translated it. the problems is that they were spending that in dollars & now they are spending that in pounds. but still a midfield team is now spending 250m dollars which 17-20 years ago was a championship challenging team. now its a challenging for 6th team
 
Drivers always have a little moan at new situations. They'll all have forgotten about it and adapted by Barcelona.
True, however as an experienced fan surely you know improperly heated tires during a race or exiting from pits could be problem. I think we heard about this in the past.
 
New shiny chrome mould tyres. Apparently, it does'nt affect performance
 

Attachments

  • Dzr3iD5X4AAeYAx.jpg
    Dzr3iD5X4AAeYAx.jpg
    169 KB · Views: 70
  • Dzr3iD5XQAA6U3u.jpg
    Dzr3iD5XQAA6U3u.jpg
    184.6 KB · Views: 66
Izumi I do know it can be a problem but in lower formula they don't even have tyre blankets so i view it more as an inconvenience for the driver than a safety issue.
 
Back
Top Bottom