Pre-Season 2018 Season Preview

[Titch]

McLaren make a fantastic road car. If you watched the new season of Top Gears opener, you would know that. But..... how come they can’t translate that into an F1 car?

 

[RasputinLives]

Because all their top people are concentrating on the road car?

 

[cider_and_toast]

Because you can actually design a road car to achieve high performance with out your rivals objecting to something you've put on your car, without things being banned every 5 minutes and without Ferrari having a veto?

 

[Titch]

Well maybe, but how many people can afford to buy it. If they become a niche road car development outfit only, where will the money for development come from? Not car sales.

 

[Titch]

Because you can actually design a road car to achieve high performance with out your rivals objecting to something you've put on your car, without things being banned every 5 minutes and without Ferrari having a veto?

Well really that’s the answer isn’t it. No interference from anyone in a teams design, off season.

 

[Il_leone]

Lets take today's test session as a pinch of salt although off course the only news to bring about was Mclaren not able to live up to their promise and expectation

It turns out Alonso's fastest time has been corrected because he cut the chicane to avoid being blocked by Hartley's Toro Rosso - the irony in that

We won't find out in the first round of testing where all the teams are truly

 

[siffert_fan]

I suspect that, if the TRs beat the McLarens in the first couple of races, Alonso will be so livid that he will have been psychologically beaten for the entire year.

 

[vintly]

Between 3 and 4°C in Montmelo today, pretty useless for testing.

 

[F1Brits_90]

I know that you never get a true representative grid order til qualifying in Melbourne. But I was thinking yesterday at this early stage, who would be your tip for the title for me. For me as much as i think Verstappen could he need expierence of a battle & all the pressure that comes with before he can win it. but with ferrari improvements i feel its Vettel year providing he keeps his head

Current Odds
Lewis Hamilton 6/5
Sebastian Vettel 7/2
Max Verstappen 9/2
Daniel Ricciardo 8/1
Fernando Alonso 11/1
Valtteri Bottas 11/1
Kimi Raikkonen 25/1

 

[Bill Boddy]

I hadn't realised that the first day of testing set the results for the whole season. They might as well not have the races then.

 

[RasputinLives]

Honda getting some good laps in at testing. Nice to see.

I'm thinking they probably ran that mule car over the winter like the other teams do. I'm not expecting wonders from them this year but getting it reliable would be a good start.

 

[cider_and_toast]

And faster than McLaren would be chuffing hilarious.

 

[F1Brits_90]

F1 meets WRC

 

[F1Brits_90]

I'm not expecting wonders from them this year but getting it reliable would be a good start.

Yes reliability is a must because hopefully they wont blow through their entire engine allocation before the european season has even begun this season

 

[RasputinLives]

Well like has been discussed elsewhere Honda decide to actually play fair and not bung their engine in a road car and pound it round for days and days until it was unbreakable. It was only last year they realised Merc, Ferrari and Renault didn't play by that rule and announced they were going to do it too.

I expect far less faults. Now speed is another question of course.

Do we have any speed trap stats?

 

[Greenlantern101]

It's snowing in Barcelona.

 

[F1Brits_90]

 

[F1Brits_90]

Looking at the times & in the 1st 2 hours when lt was wet every team red bull & haas set a fast lap. I was glad someone running in the rain. Because since brudgestone has left every f1 team has complained about the wet weather tyres Brazil 2016?? When they were saying aquaplaning in the heavy rain. but i feel its a catch 22 because how are Pirelli supposes to get better if when its wet like yesterday, nobody wants to go out & collect the data to make the tyres clear the water better

I understand that yesterday it was 4 degrees but surely water clears same at 4 degrees as at 44

 

[olegg]

 

[RasputinLives]

Day 4 and the most laps today were completed by Torro Rosso and Honda. 167 to be precise. It's very early days but it appears the change of teams has at least had some positive effect on them. I think they may have completed more laps in the last 4 days than they did all last season.