Pre-Season Winter testing : 2014 Season

[teabagyokel]

RasputinLives - It's not apathetic acceptance, it's positive support. Until that ends the lack of a race would simply lead to the successful total suppression and ignorance of the committed crimes, which I can't imagine is in the Bahraini people's best interests either.

 

[Greenlantern101]

So much for the new cars being slower. Hulk is faster than the fastest lap in the race last year.

The Merc engines are looking good.

 

[Bill Boddy]

I was actually looking at the testing in Bahrain more as a possible safety problem for the teams than as a political issue.

 

[teabagyokel]

Vettel stops!

Trouble...

 

[Incubus]

You can say that again.

 

[Legs]

Vettel st...

No, I won't.

 

[Greenlantern101]

Double trouble

 

[Greenlantern101]

1. Nico Hulkenberg German Force India-Mercedes 1min 36.880secs 78 laps
2. Fernando Alonso Spain Ferrari-Ferrari 1min 37.879secs 64 laps
3. Lewis Hamilton Britain Mercedes-Mercedes 1min 37.908secs 74 laps
4. Kevin Magnussen Denmark McLaren-Mercedes 1min 38.295secs 81 laps
5. Sebastian Vettel Germany Red Bull-Renault 1min 40.224secs 14 laps
6. Adrian Sutil German Sauber-Ferrari 1min 40.443secs 82 laps
7. Robin Frijns Netherlands Caterham-Renault 1min 42.534secs 68 laps
8. Daniil Kvyat Russia STR-Renault 1min 44.346secs 5 laps
9. Romain Grosjean France Lotus-Renault 1min 44.832secs 8 laps
9. Felipe Massa Brazil Williams-Mercedes No time 5 laps
10. Jules Bianchi France Marussia-Ferrari No time 3 laps

 

[sushifiesta]

A lot of laps for Frijns in the Caterham and Vettel's time is pretty competitive all things considered so it's not a disaster for Renault just yet... there needs to be a steep upwards curve in reliability for them from this point on though like there was between Day 1 and Day 2 at Jerez for the other manufacturers.

 

[Titch]

You think not sushifiesta. I wouldn't say it was a triumph either.

 

[Incubus]

I think to be honest there's more than a little wishful thinking going in the "Red-Bull-in-deep-trouble" comments. There's only been a few days' testing after all.

 

[Bill Boddy]

By the end of tomorrow the testing will be halfway through, so there will only be a few days to go. It is not just that RBR have not got many laps done, it's more that every time they do look like getting into a double figure run they stop with a strong burning smell. When it come to the races it won't matter if he gets 30 seconds ahead after ten laps if on lap eleven he has to stop and jump out of the car because he feels that he is sitting on a bonfire.

What was that about first having to finish?

 

[sushifiesta]

Titch I'd say a disaster for a team would be if they haven't put together a "good" day at any point by the end of this test - i.e. lots of laps completed and a competitive lap time in one day.

Although most the Renault teams struggled again today they probably did better than in Jerez. I guess it was far from an ideal start for them but It's pretty much impossible to predict how they will develop, I suspect at some point the problems will "magically disappear" rather than there being a gradual improvement.

That's why I think there is at least some light at the end of the tunnel for those teams. If you wanted to put a positive spin on it you could say that all of Renault's teams set lap times today, which isn't the case for Mercedes and Ferrari.

 

[rufus_mcdufus]

McLaren fried some bodywork with their exhausts today too. Some thermal tape looked like it failed to do its job just above the section holding the rear light. Probably not a biggie.

 

[Olivier]

Worrisome to see Ferrari's engine smoking a little bit, although the comment was that it was fixed right away. Are they testing something ... ???

 

[RasputinLives]

Does anyone think its odd that Caterham have a rookie driver and a driver who has been out the sport for a year and they give 68 laps to their test driver. Don't get me wrong anything that gives Frinjs more time in an F1 car is alright with me but its makes it apparent he is their prefered driver. I wonder if we'll see a Razia style last min switch.

As for the rest - it does seem that Merc have the engine right. I suspect Red Bull (and Ferrari) will be back on terms relativly quickly but the teams better hit the ground running when season starts to take advantage.

I just wonder if the likes of Hulk and Bottas are going to be the fly in the ointment that stops the Merc and Macca boys getting the flyer they need.

 

[sushifiesta]

Mercedes are getting more headlines largely due to supplying more teams (and in particular more competitive teams) than Ferrari. I don't think there is much to choose between those two in real terms, a Ferrari powered car completed the most laps today and another set the 2nd fastest time for example.

 

[RasputinLives]

Ferrari customer engine teams have a history of not winning though. Ferrari tend to only supply teams they know they'll beat. Whilst I fully expect Ferrari to be in the mix I don't expect Sauber and Marussia to be.

Where the Merc teams are concerned they are all big competitors and I can see them taking points off each other and voiding their early advantage.

 

[Greenlantern101]

Even if the Saubers are fast they have one of the shittest driver line ups on the grid. They would need a miracle for a good year in 2014 with those two driving.

 

[Plutus]

I don't agree yet Greenlantern101. I'd rather see what Gutierrez has to offer, he clearly hasn't reached his peak.