Top 4 lap times are all under 1:21:00, last year first day finished with only 2 cars under 1:22:00 so looks like they are quicker straight out the box assuming last year was comparable conditions
So, if we conveniently ignore the fact that you can reliably infer almost nothing from the first morning of testing, the table is interesting. Renault running with the incumbent top three, Honda not falling to pieces, McLaren 4 seconds off the pace and 2 seconds behind their old engine partner. Doubtless all sorts of things will change…
...and Red Bull not off to a slow start! Interesting times! 🙂
Can't really compare to last year's times due to the fact that the track has been resurfaced. Interesting to see that it does seem that Renault are a bit closer to the top - not that we can read too much into pre-season though!
red bull are really hammering in the laps looking very quick
First thing I've done this afternoon is to check the testing session.
I saw that Alonso fell off after six laps and thought "oh no, is the Macca another lemon?", but it looks as though despite a lap shortfall (again) it's around fifth fastest on super-softs, just over a second behind the Red Bull on mediums. I haven't seen any moving footage, so I've no idea how the cars are behaving and whether that McLaren is a handful or not, but either way I don't think that fifth fastest on super-softs is exactly where the team wants to be.
And everyone at Toro Rosso must be breathing a sigh of relief.
And everyone at Toro Rosso must be breathing a sigh of relief.
Quite!
It's been a quiet afternoon tho, because of the weather. I hope it gets better!
Alonso lost a good chunk of track time this morning. At this stage I don't think lap-times are high on their list of things to get right.
Stoffel has clocked a 1:20.325 in the McLaren Renault!
Stoffel has clocked a 1:20.325 in the McLaren Renault!
Which tyres?
eta: it's the hypersoft, for ref bottas did a 120.66 on the soft today
Reported that Williams will lose Martini sponsorship next year. If they can't beat Force India, this year, they're doomed.
Stoff's looking handy, even if the rubber's flattering the car. I'm cautiously anticipating/hoping he'll give Alonso more than a run for his money this year.
Testing times mean nothing, but this time last year Macca couldn't even dream of being on top of the timesheets, no matter what tyre they were using or the fuel load. Clearly no excuses this year though when they're sharing an engine with a team who nobody is surprised to see topping the timesheets.
"Williams will lose Martini sponsorship next year" - and now we know the real reason for the Russian Driver - CA$$$$H
Williams have needed cash ever since BMW dumped them. Their only chance of a return to their glory days is if they can entice an engine manufacture when the regs change in 2021.
Just a mid table team now who will have their OK and rubbish seasons.
Charles Leclerc is four tenths up on Ericsson's best effort from yesterday!
Massively unsurprising IMO…
Kubica has just leap-frogged Sirotkin in the times lol
Kubica faster than Sirotkin! 👍
😀
...and faster than Stroll from yesterday too (when it was warmerer!)
Amazed the team didn't give him a "don't beat Sergei" instruction, given that the media will be all over it.
Or maybe they did 😀
Ocon ready to go out... 😀
- Sebastian Vettel (Ferrari, soft) 1:19.673 - 91 laps
- Valtteri Bottas (Mercedes, medium) 1:19.976 - 94 laps
- Stoffel Vandoorne (McLaren, hyper-soft) 1:20.325 - 37 laps
- Max Verstappen (Red Bull, medium) 1:20.326 - 63 laps
- Carlos Sainz (Renault, soft, pictured) 1:21.212 - 65 laps
- Pierre Gasly (Toro Rosso, soft) 1:21.318 - 76 laps
- Robert Kubica (Williams, soft) 1:21.495 - 36 laps
- Sergey Sirotkin (Williams, soft) 1:21.822 - 52 laps
- Esteban Ocon (Force India, soft) 1:21.841 - 78 laps
- Charles Leclerc (Sauber, soft) 1:22.721 - 81 laps
- Kevin Magnussen (Haas, soft) 1:22.727 - 32 laps
Details of the new streaming service from Liberty are starting to emerge :
https://www.motorsport.com/f1/news/f1-launches-ad-free-streaming-service-for-races-1009599/?s=1
8 to 12 dollars a month looks like a great option, if only sky didn't have a veto over here. The non live service might be interesting though depending how "non live" it is - I can live with a couple of hours, not a couple of days.
Oh and #ItsOnlyTesting
#PartyPooper 😉
Hopefully McLaren's exhaust won't fall off and melt their wiring every time they do a fast lap 🙂
Alonso fastest and most laps completed on day 3 of the testing with a blistering 2m18.545s! 😉
Haha for ages I thought that read 1m18secs lol!!!
Feel for Kubica, constantly being questioned over the same subject. I guess it happens with other drivers too, over all sorts of subjects, the media need to back off a little and cease constantly digging for 'a story' ..... perhaps focus on the sport for once, especially when they are at the race track!
NowTV slash F1 price - still not perfect as I think you have to watch live (no catch-up), but may suite some folk...
https://www.racefans.net/2018/03/02/sky-responds-f1-tv-slashing-price-f1-channel-stream/
I Initially grimaced because I want to watch the TdF, Vuelta etc and that ^^ doesn't include Eurosport. However it does cover the other channels. Add Eurosport 1 year sub for £30 and you get £180.
Sky direct offered me all sports channels for £20 a month locked in for 18 months. Over the F1 season thats then is.... £180.
This is pretty cool , especially if you watch on your mobile
McLaren breaks down again.
This would never have happened with Ron in charge! 🙂
Give them a break, it's only twice in the opening hour!
....and Toro Rosso Honda have gone 3rd in the timesheets! Looools
http://www.skysports.com/f1/live-blog
Oh dear. McLaren looking like having neither pace nor reliability, and still no sign of the Honda going pop. Oh, Fernando.
I understand that McLaren are rushing some developments for Melbourne, which is approximately three weeks away. Any excuses about the engine will seem meaningless if Toro Rosso can keep putting in reliable laps...
no sign of the Honda going pop.
Its still underpowered and slower than the Renault though.
I Initially grimaced because I want to watch the TdF, Vuelta etc and that ^^ doesn’t include Eurosport. However it does cover the other channels. Add Eurosport 1 year sub for £30 and you get £180.
Sky direct offered me all sports channels for £20 a month locked in for 18 months. Over the F1 season thats then is…. £180.
Have a look at the basic Sky Entertainment package - the channel listing I've seen includes Eurosport and Eurosport 2, which I'm sure weren't on my old package. So in theory you could pay for F1 separately during the season and, unless you wanted something else, you'd have Eurosport for the bike races.
The only other thing is that 18 months, if you time the contract right, is almost two seasons of F1.
So there won't be any free to watch F1 soon then? Thats really sad, it could mean the end of pretty much 35 years of watching F1 for me.
I think i mentioned previously, the reason Alonso was so keen to get a full WEC drive is because even before it McLaren hit the track, they know its a dog - and looking at it so far in testing....well.....
I am always for improved safety in F1, I have never had a problem with it. Sometimes the results can be a touch weird but that's mainly because its a change you have to get used to e.g. the higher cockpit sides.
However I just can't get on with that halo, it looks wrong, ugly and I hate it. Rather than getting used to it I dislike it the more I see it. I can't help thinking it signifies the end of open cockpit racing. Really hoping they redesign or come up with a new solution.
I understand that McLaren are rushing some developments for Melbourne, which is approximately three weeks away. Any excuses about the engine will seem meaningless if Toro Rosso can keep putting in reliable laps…
Ummm - you know Honda kinda threw away last year's engine concept and started again, so it's not as if TR are getting better reliability out of the same units that were breaking last year. It would be typical for Alonso if Honda finally deliver this year though.
McLaren's issues seem to be down to packaging again, which was partly their downfall in the first year with Honda as they pushed the 'size zero' agenda and ran into problems. Looks like the engine cover is scorching so that'll be an indication that something's not right underneath it - well, that and the total shutdowns & lack of laps & lack of laptime...
Who's going to be first with the 'Alonso will quit mid year' rumours this year?
Alonso will quit mid year...
me:D
Well the McLaren has broken down again!
Perhaps Honda weren't the shite ones in their partnership.
aaaannnnnd its broken again 🙂
On the bright side, the McLaren is going to continue looking lovely all season with that nice clean expanse of unadorned orange bodywork.
we wont see it because it will be at the back with all the penalties it gets, or we see a glimpse as alonso gets out of the parked car on lap 8.
why doesn't McLaren get Irn-Bru as there sponsor
I know we won't see the true picture until Australia but only 2 seconds from 1st to 12th bodes well for a tighter championship (Stroll's is only a sighter lap - unless he's, you know, just rubbish!) ...
Well that working in Preview!!!
🙂
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why doesn’t McLaren get Irn-Bru as there sponsor
Current tag line is still "gets you thru" iirc - they are not a good fit
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why doesn’t McLaren get Irn-Bru as there sponsor
If we're looking for orange branding I think you've missed the obvious choice:
Ummm – you know Honda kinda threw away last year’s engine concept and started again,
I though that was the year before? Or have they done that twice?
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you know Honda kinda threw away last year’s engine concept and started again, so it’s not as if TR are getting better reliability out of the same units that were breaking last year.
Don't think so. I'm pretty sure that the engine TR are running now is a development of what McLaren finished last season with, not a clean-sheet design. Honda now seem to be at the point they were expected to be at two years ago, which seems to be two years behind Merc and a year behind Renault.
McLaren on the hypersofts again. After all their talk about looking forward to being directly compared to two other teams, their tyre choice seems borderline embarrassing. Or maybe they're just planning on pioneering six-stop race strategies this season.
If they're going to be stopping anyway to fix the car they might as well change the tyres whilst they're at it.
now nearly 0.5 secs down on a car running mediums
Make that 1.5!
Edit: Ah, no, make that 0.5. Pesky track limits!
Alonso's broken down again.
Oh dear!
Lining up a sportscar drive turned out to be good thinking for Alonso. Wonder if he finishes the year out with McLaren.
[i]Smoke billowing from the engine bay through the air intake and under the rear bodywork. Acrid smell of burning carbon. Not going to be pretty when they open it up.[/i]
https://twitter.com/wbuxtonofficial/status/971326041162764289
Hamilton is absolutely killing it today! Hoodathunkit lol
Smoke billowing from the engine bay through the air intake and under the rear bodywork.
Renault trying out a new oil burning system for qualifying?
Finally we have some times on the same compound as McLaren, and they're currently 1.5 seconds off Mercedes on the hypersofts.
Dani Rik proving the Renault engine works just fine! 🙂
forget about Alonso finishing out the season - will McLaren as a team finish out the season at this rate?
Those saudi backers must be thinking what on earth am i paying billions of ££ for....
You know what? F1 has become so bloody dull that I've been glued to the McLaren soap opera since 2014. First it was JB's on/off retirement, then it was Honda, then Ron Dennis' undignified exit, then The Wrath of Honda and The Search for Renault. It's a gift that keeps on giving, unlike the on-track performances which have been deathly dull.
This time five years ago, Alonso was my favourite pantomime villain. Today I think I must be one of his biggest fans.
Somehow, McLaren have managed to out-theatre even the Scuderia which is no mean feat.
Amazing times from Daniel Ricciardo!!
Also great to see that there is less than 1.5 seconds separating 3rd --> 10th. It's gonna be a great season!! 🙂
Come on folks - IT'S ONLY TESTING!
Nobody knows the score until they've all run with low fuel and max engine mode in Q1/2/3 in a few weeks time. RedBull could be running on fumes while Merc are on full tanks etc.
Also re the Honda - yes, I was wrong. They went public saying they were changing their evaluation approach but not the engine model so yes, TR are reaping the rewards from McLaren's struggle.
Also saw a report from Renault saying that McLaren's problems yesterday were (partly) to do with Renault's battery systems as they're testing options to ensure reliability for the coming year and rotating systems between teams. Today's oil leak is apparently 'not engine related' even though it's necessitated an engine change - so that'll be a McLaren bit then.
If the field is as close as it looks then I'll be well pleased.
It’s gonna be a great season!!
Bless your optimism! I'll looking out comfy slippers and a good pillow for the inevitable snooze fest. I reckon the testing is going to be the highlight of the year
Come on folks – IT’S ONLY TESTING!
Shhhhhhh....you'll spoil the magic! 😉
Mind you this is Alonso we're talking about, give him even just the sniff of a competitive car and he'll be there or thereabouts. Still one of the best drivers on the grid.
Come on folks – IT’S ONLY TESTING!
Yes - but when was the last time a team had a really poor test, then turned up at the first race with a great car?
McLaren are looking a mid-mid-field team at best on current form. They are nearly 2 seconds slower than Red Bull.
They are nearly 2 seconds slower than Red Bull.
So is pretty much everyone! 🙂
I see your point though, same engines etc combined with all of the '3rd best chassis on the grid' malarkey from last season. Yep, all a bit humble pie at the McLaren camp! Still time to make a thrilling comeback in Melbourne tho 🙂
there appears to be a lack of "professionalism" required to be a top f1 team at the moment, too many avoidable errors and self inflicted issues.