Barcelona 2019 test thread

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IceG
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Barcelona 2019 test thread

Post by IceG »

Surprised there isn't one of these running yet....

Much like the Williams (ouch) which has finally arrived: https://www.motorsport.com/f1/news/will ... a/4341091/

What is up with that team?

Ferrari look good don't they?
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Re: Barcelona 2019 test thread

Post by Faustus »

Williams states the bleedin' obvious:

https://www.autosport.com/f1/news/14165 ... of-testing
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Enforcer
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Re: Barcelona 2019 test thread

Post by Enforcer »

So are Torro Rosso glory hunting on low fuel or are they going to trouble the big boys (with last years Red Bull car)?
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mario
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Re: Barcelona 2019 test thread

Post by mario »

Enforcer wrote:So are Torro Rosso glory hunting on low fuel or are they going to trouble the big boys (with last years Red Bull car)?

I would be surprised if they were that far up the grid, even allowing for the gains they might have made from using parts from Red Bull.

As ever, it seems that there are a wide range of interpretations of what is going on, although the one thing that most observers seem to be fairly consistent on is the belief that Ferrari seem to have a car that is the fastest and very well balanced, not to mention looking pretty reliable too.

Now, the gap between Ferrari and the rest is being debated, but there seem to be a number of estimates that it's about 0.3-0.5s a lap. After that, the consensus is that Mercedes and Red Bull are reasonably evenly matched, possibly slightly tipping in Mercedes's favour.

After that, the indication is that Renault seem to be a further 0.7s back in 4th place - some suggest that Sauber/Alfa Romeo are on a similar pace, whilst others suggest there are a few tenths between Renault and Sauber.

The relative position of Haas, Racing Point, McLaren and Toro Rosso is debatable, as they seem to be fairly closely matched. Benson reckoned that Haas was slightly ahead of the next three, with McLaren, Racing Point and Toro Rosso too close to call at the moment: Motorsport Magazine, meanwhile, reckons on McLaren being ahead of Toro Rosso, followed by Haas and Racing Point.

Williams, right now, is the biggest unknown given their rather shambolic start to the testing season, but right now it's not exactly looking great for them. The talk surrounding the team sounds pretty bad right now - Dieter Rencken has written an article suggesting the team were already behind schedule as far back as November last year, and even now both drivers have indicated the car was still missing some parts when it did finally hit the track.

Morale within the team sounds rather low right now, there have been rumours that the FW42 has missed its performance targets and that Paddy Lowe had even offered to resign from the team if they felt he should shoulder the blame for the problems they've had in the off season. Claire has denied the team is in crisis mode, but a lot of people seem to think that the team is not far off that right now.
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Re: Barcelona 2019 test thread

Post by Rob Dylan »

Due to all the personal goings-on in my life, I've actually missed 99% of all the F1 news of the last month. From what I understand, Williams were late and don't look good, yet again, this year.

What are people's thoughts therefore on the front row? It seems Mercedes has a good car yet again, but that Ferrari are improving. Can someone summarise or offer their two cents on what we're going to see this coming year? For an F1 fan who's been very depraved of news and info this last month? :cry:
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Re: Barcelona 2019 test thread

Post by CaptainGetz12 »

Rob Dylan wrote:Due to all the personal goings-on in my life, I've actually missed 99% of all the F1 news of the last month. From what I understand, Williams were late and don't look good, yet again, this year.

What are people's thoughts therefore on the front row? It seems Mercedes has a good car yet again, but that Ferrari are improving. Can someone summarise or offer their two cents on what we're going to see this coming year? For an F1 fan who's been very depraved of news and info this last month? :cry:


I'm still betting that Mercedes was sandbagging, though there may be some hiccups from them early in the year based on how late they debuted their new aero package. Ferrari is going to be down to Vettel, since Leclerc is still a question mark for me.

Hopefully Renault can be as fast as the Big 3 of Mercedes, Ferrari, and Red Bull, but its hard to tell that in testing. Same for Mclaren, who do seem to have some pace this year.
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Re: Barcelona 2019 test thread

Post by yannicksamlad »

For what it's worth , my reading of the various analyses of testing shows an overall opinion that Ferrari have an early edge over Mercedes. And Red Bull will be race competitive, but perhaps lack a little one-lap pace compared to Ferrari/Mercedes.
I don't see Renault , McLaren , Alfa in the same league - but seems they've closed the gap.
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Re: Barcelona 2019 test thread

Post by Rob Dylan »

So on the face of it, it seems quite similar to previous seasons. A few hiccups and issues for Mercedes early in the year, but an overall quality package might see them slowly gain the upper hand as the season goes on, and dominate the second half. Let's hope that Ferrari can properly step up this time and get on it - and not just for half a season!
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mario
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Re: Barcelona 2019 test thread

Post by mario »

yannicksamlad wrote:For what it's worth , my reading of the various analyses of testing shows an overall opinion that Ferrari have an early edge over Mercedes. And Red Bull will be race competitive, but perhaps lack a little one-lap pace compared to Ferrari/Mercedes.
I don't see Renault , McLaren , Alfa in the same league - but seems they've closed the gap.

I would note that there is quite a good site called F1 Metrics that takes a statistically based approach to modelling the pecking order, and that has tended to fairly close to the mark in previous years.

That site does indeed reckon on it being Ferrari ahead of Mercedes and Red Bull: the biggest uncertainty is over Haas's performance, as they could range from 4th, and only fractionally behind Red Bull, to 6th place. It does look as if Renault and McLaren have caught up a bit to Red Bull, possibly with McLaren in front of Renault, with the order then going Alfa Romeo, Toro Rosso, Racing Point and Williams some way adrift at the rear. https://f1metrics.wordpress.com/2019/03 ... -analysis/
Martin Brundle, on watching a replay of Grosjean spinning:
"The problem with Grosjean is that he want to take a look back at the corner he's just exited"
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