Pre-season has begun. Again we need to take it all with a giant pinch of salt as we don't know who's sandbagging or what their setup is. Last year for example Carlos, Lewis and Charles led the timings with Max in 5th and Oscar and Lando in 8th and 13th respectively. Whereas in the first qualifying in Australia it was Lando, Oscar & Max in 1-3 and Carlos, Lewis & Charles were 10th, 8th & 7th respectively.
That said there are a few interesting takeaways. The fastest time so far on Day 1 is 1:35.433 (Max) on the C2 Medium. Compare that to a fastest time of last pre-season Day 1 was 1:30.430 on the C3 Medium and fastest of the 3 days 1:29.348 (Carlos) on the C3 Medium. To the best of my knowledge the track hasn't been updated meaning the cars are currently significantly slower. Whether that is mostly due to loss of ground effect, new biofuels, new tyres is hard to say. It will be interesting to see if this drops much over the next few days.
Either way I am excited for the start of the season in 3 weeks time.
@themightyant Id be more excited if my iptv were working!
It is exciting though whenever theres a big regulation change as we are not sure what to expect. Early testing never seems to reflect performance at the first race weekend, so anything can happen yet! 👍
I forgot testing was starting today. Bizarrely Sky Sports isn't showing it?! Why the F1 channel does not have it I do not know. Thankfully I'm not too fussed about watching it as we all know nothing can be gleaned from the times but I was curious to see the new cars/liveries live.
I think the Haas looks really good this year. Audi have a great colour combination but an awful design, it looks like 2 separate cars welded together.
@BearsEatBeets Yep bizarre they don't have it live on Sky F1, it's on later, like you I mostly just wanted to watch the liveries, but was also going to keep it on in the background while I worked.
Audi seem to be doing a bit of a Merc from a few years back with their side pod inlets. I wonder if it will work out this time. Still can't believe they have made such a boring design from those colours.
The Alpine and Williams are growing on me seeing them going around live.
I had Sky's portion of testing on the side whilst also following the Winter Olympics. Hearing all the discussions about the overtake button, boost button and the need to keep the revs up to spool the turbo etc. it really seems that there could a lot of opportunity for drivers who easily grasp on the fly how to best manage these systems to thrive. I'm hopeful it might allow some drivers to shine even if there are differences in starting performance of the teams.
Interesting that is seems like Mercedes engine compression ratio part will be outlawed from race 14 of 24 if all goes as it's expected to and it's ratified. I though they would have just told the other teams to get in on the act and develop a similar part themselves. But this still potentially gives Mercedes powered teams, and anyone else using the period to try and cash in.
Pre-season testing continues to show us very little. Can't wait to see how it all shakes out in a couple of weeks.
I saw Matt & Tommy had done an F1 fantasy team and they have an official league so I decided to throw one together. I've not checked the rules or how it all works but picked some drivers and teams and joined their league.
I don't think I'm going to try a prediction of the standings this season. I think it's all too unknown at the moment. Maybe I'll do one after a couple of races. There seems to be some optimism for Ferrari this season so I will say I think Lewis will pick up another win this year as a prediction.
I'm eager for it all to kick off. There seems to be a fair amount of negativity (what's new) about the new regs but I'm completely neutral on it until we see the cars in action for a race or two and see how pans out.
@themightyant I hadn't heard that. Like yourself I thought it might be easier to let the other teams do it as well but maybe with development costs it's simpler for Merc to switch to a non-expanding material/design.
@BearsEatBeets I will probably have a guess at the final standings before the first race, but as you said it's pretty pointless speculation, but also just a bit of fun I enjoy.
I'm not on board with the Ferrari hype train, I got burned on this last year (and isn't this every year?). I still think it's Mercedes and Red Bull the teams to beat with Ferrari and McLaren behind. Though as we said above, who bloody knows at this point... but I look forward to finding out! (it may also change rapidly over the course of the season)
I've got to admit I was really happy when it went back to Australia being the first race of the season last year, as is traditional. But on reflection seeing the start times for Pracice 1 & 3 (1:30 - 2:30am), Practice 2 and Qualifying (5 - 6 am) and the Race (4 am) I am almost wishing it was back at Bahrain for race 1 where I will want to watch it all! Not sure if I will watch all these live or if there is a sensible replay time I get away without spoiling the fun.
Re: Merc Engine. It seems the tests the FiA have suggested adding may not affect Mercedes after all, as the new temperature they are testing at may still be within Merc's tolerances. But again all up in the air.
@themightyant Yeah I'm not getting up for the practices even though they are the first proper gauges of where the teams are at. Highlights will do for me. Qualifying and Race I'm all in for the crazy hours, although a full re-run around 9am-ish might give me pause to reconsider.
Im really looking forward to the season as well. Having quite litrally retired from work today, I suspect Ill watch every session.
History has shown us time and again that you know nothing until the first race, especially in a year with such significant changes. Much as Im reluctant to buy into any hype, the smaller turbos on the Farrari do seem to give them an advantage off the line, so we'll see if thats bourne out in a real race. Im feeling a little gutted for Aston Martin as their car looked awful pre season and I cant imagine its going to turn around quickly.
Other than that, its anybody's season, which is exciting and as it should be for a season with new rules.
I look forward to discussing events with you guys here as the season progresses!
@themightyant yeah I changed my mind just before going to bed and decided to be up for it live. Sounds like Merc finally showed their full pace in Practice 3 earlier.
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