Topic: Formula One - The 2023 Season

[TepidT2O]

I reckon Mercedes just aren’t very fast.

No point in going backwards with their design philosophy, but they’re the only team doing it for a reason.

Looks incredible on the track though!

[gazzalfc]

Nice to see all the cars here and everyone doing a very respectable number of laps. Bodes well for reliability.

[paulrazor]

I kind of like the unpredictability of retirements rather than bullet proof reliability

[voodoo ray]

there really isn't all that much actual black paint on that merc at all.

[gazzalfc]

I kind of like the unpredictability of retirements rather than bullet proof reliability

Yeah, but no one wants to see the likes of Williams or Haas missing testing due to missing parts or spluttering out of the pitlane after 1 lap either.

[paulrazor]

or anyone

[Trump's tiny tiny hands]

Yeah, but no one wants to see the likes of Williams or Haas missing testing due to missing parts or spluttering out of the pitlane after 1 lap either.

McLaren are happy to step up it seems with more brake problems.

[S]

Merc sand bagging as always

They certainly weren’t last year, they could just be slow again.

[Trump's tiny tiny hands]

They certainly weren’t last year, they could just be slow again.

At least they're not bouncing. Small mercies and that.

VERY interesting time posted by Alonso in the Aston Martin.

[Funky_Gibbons]

Looking at the pictures from yesterdays practice session, it looks like Merc had a barn door for a rear wing compared to everyone else.

It'll be interesting to see whether they need high rear downforce to control the aerodynamics or whether it's a ploy to sandbag. 

[IgorBobbins]

I hope the Merc is at least somewhat competitive with the Red Bulls this year.  Otherwise it’ll be “Friendship ended with Lewis.  Now Charles is my best friend” meme.

[paulrazor]

https://www.autosport.com/f1/live-text/f1-bahrain-pre-season-test-day-2-1118056/1118056/

day 2

[El Lobo]

I hope the Merc is at least somewhat competitive with the Red Bulls this year.  Otherwise it’ll be “Friendship ended with Lewis.  Now Charles is my best friend” meme.

Early days but considering their shitness last season was speculated as sandbagging, and they look pretty shit again so far......it doesnt seem promising

[Qston]

The Williams seems to have got some pace. I sincerely hope that translates to races and they're not always last. Got a big soft spot for Williams as I am sure many have.

[paulrazor]

The Williams seems to have got some pace. I sincerely hope that translates to races and they're not always last. Got a big soft spot for Williams as I am sure many have.

yes I just see Sargeant has set a VERY fast time considering his experience. 66 laps done

yes in recent years its hard not to have a soft spot for Williams

Leaderboard
Sainz, Ferrari, 1m32.486s - 58 laps
Sargeant, Williams, 1m32.666s - 66 laps
Alonso, Aston Martin, 1m32.969s - 56 laps
Zhou, Alfa Romeo, 1m33.170s - 33 laps
Magnussen, Haas, 1m33.442s - 55 laps
Ocon, Alpine, 1m33.490s - 38 laps
Perez, Red Bull, 1m33.751s - 76 laps
Hamilton, Mercedes, 1m33.954s - 61 laps
Norris, McLaren, 1m35.522s - 60 laps
Tsunoda, AlphaTauri, 1m37.687s - 79 laps

[Qston]

Early days but considering their shitness last season was speculated as sandbagging, and they look pretty shit again so far......it doesnt seem promising

"Insanity is doing the same thing over and over again and expecting different results."

[voodoo ray]

bring back paint.

[WanderingRed]

Toto on Sky before saying they've got more to show - question is how much & what do Red Bull & Ferrari have?

[Funky_Gibbons]

The noises from Merc seem a lot more positive compared to this time last year.

I'm still concerned by that big rear wing though. Because their car was bouncing so much last year they needed to increase the ride height, this reduced downforce so they needed to increase that by putting a bigger rear wing on which then made it draggy on the straights.

So do they have similar issues with this car agin? Even with that wing Hamilton was struggling with rear grip this morning.

[bradders1011]

Slim Borgudd has passed - he lived an amazing life:

https://the-race.com/formula-1/abba-drummer-truck-star-f1-points-scorer-slim-borgudd-obituary/

[IgorBobbins]

Just listening to Russell in the press conference has me worried - says the car’s a bit better than last year, but Red Bull’s are still quicker and much stronger.  Effectively saying they’ll hopefully catch up at some point this season (by which time it’ll be too late) doesn’t fill me with confidence of a competitive season ahead  . Not sure I can stomach another season of Max/RB total domination.

[TepidT2O]

Lack of rear end grip for Mercedes and struggling mid corner.  Seems it might be a problem in high temperatures .

Hmmm… as suspected, not great

[50 Pence]

Think it's already clear this season is going to be a Red Bull Max procession to both titles

[paulrazor]

yes, i was impressed with williams time for Sargeant but it was two compounds lighter than Max and a second slower

plus Max wasted no time going top of the sheets.

[Graeme]

So Merc struggling for pace, grip and now reliability.

[TepidT2O]

So Merc struggling for pace, grip and now reliability.

Hydraulic leak, not sure I’d worry about that too much.

Although they seem to have other issues with loss of front down force, so once again things aren’t going well

[Graeme]

Merc seem to have had their weetabix this morning

[Funky_Gibbons]

Merc seem to have had their weetabix this morning

I haven’t seen any, but they’re 0.4s off Ferrari while using a softer grade of tyre?

[TepidT2O]

Interesting

Big news about the future of Alpha Tauri:

The new Red Bull management determined that the results and the marketing value doesn't justify the high costs. So the team either has to move to England or it could be sold.

https://www.auto-motor-und-sport.de/formel-1/alpha-tauri-verkauf-umzug-hitech-andretti/

[TepidT2O]

This is quite interesting…

(Although there’s only so much you can read into it!)

[Trump's tiny tiny hands]

Doesn’t look good for McLaren that, though they have been quite clear about where they’re at right now. They also never did any headline runs that I saw, they only ran on C2 and C3 tires.

[Qston]

Thanks for posting Tepid.

Remarkable that Red Bull are pulling out so much more time even after the heights of last season. Merc are certainly in a much better position than they were this time last year. By Saturday the car seemed pretty stable in the corners from what I could see

[voodoo ray]

BREAKING: The #SpanishGP will be changing its track configuration

The final chicane will be removed, leaving the circuit to its original last two corner layout!

[Funky_Gibbons]

BREAKING: The #SpanishGP will be changing its track configuration

The final chicane will be removed, leaving the circuit to its original last two corner layout!

Good, I friggin hate that chicane in the F1 game 

[voodoo ray]

Good, I friggin hate that chicane in the F1 game 

ditto. it's fucking terrible.

[Graeme]

Same

I hate it, get it wrong so many times and it wrecks your lap.

[TepidT2O]

Thanks for posting Tepid.

Remarkable that Red Bull are pulling out so much more time even after the heights of last season. Merc are certainly in a much better position than they were this time last year. By Saturday the car seemed pretty stable in the corners from what I could see

Remember that this is compared to pre season testing last year, not compared to the end of last season. 

[paulrazor]

Talk of teams lobbying to increase entry fee for team andretti

Don't agree with that

[bradders1011]

There a RAWK league on the official F1 fantasy?

[clinical]

Apparently redbull can run 10mm lower to the ground than any other team without causing porpoising.

I think this is another redbull domination when the new regs were designed for closer racing.