1st Winter Testing 27th Feb - 2nd March 2017, Barcelona

[SilverSpeed]

What matter to me are the lap times from Ferrari on the yellow stripe tyres which was below 1.20.00, even if people are saying Ferrari was light on fuel which I doubt. They have forgotten that the rubbish token system is no more in place so we can develop our engines also. I am sure we are also not running our engine at full capacity. Next week Ferrari will show some of their hands running the softer tyre - I love the way Ferrari refused to follow Merc bait and run softer tyres.

This makes me feel happy to, knowing we do our own thing, we dont speak to the media,... all positive signs we are focused on the big price.

[jgonzalesm6]

What matter to me are the lap times from Ferrari on the yellow stripe tyres which was below 1.20.00, even if people are saying Ferrari was light on fuel which I doubt. They have forgotten that the rubbish token system is no more in place so we can develop our engines also. I am sure we are also not running our engine at full capacity. Next week Ferrari will show some of their hands running the softer tyre - I love the way Ferrari refused to follow Merc bait and run softer tyres.

yup, Arrivabenne, the drivers and the team are "playing" this one low key, keeping it on the "down-low", not "showing their hand", playing "the mind-games" and so on. F1 psych tactics and strategy at its best by 3 top teams.

[GrndLkNatv]

Be that as it may, we, or at least myself, have always known that MB has "extra power" when they need it given there past performance since the intro of the V-6T-Hybrid(some say they had a way early start prior to 2014); and if last year was any indication that they can tap into it (Lewis coming from the back of the pack 2X to clinch a podium finish), then...well...I'll just leave it at that for now....till Melbourne and a couple of GP's.

As Jock Clear and I discussed last year at USGP, Mercedes are already at the top, they cannot improve by leaps and bounds anymore, only spend millions and get little gain. Chances of them having a big leap are 0.

[vetalo]

As Jock Clear and I discussed last year at USGP, Mercedes are already at the top, they cannot improve by leaps and bounds anymore, only spend millions and get little gain. Chances of them having a big leap are 0.

[jgonzalesm6]

As Jock Clear and I discussed last year at USGP, Mercedes are already at the top, they cannot improve by leaps and bounds anymore, only spend millions and get little gain. Chances of them having a big leap are 0.

last year a few people were saying they had a 75 to 100hp gain over everyone.....which is a big leap and boundless in F1 standards; and they proved it. So how about a conservative little gain after spending millions as you say .....lets say a 25hp increase over last years engine ....what would you call that in F1 standards? another jump or leap at least. As I said.....till Melbourne as I remain optimistic for the Scuderia but cautious.

[Greig]

As Jock Clear and I discussed last year at USGP, Mercedes are already at the top, they cannot improve by leaps and bounds anymore, only spend millions and get little gain. Chances of them having a big leap are 0.

Probably the wrong way to look at things....and with rule changes then the chance to make a leap is there.

[Rob]

“Good work from the team, now we’ll see what happens”

Montmelo, 2 March –The first winter test session has come to an end. Over the four days, the Scuderia Ferrari drivers completed 468 laps of the Catalunya Circuit in the SF70H, equivalent to 2178.4 kilometres. Seb Vettel did 267 laps and Kimi Raikkonen did 201. Today, the Finn was also able to try the wet weather tyres as the circuit was artificially watered.

“A new year, a new car and new rules,” was Kimi’s summing up of proceedings. “And it’s these rules that determine the feeling you have at the wheel, because you go a lot quicker than before: it’s down to a combination of the tyres and the car. What I can say is that the team has worked very well over the winter. Whether or not it will be enough, we cannot tell yet. I didn’t pay attention to what the other teams were doing, nor the lap times, because at this point, it means nothing. I’ve got the feeling that we learned some lessons from last year and at the moment, we can’t complain about how testing has gone so far. But before Melbourne, we have another week of testing and we still have a lot of work to do. More or less every year we know where we want to be and sometimes everything goes smoothly and other years less so.”

The second session gets underway on Tuesday 7th March, with Sebastian, who will also drive on Thursday 9th. Kimi drives on Wednesday 8th and Friday 10th.

[Rob]

[vetalo]

“Good work from the team, now we’ll see what happens”

Montmelo, 2 March –The first winter test session has come to an end. Over the four days, the Scuderia Ferrari drivers completed 468 laps of the Catalunya Circuit in the SF70H, equivalent to 2178.4 kilometres. Seb Vettel did 267 laps and Kimi Raikkonen did 201. Today, the Finn was also able to try the wet weather tyres as the circuit was artificially watered.

“A new year, a new car and new rules,” was Kimi’s summing up of proceedings. “And it’s these rules that determine the feeling you have at the wheel, because you go a lot quicker than before: it’s down to a combination of the tyres and the car. What I can say is that the team has worked very well over the winter. Whether or not it will be enough, we cannot tell yet. I didn’t pay attention to what the other teams were doing, nor the lap times, because at this point, it means nothing. I’ve got the feeling that we learned some lessons from last year and at the moment, we can’t complain about how testing has gone so far. But before Melbourne, we have another week of testing and we still have a lot of work to do. More or less every year we know where we want to be and sometimes everything goes smoothly and other years less so.”

The second session gets underway on Tuesday 7th March, with Sebastian, who will also drive on Thursday 9th. Kimi drives on Wednesday 8th and Friday 10th.

For The effort put in by the team and the sincere work ethic the drivers put in without drama - Kimi was sick with flu and still drove; make me proud of the team even if things did not work out, I will still salute the teams effort because they have tried and in life that is what matters. But I still have this feeling that going sub 1.20 on soft tyre at the first testing means the car is good and if Gary Anderson can say positive things about this car I am going to bed tonight holding on to a great season for Ferrari.

[FerrariSteve]

Personally I am sadly expecting Mercs to be leaps ahead of anyone else, they'll be sandbagging until Melbourne Qually.
as for us, I have my fingers and toes crossed that we are capable of beating RBR and grabbing a podium every race, but we'll see. Part of me worries we've been doing low fuel glory runs but by god I hope not.

[Silent Bob]

What matter to me are the lap times from Ferrari on the yellow stripe tyres which was below 1.20.00, even if people are saying Ferrari was light on fuel which I doubt. They have forgotten that the rubbish token system is no more in place so we can develop our engines also. I am sure we are also not running our engine at full capacity. Next week Ferrari will show some of their hands running the softer tyre - I love the way Ferrari refused to follow Merc bait and run softer tyres.

I'm more excited about the times Ferrari were doing on the Medium tires. They were putting up good times in cold conditions. Ferrari can finally get a harder tire to work in colder temps. This is exciting.

[JPBD]

Personally I am sadly expecting Mercs to be leaps ahead of anyone else, they'll be sandbagging until Melbourne Qually.
as for us, I have my fingers and toes crossed that we are capable of beating RBR and grabbing a podium every race, but we'll see. Part of me worries we've been doing low fuel glory runs but by god I hope not.

I have the same reservations. This is win-win, though! If we end up where we expect (2nd or hopefully 3rd) then we won't be as deviststed as if it was a complete shock. Of course, if we're better off than we expect then it's a dream come true.

Keep those expectations under wraps. I do think Ferrari is lighter... certainly lighter than Merc. All of the things that Gary Anderson has been saying are positives of the Ferrari over the Merc can be accounted for by fuel load (Merc under steering, sliding, off throttle longer, etc - Ferrari "pin point accurate", no line adjustments, on throttle earlier, etc). Yes. Because we're lighter!

[Silent Bob]

Merc weren't always heavy. They did race simulations with pitstops so they were running new tires with low fuel.

[vetalo]

Merc weren't always heavy. They did race simulations with pitstops so they were running new tires with low fuel.

That is what I think also, was Sebs sub 1.20 timed run not at the beginning of a 15 laps run?

[JPBD]

That is what I think also, was Sebs sub 1.20 timed run not at the beginning of a 15 laps run?

I'm not saying we're *not* going well for the record. I'm so excited by our form! I'm just saying... don't build yourself up only to be torn down. That's all.

We don't know what everyone is doing. Be cautious. Be realistic.

[FerrariF60]

I'm not saying we're *not* going well for the record. I'm so excited by our form! I'm just saying... don't build yourself up only to be torn down. That's all.

We don't know what everyone is doing. Be cautious. Be realistic.

^this....i know we're all happy/extatic by the form Ferrari has shown for the past 4 days....but we should keep our feet on the ground and take all the comments and positives wiht a grain of salt....
we'll see what next week's testing will bring....maybe the Mercs will turn up their engines and leave us in the dust....i REALLY hope NOT...i'm sure they'll sandbag some more


no one is dumb enough to show their had 100%..........for that we'll have to wait until Q3 in Australia....then and only then we'll knwo the REAL TRUTH....and hopefully Ferrari will be one of the teams fighting for WINS....

[killer]

Very solid effort from the Team.

Looking forward to the second test and I want to expect more erratic times/less consistent times, as I take this to mean they are able to try new things because we have a good base package.

Could be wrong. Often am.


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[killer]

I have the same reservations. This is win-win, though! If we end up where we expect (2nd or hopefully 3rd) then we won't be as deviststed as if it was a complete shock. Of course, if we're better off than we expect then it's a dream come true.

Keep those expectations under wraps. I do think Ferrari is lighter... certainly lighter than Merc. All of the things that Gary Anderson has been saying are positives of the Ferrari over the Merc can be accounted for by fuel load (Merc under steering, sliding, off throttle longer, etc - Ferrari "pin point accurate", no line adjustments, on throttle earlier, etc). Yes. Because we're lighter!

Expectations in check, as you say.

But to your final point, I want to disagree: pin point accuracy, consistent lines, and early throttle pickup can be attributed to fuel--but not a light load. I'll grant that you are possibly saying LIGHTER (than Mercedes).


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[killer]

^^

Apologies, you WERE saying we are lighter. What I meant to discount was an out and out light fuel load. Think quali trim/vapor.

(Mobile app doesn't allow edits)


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[ALO]

Day 3 04:17 I know the Mercedes has broken into the 1m19s bracket on super-softs, but watching at the fast Turn 9 right-hander the Ferrari doing 1m21s on mediums still looks the most impressive car to me. It just looks so stable and consistent.
-Gary Anderson

Sounds promising

[JPBD]

^^

Apologies, you WERE saying we are lighter. What I meant to discount was an out and out light fuel load. Think quali trim/vapor.

(Mobile app doesn't allow edits)


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Agree 100%. I don't think we're doing quali runs. That would be silly at this point I think - but I do think Merc are sandbagging. They are heavy. Heaviest, I would say. We may not be running on vapour, but they've got a good 20kg or so on us I'd say and that's a lot in terms of laptime.

They're not silly enough to show their out and out pace on the super soft tyre in week one testing. They're simply... testing! And possibly playing mind games with everyone. But that car is HEAVY! We may be consistent and I'm soooo happy with progress so far. But when we get to Q2 in Australia and we're 3rd and 4th I can see everyone on here losing their minds. All I'm saying is... Mercedes is no junior team. They know what they're doing, and they haven't just dropped the ball since last year. They are still the favourites. Let's keep it real people!

Having said that, of course my quiet HOPE is ALWAYS to be proven wrong and for Ferrari to be number 1.

[Sempre_Ferrari]

Kimi apparently mentioned in his interview that they have not done any qualy type runs yet which sound promising.

I'm cautiously optimistic about this years car.

[Rishu]

(Mobile app doesn't allow edits)

Hi mate, actually they do allow editing posts (assuming you're using iPhone)

[farid-baku]

This 2017 year remember me 2015 when everything start good but than everyone now what happen

[killer]

Hi mate, actually they do allow editing posts (assuming you're using iPhone)

Hahaha just figured it out! Cheers!


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[killer]

This 2017 year remember me 2015 when everything start good but than everyone now what happen

We had victories that year, my friend. It is unwise to think we are going to do a complete 180 and dominate this year. But everyone sees we look like we are going in the right direction (I don't think we can claim progress for sure at this stage) and it is nice to feel this positive after all the tough times.

I think that's the general feeling on here at the moment. We all hope for the best and we shall soon see.


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[killer]

I'm more excited about the times Ferrari were doing on the Medium tires. They were putting up good times in cold conditions. Ferrari can finally get a harder tire to work in colder temps. This is exciting.

Fingers crossed.

IF IF IF...

The car can deliver then I hope the track team and strategy are also up to par.

Again: IF.



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[killer]

All I'm saying is... Mercedes is no junior team. They know what they're doing, and they haven't just dropped the ball since last year. They are still the favourites. Let's keep it real people!

Having said that, of course my quiet HOPE is ALWAYS to be proven wrong and for Ferrari to be number 1.

Preach.


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[Imperatore]

A nice HD vid of the 2017 cars.

[Scuderia1967]

I don't believe Mercedes is sandbagging. With Supersofts, really? That's not to say I believe we're gonna dominate the season, though. For now, I like what I'm seeing, so I'm cautiously optimistic