2019 Barcelona testing(Circuit de Catalunya)

[nani_s23]

Ferrari used to play a lot in S3 during 2018 testing times. So let’s hope it’s the same here.
Else it’s pretty tight between vet & ham. Once again driver, luck & SC can make the difference this year.

[ferrari1.8t]

So you are sure our actual difference is 0,003???

No one is sure of the gaps - relative to fuel loads, temps, engine modes etc. However, I find it funny how at lunch Hamilton claims to be a half second behind only to put in a lap .003 behind our best a few hours later.

Everyone here is getting excited, rightfully so. However, it would be wrong to underestimate Merc and Hamilton - their ability to sandbag, develop, lie and influence rule changes that work in their favour.

[nani_s23]

Vettel did 1.16.2 at diff track temp compared to ham who did more towards the end.
So lot of variables to consider track temp, engine modes, fuel load etc..!!

But it showed once again that toto & ham play mind games a lot.

[jgonzalesm6]

1.These times mean nothing. This is far from the maximum performance of Ferrari and Mercedes

Gonna have to agree. I don't understand what all the "hub-bub" is about.

Teams mask their potential by asking their drivers to push in different sectors then slow down in others...then tally up the times from one day to the next to get an "ideal lap."
The fuel loads are different along with the track temps are in constant flux from day to day & week to week not to mention the different tyre/tire compounds and suspension setups and aero bits and pieces...too many freakin variables to get a good picture of who is where....really.

Take for instance the mid-fielders and backmarkers whom I believe really have to push since sponsor reps are there "taking in all this--> a tenth here or 2 tenths there" all-the-while feeling "giddy" at the end of the day or week--> "hey, let's celebrate!!" I say nonsense. Wait till Melbourne and the next couple of GP's to get a good picture of where "REALLY EVERYONE STANDS."

Don't want to sound like a "debbie-downer" but..............well.......................there it is. Every team still has alot of work to do and more upgrades to come in 2 weeks.

Just when you think you have seen it all and read it all, someone in PlanetF1 comment section wrote that Mercedes new nose looks like penis.

It realy does!!!

for once not just their drivers do :p

Looks to me like a platypus.....it's a hybrid....no??? A mix of everything.

https://cdn.newsapi.com.au/image/v1/...eae?width=1024

[jgonzalesm6]

No one is sure of the gaps - relative to fuel loads, temps, engine modes etc. However, I find it funny how at lunch Hamilton claims to be a half second behind only to put in a lap .003 behind our best a few hours later.

Everyone here is getting excited, rightfully so. However, it would be wrong to underestimate Merc and Hamilton - their ability to sandbag, develop, lie and influence rule changes that work in their favour.

+1

[stefa]

Really Stefa ???.............Jeepers man, it's tongue and cheek comment bud!...........Put your claws back please

Sorry... I thought you were real. Peace and CWC and WDC to Ferrari!

[PURE PASSION]

No one is sure of the gaps - relative to fuel loads, temps, engine modes etc. However, I find it funny how at lunch Hamilton claims to be a half second behind only to put in a lap .003 behind our best a few hours later.

Everyone here is getting excited, rightfully so. However, it would be wrong to underestimate Merc and Hamilton - their ability to sandbag, develop, lie and influence rule changes that work in their favour.

It is WRONG to assume that we are 0,5 s ahead just because Ham and Toto saying, and it is wrong to assume that they are just 0003 because Ham did a lap in the end of the test.
Everything is possible.To be 0,5 s ahead ,to be equal ,or to be behind.

[Bonecrasher]

Winter testing over. Overall besides a few reliability gremlins Ferrari have emerged clearly ahead of the pack and are favourite for both titles. Forget headline lap times, Ferrari was mightily impressive over race simulations and were clearly quite a ways ahead. If they put all their support behind Vettel then this should be a formality. But first they gotta get on top of their reliability issues. You don’t wanna gift anyone any free points, let alone Hamilton and Mercedes.

[jragona]

Exactly, reliability could be their achilles heel if they are not careful.


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

[mwk360]

#F1: #HaasF1 is the team to look at after more that impressive race sim on Friday. Pace on C2 tyre was "on level with the red car". #F1Testing. #AMuS:

https://t.co/v8w4XvzREu

[jragona]

From Sky about one of Vettels laps today:

“A 1:16.720 may not sound such a big deal. But on the C3 tyres, it was in a different league to anything else seen. Sky F1 analyst Karun Chandhok reckoned that, with the tyre offset accounted for, it translated into a time of 1:15.770. If so, that would put Ferrari back into the half-second advantage territory.”

[mwk360]

Nate Saunders
The world champion just crossed in a 1:16.224, just 0.003s slower than Vettel... That's on the C5 tyre.

Nate Saunders
Hamilton and Mercedes have done a lot of downplaying of their own machinery this week, insisting Ferrari is quite a way ahead. We obviously don't have an accurate gauge on the gap, we don't know fuel loads and set-up etc, but we hadn't seen that sort of pace from Mercedes until then.

Merc have been sandbagging as usual. I believe we are a lot closer if not on par with them this year, but the .5 sec advantage is a fairy tale.

exactly,

he is a drama queen and glory hog, we are evenly matched at the end 0.003s separation all that crying from merc was mind games and way to add pressure on ferrari and eyes on them. binotto seems smart about how he does things in the media i like that he seems to be quite honest and open. making sure to tell people not to buy into merc fairytale hero story they writing. feet on the ground. Hopefully we dont have even/any more reliability problems and more updates for melbourne

Exactly, reliability could be their achilles heel if they are not careful.


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

agreed

[mwk360]

Did anyone find info about sebs stint on C1s??? was it c1 or proto tyres? because i seen lap stints where they show seb on c3 and c2 but nothing on c1 unless he made the pitstop put c1 on and immediately reliability failed on the cars electrical side so no c1 data

[paolo lalli]

Hamsters time was done on a well rubbed circuit and warmer temp vet was boom virtually strait up there are some variables there over all a solid test for ferrari more to come and some gremlins to sort but then again all teams in the same boat ferrari will move forward in an orderly and positive fashion there is no need to feel any different ferrari are perfectionists and a testing score of 9 out of ten is just not good enough ask mr binnotto.

[Rob]

110 laps for the SF90 on final day

Montmelò, 1 March 2019 – The second test prior to the 2019 Formula 1 season came to an end today at the Barcelona-Catalunya Circuit. Sebastian Vettel was at the wheel for Scuderia Ferrari Mission Winnow, completing 110 laps in the SF90. This means that, over the entire winter test sessions, the car did 996 laps, equivalent to 4,636 kilometers.

With the Chairman. Before the day’s work began, Ferrari Chairman John Elkann arrived in the garage to show his support for the team and wish everyone well prior to their departure for the Australian Grand Prix. On track, the German spent the first part of the morning working on set-up, doing 68 laps, with a best time of 1’16”221. In the afternoon, Sebastian did a series of long runs so that the team and the driver could replicate several of the scenarios they will face in Melbourne in around a fortnight’s time. Two hours before the end of the session, Vettel was asked to stop at Turn 2, because of an electrical problem. The car was brought back to the garage and it was decided to call a halt to testing.

Team Principal with the media. During the lunch break, Team Principal and Managing Director Mattia Binotto met the media to run through how the eight days of testing had gone. “These past days have been very intensive and interesting. We are still focusing on our car to understand its limits in terms of performance and reliability,” he said.

Still a loto to do. “Overall, I am pleased with the work we have carried out,” he continued. “I am pleased with how the car behaves and it was well balanced at this track. However, we cannot be completely satisfied at the moment as we would like to be faster and more reliable. So there’s still a lot to do. Our programme didn’t always run as smoothly as we would have liked, due to reliability issues and Sebastian’s crash when a wheel rim broke. There are still many issues to be addressed and we must push forward on the performance front. The fact that our car is running properly is a good starting point, but we are still not ready for Melbourne and I’d say it’s a case of a work in progress.”

The drivers. “Both drivers set very similar lap times,” concluded Binotto. “We already knew that Charles is a very fast driver, as we have seen throughout his years with the Ferrari Driver Academy and last season in Formula 1. As for Sebastian, his performance shows him to be the multi-world champion we already know.”

[Rob]

[Rob]

[da_one]

The rat will say Ferrari are fastest no matter what times he pulls. Come the checkered flag in Australia; if he wins he will still say we are faster and his pole/win are down to his godlike qualities and devine intervention lol. Anything to feed his ego.

Encouraging times from our boys...Australia can’t come fast enough. Let’s hope we really do hold an advantage and rack up plenty of points!!

[da_one]

Hamilton insists that Ferrari is half a second ahead at this time of the year but on the same breath, he says he accepts the challenge.

Here is how Rapper Boy "accepts" the challenge:

1. Ask the FIA to add more sensors to the red cars and/or scrutinize every inch a thousand times more to keep Ferrari engineers busy in answering FIA queries.
2. Use his team mate as his personal chicane to block the red cars when he is ahead.
3. Steal victory from the same team mate while professing to the world that he is the best driver the world has ever seen after the race.
4. if there are on track racing incidents or rule violations, ask the FIA to give the red cars the worst possible penalty while the lightest or a slap on the wrist penalty for the silver arrows.
5. Invite the Ferrari strategists to his garage home on the eve of a race and have a party with his super model friends.
6. Just let Ferrari screw up the 2nd half of the season, because they usually do anyways.

[jgonzalesm6]

Total lap count and mileage - Teams (all 8 days)

https://pbs.twimg.com/media/D0lwt3TW0AEBYWT.jpg


Total lap count and mileage - Manufacturer (all 8 days)

https://pbs.twimg.com/media/D0ltsQUXcAEryzx.jpg


Test 2 day 4 only - drivers, Times, laps , tyres

https://pbs.twimg.com/media/D0mQd9RWkAAXSmf.png



Pirelli test 2 best times and compound

https://pbs.twimg.com/media/D0l6ioVX4AIlrlE.jpg


Summary of 2nd pre-season test - fastest times, tyres used, total number of laps - Drivers

https://pbs.twimg.com/media/D0mYIV5W0AAaCGx.png


All 8 days cumulative: fastest times, tyres used, total number of laps - Drivers

https://pbs.twimg.com/media/D0mgeJUWwAA9kCc.png

[Giallo 550]

Hamilton insists that Ferrari is half a second ahead at this time of the year but on the same breath, he says he accepts the challenge.

Here is how Rapper Boy "accepts" the challenge:

1. Ask the FIA to add more sensors to the red cars and/or scrutinize every inch a thousand times more to keep Ferrari engineers busy in answering FIA queries.
2. Use his team mate as his personal chicane to block the red cars when he is ahead.
3. Steal victory from the same team mate while professing to the world that he is the best driver the world has ever seen after the race.
4. if there are on track racing incidents or rule violations, ask the FIA to give the red cars the worst possible penalty while the lightest or a slap on the wrist penalty for the silver arrows.
5. Invite the Ferrari strategists to his garage home on the eve of a race and have a party with his super model friends.
6. Just let Ferrari screw up the 2nd half of the season, because they usually do anyways.

[mizf1]

Has anyone got autosport premium?

https://www.autosport.com/f1/feature...he-testing-war

thanks

[doublesixes]

Hi guys,

Forgive me for posting this question in this thread as I'm well aware that it's not topic-related but since most of the traffic takes place here, I think somebody may have the answers I'm after. This is my dilemma. I'm basically fed up by the lack of appropriate regular TV coverage of all of the broadcast F1 events (real-time FP, Qualy and Races), I'm pondering getting a subscription ($60 USD) from f1tv.formula1.com to remedy all of that.

Is anybody using them, has anybody used the service for these last 2019 Practice Sessions and if so, how was the experience? I'm aware that last year there were a few issues and I'm wondering if the technology has somewhat improved. Any feedback appreciated.

[mizf1]

Autosport last day review

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=KxeT3zbRozI

[jragona]

https://www.motorsport.com/f1/news/b...video/4346280/

[Noquarter]

Hamilton insists that Ferrari is half a second ahead at this time of the year but on the same breath, he says he accepts the challenge.

Here is how Rapper Boy "accepts" the challenge:

1. Ask the FIA to add more sensors to the red cars and/or scrutinize every inch a thousand times more to keep Ferrari engineers busy in answering FIA queries.
2. Use his team mate as his personal chicane to block the red cars when he is ahead.
3. Steal victory from the same team mate while professing to the world that he is the best driver the world has ever seen after the race.
4. if there are on track racing incidents or rule violations, ask the FIA to give the red cars the worst possible penalty while the lightest or a slap on the wrist penalty for the silver arrows.
5. Invite the Ferrari strategists to his garage home on the eve of a race and have a party with his super model friends.
6. Just let Ferrari screw up the 2nd half of the season, because they usually do anyways.

I hate him but he is bloody fast

[mizf1]

Benson actually wrote a good article

https://www.bbc.co.uk/sport/formula1/47423445

[vetalo]

It's a fact we have a good car and I hope luck will be on our side this year

[vetalo]

Ferrari fastest, Mercedes 'not perfect', Verstappen 'optimistic' - F1 testing analysis
By Andrew Benson BBC Chief F1 writer

Ferrari left Barcelona on Friday having proved they had the fastest car over two weeks of pre-season testing.

Lewis Hamilton said it. His Mercedes team said it. Red Bull's Pierre Gasly said it. And the numbers said it, pretty much however you looked at them.
Hamilton might have said that performance in testing should be taken "with a pinch of salt". But he also said that he thought the gap between his Mercedes team and Ferrari was "potentially half a second, something like that".
That sounds a lot, in the context of Mercedes winning the past five world titles, but it's certainly the way it looked.
The lap times
Let's get the caveats out of the way. Everyone who knows anything about Formula 1 knows that pre-season testing times are an unreliable guide to actual performance.
There are just too many variables - such as fuel loads, engine modes and track conditions - to be able to compare lap times across teams and be confident of having an accurate picture.
On the list of the fastest lap times for each team throughout winter testing, Ferrari and Mercedes look closely matched:

pic1.PNG

But as you dig deeper, the gap extends.
To try to eliminate some of the margin of error in this, we can look at when the lap time was set on a particular run of laps, and calculate the minimum amount of fuel the car must have had on board. It still might have had more in it, but it's a start.
In addition, allowing for the differences between the five tyre compounds available - which vary from team to team but are in the region of 0.4-0.7secs per compound depending on the tyre - not everyone's fastest lap was their headline lap time.

What you might call the fuel-and-tyre-corrected list looks like this:

PIC2.PNG

And the same applies when looking at race pace. This is the best way to judge pre-season performance because it's the running in which the cars are likely to be in the most-similar specification.
There is still a little room for variability - especially on how hard the teams are running the engines, and a small degree of fuel load - but it is much reduced. And as conditions vary from day to day, it's hard to compare runs that don't happen contemporaneously.
But, as it happens, Hamilton's team-mate Valtteri Bottas and Ferrari's Charles Leclerc did race simulations at more or less the same time as each other on Thursday, and the Ferrari was demonstrably quicker - by 0.334secs a lap on average.
Taking the stints one by one, Leclerc was quicker by 0.491secs, 0.577secs and 0.118secs.
By the end of the 'race', Leclerc would have beaten Bottas by about 20 seconds.
Those race runs were not directly comparable, because Bottas did his first stint on the medium-compound C3 tyre, before switching to the harder C2s for his final two stints, while Leclerc used C2s throughout.
But, interestingly, Vettel did a race simulation on Friday, and like Bottas he used the C3s in the first stint. His times on the two stints he did before stopping with an electrical failure were almost identical to Leclerc's.

The differences between the two cars

It would be unwise to draw too many firm conclusions from these times. Even if the performance seen is accurate, there is time for both teams to improve before the first race. And as one senior figure said: "Ferrari were quicker all last winter and then Mercedes went to Melbourne and blew them away."
But there is a potentially important difference between last year and this.
In 2018, although Ferrari topped the list of fastest times, Mercedes had done quicker race simulations, which is not the case this year.
On top of that, the Ferrari seems to be an easier car to work with and to drive than the Mercedes.
All test, Vettel and Leclerc were saying how well balanced the car was. It was quick right from the off, and remained so throughout the two weeks.
The Mercedes drivers, by contrast, were relatively struggling with their car. A dramatic aerodynamic upgrade for the second week improved it, but it was still not behaving as they wanted.
"From last week to this week," Bottas said, "definitely we have been able to improve the overall balance of the car through the speed range, overall grip, downforce and stability. But in all those areas we can still do better. It is not a perfect car yet."
It was also struggling with tyre usage. One of the reasons the Mercedes race simulations were slower than Ferrari's was that they were suffering more from 'graining' - where the surface tears, reducing grip.
Hamilton's conclusion was this: "Last year they arrived with a car working well but they have done even better this year. It's OK. We don't mind the challenge, it just means we have to work harder. I'm not worried or disappointed or anything. We have a hill to climb but we know how to do it."
But Ferrari team principal Mattia Binotto smelt a rat.
"I'm happy to know Hamilton believes we are faster and very strong," he said, "but I believe Mercedes will be very strong in Australia and it would be completely wrong to think we are faster than them. I am not expecting them to be behind us. I think they will be very, very close."
Are Mercedes likely to be as much as 0.5secs off Ferrari in Melbourne? Most would say not, given their strength. But the team themselves reckon the margin is somewhere in the region of 0.2-0.5secs, so it's intriguingly poised as the final preparations begin for the season-opening Australian Grand Prix from 15-17 March.

What about Red Bull?

Red Bull hoped their switch to Honda engines for this season would give them a step forward in 2019. They were not expecting to be title contenders, but they did believe they would be closer to the front.
Their testing performance is harder to read because they did not do any low-fuel, soft-tyre laps at all, and they did not complete any of their race simulations.
But Mercedes believe they and Red Bull are quite closely matched, and Max Verstappen sounded confident after completing his running.

"If we look to the longer runs, it looks all pretty promising," the Dutchman said. "I think we have a pretty good package. And also the engine seems to work really well. So I'm really happy about that.

"(Mercedes and Ferrari) are always going to be quick. I don't know where we will be but looking at the long-run pace, I'm optimistic."

What about the midfield?

The general belief was that the gap between the midfield teams and the front had reduced a little.
The times back this up. From being 1.5secs off the pace last year, the apparently quickest midfield team in testing - US-based Haas - were just under a second off this winter. And Toro Rosso, Renault and McLaren were all within just over 0.2secs of them.
Taking them individually, Haas had the fourth-fastest car last year, so there is no surprise they seem to be up there again, especially considering their close links with Ferrari, from whom they buy much of their car off the shelf.

Renault, after a low-key test achieving their primary aim of racking up lots of mileage, finally did some quick times on the final day. They look to have achieved their aim of moving closer to the front three teams, but will be looking for more once the season gets going.
Toro Rosso might seem to be surprisingly high up, given they finished ninth last season, but their car was genuinely quick on occasion last year, and this year they have gone down the Haas route and are buying as many parts as they can from parent team Red Bull.
That means the 2019 Toro Rosso is not far from being a 2018 Red Bull with a few changes for the new aerodynamic regulations. So, again, they ought to make a step forward. On the driver front, London-born Thai Alexander Albon made a strong impression and appears if anything to have been slightly quicker than his more experienced team-mate Daniil Kvyat.

McLaren, after a torrid 2018, had a much better winter and appear to have made progress.
The caveat to that is that Barcelona was one of their stronger circuits over the past two seasons - Fernando Alonso qualified seventh and eighth in 2017 and 2018 - so it is understandable that their main aim this winter has been to keep expectations in check, despite their improved performance and reliability compared to last winter.
Like Albon, British rookie Lando Norris showed strongly in testing, and was close to team-mate Carlos Sainz in pace.
"Some of the areas where we had quite a big weakness we've strengthened," Norris said. "I'm not saying it's perfect. But overall I think we have a better package to start the season with.

"There are still problems and things we suffer with. But I think we understand them and when we do change things the car is being affected in a positive way whereas last year we struggled a bit more to move forward."
Alfa Romeo - formerly Sauber - may look to have slipped back from the times but they are well within the margin of error for fuel loads, etc.
And Racing Point, formerly Force India, while looking slow, said from the outset that they were running a very basic car in testing and would have a major upgrade for the first race.

That leaves Williams, where the news does not look great at all. George Russell, the Formula 2 champion and another British rookie, set their quickest time, but he was under no illusions about where the team stood.

"I'd be lying if I said we were not the slowest at the moment," he said. "That is a reality."
Williams started testing two and a half days late and while they made up much of their mileage, Russell admitted: "We were a big step behind everybody else."
Williams say they have achieved some of their aims, in that the car lacks the handling vices of its predecessor and seems to respond to changes, which the 2018 car did not. Even so, it could be a long season for them.

[Noquarter]

I am disappointed with the attitude of Alfa Romeo in the last days of testing. I hope that Melbourne will be much better.