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Post by johnc on Feb 23, 2023 15:53:17 GMT
Good to see the cars out testing in Bahrain.
No change at the top with Verstappen topping the time sheets from Alonso and Hamilton. However very early days no doubt with lots of different options being tested but Verstappen did well over 100 laps so reliability and performance looks good in the Red Bull.
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Post by PetrolEd on Feb 24, 2023 9:04:32 GMT
Ferrari looked pretty good too so might be a repeat of last year.
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Post by Big Blue on Feb 24, 2023 9:30:57 GMT
That Aston is much changed from last year’s. I fancy Fernando will be an early season front runner just because he’s bloody minded.
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Post by Deleted on Feb 24, 2023 19:50:43 GMT
Apparently Ferrari are porpoising more than the rest of the teams ATM but nothing taken for granted until the first free practice and quali. Anyone setting up a season of guesswork yet? Considering it?
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Post by Eff One on Feb 28, 2023 12:18:38 GMT
Lots to look forward to. I think it will be business as usual at the front - Ferrari a little adrift of Red Bull - but the real intrigue for me lies in where Merc, Aston and Alpine stack up. Merc had a confusing test, Aston have clearly made a big step, and while Alpine were nowhere in raw pace terms, most onlookers seem to agree that they were holding back more than any other team.
As to the rest, everyone looks to have made a decent step except McLaren. I predict that only a touch of Lando magic will prevent both cars going out in Q1.
It looks like there will be four rookies on the grid, with Drugovich standing in for Stroll. I'm looking forward to seeing how they all get on.
It's been a long and shitty winter, can't wait.
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Post by PetrolEd on Feb 28, 2023 13:02:02 GMT
People are certainly talking Aston up which would be great to see. I'm predicting from fast to slow as follows
RedBull Ferrari Merc Aston Alpine Alfa romeo Haas McLaren Aplha tauri Williams
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Post by Sav on Mar 2, 2023 23:26:22 GMT
It will be interesting to see if the field has become more competitive, especially at the front. Aston would appear to be in a good place, and that sort of team will probably find things operationally slightly easier compared to Ferrari, Mercedes and Red Bull in the budget-cap era. The likes of Aston were not reaching the budget-cap in the first place, so they haven’t had to downsize their operation and had issues with car-upgrades during the season. I do fear that the current regulations will become like the 2014-regulations. 2014 had great racing, it was new for everyone. Each year after, the cars got better with more downforce, then the racing become worse in subsequent years. It feels like to me that the current cars can follow more effectively in turbulent air, but it’s not enough of a difference compared to the past. The cars are slower in a straight line, and slipstream less-effectively. We’ve gained something to an extent, but lost something as well in terms of racing. Due to the progress that always happens year-on-year, it is invertible that the 2023 cars will have more downforce, higher cornering speeds and shorter braking-zones – I can’t see how this will be good for racing. The signing of Frederic Vasseur was a great appointment for Ferrari. He is someone who has great experience of running successful teams, having run ART in GP2 and other junior championships for years. Ferrari has someone who can run a team, rather than promoting engineers to be the team principal like Binotto. It would be unlikely to actually happen, but if Hamilton were ever to go to Ferrari, Vasseur would be the only person who could make it happen. Hamilton won his GP2 title with ART, and they seemingly still keep in touch. Vasseur is also used to economising, essential in the budget-cap era.
Interesting hearing some of the double-standards lately in relation to Andretti/GM joining F1. Apparently the GM-involvement for Andretti is perceived to merely be a branding-exercise with Cadillac. It will be interesting to see how Ford will be technically involved with the 2026 powertrain for Red Bull. Red Bull has been building an engine factory in Milton Keynes for a few years. Will Ford just be providing finance and get branding-rights, how it will it be different to GM’s partnership with Andretti? We’ve had ‘Alfa Romeo’, ‘Alpine’ supposedly…
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Post by Alex on Mar 3, 2023 12:21:46 GMT
I think the teams will be a lot closer with the exception of Red Bull. Or perhaps more pertinently Max. I can see him buggering off into the distance for at least the first half of the season but Perez being more likely to be drawn into the following pack. Hopefully it won't just be a best of the rest championship but I suspect it will be this year. Hopefully by 2024 someone will be able to get together a package that truly challenges Max so he doesn't do what Lewis did during the first hybrid era and spend several years just running away with the title. Whilst that was great for Lewis fans and indeed for Lewis himself, it didn't help the sport and it was the 2021 championship where he and Max were in a matched title battle that got the sport back on the map. A lot of new fans will have been put off by the farce of Abu Dhabi and Max's runaway season in 22 so a return to a close championship with 2 or even better 3 drivers going the distance in terms of being contenders would start to bring much more excitement to the sport.
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Post by Big Blue on Mar 3, 2023 16:43:40 GMT
Alonso doing Alonso things this afternoon. Even Lance was quick enough. I’m assuming RBR didn’t use the top 3000 revs though.
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Post by Deleted on Mar 4, 2023 11:24:40 GMT
I thought the season started later this month, I might even have missed the opener.
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Post by Martin on Mar 4, 2023 12:59:54 GMT
I thought the season started later this month, I might even have missed the opener. First race is tomorrow
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Post by Alex on Mar 4, 2023 23:51:31 GMT
I thought the season started later this month, I might even have missed the opener. Max's first win of the season is tomorrow FYP
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Post by Martin on Mar 5, 2023 6:43:02 GMT
Max's first win of the season is tomorrow FYP Unfortunately you’re probably right…
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Post by Deleted on Mar 5, 2023 10:41:27 GMT
Nax will have his first DNF of the season today, well, I can hope....... No, not likely is it. Interesting that RB have had a shed load of wind tunnel testing removed from their operating budget but still have zero defects. Did they just add this time during the end of last season?
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Post by Alex on Mar 5, 2023 17:35:27 GMT
I don't think it was any great achievement to have guessed that one correctly. RB had the best car last year by some margin so less wind tunnel time wasn't going to affect them too much as they just needed to improve what was already the fastest car whereas everyone else with extra development time needs to use most of that just to catch up with where RB were last year. The effects may be felt later in the season as other teams have more scope to develop their cars through the season.
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Post by Big Blue on Mar 5, 2023 19:50:30 GMT
Alonso doing Alonso things this afternoon. Even Lance was quick enough. Nando continued doing Nando things on Sunday. Unbelievably good today. Even Lance was quick enough.
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Post by PetrolEd on Mar 6, 2023 9:19:56 GMT
Its a shame non of the other teams can live with RB currently, I see the season being over by Hungary if nobody else steps up. Shame for Leclerc and what happened to Sainz to lose all his pace?
Delighted for Nando, hopefully we will all be wrong and Lawrence and Fred become best buddies and there won't be a self destruction within the team. Chapeau to Stroll Jr for his performance too, can't have been comfortable for him with all his injuries.
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Post by Deleted on Mar 6, 2023 14:38:55 GMT
It was odd that Toto was so down after FP that he declared the chassis a bust already.
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Post by alf on Mar 8, 2023 10:49:26 GMT
I could be sniffy and say that the first and second place teams were the ones that breached the budget cap rules last year, but that's largely as I think Max is a prick (treating other people like crap on track then crying when it happens to him), and that Lewis (not that I'm a major fan of his) was very hard done by a couple of years ago.
You get the feeling that RBR have pace in hand, as they seemed to all of last year, it's hard to say how they managed it with all the regs around restricted engine development - and Honda not even being a full partner any more (allegedly) - I suspect until they switch to Ford, they will be the ones to beat. They are in the position Mercedes were a few years ago where I'm not sure they even want to show their full pace, they'll get it wrong at certain tracks I expect, but for the sake of an interesting season I hope its closer than it seems. Mercedes being shit is not even interesting a second time, as it was last year.
I'm a McLaren fan and like Lando Norris, so there was not much to cheer for me - they have not had a great start either, though the race was a lot better than testing!
The most interesting thing is why Mercedes are sticking with an aero design direction totally at odds with everyone else... What do they think it will bring them, and when? I can't believe in such a cutthroat sport that the chief designer was allowed to keep at it. He must be a master of persuasion.........
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Post by johnc on Mar 8, 2023 11:44:24 GMT
I suppose the potential benefit of having a contrarian design is that it blows your opposition out the water if it works. There must have been some major advantages (probably a slippier design) but it has come at the expense of downforce, stability and for some reason straight line speed. Maybe others have moved their engine development on at a much faster pace.
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Post by Deleted on Mar 8, 2023 16:39:00 GMT
Not much wrong with the Merc powerplant.
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