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Formula 1 2018: General Discussion Thread

boardsuser1

Probably time to open a new thread for the 2018 season?

Silly season is still in full swing as we all know with Williams and Sauber not having confirmed their line ups as yet.

What are people's opinions on the Halo and Alfa Romeo for 2018?

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Mike Litoris

Alonso's just done a 1:16.720! :eek:

Scratch that he cut the track!

billybonkers

Mike Litoris wrote: »

Alonso's just done a 1:16.720! :eek:

Wow, hope he didnt cut the chicane!

billybonkers

What an end to testing though

Tockman

Lap time deleted!

Mike Litoris

Harika wrote: »

This twitter guy also posted laptimes of the long runs.

:eek:

Hey, have you got a link to that guys page?

Harika

Mike Litoris wrote: »

Hey, have you got a link to that guys page?

F1debrief from twitter above

El_Duderino 09

Mike Litoris wrote: »

Looking at those times posted by Harika and providing they were on similar fuel loads the Mercs are still a fair bit ahead. Looks nifty in the final stint.
On a positive note the McLaren doesn't look too far behind the Red Bull and Ferraris. Hopefully it is the case as the 3 teams have 5 of the best racers on the grid. Promising for big battles behind the Mercs this year.

Mercedes is miles ahead going by those race simulations. They're faster even on the harder tyres. I wonder if the other teams will even close the gap to Mercedes?

Glad to see McLaren getting a race simulation together.

Frankie Lee

From looking at the pace of Mercedes on the long runs there doesn't seem to be any point to having a season as they are in a separate formula. Red Bull and Ferrari to compete against each other and little separating the rest of the field excluding Sauber.

skipper_G

The Mercs did more than 1000 laps in testing. Scary how far ahead of the others they were on that front

Infoanon

There was murmurings yesterday evening along the lines of 'how is Kubica' helping Williams (against the backdrop of Sirotkin and Stroll struggling).

Then suddenly today it is decided by Robert Kubica that he will forgo testing to allow Stroll more seat time.

Now a) Kubica sponsors will heve already paid for testing time and b) F1 drivers are not nice guys.

Robert Kubica is clearly the quickest of the William drivers (and has no stamina issues) but perhaps it has dawned on Williams that Lance and Sergey will be in the cars in Aus and they need as much seat time as possible.
Lance was slow again today and there are numerous reports that Sergey was over driving.
In time the politicking will get out but as of now Williams are in big trouble with the 9th fastest car and the slowest driver.

El_Duderino 09

Infoanon wrote: »

There was murmurings yesterday evening along the lines of 'how is Kubica' helping Williams (against the backdrop of Sirotkin and Stroll struggling).

Then suddenly today it is decided by Robert Kubica that he will forgo testing to allow Stroll more seat time.

Now a) Kubica sponsors will heve already paid for testing time and b) F1 drivers are not nice guys.

Robert Kubica is clearly the quickest of the William drivers (and has no stamina issues) but perhaps it has dawned on Williams that Lance and Sergey will be in the cars in Aus and they need as much seat time as possible.
Lance was slow again today and there are numerous reports that Sergey was over driving.
In time the politicking will get out but as of now Williams are in big trouble with the 9th fastest car and the slowest driver.

Another possibility is that he wasn’t able for the testing or wasn’t fast enough. We don’t know.

As much as we would like Kubica to be fast enough to get a drive, we don’t know whether or not he is.

Joe Saward said the main reason he didn’t get the drive over Sergei was because he was 0.4s slower than Stroll in the test last year.

Infoanon

El_Duderino 09 wrote: »

Another possibility is that he wasn’t able for the testing or wasn’t fast enough. We don’t know.

As much as we would like Kubica to be fast enough to get a drive, we don’t know whether or not he is.

Joe Saward said the main reason he didn’t get the drive over Sergei was because he was 0.4s slower than Stroll in the test last year.

Fairly obvious that Robert Kubica was well able for testing and has had no stamina issues - as for being fast enough - figure from yesterday are telling and remember that Kubica was faster then Sergey when being evaluated by Renault.
IIRC there was a comment that Massa was a second faster than Stroll in Abu Dhabi so on that basis Kubica gap to Stroll was less than Massas.......think its generally accepted that Stroll is the slowest of the Williams drivers.

ayux4rj6zql2ph

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El_Duderino 09

Infoanon wrote: »

Fairly obvious that Robert Kubica was well able for testing and has had no stamina issues - as for being fast enough - figure from yesterday are telling and remember that Kubica was faster then Sergey when being evaluated by Renault.
IIRC there was a comment that Massa was a second faster than Stroll in Abu Dhabi so on that basis Kubica gap to Stroll was less than Massas.......think its generally accepted that Stroll is the slowest of the Williams drivers.

Why is it obvious that he is well able for testing and has no stamina issues? That goes with a hefty slice of wishful thinking because we don’t have the data to say that.

I didn’t know he was faster than Sergei in the Renault test. Buu I did hear Massa was a second faster than Stroll (0.9s according to Joe Saward) and Stroll was 0.4 faster than Kubica. So according to that data, Kubica was 1.3s per lap slower than Massa in Abu Dhabi.

Do we have patchy information that also happens to conflict. The idea that anything is clear or obvious is just wrong.

I don’t fault anyone for wanting to believe Kubica is definitely a fast driver, but looking at it objectively, we don’t have enough info to make that determination without sprinkling a good handful of wishful thinking.

skipper_G

Prisoner 6753 wrote: »

Stroll’s father is indirectly controlling that team to a massive extent which is disappointing.How much were those private tests that he paid for last year to have the Williams crew present?The boy stood on the podium once and was very lucky to do so

I don't believe Williams' claims that Sirotkin was faster in the end of season test when adjusted for the variables, same as I don't believe it was Kubica's idea not to run today. But to claim Stroll's father controls the team directly or indirectly is ludicrous imo

ayux4rj6zql2ph

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AMKC

Frankie Lee wrote: »

From looking at the pace of Mercedes on the long runs there doesn't seem to be any point to having a season as they are in a separate formula. Red Bull and Ferrari to compete against each other and little separating the rest of the field excluding Sauber.

I think Sauber could do well this year. There car has some very interesting design elements to it like the clever design of the nose. There front suspension also has a whole new design to it that's very clever and some very cleverly designed side pods and air inlets. They even have some extra inlets on the side pods that are very clever and not going to be something that will be easy to copy.
So do not be surprised if Sauber do well on some tracks and even beat the likes of Williams and Force India. I hope all teams do well this year because it would make the recing really exciting if they are fighting all the time or at least most of it during races and qualifying.

Infoanon

El_Duderino 09 wrote: »

Why is it obvious that he is well able for testing and has no stamina issues? That goes with a hefty slice of wishful thinking because we don’t have the data to say that.

2 races distances in Hungary testing would put stamina issues beyond doubt.

Was Kubica the best option for Williams ? - probably not which is why Renault chose Sainz but the notion that Sergey and Stroll is a better option than Kubica is misleading and Williams did themselves no favours by feeding questionable stories to the media over the Christmas period.

Sauber - look reliable but speed is lacking.

El_Duderino 09

Infoanon wrote: »

El_Duderino 09 wrote: »

Why is it obvious that he is well able for testing and has no stamina issues? That goes with a hefty slice of wishful thinking because we don’t have the data to say that.

2 races distances in Hungary testing would put stamina issues beyond doubt.

Was Kubica the best option for Williams ? - probably not which is why Renault chose Sainz but the notion that Sergey and Stroll is a better option than Kubica is misleading and Williams did themselves no favours by feeding questionable stories to the media over the Christmas period..

2 race distances is great but that's not the end of it. For instance, what was his pace over those 2 race distances? Was he in physical pain? Was he in a lot of pain the next day? Would he be able to do 2 full race weekends in a row at full pace (3 practice, qualifying and a race)?

The answer to all those questions is we don't know.

Until we see Sergey Vs Stroll, we won't know how good he is. I think the real test of Kubica will be whether he gets a drive for next year. The other teams will have enough information to make a decision about him.

recyclebin

Now that testing is over, is it time for predictions for the constructors championship? My prediction is:

1 Mercedes
2 Ferrari
3 Red Bull
4 McLaren
5 Renault
6 Haas
7 Toro Rosso
8 Force India
9 Williams
10 Sauber

mickdw

Williams could beat hass and toro Rosso by being consistent.

ayux4rj6zql2ph

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Ajsoprano

Lads it’s testing. Kubica has more experience. That’s all it is.

seamusk84

If McLaren can hold the car and engine together I think that is a seriously tidy package with Alonso at wheel. It might take them a few races to have decent reliability though.
Delighted to see that speed on the final day anyway.

I've had over ten years of disappointment supporting Alonso, would love for that to change this year.

El_Duderino 09

I don’t see the evidence that Renault engine will be quick this year. Last year they had some pace but had to retune the engine to stop it blowing up towards the end of the season. Reliability hasn’t been solid for Renault in testing do I’d say there’s no evidence that they will actually close the gap to Mercedes.

For that reason I think Force India will keep 4th place in the constructors champion. Solid drivers too. Renault vs McLaren will be interesting.

Infoanon

Ajsoprano wrote: »

Lads it’s testing. Kubica has more experience. That’s all it is.

Kubica does not have experience of the modern F1 cars .

Infoanon

El_Duderino 09 wrote: »

I don’t see the evidence that Renault engine will be quick this year. Last year they had some pace but had to retune the engine to stop it blowing up towards the end of the season. Reliability hasn’t been solid for Renault in testing do I’d say there’s no evidence that they will actually close the gap to Mercedes.

For that reason I think Force India will keep 4th place in the constructors champion. Solid drivers too. Renault vs McLaren will be interesting.

Think Red Bull will be up there, McLaren have woeful reliability buti expect long term best of the rest. On testing form Mercedes are clear favourites but Red Bull have pace ,Ferrari will challenge them and then there is the rest, Haas has surprised and Renault have upped their game. Force India,like last year, have had a slow start.Sauber and Williams are off the pace.

Ajsoprano

Infoanon wrote: »

Kubica does not have experience of the modern F1 cars .

He can give better feedback than the other two lads regards handling and power. To think it’s some kind of conspiracy is a bit mad. Was it alan Prost who was great at testing? I believe kimi is kept at Ferrari for the same reason.

Ghost Train

There's very limited time in the car for Kubica this year. I guess there might be a 10 or 20% chance he might need to step in during the year and he's an experienced driver to have there. If one of the younger drivers don't perform we might see him in the car late in the year or next year. At the moment I wouldn't read too much into the lap times or Kubica giving up his morning session

El_Duderino 09

The Lotus guy I was listening to said that Renault actually downsized it's engine department during the period of red bull dominance. During the same period, Mercedes was enlarging it's department to develop the hybrid. So by the time it came to develop the new 2014 hybrid engines Renault had a relatively small team. He said ' I don't mean to imply the French were arrogant but they just presumed that since they had build a good engine in 2010-2013 , they would just build a fast hybrid engine too'.

They turned up to the first test with an engine that had completely underestimated the loads involved. The KERS shaft twisted and broke as soon as it was engaged. The boar hole was set so it needed a substantial redesign to put in a bigger KERS shaft.

Sorry for banging on about that interview but it was one of the most insightful pieces I've heard in the off season.