F1 - General discussion and 2017

[caroper]

The sun is still beating down here, drying the track pretty quickly even with no cars going round. So all in all this wet test is going well. Air temperature is 10.5 degrees, track 29.3.

 

[caroper]

A FEW TAKE TO THE TRACK
Verstappen is out and setting personal best times on the intermediates.
Raikkonen and Grosjean are also out.

VERSTAPPEN IMPROVES

The first intermediate time of the day is a 1m38.2s, pretty much a two-second improvement from Verstappen's previous best on the full wets.

Grosjean pits.

Verstappen is slightly slower next time around with a 1m38.6s on this first intermediate run of the day.

 

[caroper]

Verstappen (inters) and Raikkonen (wets) return to the pits, with Red Bull keeping up appearances by pointlessly parking its car behind screens that don't particularly obscure its view.

 

[caroper]

SEVEN OUT OF TEN
Three teams haven't run so far today.
Mercedes and Force India haven't left the pits yet.
Williams won't be running today at all following chassis damage on the Williams FW40 from Stroll's crash yesterday.

 

[caroper]

speed trap

1. Verstappen 263.4
2. Hülkenberg 260.8
3. Giovinazzi 260.8
4. Räikkönen 260.8
5. Vandoorne 259.6
6. Grosjean 256.5

 

[caroper]

ACTIVITY
Hulkenberg and Grosjean are back out on track.

Intermediates for Hulkenberg now. We've probably seen the last of the full wets today.

Grosjean is out on the inters as well. Will the teams be more interested in trying these tyres than they were for the run-behind-the-safety car compound (also known as full wet)?

 

[caroper]

P2 FOR HULKENBERG
Times are falling...
Hulkenberg goes second with a 1:39.113.
Grosjean improving too...

 

[caroper]

Hulkenberg improves to second, 0.8s behind Verstappen, with his first attempt on intermediates. Grosjean scrambles out of the final chicane a bit, coming across the line 1.5s down to move into third.

1. Verstappen Red Bull Racing RB13 1:38.286 22 ● PIT
2. Hülkenberg Renault RS17 1:39.113 +0.827 10 ●
3. Grosjean Haas F1 VF-17 1:39.863 +1.577 11 ●

 

[caroper]

P3 FOR GROSJEAN
Both drivers improve.
'The Hulk' is down to a 1:38.561.
Romain sets a 1:39.863.

 

[caroper]

Hulkenberg is a well-known wet weather star of the current crop of grand prix drivers, and while he's probably not having to be at the top of his game today, he has just gone quickest with a 1m38.1s.

Renault go 0.179 clear at the top thanks to Hulkenberg's latest effort.

 

[caroper]

VERSTAPPEN BACK OUT
It's intermediate tyres all round for all three drivers on-track.
That being said, Grosjean now pits.

 

[caroper]

I hear Toro Rosso has had to stop to change its engine as a precaution. Yet another setback for a team that has struggled with reliability this week.

Ben Anderson

 

[caroper]

VERSTAPPEN LIGHTING UP THE TIMING SCREENS...
...but he fails to improve.
Giovinazzi is back on track.
Hulkenberg pits.

 

[caroper]

Hulkenberg is fastest at the moment, and he's of the drivers who didn’t get their opportunity at the right time. His A1GP stuff and the way he came into F1, he was very good. If the doors opened for him in the right places I’m sure he’d be a world champion by now. You can only go so long with the door not opening for you before you start to lose something. But Renault could be the chance to change that, it’s one of the few works teams on the grid so it’s up to him to make it count.

Gary Anderson

 

[caroper]

Slight improvement for Verstappen, who is 0.041s down on Hulkenberg now.
Giovinazzi goes fastest on intermediates, searching for water down the inside of the main straight as he crosses the line.
And now Raikkonen goes fastest with a 1m36.5s. We can already see a dry line developing in the final corner.

PURPLE SECTORS FOR KIMI!
He improves again with purple first and second sectors.
The benchmark is now a 1:36.041.
He might well be on a quicker lap, too...

Raikkonen improves by another half a second next time around - he's 1.3s clear of Giovinazzi now. At least we have four cars on track together, which is an improvement on the 'full wet' portion of this test day.

 

[caroper]

Day Four timesheet (9.52am UK time):
1) Kimi Raikkonen, Ferrari, 17 laps, 1:36.041;
2) Antonio Giovinazzi, Sauber, 14 laps, 1:37.439;
3) Nico Hulkenberg, Renault, 16 laps, 1:38.107;
4) Max Verstappen, Red Bull, 27 laps, 1:38.148;
5) Romain Grosjean, Haas, 15 laps, 1:39.863;
6) Stoffel Vandoorne, McLaren, 18 laps, 1:41.826;
7) Daniil Kvyat, Toro Rosso, 1 lap, No time

No laps: Lewis Hamilton, Mercedes; Sergio Perez, Force India.

 

[caroper]

NO GAINS...
A purple first sector, but no more gains from Kimi.
Hulkenberg and Grosjean are back on track, with the Haas driver improving.

Giovinazzi is in his second proper day of F1 testing with Sauber. Wehrlein is expected to resume duties next week. Pic: LAT
https://images.scribblelive.com/2017/3/2/ca69fcc8-7762-48c5-952e-fe88bc3795a2_800.jpg

 

[caroper]

GROSJEAN TO P2
The Haas driver is 0.269 behind Raikkonen's time...and he's going quicker again.
It's a Ferrari engine fest out there right now.

No improvements at the moment as the three Ferrari-powered cars basically get in each other's way, pushing them back into the 1m38-39s.

Raikkonen bails out of that mini-battle, leaving Ferrari customers Haas and Sauber to circulate together.

 

[caroper]

1. Räikkönen Ferrari SF70-H 1:36.041 23 ● PIT
2. Grosjean Haas F1 VF-17 1:36.310 +0.269 22 ●
3. Giovinazzi Sauber C36 1:37.439 +1.398 21 ●
4. Hülkenberg Renault RS17 1:38.107 +2.066 18 ● PIT
5. Verstappen Red Bull Racing RB13 1:38.148 +2.107 27 ● PIT
6. Vandoorne McLaren MCL32 1:41.826 +5.785 18 ● PIT
7. Kvyat Toro Rosso STR12 no time 1 ● PIT

 

[caroper]

No Mercedes powered teams have ventured out today.

Williams we know have no chassis and Mercedes have an electrical problem but I wonder if the electrical problem also effects Force India or if they didn't want to risk wet running.