F1 - General discussion and 2017

[caroper]

Slowly but surely, Haas are closing in on their engine suppliers Ferrari.

Romain Grosjean moves to within 0.3s and is up to second.

Grosjean and Giovinazzi have fallen off the pace into the 1m40s and 1m41s now. Not great track conditions out there at the moment with the majority of water gone, but the track not dry enough for slicks.

 

[caroper]

JUST GIO...
Only Sauber out at the moment, he's about to start his 25th lap of the day.

 

[caroper]

So what exactly is different about these wet and intermediate tyres from Pirelli teams have been trying out this morning?

Here is how Pirelli explained today's plan earlier in the week:

"We want to go through all the conditions, from extreme wet to intermediate to dry in the afternoon," said Mario Isola. "This is useful to the teams to assess the crossover [point], it's important for them to define that crossover.

"The tyres are different, so the numbers are not the same, and we believe it is important to give them this opportunity to assess this."

 

[caroper]

LAP COUNT
The mileage contest is quite close so far...
Red Bull Racing - 27 laps
Sauber - 26 laps
Haas - 25 laps
Ferrari - 23 laps
Renault - 18 laps
McLaren - 18 laps
Toro Rosso - 1 lap
Mercedes - 0 laps
Force India - 0 laps
Williams - 0 laps

Let's see that by power unit...
Ferrari - 75 laps
Renault - 46 laps
Honda - 18 laps
Mercedes - 0 laps
A bad start for Mercedes power so far...

 

[caroper]

No sign of a McLaren in a while, with Stoffel Vandoorne completing 18 laps early on before heading back to the pits.

Their struggles this week have been well documented, though Eric Boullier laughed off rumours that they would 'divorce' Honda before the start of the season.

Here's what Ted Kravitz had to say about it on SSNHQ...

“Where is their alternative? Do they go back to Mercedes-Benz and say the last few years have been a terrible mistake, we'd like to go back with you? Or do they go to Renault or Ferrari? It's unlikely. If they were to divorce with Honda they'd want to go to the class leading power in Mercedes.

“Can they do it? Yes, I suppose so. Is it embarrassing? Yes. Does it go against everything they've said for the last three years? Yes.

“It's pressure being put on. I don't think they're serious just yet about starting divorce proceedings, but if they don't start to see signs of progress from Japan then they'll have to think a bit more about whether this is going to work long term. There’s no evidence so far that Honda can deliver, medium to long term, a power level to match Mercedes.”

 

[caroper]

Into the final two hours of this morning session and it seems teams may have seen enough of the wet conditions for one day, as there are no cars out on track.

The inters-dry crossover is probably close, if not reached already, so it may well not be long before the full dry tyre running recommences.

Silence on track is broken by Grosjean's Haas heading back out for its 26th lap of the day.

 

[Agent_Smith]

Don't McLaren develop their own engines for their sportscars (MP4-12C, 650S etc), not to mention the hybrid in the P1? Surely they can develop their own engine then for their F1 car? Or are McLaren F1 and McLaren Road two separate and independent entities?

 

[caroper]

That's a big improvement from Grosjean - still on intermediates. He's down to a 1m32.946s.

1. Grosjean Haas F1 VF-17 1:32.946 27 ●
2. Räikkönen Ferrari SF70-H 1:36.041 +3.095 23 ● PIT
3. Giovinazzi Sauber C36 1:37.439 +4.493 28 ● PIT
4. Hülkenberg Renault RS17 1:38.107 +5.161 18 ● PIT
5. Verstappen Red Bull Racing RB13 1:38.148 +5.202 27 ● PIT
6. Vandoorne McLaren MCL32 1:41.826 +8.880 18 ● PIT
7. Kvyat Toro Rosso STR12 no time 1 ● PIT

GROSJEAN GOES THREE SECONDS CLEAR!
A huge amount of lap time has been found by the Haas driver.
He obliterates the previous benchmark by three seconds

 

[caroper]

Don't McLaren develop their own engines for their sportscars (MP4-12C, 650S etc), not to mention the hybrid in the P1? Surely they can develop their own engine then for their F1 car? Or are McLaren F1 and McLaren Road two separate and independent entities?

Separate entities. But I agree and that is what I expected to happen when the break with Mercedes was announced.
It may still happen, I hope it happens.

 

[caroper]

Another team allergic to the wet?

Force India are about to get their day's running underway, with Sergio Perez in the car this morning.

PEREZ VENTURES OUT...
The Force India is seen for the first time today as Perez takes the car for an installation lap.

RAIKKONEN BACK OUT
Ferrari out on track again. Still intermediate conditions.

Wets for Force India on that installation lap. Someone should have told the team it dried out quite a while ago while the VJM10 was tucked up in the garage!

 

[Dave]

Don't McLaren develop their own engines for their sportscars (MP4-12C, 650S etc), not to mention the hybrid in the P1? Surely they can develop their own engine then for their F1 car? Or are McLaren F1 and McLaren Road two separate and independent entities?

They are 2 separate companies, the McLaren Group only owns around 3% of McLaren Automotive.

 

[Agent_Smith]

Separate entities. But I agree and that is what I expected to happen when the break with Mercedes was announced.
It may still happen, I hope it happens.

*cough* McLaren BMW *cough*

 

[caroper]

RAIKKONEN BACK ON TOP
Purple sectors across the first two sectors for Kimi.
He ends Grosjean's time at the top with a 1:32.026, almost one second faster.

 

[caroper]

*cough* McLaren BMW *cough*

more like McLaren VW at the moment.....

 

[caroper]

I would probably get shot of the intermediates now and onto slicks, as the track is 10 seconds from a reasonable dry lap time. It might be fractionally early, but in a race situation, as long as you'll stay on the road you'll be in a position to go quicker when the track is ready. It might be a second or two away, but I suspect you'd probably be able to do a 1m32.0s, like Raikkonen has done, on slicks on this track right now.

Gary Anderson

 

[caroper]

VERSTAPPEN OUT TOO
Red Bull back on track. Will Verstappen push for first place?

HE ANSWER IS...YES HE IS!
Purple sector one...purple sector two...and...it's P1 for Verstappen by over two seconds!
His lap time drops to a 1:29.867...we're wondering when slick tyre territory is...

 

[caroper]

McLaren
@McLarenF1

A slight delay in play this morning as we make a few tweaks and setup changes to the car. Stoff will be back out on track soon.

https://images.scribblelive.com/2017/3/2/a6b8f060-a4c0-45f8-97e7-d9b39ae7ff4b_800.jpg

 

[caroper]

DRIVER TEAM CHASSIS TIME DIFF. #
1. Verstappen Red Bull Racing RB13 1:29.867 30 ● PIT
2. Räikkönen Ferrari SF70-H 1:32.026 +2.159 28 ● PIT
3. Grosjean Haas F1 VF-17 1:32.946 +3.079 33 ● PIT
4. Giovinazzi Sauber C36 1:37.439 +7.572 28 ● PIT
5. Hülkenberg Renault RS17 1:38.107 +8.240 18 ● PIT
6. Vandoorne McLaren MCL32 1:41.826 +11.959 18 ● PIT
7. Perez Force India VJM10 no time 2 ●

 

[caroper]

PEREZ'S FIRST TIMED LAP...
...is a 1:40.482 on the wet tyre. That's about to be beaten, though.
A 1:39.430 for the Mexican now.
He's the only driver on the track.
A 1:38.342 for Perez now. He remains in sixth place.

Perez gathering valuable data about how the full wet performs on an almost-dry circuit. Being less tongue-in-cheek about it, Force India probably doesn't want to burn up other more useful tyre types at this stage in its programme today.

 

[caroper]

ALL'S QUIET AGAIN...
No cars on track at the moment