F1 - General discussion and 2017

[caroper]

HULKENBERG BACK OUT
The Renault breaks the silence.
He's still on intermediates, but he's electing to cool them on the straight wherever possible by seeking out a wet line.
Some dry patches on the circuit now.

SLICKS FOR RAIKKONEN
We thought the cross-over might not be too far away.
He's the first man to try out the slick tyres on the drying track.

Raikkonen's first lap on slicks is a 1m36.1s, four seconds off what he managed on intermediates earlier.

 

[caroper]

Scuderia Ferrari
@ScuderiaFerrari

#Kimi7 spraying water from the artificially wetted track #F1Testing

https://images.scribblelive.com/2017/3/2/14edefa3-bd1d-49fd-9aa0-3d35507b98bf_800.jpg

 

[caroper]

Hulkenberg logs a 1m36.891s on the intermediates, a new personal best for the day.

Raikkonen is settling into a groove on the slicks. He turns a 1m29.222s, followed by a 1m27.131s, the best time of the day so far.

Raikkonen improves again, lowering the benchmark to 1m25.939s.

PEREZ TO P3!
A faster track means Perez makes huge gains, too. Albeit still on inters.

KIMI FALLS SHORT
The run couldn't go on forever! Kimi finally fails to improve after slower second and third sectors.

 

[caroper]

KIMI BACK ON IT
A 1:25.707 for the Finn on that lap.

 

[caroper]

DRIVER TEAM TIME
1 Raikkonen Ferrari 1m25.707s
2 Verstappen Red Bull 1m29.867s
3 Perez Force India 1m31.315s
4 Grosjean Haas 1m32.946s
5 Hulkenberg Renault 1m36.273s
6 Giovinazzi Sauber 1m37.439s
7 Vandoorne McLaren 1m41.826s

 

[caroper]

Raikkonen pits at the end of the first run of the day on slick tyres, getting down to a 1m25.5s.
Hulkenberg continues to circulate on intermediates.

 

[caroper]

THAT'S NOT LOOKING VERY WET NOW

Renault Sport F1‏Verified account
@RenaultSportF1

One hour left for this morning's session!
#F1Testing
https://pbs.twimg.com/media/C56IVKGWMAEY6Wb.jpg

 

[caroper]

Perhaps now it's dry enough for slicks, Mercedes can finally cure that electrical fault that has kept it in the garage all day so far during the wet running.

We've been generous and not gone for 'electrical fault', but we'll leave you to make up your own minds! Hamilton said last night he wasn't keen on trying the Pirelli wets.

If the teams agreed to that run plan with Pirelli (the word "consider" is probably quite crucial, as it's hardly a mandate), then very few of them have supplied the tyre manufacturer with what it asked for this morning. While it's unlikely the water used was drinking-friendly, it probably could have been deployed for a better purpose than soaking a track that nobody really wanted to use this morning.

 

[caroper]

The McLaren returns to the track. It's been a while since we've seen Vandoorne in action ...before heading into the pits again.

 

[caroper]

Lewis Hamilton ✔ @LewisHamilton
Electrical fault kept us in the garage this morning, so I've decided with the team not to drive today as I wouldn't have learned much (1/2)

Lewis Hamilton ✔ @LewisHamilton
Shame not to drive but it's been a great few days. The guys have done an awesome job. Can't wait to be back in the car next week! (2/2)

Doesn't look like we'll be seeing him until next week!

 

[caroper]

AND HE'S BACK OUT AGAIN!
A quick in-and-out for Vandoorne. He went back out on ultra-soft tyres...before pitting again.
Grosjean also pits before heading straight back out.

Vandoorne is on slicks, but he's got aero sensors in front of the sidepods of the McLaren and is passing through the pits at the end of each lap. That's probably not a bad use of the conditions right now - low-speed aero runs.

 

[caroper]

My criticism of this wet test would that be nobody went from wets to intermediates at the time you would in a race, they were all in the garage waiting. With 10 cars potentially available, really they should have staggered the point at which they changed to get the maximum data. And it was the same with the change from inters to slicks. That's really all that this test would have been all about. I don't think the track was wet enough for aquaplaning. It would have been wet enough for the inters not to work if you put them on too early, but we never had rivers across the track as in in Brazil last year. The test went OK, nobody did anything stupid and the times looked consistent, so there didn't appear to be anything in the tyres biting people. So perhaps Pirelli at least got some beneficial information.

Edd Straw

 

[caroper]

Verstappen heads back out on a set of mediums for his first slick running of the day.

 

[caroper]

Of course, Valtteri Bottas will be replacing Lewis Hamilton in this afternoon's session - when that Mercedes electrical glitch should be sorted.

In on-track news it's rather quiet in Barcelona, with teams possibly just preparing for longer runs after lunch.

Sky Sports understands Mercedes have been running their 2017 engine in conservative power modes to be sure of complete reliability.

It’s not known if Mercedes have suffered engine component failures on their factory-based test dynos but a team source confirmed that failures are a desirable occurrence – the point about running engines on test beds is so that it happens close to home, where quick and accessible fixes can be applied, rather than on the track

Mercedes will introduce an upgraded engine for the season-opening Australian GP on March 26, meaning that while Bottas and Hamilton’s lap times in the W08 are already impressive, there is likely to be even more performance gains to come from the world champions –if the engine is reliable.

 

[Dave]

Of course, Valtteri Bottas will be replacing Lewis Hamilton in this afternoon's session - when that Mercedes electrical glitch should be sorted.

In on-track news it's rather quiet in Barcelona, with teams possibly just preparing for longer runs after lunch.

Sky Sports understands Mercedes have been running their 2017 engine in conservative power modes to be sure of complete reliability.

It’s not known if Mercedes have suffered engine component failures on their factory-based test dynos but a team source confirmed that failures are a desirable occurrence – the point about running engines on test beds is so that it happens close to home, where quick and accessible fixes can be applied, rather than on the track

Mercedes will introduce an upgraded engine for the season-opening Australian GP on March 26, meaning that while Bottas and Hamilton’s lap times in the W08 are already impressive, there is likely to be even more performance gains to come from the world champions –if the engine is reliable.

That news must make the other teams sooo happy

 

[caroper]

P2 FOR HULKENBERG
The Renault - equipped with soft tyres - goes second fastest. One second shy of Raikkonen's time.
GETTING CLOSER...
Hulkenberg is just two tenths away from Raikkonen now after his latest effort.
He's setting personal best sectors again...
NEARLY!
Hulkenberg sets a 1:25.628. One tenth away...

PEREZ TO P3
After a slow start to their day, Perez is now third with a 1:25.772.

PEREZ GOES FASTEST!
The Force India is in P1 thanks to a 1:24.893 lap from Sergio Perez.
He's lapping on the soft tyre with half an hour to go in the morning session.

 

[caroper]

Renault Sport F1 ✔ @RenaultSportF1

Next run, and we are sporting lovely #yellow @pirellisport boots for this one. #F1Testing

https://pbs.twimg.com/media/C56NTkLWYAEewiG.jpg

 

[caroper]

TWO ON TRACK
The former Force India team-mates Perez and Hulkenberg are still lapping the circuit.
No other takers yet.

HULKENBERG IMPROVING
He's up to P2 now and ahead of Riakkonen. 0.652 behind Perez at the moment.

IMPROVEMENTS!
Hulkenberg, Verstappen and Grosjean all beat their times.

THE BATTLE FOR P2
Verstappen takes second place, but is soon displaced by Hulkenberg, who is now within one tenth of Perez's effort.

Unsurprisingly, the personal best times continue to flood in on the timesheet.

Verstappen and Grosjean, who is on mediums, now in the 1:25-28 range too, while Hulkenberg improves again to get down to 1:25.390.

 

[caroper]

McLaren goes fastest! For about four seconds. Vandoorne posts a 1m24.3s on ultra-softs, which is soundly beaten by Raikkonen's 1m22.6s on softs.
1. Räikkönen Ferrari SF70-H 1:22.662 41 ●
2. Vandoorne McLaren MCL32 1:24.348 +1.686 23 ●

 

[caroper]

BOTTAS ON TRACK!
Valtteri Bottas is out on track a delayed morning for Mercedes. He's done an installation lap.