F1 - General discussion and 2017

A 1m21.416s from Hamilton after backing off. Not sure if this is the precursor to a longer stint to be honest – it's following the pattern of a number of four- or five-lap runs we've seen at other times in testing.

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This is a longer run – Hamilton's pitboard reads "L13" as he flashes past next time around, and it's counting down.
 
Stroll and Perez are also back out there. Hamilton's up to 28 laps for the afternoon.
 
Where, oh where, has that McLaren-Honda got to again?

It's been another period of lengthy inactivity.

We await confirmation as to why, but this is quickly turning into the umpteenth forgettable day of winter testing. Fernando Alonso remains marooned on 27 laps and 12th place on the timesheets.
 
Hamilton's just fallen into the 1m23s after three consecutive 1m22s. Excluding two laps with errors, he averaged a 1m22.3s over 12 laps yesterday.

"Ericsson's on fire. The timing screens are terrified, Ericsson's on fire." A personal best 1m23.042s for the Sauber man, though he's still 13th.

Stroll kicks off his latest run with two personal best sectors.

Stroll pumps in a personal best 1m22.357s. That moves him into ninth.

MCLAREN AND HONDA HAVE A SCHEME
Despite McLaren only setting 27 laps, the team have told reporters that it is all part of their running (or lack of running) plan.
 
Stroll's backed off, and he's started his next lap with a personal best first sector.

Marcus Ericsson has improved his time to a 1:25.042 on the medium compound.
 
More problems for McLaren?

Fernando Alonso has been in the pits for some time now and there has been no word on when he is coming out again other than the team saying it will be “this afternoon”.

Word on the street is that it’s some form of problem with the engine again but that the floor is going on again now. But a Honda spokeswoman denied this, saying: “There is nothing wrong today. We’ve got lots to get through after our limited running last week, so just busy changing things on the car. We're going through our run-plan as planned.”

Andrew Benson
 
Stroll improves again, moving within three seconds of Bottas's benchmark on a 1m22.217s.

The Red Bull lives! Verstappen emerges from the garage and takes to the track.

Afternoon runners Hamilton and Stroll have already cruised past Alonso's day total in the McLaren...

Still yet to see the MCL32 this side of lunch.
 
McLaren
@McLarenF1
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Fernando's back in the car and ready to go. The afternoon's run plan continues. #F1Testing
 
The Red Bull is wheeled into the garage after that installation lap. Hopefully no further issues and we'll see Verstappen again this afternoon.
 
So we have Raikkonen and Alonso on flying laps and Hamilton just joining them on the circuit.
 
Hamilton's run on soft tyres trailed into the 1m25s but otherwise it seemed a solid stint. Wonder how long this one will be.

Hamilton's on ultra-softs and there's no pitboard. Proper flying lap imminent?

Alonso pits in the McLaren.

Raikkonen's out there on medium tyres. He didn't do the sort of long-run work on those this morning that we saw from Vettel. Could have been waiting for the track to improve.

RED FLAG.
 
caroper said:
Hamilton's run on soft tyres trailed into the 1m25s but otherwise it seemed a solid stint. Wonder how long this one will be.

Hamilton's on ultra-softs and there's no pitboard. Proper flying lap imminent?

Alonso pits in the McLaren.

Raikkonen's out there on medium tyres. He didn't do the sort of long-run work on those this morning that we saw from Vettel. Could have been waiting for the track to improve.

RED FLAG.
Click to expand...

Oh oh... Stroll?
 
Looks like Raikkonen's off on the exit of Turn 3. He's not finished the first sector, so we're pretty confident that's where he is.
 
It's Raikkonen, he's gone across the gravel and into the barriers.

Raikkonen's gone completely across the gravel – but the CCTV imagery is inconclusive, we don't know if he's nudged the tyre wall or not.
 
Marshals surrounding the Ferrari and Raikkonen's out of the car (and out of picture). A truck's on the scene now too to get on with the recovery.

Not a big hit, but there could be some damage to the front wing.
 
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The Ferrari's covered up with a red sheet, and being craned onto the back of the truck.
 
And here's a rather more close-up picture of the stricken Ferrari! Raikkonen, who is out of the car and ok, does indeed look to have made contact with the wall with the car's front wing.
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