F1 - General discussion and 2017

Day Three line-ups:

Mercedes: Lewis Hamilton (AM) and Valtteri Bottas (PM);
Red Bull: Daniel Ricciardo;
Ferrari: Sebastian Vettel;
Force India: Esteban Ocon;
Williams: Lance Stroll (AM) and Felipe Massa (PM);
McLaren: Stoffel Vandoorne;
Toro Rosso: Daniil Kvyat;
Haas: Kevin Magnussen;
Renault: Jolyon Palmer (AM) and Nico Hulkenberg (PM);
Sauber: Marcus Ericsson (AM) and Pascal Wehrlein (PM)

[video=youtube_share;x7_PK4L6yFA]https://youtu.be/x7_PK4L6yFA[/video]
 
McLaren ✔ @McLarenF1
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The sun's breaking through at @Circuitcat_eng and Stoff's ready to take the driving seat for day three. #F1Testing
 
Sahara Force India
@ForceIndiaF1
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Back in the VJM10 today is @OconEsteban - the last time he sits in the car before Melbourne! #F1Testing
 
Sauber F1 Team
@SauberF1Team
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Day three: a challenging programme is waiting for @Ericsson_Marcus in the morning and for @PWehrlein after the lunch break #F1Testing #C36
 
Welcome to the penultimate day of Winter Testing!

We've reached the seventh of F1 2017's eight days of pre-season running at Barcelona, meaning time is now of the essence for teams to complete their programmes to be sure they're in the best shape for Melbourne on March 26 as possible.

While a number of teams - Mercedes and Ferrari in particular - have had no problems for mileage with their new cars this winter, a lack of laps continues to prove McLaren and Honda's major problem with the new MCL32.

But it's not just that for the once-mighty superpower: according to a straight-talking Fernando Alonso last night, the redesigned Honda engine "has no reliability and there is no power".

A damning assessment and one which makes the final two days of running about as crucial as it can get for McLaren to try and get themselves in reasonable shape for the first race.
 
The green light/flag/everything appears and the day begins.

Boom, no messing around. Palmer, Vettel and Ocon (of course – good old Force India) head straight out on track.
 
Stroll heads out in the Williams as that initial trio makes it back to the pits successfully. Palmer's Renault was sporting a bit of aero-evaluation-tech at the rear.

Stroll stays out and starts what could be the day's first flier. Ricciardo, who lit up his rear tyres as he exited the Red Bull garage just now, also stays out for a second lap.

Stroll and Ricciardo return to the pitlane, so no flying laps on the board yet.

Out have gone Ericsson, Kvyat, Hamilton and Magnussen. Installation laps aplenty in the early stages.

Ericsson and Hamilton stayed out while Kvyat and Magnussen returned to the pits. Ericsson's now back in as well.
 
Hamilton's starting the day with a what looks like it's going to be a five-lap run. He posts the day's first time, a 1m28.394s on super-softs.

That's a lot quicker from Hamilton, down to a 1m21.011s on his second flying lap. OK, there's over 1.5s to find, but not bad for lap number two of the day.
 
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As expected, Ferrari has repaired the SF70H overnight following Raikkonen's Wednesday crash. Pic: LAT
 
MCLAREN STILL IN THE PITS
Stoffel Vandoorne is the only man we haven't seen take to the track yet.
 
It's a 1m20.686s as Hamilton improves the early benchmark.

Vandoorne's just appeared in the McLaren-Honda. The team needs two good days here to end a troubled two weeks on a high.

The McLaren completes its installation lap and Vandoorne brings the device-laden, antenna-covered MCL32 back into the pits. The first box ticked.

We've had installation laps from every team. Hamilton and Palmer are back on track.

Palmer's back in, while Vettel and Kvyat go for another little exploration.
 
Vettel gets off the mark with a 1m22.968s. Kvyat's through as well with a more leisurely 1m28.159s.

Hamilton posts the best middle sector so far and improves overall as well, a 1m20.628s.

Vettel improves next time by, to a 1m21.846s. The Ferrari's 1.2s slower than the super-soft-shod Mercedes at the moment.
 
The problem on the Red Bull's Renault engine is understood to be around the Motor generator unit-kinetic. Or, as it's more commonly known, the MGU-K.

It failed twice on the Red Bull on Day Two an plenty suspect that it was the same issue which forced Renault into 'a precautionary change' of unit on Tuesday.

According to Max Verstappen, Renault were already planning on making changes to the power unit for the Australian GP even before his failure. And, as all drivers and teams are fond of telling us, fixing problems is what the point of testing is.
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But it's all far from ideal for Red Bull and Renault. Will the fix be in place for Melbourne? Will it be reliable? And will it be enough?
 
The Ferrari of Sebastian Vettel has joined Hamilton out on track, with the German kicking off his stint in the 1:21s.

Day Two certainly wasn't the cleanest of days for the Scuderia with a fluid systems issue around lunchtime followed by a crash for Raikkonen at Turn Three, which sidelined the SF70-H for the final stages of yesterday's running.

A good sign therefore that Vettel is straight out on track here for what is the four-time champion's winter testing swansong for 2017.

Fancy another flier, Lewis? His first sector is a purple Day Three best so far...and he shaves a little bit more time off with a lap of 1:20.626

To recap, we've seen a 1:20.686, a 1:20.628 and a 1:20.626 from Hamilton this morning.

Note the consistency and note that all three laps are Hamilton's best of the winter so far...
 
Hamilton pits, but fear not trackside viewers – you'll have a car to watch again swiftly. Stroll's back out in the Williams.
 
Two personal best sectors for Ocon, but he doesn't finish the lap – the Force India's back in the pits.

Force India is probably saving Ocon for when the track's completely quiet and the fans need some kind of people's champion to go out there and end the silence.
 
Back into the pits comes Stroll, but he doesn't leave the empty – the Williams rolls through the pitlane with a few low-speed burnouts and cracks on again.

Stroll's the busiest driver who hasn't yet set a time – four laps to his name, but nothing on the board. We know, right?

Vandoorne's back out in the McLaren. And we can hear an engine has fired up below us. So maybe if we're really lucky we'll have three cars out soon.

Soft tyres and a 1m27.086s for Stroll, who goes fourth fastest so far.

Vandoorne does not return to the pits this time, and crosses the line to start his fourth lap of the morning – and hopefully his first flying lap.

Stroll's second flying lap is better, a 1m26.333s. He's also straight onto another personal best.

Vandoorne doesn't complete a flying lap, he's back in after an outlap and an inlap with aero rakes still attached to his car.
 
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