F1 - General discussion and 2017

[caroper]

Busy morning for Verstappen.
Max power. He's the driver whose name you'd love to touch.

Perez jumps to sixth in the Force India on a 1m20.950s.

We missed Ericsson's return to the pits – but more importantly, we missed his half-century.
To atone, let's throw you a Sauber fact.

Did you know Marcus Ericsson's 40 grands prix for Sauber put him fifth in the team's list of all-time starters?

 

[caroper]

A response from Mercedes?

BOTTAS IMPROVES INTO THE 1:19'S
Bottas crosses the start-finish line for the 34th time and sets his new personal best: a 1:19.845 which places him in second.

 

[caroper]

RED FLAG.

Wait for it ............

Alonso has emerged in the McLaren...and stopped again!

Wonder whether the recovery team has a loyalty programme. Pic: LAT

 

[JerryMungo]

Is there a list of the top times for all teams per day somewhere?

 

[caroper]

Never mind the question of whether McLaren will be on the back row in Australia, will they actually be able to make it round for a qualifying lap?

McLaren upped its pace, relatively, yesterday – but has caused four red flags over the final two days of testing.

Teams are supposed to be fine-tuning their cars at this stage. The only thing McLaren's fine-tuning is the Barcelona recovery procedure.

 

[JerryMungo]

^^ whats with the cover? Are they embarrassed? Surely it's not to protect their IP?

 

[caroper]

View attachment 422826
Practice makes perfect

Well, Alonso's not got a media session later.
So no chance for him to voice further angst.
Honda will be relieved.

 

[caroper]

To be stopping repeatedly on out laps, McLaren and Honda are clearly trying to resolve some kind of issue in the garage between runs but the fix is just not working.

It's been slow going generally for Alonso today, just a handful of laps at a time for the Spaniard when the MCL32 has been running.

 

[caroper]

^^ whats with the cover? Are they embarrassed? Surely it's not to protect their IP?

Probably to save the Sponsors the embarrassment

 

[caroper]

Green flag, running resumes.

Raikkonen and Stroll head straight out and Verstappen, Ericsson, Grosjean and Sainz join them pretty quickly.

Raikkonen sets the fastest first sector of anyone so far.
And the fastest middle sector...
Very quick time from Raikkonen – a 1m19.267s on soft tyres.

Verstappen posts a personal best in the middle sector and the quickest final sector so far to go 0.171s slower than Raikkonen on a 1m19.438s.

Improvements further down the order from Sainz (1m20.568s) and Grosjean (1m21.651s).

 

[caroper]

Verstappen pits after that improvement on super-softs.

Perez improves to a 1m20.872s.

Fernando just came past in the recovery vehicle - gave me a wave & shrug that said "yup, me again in the recovery truck & not the race car" - Karun Chandhok

 

[caroper]

WILLIAMS RACING
@WilliamsRacing

Ultrasoft tyres now for Lance who has passed the 50 lap mark.#Williams40 #F1Testing

 

[caroper]

VERSTAPPEN IMPROVES ON THE SUPER SOFTS
Verstappen isn't far behind Raikkonen, he clocks in a 1:19.438 on the super softs, a compound softer than Raikkonen's recent best time.

Verstappen's final-sector time on super-softs was a tenth or so quicker than Raikkonen's. Now it's possible it was quicker on merit – he had softer tyres on after all. But he wasn't quicker in the other two sectors, so did Raikkonen hold back in the final sector like Vettel did yesterday?

 

[caroper]

Raikkonen's burst may only be just beginning. The Finn has re-emerged after a short stay at base.

Verstappen still in the pits after his new personal best.

Wait. No. After that big build-up, Raikkonen has also gone straight back in at Ferrari.

 

[caroper]

Sainz's latest run results in an improved 1m20.451s, while Grosjean's also posted a personal best, albeit a second slower on a 1m21.429s.

Think we just spotted Verstappen leaving the pits on ultra-soft tyres.

 

[caroper]

Wonder if we'll see Verstappen get near to the Ferrari's pace here...

Remember we said Vettel was holding back yesterday? His theoretical best lap was a 1m18.781s. Thought you'd like to know.

 

[Dave]

Alonso has stopped in the McLaren.

RED FLAG.

Wait for it ............

Alonso has emerged in the McLaren...and stopped again!

Wonder whether the recovery team has a loyalty programme. Pic: LAT

lol

I'm starting to feel sorry for Fernando, he deserves better than the piece of crap that the McLaren Hondnaai is...

 

[caroper]

Perez improves to a 1m20.270s.

 

[caroper]

Valtteri Bottas is about to start a three-lap run on ultrasofts in the Mercedes...

Raikkonen's out there on super-softs and has gone quickest of all in the middle sector...

A 1m19.019s from Raikkonen. The fastest time from testing so far. But where is our 1m18s?!

 

[caroper]

Raikkonen's done a 1m19.6s after a cool-down lap. Just the Ferrari and Mercedes on the circuit at the moment.

Raikkonen pits.
As does Bottas.
Raikkonen emerges the other side.
Bottas doesn't.
And the world keeps spinning.