F1 - General discussion and 2017

Looking at where Palmer has gone off, it's very early in Turn 3, so you'd think he's lost it while still turning left for Turn 2, and the car has broken away from him on the power. He was on an outlap, which is slightly bizarre, so presumably grip and ambition didn't match up and the car just spat him off to the side. We saw Massa have a big moment at Turn 2 from trackside yesterday, and he had a big tankslapper and gathered it back up - but I don't think Palmer even reached the tankslapper stage with this one.
Gary Anderson
 
Kvyat sets his first time of the day in the Toro Rosso STR12, a 1m30.499s. That puts him third, behind Vettel and Bottas.
Now Ricciardo slots into fourth with a 1m31.492s, almost five seconds off the pace.
Kvyat goes second-fastest now, 0.174s behind Vettel. He's running on medium tyres.
 
KVYAT GOES P1
The day's benchmark is being lowered. We're into the 1:26's now which puts him just over a second ahead of Vettel.
Bottas is on a quicker lap, too.
 
P1 FOR BOTTAS
The Mercedes driver - equipped with super soft tyres - takes the top spot with a 1:23.570.
He's setting purple sectors again, though...
 
SECOND FLYER FOR BOTTAS
He's persisted with the same super soft tyres, this time clocking a 1:22.816. and goes nearly four seconds clear of Kvyat with that effort.

Huge camera fuss at the front of the Mercedes garage which, given Bottas is on track, we assume is Rosberg related.
 
HaHa, this comment

Alonso keeps teasing us, starting a second lap on each run (on ultra-softs...) but returning to the pits without setting a time. A big aero rake is fitted to the left sidepod, so McLaren clearly has more important work to be getting on with than setting a lap time at this stage. Still, at least the thing is running, and he's got eight laps on the board already.
Click to expand...
 
Time Sheet 1 hour in:
Code: 
1.	Vettel		Ferrari	S		F70-H	1:22.222		11	●	
2.	Bottas		Mercedes		W08	1:22.816	+0.594	15	●	PIT
3.	Kvyat		Toro Rosso		STR12	1:24.946	+2.724	12	●	PIT
4.	Ricciardo	Red Bull Racing		RB13	1:31.492	+9.270	5	●	PIT
5.	Celis jr	Force India		VJM10	1:44.478	+22.256	6	●	PIT
6.	Alonso		McLaren			MCL32	no time		8	●	PIT
7.	Ericsson	Sauber			C36	no time		6	●	PIT
8.	Palmer		Renault			RS17	no time		4	●	PIT
9.	Grosjean	Haas F1			VF-17	no time		4	●	PIT
10.	Hülkenberg	Renault			RS17	no time		0	●	PIT
11.	Stroll		Williams		FW40	no time		0	●	PIT
12.	Sainz jr	Toro Rosso		STR12	no time		0	●	PIT
13.	Hamilton	Mercedes		W08	no time		0	●	PIT
14.	Massa		Williams		W08	no time		0	●	PIT

Sebastian Vettel likes these medium tyres.

It's the only compound he used on Day One and it's his tyre of choice at the start of Day One as he goes fastest with a lap of 1:22.486 before immediately improving to 1:22.222

Mercedes, meanwhile, look like they have pit stops on their agenda this morning...

But what of McLaren?

The team are desperate for some sustained running today after consecutive problematic sessions with the new-look Honda engine and Fernando Alonso has been on track for several short stints in the opening hour, although hasn't set a time yet.

That points to the team continuing to carry out system checks rather than being able to run the MCL32 at full pelt. The Honda engine has had to be changed twice in as many days and Stoffel Vandoorne admitted last night the cause of yesterday's problem, when he suffered a loss of power, still hadn't been fully understood.

lNDFPl0xTdO8xYik2jDK_GettyImages-646542438.jpg
https://d2kmm3vx031a1h.cloudfront.net/lNDFPl0xTdO8xYik2jDK_GettyImages-646542438.jpg
 
Williams have been off track for the best part of 24 hours now after Lance Stroll damaged the FW40's front wing in a spin into the gravel on his full F1 testing debut yesterday.

With no replacement parts here at Barcelona, the team had to fly the damaged bits back to base in Oxfordshire for a return arrival in time for this morning. Stroll will be back in the car when it does return, but no sign of action just yet.
 
I find this lack of parts peculiar, especially front wings. Surely they would've anticipated some incidents with a new and relatively untested car, particularly in the hands of the new boy? :confused:
 
Agent_Smith said:
I find this lack of parts peculiar, especially front wings. Surely they would've anticipated some incidents with a new and relatively untested car, particularly in the hands of the new boy? :confused:
Click to expand...

My feelings exactly, plus why end the day early.
They could have still got a lot of info just driving slowly round the track with no front wing at all.
Something deeper is happening here.
 
Ferrari and Mercedes have been leading the way on mileage all weekend and that hasn't changed so far this morning, with 20 and 18 laps completed by the two teams respectively.

Ferrari will hold their first press session of 2017 today - when Sebastian Vettel will field questions from the media - so we'll get our first glimpse at how optimistic the team are feeling after what, on the timesheet at least, appears to have been a strong start to life with the new SF70-H.

VETTEL PITS
Bottas is left alone on circuit as Vettel pits.
The Mercedes man is making improvements, he edges closer to the Ferrari's time with his last lap.

BOTTAS GOES P1!
Today's target time is now 1:21.632, just under one second away from Raikkonen's best time from yesterday.
 
Alonso back on track in the McLaren now, but will we finally get a timed lap?
Sadly not - but Ericsson has got himself on the scoreboard with a 1m30.448s, slotting in at P5.
 
Lance Stroll now out in the Williams. After his day-ending spin at Turn 9 yesterday, the Canadian really needs to get some solid miles under his belt today.
 
Fernando Alonso is into double figures for laps completed today but once again it's only a very short shint - just three laps - in fact for the MCL32.

After yesterday's power failure on the Honda engine and the fuel tank problem on Day One, we're still yet to see the McLaren complete ten or more laps in succession

New fastest lap of the day for Sebastian Vettel in the Ferrari.

A 1:21.609 from the Ferrari driver - a fraction up on Bottas.

Once again, the Ferrari is on medium tyres. Bottas was on softs for his personal best.

A question that was asked by a fellow scribe last night: 'Has Bottas been disappointing so far'?
 
RENAULT ON TRACK
The Briton is already back on-track...
...but it's only for an installation lap.

Silence once again at Barcelona.
 
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