Alfa F1 car

conaero

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Alonso flying now, Renaults fastest which is promising, quicker than Hamiltons efforts so far too:

A 1:21.339 from Fernando Alonso. That's a faster time than McLaren managed in the whole of winter testing a year ago...
 

conaero

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Going well:

The temperatures have really dropped on track, but Fernando's adding to his lap tally and improving lap times

Hamilton sets a personal best of 1:22.327 to go sixth fastest just behind Alonso in the charts. 'Easing himself in gently' would appear to be an apt description of his activities so far!
 

outrun

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Testing tells you nothing really though unless the break down all the time like Alonso and Honda did last year. Otherwise, there are so many variables - fuel load, tyre, aero, gearbox and engine settings etc etc that are not aligned in race trim to know what's really happening.

That said, we can tell that the halo looks utterly shite and is a certainty to be replaced by something less shite next season. The public expect f1 to be dangerous and this just serves to make them appear less courageous. I know why it's there and safety is important but they need to find another way.

How about a whip round and getting Sports Maserati onto that Sauber Alfa? There's loads of free space there and surely they would take very little to get it done?
 

zagatoes30

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The Halo is also killing the in car footage, half the screen is blocked by an out of focus halo - somebody didn't think of repositioning the cameras
 

allandwf

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Perhaps, now they have got rid of pit girls and brought in cheerleaders/kids, maybe they should pad up the drivers like the ludicrous looking football players!
 

conaero

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End of day 2 testing, snow an issue:

1. Vettel/Ferrari
2. Bottas/Mercedes
3. Vandoorne/Mclaren

Promising start!

Sebastian Vettel Ferrari 98 Softs 1:19.673
Valtteri Bottas Mercedes 94 Mediums 1:19.976
Stoffel Vandoorne McLaren 37 Hypersofts 1:20.325
Max Verstappen Red Bull 67 Mediums 1:20.326
Carlos Sainz Renault 65 Softs 1:21.212
Pierre Gasly Toro Rosso 82 Softs 1:21.318
Robert Kubica Williams 48 Softs 1:21.495
Sergey Sirotkin Williams 52 Softs 1:21.822
Esteban Ocon Force India 79 Softs 1:21.841
Charles Leclerc Sauber 81 Softs 1:22.721
Kevin Magnussen Haas 36 Softs 1:22.727
 

FIFTY

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Pace in testing means very little, the top.teams will certainly not show their hand so early on, not intentionally

Watch for the number of laps each car achieves over the course of testing, that is often the 'winner'
 

FIFTY

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For some added perspective here are the lap times with tyre choices included

Sebastian Vettel (Ferrari, soft, pictured) 1:19.673
Valtteri Bottas (Mercedes, medium) 1:19.976
Stoffel Vandoorne (McLaren, hyper-soft) 1:20.325
Max Verstappen (Red Bull, medium) 1:20.326

0.3 between the ferrari and merc with the merc on slower tyres with the slower driver... potentially yet another fast Merc. Not surprising as they are so far ahead on the development curve
 

MrMickS

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I don't think it'll compromise vision that much. The brain is used to dealing with something in between your eyes partially obstructing the view so it'll find a way to minimise the impact. Its not good aesthetically and I think it'll be short-lived if they can further develop the screen that Red Bull proposed. Indy car have gone down that route so perhaps there's something that can be done there.

Overall I think that its complete over reaction to a very small risk. That said I'm not the one hurtling along at 200 mph so its not my call.
 

Andyk

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Give it a year or so and everyone will stop talking about the halo and used to it. The cars just aren't good looking anymore but that's progress I suppose. I have every minichamps model for the 1996 season and they were so much more better looking cars back then.
 

outrun

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I think they have really underestimated the impact that the halo is having on the fanbase. I agree with Mick that it's an overreaction to minimal risk but worse that that, every step that makes the sport more safe makes it less interesting. I'm not saying that they shouldn't use technology to improve safety, I am saying that they should not be so obvious about it. Heard also that Martini have not extended their Williams deal beyond 2018 so now we're also going to lose the best looking car. No cigarette advertising, no cool Martini, not many drivers with much personality, a move to pay-per-view through their new f1 app, more and more races on circuits with no historical value, the threat from Formula E, hideous McLaren livery, a driver that thinks he's a rapper. There are a lot of reasons to not like F1 these days.

I hope that Alonso gets about it this year, I'm not sure I can take another year of Mercedes and Snoop Lewis.
 

MrMickS

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Is the Martini deal going because of the driver decision Williams made I wonder? Martini required them to have a driver of 25 or older to be able to promote the drinks. Williams went with Sirotkin and Stroll as their drivers so have signed Kubica as test driver to get around that. I can see Martini seeing that as not being in the spirit of the agreement and pulling the sponsorship as soon as contractually possible.
 

outrun

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Why when there is a whole season to go yet? I suspect it's just financial reasons because Williams have not had a good couple of seasons and so brand coverage is not as good as promised. There could be 2 over 25 drivers next season given the F1 driver merry go round.
 

conaero

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Encouraging stuff from McLaren...

Day 4 testing - Timesheet (1.25pm):
1) Vandoorne, McLaren, 93 laps, Hypersoft tyres - 1:19.854;
2) Vettel, Ferrari, 56 laps, Soft tyres - 1:20.824;
3) Gasly, Toro Rosso, 62 laps, Supersoft tyres - 1:22.134;
4) Hulkenberg, Renault, 49 laps, Soft tyres - 1:22.507;
5) Hamilton, Mercedes, 8 laps, Medium tyres - 1:22.779
6) Bottas, Mercedes, 60 laps, Medium tyres - 1:22.769;
7) Ericsson, Sauber, 79 laps, Supersoft tyres - 1:24.093;
8) Magnussen, Haas, 32 laps, Soft tyres - 1:24.286;
9) Verstappen, Red Bull, 26 laps, Medium tyres - 1:23.376;
10) Perez, Force India, 19 laps, Soft tyres - 1:24.593;
11) Sirotkin, Williams, 47 laps, Intermediate tyres - 1:31.979;
12) Leclerc, Sauber, 1 lap, no time set.

The fastest laps of the week so far:

Sebastian Vettel, Ferrari, Day Two, Softs, 1:19.673

Stoffel Vandoorne, McLaren, Day Four, Hypersofts, 1:19.854

Valtteri Bottas, Mercedes, Day Two, Mediums,1:19.976