2023 Launch/Pre-Season testing

[Tourer]

Originally Posted by Skam85

Covid, lockdowns and lack of exercise for most

Originally Posted by Alan52

Note for Australians.Foxtel/Kayo have signed a late deal for live coverage of testing.Each day live in full starting today at 5.50pm with a 2 hour highlights package each following morning at 9am.

Great news - will have the volume button ready to manage Croft but will be great to see the testing and how they all look.

[Born Racer]

In action this morning -

Red Bull – Verstappen
Ferrari – Sainz
Mercedes – Russell
Alpine – Gasly
McLaren – Piastri
Alfa Romeo – Zhou
Aston Martin – Drugovich
Haas – Hulkenberg
AlphaTauri – Tsunoda
Williams – Albon

Drugovich broke down on his out lap, leading to a red flag until half past.

[CarfanLUFC]

Really hope it's not another tedious season of Costcappen and his mates disappearing off into the distance

Be good to see some decent racing but can't see it

[Tourer]

Originally Posted by CarfanLUFC

Really hope it's not another tedious season of Costcappen and his mates disappearing off into the distance

Be good to see some decent racing but can't see it

Last year was really good I reckon, particularly early in the season when Ferrari were contenders - certainly no-one disappearing into the distance in the way that MB did for year after year after year for a while there.

Let's hope for more of the good stuff this year, maybe with MB being truly competitive more often too.

[tux]

Good thing is that Red Bull were fastest again and the car looked like a real handful..

[chillibowl]

Bottas' moustache and mullet helmet for testing!

so much more likable now that he's away from big factory team!

[chillibowl]

Leaderboard so far today:

Verstappen, Red Bull, 1m32.837s - 153 laps
Alonso, Aston Martin, 1m32.866s - 57 laps
Sainz, Ferrari, 1m33.253s - 72 laps
Leclerc, Ferrari, 1m33.257s - 57 laps
Norris, McLaren, 1m33.762s - 39 laps
Hamilton, Mercedes, 1m33.508s - 75 laps
Albon, Williams, 1m33.671s - 74 laps
Zhou, Alfa Romeo, 1m33.723s - 67 laps
Russell, Mercedes, 1m34.174s - 69 laps
Sargeant, Williams, 1m34.324s - 73 laps
Hulkenberg, Haas, 1m34.424s - 51 laps
Bottas, Alfa Romeo, 1m34.558s - 71 laps
De Vries, AlphaTauri, 1m34.559s - 79 laps
Drugovich, Aston Martin, 1m34.564s - 40 laps
Tsunoda, AlphaTauri, 1m34.671s - 46 laps
Gasly, Alpine, 1m34.822s - 60 laps
Ocon, Alpine, 1m34.871s - 48 laps
Piastri, McLaren, 1m34.888s - 52 laps
Magnussen, Haas, 1m35.087s - 49 laps


for comparison (if one can compare even at this stage, ignoring tires, test programs etc), Leclerc's fastest here last year (in Q3) was 1:30.558 so more than 2s faster then max' fastest lap today.

but with a couple of days running followed by the race here next week im thinking many of the teams will be able to find that extra time and the cars will start the season faster then last year?

Max lap count today seems pretty epic as well!

[chillibowl]

my bad, those were the times from earlier on in the day.

end of day leaderboard:

Verstappen, Red Bull, 1m32.837s - 157 laps
Alonso, Aston Martin, 1m32.866s - 60 laps
Sainz, Ferrari, 1m33.253s - 72 laps
Leclerc, Ferrari, 1m33.257s - 64 laps
Norris, McLaren, 1m33.462s - 40 laps
Hamilton, Mercedes, 1m33.508s - 83 laps
Albon, Williams, 1m33.671s - 74 laps
Zhou, Alfa Romeo, 1m33.723s - 67 laps
Russell, Mercedes, 1m34.174s - 69 laps
Sargeant, Williams, 1m34.324s - 75 laps
Hulkenberg, Haas, 1m34.424s - 51 laps
Bottas, Alfa Romeo, 1m34.558s - 71 laps
De Vries, AlphaTauri, 1m34.559s - 85 laps
Drugovich, Aston Martin, 1m34.564s - 40 laps
Tsunoda, AlphaTauri, 1m34.671s - 46 laps
Gasly, Alpine, 1m34.822s - 60 laps
Ocon, Alpine, 1m34.871s - 53 laps
Piastri, McLaren, 1m34.888s - 52 laps
Magnussen, Haas, 1m35.087s - 57 laps

[Richard C]

While it's seductive to look at the best laps per car over the day or session, I think it is "mostly" meaningless to do so. Everyone might be on different programs, different fuel loads, different tires, etc.

I am sure someone is going to be doing data analysis and try to remove (or normalize) as many variables as they can over the three days to try to extract indicators of true pace out of the cars.

I think the key indicators (if there are any) with respect to pre-season testing is things like... number of laps run (mostly were able to run reliably and are they working through their entire testing program) and who had problems (McLaren and AM I think?) and are those problems small or big (nobody seems to be stuck in the garage)

Richard

[chillibowl]

of course we will see but im not so convinced that the first day of testing is meaningless anymore.

for sure they have their programs and working out the reliability side of things, playing around with new tires, working on their starts and pitstops long runs short runs etc etc. and while some cars launched early Feb, several were just 'revealed a little over a week ago (in what appears to have been first race of the season trim), they did their promo days, are now in Bahrain for testing, and they are not going home because they race here next week....a 2-3 week turnaround time from launch to race is nuts!

colour me overly excited for sure but this is new territory...i think and hope!

[Tourer]

Personally I don't get TOO excited either way re pre-season (or any) testing times due to variations in what teams are doing, what rubber is on etc etc.Always an interesting exercise to see who is doing what however.

It would be great if we could all be there and see how the cars are being driven - Anthony Davidson had some good insights after standing on the side of the track and that's where testing can be instructive - but we can't all be there so the TV pundits and times are what we have to go with.

One thing that I found interesting is the look of many of the cars (but not all) around the engine cover area and how some of them have "bulked up" there (at least visually). Don't know what that's about but it gives a sleeker profile but from the rear (or rear quarter) they look chunky. Quite a change from last year for some of them.

.......and yeah, picking which team is which in the distance with some of the kinda similar liveries won't be easy, at least to start with anyway.

[Skam85]

Originally Posted by CarfanLUFC

Really hope it's not another tedious season of Costcappen and his mates disappearing off into the distance

Be good to see some decent racing but can't see it

I'd really love this season to lose the 'crashtappen' 'costcappen' 'whinger spice' nicknames, that's far more tedious than a dull championship.

And I'm not even a RB fan

[Born Racer]

Originally Posted by Richard Casto

I am sure someone is going to be doing data analysis and try to remove (or normalize) as many variables as they can over the three days to try to extract indicators of true pace out of the cars.

Here's Mark Hughes's such analysis.
https://www.formula1.com/en/latest/a...sscbKLrdO.html
It bodes well for Red Bull. I wonder to what extent other teams can out develop them, given the restrictions on the champions, including their punishment. Perhaps also with rules stability, other teams can spring more David VS Goliath moments, with podiums at least, e.g. Aston, although 'I wonder' and 'perhaps' are typical words until we actually get a race weekend.

At least there's only a week to wait, though.

[Alan52]

Originally Posted by CarfanLUFC

Really hope it's not another tedious season of Costcappen and his mates disappearing off into the distance

Be good to see some decent racing but can't see it

Quote from Autocourse report on the crowds treatment of Verstappen after qualifying at Silverstone
“The British crowd in the past much more Lords or Wimbledon than the Den at Milwall seemed to be gravitating increasingly towards a football mentality.”
Examples everywhere.

[CarfanLUFC]

Originally Posted by Alan52

Quote from Autocourse report on the crowds treatment of Verstappen after qualifying at Silverstone
“The British crowd in the past much more Lords or Wimbledon than the Den at Milwall seemed to be gravitating increasingly towards a football mentality.”
Examples everywhere.

Not sure if this is meant to be directed at me but I'm not British.

In terms of my comments, there is certainly nothing wrong with referring to Red Bull's crimes recently, it might be hard to stomach for some but they exceeded the cost cap, quite simple.

What is interesting (but not surprising) is the token penalty handed out seems to be just that. No affect at all on performance.

[CarfanLUFC]

Originally Posted by Skam85

I'd really love this season to lose the 'crashtappen' 'costcappen' 'whinger spice' nicknames, that's far more tedious than a dull championship.

And I'm not even a RB fan

If MV goes out and wins the title this season and in a completely legitimate way then I suspect those names will disappear.

Sadly, given the circumstances under which he 'won' both his titles then there will always be understandable mocking of him and his team.

It's a shame because he's a supreme driver but at a time when F1 appears to be sacrificing sporting integrity for contrived drama for the Netflix generation he is very much the poster boy for the non-sense.

[Akrapovic]

Originally Posted by Alan52

Quote from Autocourse report on the crowds treatment of Verstappen after qualifying at Silverstone
“The British crowd in the past much more Lords or Wimbledon than the Den at Milwall seemed to be gravitating increasingly towards a football mentality.”
Examples everywhere.

Always has been a thing. Remember Murray calling out the people who cheered on Schumachers crash in 99.

It's also a worldwide issue. The racism Lewis experienced in Spain was ridiculous. The sexual assaults at Zandvoort and Red Bull Ring are absolutely unacceptable.

This is not a new thing.

[peebee2]

Originally Posted by CarfanLUFC

If MV goes out and wins the title this season and in a completely legitimate way then I suspect those names will disappear.

Sadly, given the circumstances under which he 'won' both his titles then there will always be understandable mocking of him and his team.

It's a shame because he's a supreme driver but at a time when F1 appears to be sacrificing sporting integrity for contrived drama for the Netflix generation he is very much the poster boy for the non-sense.

Nobody I know actually involved in the sport feels like this. He has been the clear stand out of recent seasons.

He actually isn't even involved in the Netflix DtS anyway, so I'm not sure how he can be their "poster boy."

[S griffin]

Can't draw too many conclusions from testing, but good to Fred up there in the Aston. Good to see the porpoising problems sorted too.

[crmalcolm]

Originally Posted by peebee2

He actually isn't even involved in the Netflix DtS anyway, so I'm not sure how he can be their "poster boy."

Have you seen the latest trailer for DtS?

For those who have not - https://www.netflix.com/it/title/80204890

Verstappen features heavily at times.

[peebee2]

Originally Posted by crmalcolm

Have you seen the latest trailer for DtS?

For those who have not - https://www.netflix.com/it/title/80204890

Verstappen features heavily at times.

Sorry, I meant shown to date.

[CarfanLUFC]

Originally Posted by Akrapovic

Always has been a thing. Remember Murray calling out the people who cheered on Schumachers crash in 99.

It's also a worldwide issue. The racism Lewis experienced in Spain was ridiculous. The sexual assaults at Zandvoort and Red Bull Ring are absolutely unacceptable.

This is not a new thing.

...but it seems as if it's only a problem in some people's eyes when it's the British crowd which I find very odd. Anything to get a dig in at the Brits I guess.

[E.B]

Meanwhile out on track Sainz topped the morning times.... Max sat out the morning session, then got in the car for the afternoon playtime, and within a few laps eclipsed Sainz time by just over 0.6, came into the pits and went out on medium tyres ( as Sainz had used to set his time), and quickly went faster.... now 0.836 faster.

The car looks very stable.

Of course it is only day 2 of testing, and all the usual provisos of different programmes, modes, tyres, fuel loads etc, but it does seem its advantage Max / Red Bull on paper.

[dsg]

McLaren are sounding very gloomy about results from testing this year's car so far. Has their development of the car led them down a cul de sac?

On top of this I heard on the testing coverage that the Mercedes engine has also not been able to be developed as much as the other engine manufacturers under the rules because it has been so reliable.

Doesn't bode well for McLaren this year. Hopefully they have an Einstein moment in the near future.

[BTCC frog]

Originally Posted by Skam85

I'd really love this season to lose the 'crashtappen' 'costcappen' 'whinger spice' nicknames, that's far more tedious than a dull championship.

And I'm not even a RB fan

I do agree that nicknames like this in general are very annoying and would prefer it if people stopped using them. However, generally being unhappy with the way Verstappen has won the last two championships is perfectly legitimate. In my opinion, Red Bull cheated to win the 2021 title by exceeding the cost cap and so did not deserve it, just as Benetton didn't deserve 1994 for their many crimes. This didn't come out until late 2022 but the punishment should have been great enough to put them in the midfield in 2023, and yet instead it looks like they are once again the favourites for the championship which is infuriating as a fan.

So despite having absolutely zero doubt that Verstappen is the best driver in Formula 1 at the moment, and has been for the last two years as well, it would give far more of a sour taste if he were to win the title for a third year running than it did when Hamilton or Vettel dominated in recent years, because it just doesn't feel like Red Bull deserve it. And acts like boycotting Sky because Ted Kravitz dared to mention the farce of the Abu Dhabi finale (which wasn't their fault at all but was still a farce), or Horner blaming the other teams' accusations for 'children of our employees getting bullied at school' makes them even more dislikeable at the moment. It rarely happens as I usually follow F1 as a neutral fan (which I was in 2021), but on this occasion I confess I have turned against Red Bull and will be supporting Mercedes and Ferrari in 2023.