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marc

CF Legend
Yep mclaren are onto a winner there, very clever.

But there is talk that it's not legal and teams are checking.
 

marc

CF Legend
Looks like if you don't have a merc engine you are no where. They have only been running their engines at 13,000 rpm and Ferrari have been running at 14,000.

Renualt are a joke and rbr have installed everything as they want not how Renualt wanted.

There is also some good news about MS, they are starting to wake him up.
 

Peter

Hyper Poster
The McLaren suspension really is such a simple but genius idea, its the sort of engineering I love! More downforce in slow corners, less drag at high speed and very difficult for other teams to copy due to the packaging of it all. Win win win all around, and its supposed to be legal now. I hope it gives them a performance boost as they're overdue a return to the top of the pack!

I didn't realise that the Mercedes engine was still running 2k RPM off its max. Thats either great news that they still have a lot of performance to get out of it, but also slightly concerning as its not been tested on track at its maximum load. Still, significantly better than Renault. :lol:
 

marc

CF Legend
They are just going for miles at the moment and will turn them up tomorrow, they have a lot in hand.

The Ferrari is meant to sound totally different to anything else.

This track though means nothing, remember mclaren last year on this track, nothing got close. But they look good at the moment jb is very happy.

There are still teams though saying it's not legal, but they said that about double drs lol.

I bet Lotus are happy now that they sat the test out, I cannot help but laugh that Mal left Williams and he's gone to a team where the car is late and has a **** engine lol.

They are currently drilling holes and changing the layout of the cooling on the rbr car. Newey really is not good when it comes to rule changes always takes him a year or two.

I wish the testing was on tv.
 

Smithy

Strata Poster
Likewise Marc, where are you following it from? I've been using autosport as they've got Gary Anderson on board since BBC ridiculously let him go and his technical insight has been brilliant.
 

nealbie

CF Legend
So...

1) The Mercedes is the best engine
2) McLaren have the best car powered by a Mercedes engine
3) The Ferrari is clearly the best car and punching well above its weight up the top with the Mercedes cars
4) Anyone with a Renault engine is ****
5) Red Bull are being forced to do a complete redesign of the ERS housing, lol Newey
6) Anteater noses fall off
 

marc

CF Legend
Not sure where you've been reading Neal but Ferrari have problems in the high speed corners and traction and they are running more revs than Merc. They fear when merc turn the revs up they will be behind.

What is clever with the Ferrari is it does not blip the throttle on down shift so they are able to charge their system differently and their a lot more stable under braking.

The merc has under steer and is still eating it's rear tyres. But they have yet to do any low fuel running.

The mclaren as you say is looking really good but they did at this track last year.

The Williams is meant to be looking good as well.

As for rbr pmsl, Newey plus changes don't go hand in hand. Give it half a year and they will be ok though.

I don't think anyone has pushed that hard yet and if they have then the cars a very slow :(
 

nealbie

CF Legend
Yeah, exactly, no more than some of the other cars, it's also offset by their awesome downshift innovation that allows them to brake later and much smoother.

There's conflicting reports about the rev limits used, if the Ferrari engine was running abnormally high then the other Ferrari powered teams should have been higher. At least that's the consensus at Autosport and the BBC.

The Williams also looks good like you said. I feel sorry for Grosjean, Hulkenberg fortunately got spited a Renault car by Maldonado lol
 

marc

CF Legend
It's only 1000 more rpm which is helping them get a higher top speed. They are also meant to be using full electric power and merc are not.

They are also saying kimi is so much smoother on the throttle than alonso. Alonso is spinning the tyres, kimi is not.

The Force India is also looking quite handy.

Lotus are in the **** and by all accounts will be lucky to last the year. Their car is meant to be illegal, as is the Caterham due to their nose designs.

Renault are no where and at this rate their cars will be out the 104% rate lol.

The next test will hopefully tell us more.
 

marc

CF Legend
More is coming out about the test, Ferrari ran full turbo merc only ran 60% boost.

Some friends on a forum were at the test and they were saying the sound is really good as you can hear the tyres skidding.

They also said the merc turbo was cutting in later than the Ferrari, which confirms the reduced power level.

They also said the Renualt sounded really poor.
 

Smithy

Strata Poster
How reliable is the source on that turned down Mercedes engine? I've seen it in a few places but can't seem to track it down, because if it's true then Mercedes and Mclaren should have a big advantage in Bahrain.
 

marc

CF Legend
It's only what's being reported tbh from people that were in the pit lane, things get leaked by teams etc.

They can also hear when the turbo kicks and engine sound.

If it's true then yes every merc team has an advantage to a degree, fuel also comes into it and they might have to run at reduced power to get the mileage.

The only cars that were taking the faster corners without a lift were merc and Williams.

Anderson the expert winning car designer lol seems to think the Ferrari is lacking downforce at the rear and Alonso is not happy so keeps spinning wheels to prove a point.
 

nealbie

CF Legend
Ferrari is still up there, and the Red Bull is very quick (when it works).

Funny that Force India and McLaren have made better jobs of it than Mercedes. :lol:
 

marc

CF Legend
Force India and Ferrari done their times on soft tyres though neither merc or mclaren used them. Also the Ferrari run was a short run right at the end of the day. Soft tyres they say are worth up to 1.2 a lap.

I think merc and mclaren have the edge at the moment. Merc more so, in the morning he was on an 18 lap stint when he set his time, kevin was on a 10 lap stint. Ferrari are about 3rd or 4th at the moment, they need to improve the high speed grip as they are having to lift.

Been impressed by Kevin tbh, new he would be good and Button is going to have his hands full. Can see button getting beat again this year, just depends if Mclaren want to keep him to help with the Honda development work.

Merc have only been going for long runs to get fuel mileage and check tyre wear. We have still not seen true pace from them.

They recon red bull are about 1 to 1.5 down at the moment. The lap vettel was on was 2.5 down on the best time of the day when it broke down. It's not bad seeing how little running they have had, but even when the red bull has been weaker they always went well here.

The gap to the smaller teams is huge this year, we are talking 5 seconds a lap.

All this is pointless though as come the first race they will all have new parts on the car. Plus we don't have a clue how much fuel is in the car.
 

ECG

East Coast(er) General
Staff member
Administrator
That's cool. Too bad they can't have those 360° cameras on cars during a race.
 

Martyn

Giga Poster
I'm sure it won't be too long before they do. Maybe not live right away, but the possibilities for analysis (either by team or steward checking incidents) are surely a massive plus point.

The rig isn't even that extravagant either, a few more years and that will be easily compressed into the roll hoop I'm sure:

https://pbs.twimg.com/media/Bg20jNqCQAAEapw.jpg:large
 
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