Formula 1 2016

[momo]

COTA confirmed 2016 UGSP today. Headliner to be Taylor Swift, concert saturday night after quali. I wont stick around to watch it but whatever that should be a large draw of a different crowd. She is probably the biggest draw out there so this should sell tickets.

Trying to rehab their image from last year, they have:
lowered ticket prices
lowered parking prices
promised to improve parking lots
improve location of toilets and shuttle services.
implemented a 105% money back in the event of 2.5"+ of rain on race day. (they must have bought a surety bond!)

good on them. i really hope it works out. i hope this year is great weather and they net a profit.

[pHILSANITY07]

Haas didn't have a good 4 day test. One problem I heard while watching Ted's Notebook is the Ferrari customer teams with the 2016 engines are having a fuel problem. Can't remember the exact issue.

[momo]

Test 2, day 4

1. Sebastian Vettel, Ferrari, 1:22.852, supersoft tyres, 142 laps;
2. Carlos Sainz, Toro Rosso, 1:23.134, ultrasoft tyres, 133 laps;
3. Felipe Massa, Williams, 1:23.644, supersofts, 129 laps;
4. Sergio Perez, Force India, 1:23.721, supersofts, 60 laps;
5. Lewis Hamilton, Mercedes, 1:24.133, medium tyres, 69 laps;
6. Daniel Ricciardo, Red Bull, 1:24.427, soft tyres, 123 laps; 7. Jenson Button, McLaren, 1:24.714, ultrasoft tyres, 121 laps;
8. Jolyon Palmer, Renault, 1:24.859, supersoft tyres, 90 laps;
9. Marcus Ericsson, Sauber, 1:25.031, soft tyres, 132 laps;
10. Romain Grosjean, Haas, 1:25.255, soft tyres, 66 laps;
11. Rio Haryanto, Manor, 1:25.899, ultrasoft tyres, 58 laps;
12. Esteban Gutierrez, Haas, 1:26.464, soft tyres, 18 laps;
13. Nico Rosberg, Mercedes, 1:26.140, medium tyres, 70 laps

2 weeks to Melbourne

[momo]

test 2, day 3

1. Kimi Raikkonen, Ferrari, 1:22.765, ultrasoft tyres, 136 laps;
2. Felipe Massa, Williams, 1:23.193, soft tyres, 119 laps;
3. Nico Hulkenberg, Force India, 1:23.251, ultrasoft tyres, 137 laps;
4. Max Verstappen, Toro Rosso, 1:23.382, ultrasoft tyres, 159 laps;
5. Nico Rosberg, Mercedes, 1:24.126, medium tyres, 81 laps;
6. Felipe Nasr, Sauber, 1:24.760, soft tyres, 116 laps;
7. Fernando Alonso, McLaren, 1:24.870, supersoft tyres, 118 laps;
8. Pascal Wehrlein, Manor, 1:24.913, ultrasoft tyres, 48 laps;
9. Daniil Kvyat, Red Bull, 1:25.141, soft tyres, 121 laps;
10. Jolyon Palmer, Renault, 1:26.224, soft tyres, 94 laps;
11. Lewis Hamilton, Mercedes, 1:26.488, medium tyres, 63 laps;
12. Romain Grosjean, Haas, soft tyres, 1:27.196, 78 laps


ferrari shows some more speed
most teams recorded a lot of laps including haas but they also recorded 3 red flags.

1 more day.

[pHILSANITY07]

Ferrari tested the new halo concept with Kimi Raikkonen today. Have to say it's different from what's been in the past.

[pHILSANITY07]

1.5 off Mercedes isn't bad compared to where they we're at the end of the year.

Yes, not a good last two days for Haas but on the flipside it's been a good two days for Williams.

[momo]

test 2, day 2

1. Valtteri Bottas, Williams, 1:23.261, supersoft tyres, 108 laps
2. Lewis Hamilton, 1:23.622, soft tyres, 73 laps
3. Kevin Magnussen, Renault, 1:23.933, supersoft tyres, 126 laps
4. Sebastian Vettel, Ferrari, 1:24.611, medium tyres, 151 laps
5. Jenson Button, McLaren, 1:25.183, soft tyres, 121 laps
6. Daniel Ricciardo, Red Bull, 1:25.235, medium tyres, 135 laps
7. Carlos Sainz, Toro Rosso, 1:25.300, medium tyres, 166 laps
8. Sergio Perez, Force India, 1:26.188, medium tyres, 128 laps
9. Nico Rosberg, Mercedes, 1:26.298, medium tyres, 91 laps;
0. Pascal Wehrlein, Manor, 1:27.064, soft tyres, 79 laps
11. Marcus Ericsson, Sauber, 1:27.862, medium tyres, 55 laps
12. Esteban Gutierrez, Haas, No time, 1 lap


hamilton finally ran on softs. was 1/2 sec slower than rosberg on same compound yesterday.

ferrari working on medium compound and race simulations so far this week.

mclaren had another good test day. pace is 1.5 seconds off Mercedes though.

haas has second problem in consecutive days. only 1 lap on the board today; that's bad. fuel system issue yesterday put them out now unable to fix a turbo issue through the day. that's not good, need to be able to assess and repair these things faster.

[momo]

test 2, day 1

1. Nico Rosberg, Mercedes, 1:23.022, soft tyres, 82 laps;
2. Valtteri Bottas, Williams, 1:23.229, ultrasoft tyres, 123 laps;
3. Fernando Alonso, McLaren, 1:24.735, soft tyres, 93 laps;
4. Kimi Raikkonen, Ferrari, 1:24.836, medium tyres, 72 laps;
5. Daniil Kvyat, Red Bull, 1:25.049, soft tyres, 69 laps;
6. Lewis Hamilton, Mercedes, 1:25.051, medium tyres, 90 laps;
7. Max Verstappen, Toro Rosso, 1:25.176, medium tyres, 144 laps;
8. Nico Hulkenberg, Force India, 1:25.336, soft tyres, 121 laps;
9. Felipe Nasr, Sauber, 1:25.493, soft tyres, 103 laps;
10. Kevin Magnussen, Renault, 1:25.760, soft tyres, 119 laps;
11. Esteban Gutierrez, Haas, 1:26.661, mediums, 23 laps;
12. Rio Haryanto, Manor, 1:27.699, medium tyres, 44 laps;


mclaren gets much needed break. mostly problem free day and LOTS of performance gained. combination of honda development parts and fuel development by esso/mobil 1

mercedes continues to impress. more problem free running. they sent rosberg out on soft tires for first time in testing and put a lap 0.7 faster than ferrari on the same tire. yet to run the supersofts.

williams finally ran some fast times, non heavy fuel mode. pretty quick but still behind mercedes even with the softest tire equipped.

haas had a fuel system failure. cut their running short.

[pHILSANITY07]

So in theory Haas as of now should be quicker than Manor, McLaren, and Sauber. That's not bad if the teams that's ahead of them are Toro Rosso, Force India and maybe even with Renault if not ahead of them. Thoughts?

That's what, 8th in the Standings? That's if Merc, Ferrari, Williams, RBR, Force India, Toro Rosso, and Renault finish ahead of them. Which other than Renault I think they will

[momo]

i think RBR have a "stable" renault engine while renault is working on developing the engine with their works team. rbr is likely still down on power and hybrid compared to merc but yea, i'm sure their chassis is still excellent.

yea... it was looking much better for mclaren from the first 2 days. may this was a freak incident and the fire in day 3 ruined their day 4. next week was supposed to feature their upgraded power unit. if they finish races, their lack of pace might just put them behind manor!

[pHILSANITY07]

Red Bull doesn't look too shabby when you consider how bad Renault looks.
LOL at McLaren.
Wonder what pace Mercedes and Williams really have.

[momo]

day 4

1. Kimi Raikkonen, Ferrari, 1:23.477, ultrasoft tyres, 80 laps;
2. Daniil Kvyat, Red Bull, 1:24.293, ultrasoft tyres, 96 laps;
3. Alfonso Celis, Force India, 1:24.840, supersoft tyres, 75 laps;
4. Kevin Magnussen, Renault, 1:25.263, soft tyres, 153 laps;
5. Max Verstappen, Toro Rosso, 1:25.393, medium tyres, 110 laps;
6. Felipe Nasr, Sauber, 1:26.053, soft tyres, 121 laps;
7. Nico Rosberg, Mercedes, 1:26.187, medium tyres, 86 laps;
8. Lewis Hamilton, Mercedes, 1:26.295, medium tyres, 99 laps;
9. Felipe Massa, Williams, 1:26.942, medium tyres, 54 laps;
10. Esteban Gutierrez, Haas, 1:27.802, medium tyres, 89 laps;
10. Rio Haryanto, Manor, 1:28.266, soft tyres, 51 laps;
12. Fernando Alonso, McLaren, No time, 3 laps.


highlights, reliability rears it's ugly head on the mclarens the last 2 days. a fire yesterday limited running to 51 laps then lingering issues and something related to water pressure/leak. only 3 laps ran.

renault died on track all 4 days in practice. they did get to 150 laps though. might just be how long their engine survives right now.

[momo]

eh, mercedes has only run the medium compound this whole test. they arent in it for a fast lap. that team is honing reliability, maximizing their hybrid deployment strategey, aero, tyre wear and fuel usage.

that team seems to be on the verge maximum theoretical perfectio; they have no motivation to show outright pace in testing. if they do, it will be final 2 days of testing next week.

[pHILSANITY07]

yea, something stupid like that. it's a damn gimmick. qualifying wasn't broken in f1. it is one of the few consistent bright spots.

sundays are broken. there is an inability to race from start to checker due to fuel conservation, tyre preservation, and the inability to challenge a similar paced car properly due to dirty air washing out aero.

Mark Webber has made several comments about the tire preservation and it's not what it used to be. I agree with that. It's annoying that they can't go on the limit for the majority of the race. I would love for them to bring back refueling but that didn't come through.

[pHILSANITY07]

day 3.

1. Nico Hulkenberg, Force India, 1:23.110, supersoft tyres, 99 laps;
2. Romain Grosjean, Haas, soft tyres, 1:25.874, 82 laps;
3. Kimi Raikkonen, Ferrari, 1:25.977, medium tyres, 77 laps.
4. Kevin Magnussen, Renault, 1:26.014, soft tyres, 111 laps;
5. Nico Rosberg, Mercedes, 1:26.084, medium tyres, 74 laps;
6. Carlos Sainz, 1:26.239, medium tyres, 161 laps;
7. Felipe Nasr, Sauber, 1:26.392, medium tyres, 115 laps;
8. Lewis Hamilton, Mercedes, 1:26.421, medium tyres, 88 laps;
9. Daniil Kvyat, Red Bull, 1:26.497, medium tyres, 74 laps;
10. Felipe Massa, Williams, 1:26.712, medium tyres,109 laps;
11. Jenson Button, McLaren, 1:26.919, medium tyres, 51 laps;
12. Rio Haryanto, Manor, 1:28.249, 78 laps;


Haas has decent pace. potentially a midfield team out of the gates if reliability checks out.
manor was said to be 5 seconds faster than last year, all attributed to mercedes power over their 2014 spec ferrari engine they ran in 2015. but im mad at manor for not signing rossi so they can suck it.

Well the Wechlin was a Mercedes push from Toto Wolf so I can understand that. I was surprised about hearing that Rossi wouldn't return.

Read during the scroll on espn's UK feed and they think that Williams is sandbagging heavily. With the times they're producing I hope they are.

Agree with Haas. My question is how fast can Mercedes go? Cause Ferrari looks quick.