Racing (Car) : Formula 1 2015 Season thread

[andy_m]

Not that I know of mate.

[MalteseFalcon]

Oh well. Thanks anyway.

German GP this year looks unlikely according to Ecclestone. Crowds dwindled last year for the race, but he says they are still trying to rescue the race and host it at Hockenheim again this year. Link to REUTERS story.

Drivers for today's testing:

Rosberg for Mercedes, Ricciardo for Red Bull, Massa for Williams, Raikkonen for Ferrari, Alonso for McLaren, Carlos Sainz Jr. for Toro Rosso, Maldonado for Lotus and Nasr for Sauber.

[MalteseFalcon]

Full credit for these pictures to f1fanatic.co.uk, thanks.

Cars IMO look a lot better than last season's cars did. I've tried to cover most of the teams.

[MalteseFalcon]

Day 1 times:

1. Vettel, Ferrari. 1:22.620, 60 laps
2. Ericsson, Sauber. 1:22.777, 73
3. Rosberg, Mercedes. 1:23.106, 157
4. Ricciardo, Red Bull. 1:23.338, 35
5. Bottas, Williams. 1:23.906, 73
6. Sainz Jr., Toro Rosso. 1:25.327, 46
7. Alonso, McLaren. 1:40.738, 6

Day 2 times:

1. Vettel, Ferrari. 1:20.984, 88 laps
2. Nasr, Sauber. 1:21.867, 89
3. Bottas, Williams. 1:22.319, 61
4. Hamilton, Mercedes. 1:22.490, 91
5. Verstappen, Toro Rosso. 1:24.167, 73
6. Maldonado, Lotus. 1:25.802, 41
7. Button, McLaren. 1:54.655, 6
8. Kyvat, Red Bull. No Time Set, 18

450 laps done on Day 1, 449 on Day 2. 899 laps already done in testing.

[SnoopZ]

McLaren sure is struggling with their new engine times like Red Bull did last year.

[MalteseFalcon]

Yes, I hope they can improve on these tests.

Day 4 line-up:

Hamilton for Mercedes, Kyvat for Red Bull, Massa for Williams, Raikkonen for Ferrari, Button for McLaren, Verstappen for Toro Rosso, Grosjean for Lotus & Ericsson for Sauber.

[andy_m]

Originally Posted by SnoopZ

McLaren sure is struggling with their new engine times like Red Bull did last year.

Yeah but look at those pics - how tight is that power unit packed? So skinny it's untrue. If they're managing to cool that effectively it's an incredible feat.

Also I pointed it out yesterday but how odd does the Red Bull look without a front wing?

[MalteseFalcon]

Day 3 times:

1. Nasr, Sauber. 1:21.545, 109 laps
2. Raikkonen, Ferrari. 1:21.750, 94
3. Rosberg, Mercedes. 1:21.982, 151
4. Massa, Williams. 1:22.276, 71
5. Maldonado, Lotus. 1:22.713, 96
6. Sainz Jr., Toro Rosso. 1:23.187, 137
7. Ricciardo, Red Bull. 1:23.901, 49
8. Alonso, McLaren. 1:35.553, 32

So the woes of McLaren this testing session are still going on. Says something when a team who missed a whole day of testing can manage to do just over 3 times the amount of laps as a team who has done all 3 days.

COMBINED LAPS:

1. Mercedes, 399
2. Sauber, 271
3. Toro Rosso, 256
4. Ferrari, 242
5. Williams, 205
6. Lotus, 137
7. Red Bull, 84
8. McLaren, 44

---------- Post added at 21:16 ---------- Previous post was at 21:02 ----------

Rosberg setting early pace with 308 laps done. To beat him, Hamilton will need to do 218 laps to beat Rosberg. Rosberg has done the equivalent of 4 Monaco GP's, full length.

[MalteseFalcon]

Oh dear, can see there being plenty of moaning about this. From an interview with Christian Horner on F1.com

Q: Whose brainchild was the camouflage livery?
CH: It actually came out of a helmet [design] that Sebastian (Vettel) ran last year in camouflage - it was quite fun and we thought it interesting to extend this concept to the entire car. [Red Bull boss] Dietrich (Mateschitz) liked it when he saw it - it’s pretty much Red Bull: we are not afraid to do things differently. It’s quite striking - and impossible to get details and photographs of the car at this time of the year when everybody tries to be as secretive as possible.

Q: Fans gave it great feedback: they love this livery and want it to stay for the season…
CH: Believe me: our real livery will not disappoint them once we have introduced it! Right now it is all about [rivals] not getting detail shots of the car: this livery confuses your eye line.

Q: When you make all these efforts to hide something, it must be really significant…
CH: Wait and see! My lips are sealed. That’s why the car is in camouflage.

[MalteseFalcon]

Force India say car at second test is unlikely.

Force India have confirmed that it is unlikely their 2015 Formula One car will be ready in time for the second pre-season test in Spain on February 19-22.

"Although everybody is working towards getting the VJM08 to the next test session in Barcelona, it's more likely the new car will appear at the final Barcelona test," the team said in a statement. "So, that would mean running the 2014 car at the first Barcelona test."

Force India announced last month that they would not run the new car in this week's opening Jerez test, but had planned to run their 2014 machine instead until making a late call to skip the session entirely because 'learning opportunities would have been limited'.

[andy_m]

They're in trouble, Force India. They've been refused credit by suppliers and are having to pay cod.

[MalteseFalcon]

That is a shame. Apparently, there have to be a certain number of drivers on each grid at race day. 18 I think is the figure for this year. With only 8 teams testing that makes 16 drivers.

---------- Post added at 17:07 ---------- Previous post was at 16:54 ----------

Day 4 times:

1. Raikkonen, Ferrari. 1:20.841, 106 laps
2. Nasr, Sauber. 1:22.019, 112
3. Hamilton, Mercedes. 1:22.172. 117
4. Verstappen, Toro Ross. 1:22.553, 97
5. Massa, Williams. 1:23.116, 73
6. Grosjean, Lotus. 1:23.802, 53
7. Kvyat, Red Bull. 1:23.975, 64
8. Button, McLaren. 1:27.660, 35

Total laps:

TEAMS

1. Mercedes - 516
2. Sauber - 383
3. Toro Rosso - 353
4. Ferrari - 348
5. Williams - 278
6. Lotus - 190
7. Red Bull - 148
8. McLaren - 79

DRIVERS

1. Rosberg - 308
2. Verstappen - 307
3. Hamilton - 208
4. Nasr - 201
5. Raikkonen - 200
6. Ericsson - 182
7. Vettel - 148
8. Massa - 144
9. Maldonado - 143
10. Bottas - 134
11. Ricciardo - 84
12. Kvyat - 82
13. Grosjean - 53
14. Sainz Jr. - 46
15. Button - 41
16. Alonso - 38

[andy_m]

I don't think it'll stop them starting the season, but it's bound to be a story that will rumble on. Besides which, it's now looking more and more likely that Manor (formerly Marussia) are going to make it, using last year's car.

[SnoopZ]

Marussia have been blocked from using their 2014 car by other teams, so it is very unlikely they will make the grid.

[MalteseFalcon]

Don't see why, surely using their 2014 car would give the other teams an advantage?