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Didn’t see that coming but it makes sense, he’s not a bad driver to be fair and has the experience that team needs as it builds. Two rookies was never the best idea even if one came with £35m of Daddies money.
 
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Ferrari really looked good yesterday. ?

Mercedes has big issues to overcome IMO. The W13 is a mess even with Lewis’ talent.

Not even the first race and the 2022 season is infused with Politics and Drama.
I predict a bigger mess than 2021.
 
Christian Horner already complaining to the press about the Mercedes and says it’s not ‘within the spirit of the rules’. Well fancy that Christian lol. Adrian Newey said back in 2012 that the ‘spirit of the rules does not exist and it’s what is written down in black and white that counts’. I know they all do it but their points of view change depending on who has the advantage or supposed advantage.
 
Christian Horner already complaining to the press about the Mercedes and says it’s not ‘within the spirit of the rules’. Well fancy that Christian lol. Adrian Newey said back in 2012 that the ‘spirit of the rules does not exist and it’s what is written down in black and white that counts’. I know they all do it but their points of view change depending on who has the advantage or supposed advantage.

Yup.
 
Back when Formula One went to single-lap qualifying, there was speculation that the top teams like Ferrari and McLaren might create special "qualifying cars" that did not have any radiators or sidepods to minimize drag and allow for the fastest lap time. The belief was that the "qualifying engine" would survive that single lap.

Looks like Mercedes is taking inspiration from that, while still have a cooling system.
 
Back when Formula One went to single-lap qualifying, there was speculation that the top teams like Ferrari and McLaren might create special "qualifying cars" that did not have any radiators or sidepods to minimize drag and allow for the fastest lap time. The belief was that the "qualifying engine" would survive that single lap.

Looks like Mercedes is taking inspiration from that, while still have a cooling system.

We will see. The way that W13 was all over the tack yesterday with Lewis in command I don’t see any Aero Advancements. I think the teams that kept the Side Pods will be able to adjust the first half far easier. IMO, Mercedes pushed the envelope too far, and with their chassis it will be far harder to make aero changes for the star of 2022, “Porpousing.”
 
We will see. The way that W13 was all over the tack yesterday with Lewis in command I don’t see any Aero Advancements. I think the teams that kept the Side Pods will be able to adjust the first half far easier. IMO, Mercedes pushed the envelope too far, and with their chassis it will be far harder to make aero changes for the star of 2022, “Porpousing.”

Could they not just revert to the side pod aero setup they were using in Barcelona though?
 
I think there is a lot of sandbagging going on with Red Bull and Mercedes’. Russell and Hamilton were only shifting up to 7th gear on the straights and not giving away whatever speed they might have. Lewis has also given his annual speech about not thinking the Mercedes’ is the fastest car. We’ll have to wait and see but the Ferrari looks tasty.
 
I think there is a lot of sandbagging going on with Red Bull and Mercedes’. Russell and Hamilton were only shifting up to 7th gear on the straights and not giving away whatever speed they might have. Lewis has also given his annual speech about not thinking the Mercedes’ is the fastest car. We’ll have to wait and see but the Ferrari looks tasty.
Ferrari has the longest to develop their car and the deepest pockets. They also have two good drivers.
But agree you never really know the pace until the first race weekend. Not long to wait now.
 
Christian Horner already complaining to the press about the Mercedes and says it’s not ‘within the spirit of the rules’. Well fancy that Christian lol. Adrian Newey said back in 2012 that the ‘spirit of the rules does not exist and it’s what is written down in black and white that counts’. I know they all do it but their points of view change depending on who has the advantage or supposed advantage.
A bit of Googling debunks that, it was made up and he didn’t say that. A random German magazine or newspaper made it up. Shouldn’t believe everything you read.


Still can’t tell much about the cars as they aren’t pushing them near the limits currently. It’ll all be revealed on the first qualifying session. Brave seeing Mercedes changing the design drastically at this late stage. They have to pick one soon to stick with.
 
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Ill summarize this test with a lack of objectivity as its my take only :).

1) Top teams will remain at the front , all that mumbo jumbo about "new regulation anything can happen" , was , as I assumed , a smoke screen , best engineers , best facilities , best organizations -> build the best cars 99/100 cases.
2) Ferrari was sandbagging hard along side the bulls and the merc , on Charles best lap yesterday the top speed was 290Kmh , Mercs also went slow on the straights and were very fast on the slow corners , and of course Max also didnt go full beans - this is from a reddit post where they compared telemetry.
3) Hass is not the worst team anymore !!! already beat their own qualification time from last year , Im sad to say Williams will start the season as the worst team.
4) Racing should be better according to the drivers , as following is easier now and tires will degrade less so they can push harder , we might be locked into 1 stop for the majority of races unfortunately.
5) Redbull and Ferrari looks like an easier car to drive then the Merc for now , and if everything stay the same for Sunday they should beat them , but overall I feel the Merc "end" form would be an amazing car according to the sim results that were leaked by the same person who leaked the "no side pods" concept.

Like any sport with 1 team dominating for so long you cannot believe the "tipping point" moment has arrived where they start to decline , and I am not believing that point is here for the Mercs , so like a beaten up kid , I will believe the bully is done when I see it with my own eyes , for now Merc is my favorite to win this season , testing be damned.

Ppl forget how they always struggle , but in the end we have the usual " thank you to all the men and women in the factory for your hard work " , in their absolute worsts season last year they won the WCC , and were one race director idiotic decision from winning WDC.

nonetheless , I would be glad to see my boys in red competing for wins !! LETS GOOOOOOO
 
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A bit of Googling debunks that, it was made up and he didn’t say that. A random German magazine or newspaper made it up. Shouldn’t believe everything you read.


Still can’t tell much about the cars as they aren’t pushing them near the limits currently. It’ll all be revealed on the first qualifying session. Brave seeing Mercedes changing the design drastically at this late stage. They have to pick one soon to stick with.

Newey has dismissed it in the past, and Horner too during the days of the flexible front wing. They are as hypocritical as any senior figures in the sport once they hold the advantage. They’ll complain like the rest when it’s against them.

You’re very combative on this thread. It’s always been a pleasant thread through the years to discuss a mutual passion and worlds away from many of the F1 threads on the internet with tit for tat squabbling. It’s going to end up with very few people discussing with you if you keep it up.
 
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Ill summarize this test with a lack of objectivity as its my take only :).

1) Top teams will remain at the front , all that mumbo jumbo about "new regulation anything can happen" , was , as I assumed , a smoke screen , best engineers , best facilities , best organizations -> build the best cars 99/100 cases.
2) Ferrari was sandbagging hard along side the bulls and the merc , on Charles best lap yesterday the top speed was 290Kmh , Mercs also went slow on the straights and were very fast on the slow corners , and of course Max also didnt go full beans - this is from a reddit post where they compared telemetry.
3) Hass is not the worst team anymore !!! already beat their own qualification time from last year , Im sad to say Williams will start the season as the worst team.
4) Racing should be better according to the drivers , as following is easier now and tires will degrade less so they can push harder , we might be locked into 1 stop for the majority of races unfortunately.
5) Redbull and Ferrari looks like an easier car to drive then the Merc for now , and if everything stay the same for Sunday they should beat them , but overall I feel the Merc "end" form would be an amazing car according to the sim results that were leaked by the same person who leaked the "no side pods" concept.

Like any sport with 1 team dominating for so long you cannot believe the "tipping point" moment has arrived where they start to decline , and I am not believing that point is here for the Mercs , so like a beaten up kid , I will believe the bully is done when I see it with my own eyes , for now Merc is my favorite to win this season , testing be damned.

Ppl forget how they always struggle , but in the end we have the usual " thank you to all the men and women in the factory for your hard work " , in their absolute worsts season last year they won the WCC , and were one race director idiotic decision from winning WDC.

nonetheless , I would be glad to see my boys in red competing for wins !! LETS GOOOOOOO

I just hope we’ve got multiple teams with race winning packages. It’s always the danger when regs change as drastically as this that one team will hit the sweet spot and dominate. I don’t think any fan wants to see another Ferrari, Red Bull or Mercedes’ era and we need a reset with plenty of healthy competition.
 
I just hope we’ve got multiple teams with race winning packages. It’s always the danger when regs change as drastically as this that one team will hit the sweet spot and dominate. I don’t think any fan wants to see another Ferrari, Red Bull or Mercedes’ era and we need a reset with plenty of healthy competition.
Absolutely. Different teams winning different races. Overtaking not just in the pits or with DRS. That’s what I’m hoping for.
 
Magnussen was always a nightmare to overtake, can see there being some frustrated drivers behind him. When think back to where Haas where what three or four years ago they've really gone backwards using "paid for seat" drivers. Hamilton saying Mercedes are off the pace is so old hat now is laughable, he comes out with the same thing every March. Expect top of the field to be very close between the three fastest teams at least to start with this season which is great. Maybe McLaren come disrupt them all too. Should be a cracking season.
 
When think back to where Haas where what three or four years ago they've really gone backwards using "paid for seat" drivers.

Haas entered with a strong advantage as being the effective "Ferrari B-Team" so they had the same engines and parts as the Scuderia. Sauber/Alfa was running year-old engines and probably also year-old transmissions and back-ends and other parts.

When the FIA changed the rules to require that customer teams had to be given the same engine and parts that the factory teams did, that put Alfa on par with Haas and being an older and more-established team, I expect they just made better use of the same parts than Haas was.
 
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Newey has dismissed it in the past, and Horner too during the days of the flexible front wing. They are as hypocritical as any senior figures in the sport once they hold the advantage. They’ll complain like the rest when it’s against them.

You’re very combative on this thread. It’s always been a pleasant thread through the years to discuss a mutual passion and worlds away from many of the F1 threads on the internet with tit for tat squabbling. It’s going to end up with very few people discussing with you if you keep it up.

Combative? No, just see things differently politically ignoring the F1 chat that is, but as I stated in other posts this isn't the thread for it. It's a shame F1 gets dragged into that world so much recently.
Anyway all I did was post a news article debunking what was claimed to be said. And it was an official release by Red Bull, not from Horner himself, now I know he runs his mouth off sometimes, don't deny that, but he also wouldn't think twice of complaining to the FIA if he thought Mercedes were cheating, and in this case I don't believe he has which to me adds to the evidence he didn't make the statement.
I'm sure he will make plenty of other silly statements though out the year though.

FYI RB also changed their cars design this week, and apparently it's helped massively with the handling.
Seems odd considering the whole extra year they've all had to develop the cars they are brining new designs in at the last minute of testing.

I'm suspicious the teams may be a bit all over the place for the first few races?
 
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