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By Geo f1
#569284
Άμπαλος έγραψε:Μαξάκο ρίξε κάνα μαπίδι στον Crashly τον γελοίο!
Πεστα γαμωτο. Για wingman καλος ειναι. Αλλα να το φερνει σπιτι το ρημαδι..

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By STK
#569340 Άρθρο από το Autosport για τις χειμερινές δοκιμές.
(Όσο και γρήγορη να είναι η Ferrari, κάτι μου λέει πως θα έχει θέματα με την αξιοπιστία)

Ferrari has emphatically won the testing war
With the 2019 pre-season testing period over, it's clear the fights at the front and in the midfield are very tight. But one team appears to be leaving Barcelona with a clear advantage

By Edd Straw
@eddstrawF1
Published on Friday March 1st 2019

Were a qualifying session and grand prix to be staged at Barcelona right now, the evidence of pre-season testing suggests Ferrari would win from pole position. Ferrari has won the testing war. Emphatically.

All the usual caveats apply. There won't be a grand prix in Spain until May, there's two weeks to go before the phoney war turns into something real, and teams will have upgrades to deploy in Australia. We also can't be entirely sure about fuel loads, engine modes and exact run plans. But every single indicator, whether it's short runs, long runs, trackside impressions or paddock gossip, points in one direction: Ferrari is fastest.

Straight out of the box, the Ferrari has looked like a very well-balanced, well sorted car. There's no obvious weaknesses; it turns in well, the traction is excellent, it's stable mid-corner and it is extremely driver-friendly. If the driver does make a small error, as for example Sebastian Vettel did into Turn 1 at one stage on Friday morning, it is very easily caught and doesn't cost much time. Just as in the past two years, it's a very usable racing car - perhaps even more driver-friendly than before.

It's also quick. Vettel set the fastest time of the test overall on the final day of running, a lap of 1m16.221s, which was three thousandths of a second faster than Lewis Hamilton managed for Mercedes in the afternoon using the same Pirelli C5 tyres. Neither car will have been in full-on qualifying trim, and both were certainly carrying more fuel than they would in a real session, but the comparison tallies with the kind of pace difference we're also seeing on the longer runs. Interestingly, Hamilton was two tenths faster than Vettel in the final sector on their fastest laps. But earlier on, Vettel had posted a similar pace in that sector, suggesting there was more on the table.

In testing it's not just about headline times. Shortly after setting his best lap, Vettel headed out on the C3-compound Pirellis and banged in a 1m16.770s. Adjusting for the two-step difference to C5s, that takes Vettel to somewhere around the 1m15.900s mark. It's the critical lap that overpowers the headline times.

Hamilton suggested Ferrari was "potentially half a second" ahead of Mercedes on pace. Ferrari team principal Mattia Binotto replied "it would be completely wrong to think that we're faster than them". The reality is perhaps somewhere in between, but Ferrari will certainly head down under as favourite. Ferrari can afford to be cautiously confident, but not complacent.

Had the full pace of the Ferrari been unleashed, there's no doubt it would lap well into the 1m15s bracket, certainly to a point Mercedes could not reach. Even so, the second block of four days of testing was positive for Mercedes, which deployed a major aerodynamic upgrade that impacted the majority of the aerodynamic surfaces of the car. This allayed the more serious concerns about its deficit that arose after the first test, and represented a significant change in aero philosophy thanks partly to the switch from inwash to outwash endplates.

But the Mercedes continues to be on something of an island with its lower-rake concept. While the team deserves the benefit of the doubt given the vast success it has had in recent years with it, you have to ask whether being in the minority with that approach is a disadvantage. As team boss Toto Wolff has admitted, were it to change that philosophy it could take months to implement it. The hope in the team is that won't be necessary and it has the foundation on which to build a challenge to Ferrari.

If that gap is indeed in the area testing suggested, perhaps around the three-tenths mark, that's at least within striking distance. This means that while Mercedes is likely to be playing catch-up (we can't really be sure until we get to Melbourne), it's at least not floundering. But it's an unfamiliar position to be in for a team that has topped the first qualifying session of the year for the last five years. After the strain of last year's frantic development war with Ferrari, it could be on for another, even more difficult, one.

But not only could this be the sternest test yet of F1's pre-eminent team of the hybrid era, it could face a double challenge. Red Bull's new alliance with Honda appears to have produced a strong package that is at least battling with Mercedes. While the Honda engine's qualifying settings will still be a weakness (it is estimated to have approximately halved the gap on Saturday afternoon power to the front with its 2019 spec), and there are a few concerns about fuel mileage at certain tracks, the car is genuinely quick.

As ever, the Red Bull looks brilliantly poised on track, more Ferrari than Mercedes. It has run pretty well throughout testing, although Pierre Gasly's brace of crashes - one in each test - have left it light on spares and crunched two gearboxes. What we didn't see from Red Bull was a strong headline lap time, perhaps a consequence of Max Verstappen's final day of running being limited to just 29 laps by a gearbox problem, and Gasly's second mishap.

Where this year has been different is that while Ferrari took off fast out of the blocks, Mercedes was behind where you would normally expect it to be

The best Red Bull time puts it only seventh in the team ranking, although it moves up to third when you adjust for fuel load and tyres. But with no standout fast lap to use as a benchmark, it's more difficult to be completely confident about its pace and, combined with what we're seeing from the car on track and paddock chatter, it seems that being in the mix with Mercedes is possible.

Some have suggested a gap of around three tenths to Ferrari, which is plausible, although on the final two days the long runs didn't echo that - again disrupted by Gasly's crash and Verstappen's problems. There were signs earlier in testing, however, that Red Bull was able to run comfortably within half-a-second of Ferrari on long runs at times. But whatever happens, Red Bull is certainly no worse off for its switch from Renault to Honda engines, and probably in a better position.

Does this mean this will be the picture in Melbourne? Not necessarily. Mercedes should not be underestimated and the fact is its car has not been at its best on the C4 and C5 Pirellis - the softest two compounds of the range - but looks better balanced on the C3s, which is not unusual for it in pre-season.

Mercedes has always taken a cautious approach to testing, not sandbagging as such but focusing on a good, sensible runplan. Where this year has been different is that while Ferrari took off fast out of the blocks, Mercedes was behind where you would normally expect it to be. So big was the aero specification change from test one to two, Mercedes appears to be playing another game of catch-up, this time with itself. But this could mean there's more to exploit from its car than Ferrari has left, which could help the gap to close. Equally, though, that would mean Mercedes is behind the aerodynamic development curve we would normally expect from it. But Mercedes must not be discounted.

One thing that hasn't changed from last year is that the midfield pack is nowhere near the top three. The margin looks to be a good three quarters of a second, perhaps a little more. What looks to be another 'Class B' battle now comprises two groups of three teams, with a slight gap in between but all tightly packed.

In the first group are Renault, Haas and Alfa Romeo. It's difficult to choose between Renault and Haas for the lead of this part of the field. Renault has had to take a cautious approach to testing owing to a shortage of spares and it's fair to say we haven't seen either Nico Hulkenberg or Daniel Ricciardo truly let off the leash. On paper, it's expected to lead the way and ideally edge away from the mid-pack.

But the Haas, appropriately enough given its black-and-gold livery, has been the dark horse of testing. Just as in pre-season last year, it's a car that tends to run with a reasonable level of fuel aboard but finally unleashed some pace on the final day to end up with a 1m17.067s lap. Come Australia, Haas might even be leading the way in the midfield.

Alfa Romeo has not perhaps looked as strong at the end of testing as it did initially and finding a good balance for rear grip with the car has been a challenge. But the car does have a decent turn of pace. Whether that means it ends up pressuring Haas and Renault, or slips a bit more into the second group, remains to be seen.

Toro Rosso appears to lead the second group with a car that looks to be pretty well-balanced, save perhaps for a rear end that has shown signs of giving up at times, and maybe lacks the downforce levels of the teams ahead. But this is a team that expects to make steady progress throughout the year and should become more competitive.

Its fastest time was set by Alexander Albon on the penultimate day, and is reckoned to be relatively close to what the car can achieve, perhaps a tenth or two shy. If it can make progress with development, it can be in the mix with the leading midfield group.

The same confidence of sustained, steady progress applies to Racing Point, which has a car that's still based around the same gearbox/rear suspension it used in 2018 thanks to a necessary design decision made before the team's financial position was clear. Mileage was a little restricted, and the team was hard pushed to get the car ready in time. Given the history of this squad there's reason to be confident it can make good on this subdued start.

On every metric Ferrari is currently ahead

McLaren had a more flashy test than most of its midfield rivals, regularly turning up at the top of the timesheets. But after battling understeer early in testing, it then proved to be a car that didn't have the rear-end stability that it needs. It's not as bad as it was this time last year, but the McLaren is looking to be towards the back of the midfield pack and therefore likely to start the season more pushing to make Q2 than push on to Q3.

But what's striking about the midfield is that the gaps are very small, so we can expect plenty of ebb and flow as the upgrade packages appear over the season. Given the ambitions of the Renault team, and the money sunk into it, it must become stronger than it appears to have been so far and strike out into the gap separating the best from the rest.

At the back stands Williams, which right now looks two-and-a-half days late and a good half-a-second short of the midfield pack. What's described as a "modest" upgrade is planned for Melbourne, so it's difficult to see it being anything other than back-of-the grid fodder when things get serious.

Does any of this mean that we can be confident of the grid being set along the lines described above in Australia? Not necessarily. Testing is always a blend of extrapolation, interpretation and reading the tea leaves - but eight days of running in Barcelona's winter sun has given us plenty of data to crunch and, other than the question marks hanging over Red Bull thanks to its late problem, a reasonable indication of where everyone stands.

And on every metric Ferrari is currently ahead. That doesn't mean things won't change, it doesn't stop Mercedes from bringing another upgrade and closing the gap, and it doesn't prevent Red Bull from causing an upset.

But what it does mean is that, no matter what Binotto - the man who has created a fundamental and very significant change in atmosphere and hopefully culture at Ferrari - says, his team is ahead. Advantage Ferrari.
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By Geo f1
#574193 Bahrain F1 test line-up (Tuesday/Wednesday)

Mercedes: Lewis Hamilton/George Russell

Ferrari: Sebastian Vettel/Mick Schumacher

Red Bull: Max Verstappen/Dan Ticktum

Renault: Daniel Ricciardo/Jack Aitken

Haas: Romain Grosjean/Pietro Fittipaldi

McLaren: Carlos Sainz Jr/Lando Norris + Fernando Alonso/Sainz (Pirelli test car) :s_shout

Racing Point: Lance Stroll/Sergio Perez

Alfa Romeo: TBC/Schumacher

Toro Rosso: Alex Albon both days + Daniil Kvyat (Pirelli test car)

Williams: George Russell, Robert Kubica/Nicholas Latifi
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By Same_old_story
#574275 παιδί για όλες τις δουλειές :s_sarcastic