Prelude to 2017 season

[lkjohnson1950]

F=1 Fanatic has a chart showing what tire each driver used for his best lap. Bottas was on ultrasofts, Hammy on supersofts, but the Ferrari guys were both on softs.

http://www.f1fanatic.co.uk/2017/03/03/2017-test-one-best-driver-times-and-tyres-used/

[John S]

Taking into account tyres the Renault cars have posted some pretty good times along with Ferrari on softs. But it's still only testing so there's no way to know fuel loads or engine settings. 

[Scott]

Watching the new flatter, wider cars and tires almost looks like one of those old 4:3 TV shows stretched out to 16:9 

[J.Clark]

Less than three weeks to Australia.
Second week of pre-season testing, day one results:
1. Felipe Massa   BRA   Williams-Mercedes   1m 19.726s (134 laps)
2. Daniel Ricciardo   AUS   Red Bull-TAG   1m 19.900s (64)
3. Sebastian Vettel   GER   Ferrari-Ferrari   1m 19.906s (132)
4. Lewis Hamilton   GBR   Mercedes-Mercedes   1m 20.456s (49)*
5. Valtteri Bottas   FIN   Mercedes-Mercedes   1m 21.313s (54)**
6. Esteban Ocon   FRA   Force India-Mercedes   1m 21.347s (106)
7. Nico Hulkenberg   GER   Renault-Renault   1m 22.589s (30)**
8. Kevin Magnussen DEN   Haas-Ferrari   1m 21.676s (72)
9. Daniil Kvyat   RUS   Toro Rosso-Renault   1m 21.965s (65)
10. Stoffel Vandoorne   BEL   McLaren-Honda   1m 22.537s (51)
11. Pascal Wehrlein   GER   Sauber-Ferrari   1m 23.336s (47)*
12. Marcus Ericsson   SWE   Sauber-Ferrari   1m 23.630s (31)**
13. Jolyon Palmer   GBR   Renault-Renault   1m 24.790s (15)*

*Morning session only
**Afternoon session only

I hope this is an indication of things to come. 
Massa putting Williams at the top of the time sheet.
Ferrari and Red Bull both looking very competitive.
Merc may be sandbagging, but Massa's time is competitive with what Hamilton posted last week.

[Andy B]

Williams top? Someone is sandbagging With Mercedes 4th and RB 3rd the only time we will find out for sure is during qualifying in Melbourne.
Oh I should say that Ron will be smiling as its not his problem!

[Scott]

Wow...if they are sandbagging, it's not by much.  Times are already 2sec faster than last year's pole lap.

[J.Clark]

And as day two comes to an end, things look even brighter for some.

1. Valtteri Bottas   FIN   Mercedes-Mercedes   1m 19.310s (70)*
2. Felipe Massa   BRA   Williams-Mercedes   1m 19.420s (63)*
3. Kimi Raikkonen   FIN   Ferrari-Ferrari   1m 20.406s (53)
4. Max Verstappen   NED   Red Bull-TAG   1m 20.432s (73)
5. Lewis Hamilton   GBR   Mercedes-Mercedes   1m 20.702s (58)**
6. Nico Hulkenberg   GER   Renault-Renault   1m 21.213s (61)
7. Sergio Perez   MEX   Force India-Mercedes   1m 21.297s (87)
9. Lance Stroll   CAN   Williams-Mercedes   1m 21.531s (44)**
8. Carlos Sainz   ESP   Toro Rosso-Renault   1m 21.872s (82)
10. Romain Grosjean FRA   Haas-Ferrari   1m 21.887s (76)
11. Pascal Wehrlein   GER   Sauber-Ferrari   1m 23.000s (59)*
12. Fernando Alonso   ESP   McLaren-Honda   1m 23.041s (37)
13. Marcus Ericsson   SWE   Sauber-Ferrari   1m 23.384s (32)**
14. Jolyon Palmer   GBR   Renault-Renault   1m 24.774s (23)**

*Morning session only
**Afternoon session only

[J.Clark]

Week two, day three, done.

1. Sebastian Vettel   GER   Ferrari-Ferrari   1m 19.024s (128)
2. Lewis Hamilton   GBR   Mercedes-Mercedes   1m 19.352s (52)*
3. Esteban Ocon   FRA   Force India-Mercedes   1m 20.161s (121)
4. Daniel Kvyat   RUS   Toro Rosso-Renault   1m 20.416s (77)
5. Kevin Magnussen DEN   Haas-Ferrari   1m 20.504s (78)
6. Daniel Ricciardo   AUS   Red Bull-TAG   1m 20.824s (106)
7. Stoffel Vandoorne   BEL   McLaren-Honda   1m 21.348s (44)
8. Valtteri Bottas   FIN   Mercedes-Mercedes   1m 21.819s (63)**
9. Pascal Wehrlein   GER   Sauber-Ferrari   1m 22.347s (32)**
10. Jolyon Palmer   GBR   Renault-Renault   1m 22.418s (53)
11. Marcus Ericsson   SWE   Sauber-Ferrari   1m 23.330s (88)*
12. Lance Stroll   CAN   Williams-Mercedes   1m 24.863s (85)*
13. Felipe Massa   BRA   Williams-Mercedes   1m 25.080s (49)**

I think Vettel's Ferrari just raised the bar.

[lkjohnson1950]

I read many sites for F1 news and found the following bits here and there.

Vettel says Ferrari has more in reserve.
Hamilton says he's concerned about Ferrari's pace.
Max says RB will be competitive, but Ricciardo isn't so sure.
Force India says they need to find more speed before OZ.
Alonso says the Honda is slow and unreliable and is hurting chassis work.
Palmer says the Renault is a huge step forward in all respects.

[John S]

Vettel says Ferrari has more in reserve.
Hamilton says he's concerned about Ferrari's pace.

I think there may be truth in these statements. In live commentary yesterday one of the F1 sites suggested that taking the best split times from a few laps of Vettel in the Ferrari gives a fastest time of 1m 18.390. Clearly a stellar lap - but achievable they say as Vettel was slowing in the last sector on his two fastest recorded laps.

[J.Clark]

Well, two weeks from right now, we'll see how it all has turned out.  We will have some real on-track times at a circuit where they are actually setting to race on over the weekend.

Some speculation and commentary about Ferrari do seem to be true however, looking at the combined times from the two weeks in Barcelona.
1. Kimi Raikkonen   FIN   Ferrari - Ferrari   1m 18.634s (365)
2. Sebastian Vettel   GER   Ferrari - Ferrari   1m 19.024s (591)
3. Valtteri Bottas   FIN   Mercedes - Mercedes   1m 19.310s (628)
4. Lewis Hamilton   GBR   Mercedes - Mercedes   1m 19.352s (468)
5. Felipe Massa   BRA   Williams - Mercedes   1m 19.420s (414)
6. Max Verstappen NED   Red Bull - TAG   1m 19.438s (374)
7. Carlos Sainz   ESP   Toro Rosso-Renault   1m 19.837s (307)
8. Nico Hulkenberg   GER   Renault - Renault 1m 19.885s (314)
9. Daniel Ricciardo AUS   Red Bull - TAG   1m 19.900s (337)
10. Sergio Perez   MEX   Force India-Mercedes   1m 20.116s (349)
11. Esteban Ocon   FRA   Force India-Mercedes   1m 20.161s (365)
12. Jolyon Palmer   GBR   Renault - Renault   1m 20.205s (283)
13. Lance Stroll   CAN   Williams - Mercedes   1m 20.335s (386)
14. Daniil Kvyat   RUS   Toro Rosso-Renault   1m 22.416s (277)
15. Kevin Magnussen DEN   Haas-Ferrari   1m 20.504s (369)
16. Romain Grosjean FRA   Haas-Ferrari   1m 21.110s (341)
17. Stoffel Vandoorne   BEL   McLaren-Honda   1m 21.348s (235)
18. Fernando Alonso   ESP   McLaren-Honda   1m 21.389s (190)
19. Marcus Ericsson   SWE   Sauber - Ferrari   1m 21.670s (445)
20. Pascal Wehrlein   GER   Sauber - Ferrari   1m 22.347s (192) **
21. Antonio Giovinazzi   ITA   Sauber-Ferrari   1m 22.401s (151) *
22. Alfonso Celis Jr   MEX   Force India-Mercedes   1m 23.568s (71) *

all times unofficial

* Test 1 only
** Test 2 only

Ferrari quicker than Mercs, and Mercs marginally quicker than Williams by all appearances.

Red Bull, Renault and STR all look extremely tight, with Haas and Force India nipping at their heels.

[lkjohnson1950]

I believe Ferrari was fastest in testing last year and we know how that turned out.

[Steve A.]

Well,  I think Mclaren  Honda are sandbagging, they will be fastest in Oz   Either that or their engine is a sandbag.

[J.Clark]

I think in the 2016 pre-season testing that the Ferrari was quickest out of the box, and in fact, STR (maybe Williams) were also faster than the Mercs at some point. 

[Irisado]

It has been very interesting following testing, owing to the new rules.  While the new cars look somewhat better, they are spoilt by all the winglets and fins, and I'm not at all persuaded that the racing will be enhanced, but at least the cars look more dynamic and seem faster.

Ferrari may have the upper hand, but I still feel as though Mercedes are holding back on their ultimate performance, and Red Bull always brings upgrades to the first race.  McLaren meantime are in deep trouble.  They may even be on the last row of the grid.  The chassis does not seem that great and the Honda engine's performance and reliability are poor.