2022 Car Launches and Pre-season Testing (March 10-12, Bahrain)

How the hell is the Alfa not overweight? 🤔

But honestly, it would be wild if some absolute miracle happened and it turns out the Alfa actually has a winning car on their hands. 🙏🤣
Man, imagine how insane it would be if old man Bottas somehow snatched the title, or even crazier, ended up fighting for it against the Williams guys. 😂

Those idiots at Sky would be absolutely losing their minds on live TV, probably crying a river over poor Russell's "tragic" fate. 🤣

stormybadger8 said:How the hell is it possible that Alfa isn't just way too heavy? 🤔

But man, it would be wild—like, legendary levels of crazy—if some miracle happened and it turns out Alfa actually has a winning car that dominates everything. 🙏 🤣
I mean, jebati, imagine how insane it would be if old man Bottas somehow snags a title—or even crazier, if he’s fighting for wins against Williams. 😂

Those idiots over at Sky would probably have a total meltdown on live TV, crying their eyes out over poor Russell's "tragic fate." 🤣

Even then, Bottas would somehow find a way to screw it up, poor guy. 🤣

stormybadger8 said:I can't help but wonder, what if the Alfa just wasn't overweight? 🤔

It would be truly fascinating—almost surreal—if some massive miracle occurred and we discovered that the Alfa actually possessed a winning package and a dominant car. 🙏 🤣
Imagine the sheer chaos if Bottas somehow managed to clinch a title, or even more absurdly, found himself fighting on equal footing with the Williams drivers. 😂

Those fools over at Sky Sports would probably have a complete meltdown on live television, wouldn't they? I can almost see them weeping openly over Russell's tragic fate. 🤣

Honestly, everything feels completely upside down.

stormybadger8 said:What if the hell Alfa isn't overweight...🤔

It would be wild if some epic miracle happened and it turns out Alfa actually has a winning package and a dominant car.🙏 🤣
Imagine how insane it would be if old man Bottas takes the title, or even crazier, fights for it against Williams...😂

Those idiots over at Sky would be crying on live TV, probably shedding tears over Russell's tragic fate.🤣

I'm not buying it...
The idea that nine teams building new cars messed up the minimum weight by a full 40kg? If it was a pound or two, maybe. But 40? And Alfa is the only one with a scale in their garage???
If this is true, I hope they don't change the rules, because then Alfa gets punished with extra weight just for being the only ones following the regulations.😵

stormybadger8 said:Why on earth isn't the Alfa lighter?🤔

The Alfa is the shortest car on the grid.
A shorter chassis means less material, which should mean less weight.

Nathan Doyle4 said:I’m just not buying this...
You expect me to believe nine different teams messed up their minimum weight by something like 40kg while building new cars? (Even if it was just a pound or two, 40kg? Seriously?) And somehow only Alfa has a scale in their garage???
Either way, if this is actually true, I hope they don't change the regs, because then Alfa gets rewarded with basically driving lead weights just because they were the only ones actually following the rules.😵

They didn't "mess up," they just couldn't hit the minimum weight...
Pay attention—we're talking about minimum weight here, not maximum...

Yeah, obviously a lighter car is better, but being overweight isn't illegal. It'd be illegal if they were too light...

Just because a car is the lightest doesn't mean it'll be the fastest. Honestly, looking at what we've seen so far, you should expect Alfa to get knocked out in Q1 or barely scrape through to Q2 on pure luck...

stormybadger8 said:It wasn't about being too heavy, they just couldn't hit the minimum weight requirement...
Pay attention to the fact that we're talking about the minimum weight, not the maximum...

Obviously, a lighter car is better, but being overweight doesn't make it illegal. It would be illegal if it were underweight...

Being the lightest doesn't guarantee speed. Honestly, looking at everything we've seen so far, you can expect Alfa to drop out in Q1 or barely scrape through to Q2...

Oops... my bad, I guess I need to get some glasses 🙄
I still don't understand how they haven't been keeping track of this until now.....

They must've been following some kind of logic. Sure, they could've built a smaller, lighter car, but it probably would've been slower due to crappy aerodynamics. So, they went with the bigger, heavier option instead...

And now, of course, they’re going to play the political game to score an advantage—trying to lobby for a higher minimum weight limit just so they can mess with the ballast and get a better weight distribution...

Much of this falls on the teams, though apparently the FIA shares some blame too. Word is they miscalculated the weight of the larger wheels and tires, and might have even completely overlooked the weight of the front fenders.
It seems the FIA's weight projections for the upcoming cars were a bit too optimistic, leaving certain teams struggling to catch up.

But the rules are the same for everyone; they'll just have to adapt.

As for the upcoming pre-season testing in Bahrain, Corriere della ser is reporting some juicy gossip.
Supposedly, Mercedes is showing up with a B-spec version of the W13, which simulations claim is a full second faster per lap.

https://www.corriere.it/sport/formul...7f140451.shtml

The rumored design change is massive. They say Mercedes is ditching the sidepod inlets entirely, routing all cooling through a single central inlet instead.

Essentially, it’s roughly what Scarbs already predicted for a few other teams:



I’m not sure if this rumor holds any water, but I find it far more interesting that Scarbs and the journalists at Corriere actually fell for this nonsense. Under the current regulations, it's simply impossible. Even the most extreme low-profile sidepods we saw at Williams were pushing the absolute limit—both legally and engineering-wise.
Only people who started following F1 yesterday would announce something like that.

:roflić:

We'll see what kind of beast they roll out tomorrow, but honestly? It blows my mind that they’d waste three whole days testing a car that’s already showing up slower than its sibling in the simulations.

shadowstag10 said:We'll find out tomorrow which car they actually roll out with, but I find it pretty mind-boggling that they'd waste three whole days testing a chassis that their own simulations say is slower than the other one.

but isn't that actually pretty logical?
they show up with a backup if they get banned from using the faster model, and besides, they always pull out the quicker version at the very last second just to prove to everyone that nobody can catch them...

I have my doubts about whether they'll ditch the sidepods on the W13 entirely, but the rumor is spreading fast enough that it's hard to ignore.

Even Matt Somerfield is picking up on it.
https://www.motorsport.com/f1/news/m...esign/8846608/

According to him, a concept that completely removes the sidepods looks a bit questionable, yet he expects Mercedes to roll into Bahrain with even narrower profiles—not that they aren't already the narrowest on the grid.

What I’m really hoping is true? That rumor claiming the W13B is a full second per lap faster than the initial W13 spec, and that it's going to absolutely dominate the championship.

This new beast looks "scary good." I’m genuinely concerned we’re staring down another season of absolute, crushing dominance.

Joseph Flores15 said:This new beast looks "scary good." I'm genuinely worried we're staring down another season of absolute, crushing dominance...

Am I really the only one here who hasn't grasped this blatant shift in direction?

I find myself wondering, as I sit here watching the broadcast, why on earth does Germany look so utterly dreadful lately? It seems they’ve lost their way entirely. Even Williams isn't faring much better, if one is being honest. And yet, amidst all this mediocrity, there is Ferrari, looking quite lovely by comparison.

Just to give some context when comparing this year's car to last year's, the best testing and qualifying times were hovering around 1:29:00, while the fastest race lap was about 1:32:00.
It looks like Charles Leclerc is currently running about 5.5 seconds slower than last year's peak testing pace.

It stands to reason, really, given that these cars have become so much heavier and the tires are significantly larger than before; they seem noticeably slower than last year's models, don't they? They navigate the corners with such a lack of agility, almost as if they were hauling heavy sacks of potatoes around the track instead of racing machines.

Germany doesn't look particularly fast to me. Ford, on the other hand, does. Red Bull also seems to be keeping up the pace.

Richard Green73 said:Am I seriously the only one who didn't catch that massive shift?

now?

pic

Man, things are moving at a snail's pace right now—everyone is still playing it close to the vest and honestly, they’ll probably keep hiding everything until qualifying starts.

Word is Red Bull is bringing out the new car tomorrow, though some are saying maybe even the day after... if they're actually hiding anything, that is, or if they're just trying to pull off a last-minute reveal.

Those "mudguards" on the front tires are absolutely hideous, if you ask me.

I’ve already heard some folks in the paddock whispering that Bear's sidepods might actually be illegal. It seems the political maneuvering and gamesmanship are already beginning...