2016 Car Launch and Pre-season Testing

America finally broke down on us—well, I guess we finally had to see it happen 😁

Lewis Hamilton: "The gap between Ferrari and us is razor thin" http://www.skysports.com/f1/live-blog #Formula1 #SkyF1

jadeseal7 said:Haas is going to absolutely eat them alive.

We saw that coming from a mile away, man.
8. Esteban Gutierrez, Haas, 1:26.661, mediums, 23 laps;
9. Felipe Nasr, Sauber, 1:26.923, medium tyres, 42 laps;

McLaren is looking faster than Renault on the same tire compound 🎉

Man, you're losing that bet 👋

Haven't tuned in for a bit...
Did Kimi and the crew head out for an early lunch the second they saw Rosberg's lap time, or what the hell is going on? 🤷

neonfox65 said:McLaren is looking faster than Renault on the same set of tires 🎉

Man, you're definitely going to lose this bet 👋

Well, if I end up losing, I'll be sure to reach out 👍

Timothy Castillo6 said:Well, we actually caught onto that one ourselves, my friend.
8. Esteban Gutierrez, Haas, 1:26.661, medium tires, 23 laps;
9. Felipe Nasr, Sauber, 1:26.923, medium tires, 42 laps;

Sometimes, you really don't even need the data—you can just take one look at the car and know exactly where it belongs on the grid. 😁

stormybadger8 said:I haven't been following for a little bit...
Did Kimi and the crew head out for some pasta once they saw Lewis Hamilton's time, or what's actually going on here? 🤷

What are you even talking about? Ferrari's pace looks fantastic today. I was keeping an eye on things over at AMU, and Kimi clocked his best time at 1:24.8 on the mediums during a nine-lap stint. Meanwhile, Lewis Hamilton went straight into a qualifying simulation, putting down two quick laps (1:24.3 and 1:25.5) with just one lap in between to recharge the battery.

First off, Kimi (along with Sebastian Vettel and Lewis Hamilton) is definitely slower than Lewis Hamilton on this specific track. Right now, he's the fastest man out there. Second, Kimi ran a longer stint, so he almost certainly had more fuel in the tank. Third, Lewis Hamilton himself mentioned they are incredibly close.

Check it out—Lewis Hamilton is now on a ten-lap stint and just set his best time at 1:25.1. So, it’s definitely not all doom and gloom. The only thing looking truly grim is Ferrari's reliability.🐔

In my view, Nico Rosberg is looking incredibly fired up this season—if Lewis Hamilton doesn't knock his confidence down early in the first few races, he’ll be the frontrunner for the title.

analogpilot16 said:I think Rosberg is totally dialed in this year—if Hamilton doesn't wreck his confidence early on, he's going to be a massive title contender.

Give me a break.

Nico Rosberg is a title contender about as often as Rubens Barrichello was at Ferrari or Gerhard Berger was at McLaren.

We haven't seen a team with such a clear #1 and #2 driver in ages.

Nico Rosberg is a contender only if Lewis Hamilton gets injured. And I mean actual physical injuries—we aren't counting mental ones, because even when he's mentally checked out, he can still beat Rosberg.

ruggedhawk20 said:Oh, please.

Nico Rosberg is a title contender about as much as Rubens Barrichello was during his time at Ferrari—or Gerhard Berger at McLaren.

We haven't seen such clearly defined first and second drivers within a single team in quite some time.

The only way Rosberg becomes a title contender is if Lewis Hamilton gets injured. And even then—only if it’s a physical injury. We aren't counting "mental" injuries here, because even when he's struggling mentally, he still has what it takes to beat Rosberg.

I hope you're right—but this is really his last shot at glory, so things could get pretty intense.

analogpilot16 said:I certainly hope you're right, though this might be his very last chance to make things work, which could lead to quite a tense situation.

Could Nico Rosberg choose to ignore orders? Perhaps, but wouldn't he then find himself facing sudden mechanical failures mid-race, such as overheating brakes or a cylinder malfunction? 🙂

rowdyrider12 said:Sure, Nico Rosberg can choose to ignore team orders—but if he does, he’s going to start seeing some real issues pop up mid-race... things like overheating brakes or even a cylinder failure. 🙂

We've actually seen this happen before. When Nico Rosberg is given the green light to do his own thing, he really can outpace Lewis Hamilton.

jadeseal7 said:Old news. When he’s actually given the green light, Nico Rosberg can outpace Lewis Hamilton.

Hardly. It's more like when Lewis Hamilton's car isn't performing perfectly, giving him a little ego boost.

And when exactly was this "seen"? Once Lewis Hamilton had already locked down the championship?

mellowtiger83 said:It’s not about that—it’s more about those moments when Lewis Hamilton gets a slightly better car, just so he can enjoy a little win.

When exactly are we going to see that? By the time he's already clinched the championship!

Everything really started shifting after Monaco 2014.

I can't recall every single race from that era—not that it really matters right now.

Ferrari is really struggling when it comes to reliability lately. Even Haas seems to be running into issues with their fuel system—could those be lingering complications stemming from Ferrari's power unit? Looking at the timing, Valtteri Bottas was trailing Nico Rosberg by half a second on the soft tires, yet when switching to the ultrasofts, Finac managed to clock a time only three-tenths faster than he did on the softs. One has to wonder, did Finac simply make an error during the stint, or is it possible that the ultrasoft compound actually loses performance over a single lap on a track like this? In any case, we shall endeavor to be more strategic and prepared when we head to Melbourne 😁

And I should probably mention that, regarding raw pace, Ferrari appears to have made some strides if we are to take Kimi Räikkönen's impressions at face value:

Quote: The car feels good Quote

we are pretty happy with the way the car is handling

I think we have a very good package

It appears we are looking at another year of dominance from Mickey... though perhaps it won't be quite as overwhelming as last season. The Ferkani might manage to snag a few more wins—maybe four or five—while it could finally be time for RB or Williams to pick up one each. That would likely settle the score...
Now, we just wait for 2017...🙂

P.S.
Of course, this is merely my own speculation...🙂

What exactly are you basing all this optimism about the competition winning more races on?

So far, Mercedes-Benz has proven they're at least 0.5 seconds faster than everyone else on mediums—which is what we'll be running most of the season—and they're sitting at least 0.7 seconds ahead on softs...
I’m honestly terrified thinking about what they might pull off during the supersoft or US sessions. It wouldn't even surprise me if Nico Rosberg clocks something in the 1:20 to 1:21 range at the US Grand Prix...

The only tiny shred of hope I have left is those seven laps Sebastian Vettel put down on ultrasofts during one of the tests. That’s literally our only prayer: that Ferrari is way gentler on their tires compared to Mercedes-Benz...
If the Bear completely destroys its US and SS tires within just one or two laps, then maybe Ferrari or the rest of the field could stand a chance if they can stretch those same tires for ten laps. Otherwise, just forget about it...

ruggedhawk20 said:Give me a break.
Nico Rosberg is a title contender about as much as Rubens Barrichello was during his Ferrari days or Gerhard Berger was at McLaren.

OFF
Don't you dare put Rubens Barrichello and Gerhard Berger in the same sentence. I don't care if your logic holds up. 😉

Timothy Castillo6 said:OFF
Please don't even try putting Rubens Barrichello and Gerhard Berger in the same breath—regardless of whether the logic actually holds up. 😉

How on earth is Berger better than Barrichello?

Both guys looked like future world champions right up until they ran into a dominant driver who just owned the field.

They’re basically identical drivers with nearly identical career paths.

The only real difference is Berger caught a slightly better break—he was in that Ferrari alongside a fading Alain Prost, which made him look way better than he actually was.

That 1987 Ferrari was a championship car. Too bad they didn't have a driver capable of winning the title.

If Gilles Villeneuve were still around, he’d have cruised to that 1987 title in that Ferrari—no questions asked. Same goes for Ayrton Senna.

I mean, just look at Gerhard Berger’s stats from '90 and '91 driving a proven championship car... they're actually worse than what happened back in '87.