2016 Car Launch and Pre-season Testing

swiftmaker12 said:happy return to reality...

Forum members can't wait to find out if I've actually released you guys yet......🤦

Looks like you're fluent in sarcasm and pidgin English. Respect. I'm having a Wonderful relationship with Goofy. He's out there losing his mind while I'm just over here staying zen and sending good vibes from a distance. Just keep typing away; I'll be scrolling through the forum whenever I feel like it.

Williams is either hiding serious pace or they’ve got some freakish, massive issue with their Pirelli tires🤔

Williams' fastest laps:
Bottas - Ultra Soft - 1:23.229
Bottas - super Soft - 1:23.261
Bottas - Soft - 1:23.572

It looks incredibly sketchy that the gaps are this tiny just for them, while everyone else has huge jumps...

stormybadger8 said:Williams is clearly hiding their true pace, or they’re dealing with some incredibly bizarre and extreme issue regarding the Pirelli tires. 🤔

Williams' fastest times:
Bottas - Ultra Soft - 1:23.229
Bottas - Super Soft - 1:23.261
Bottas - Soft - 1:23.572

It looks quite strange that the gaps are this minuscule and specifically only happening with them; for everyone else, the differences are substantial...

It seems to me that the performance gap between the different tire compounds—the actual speed delta—is extremely small. It isn't even close to that half-second per compound that some people claim; it's much less than that.

I'm not even certain the difference between the Medium and the Ultra Soft is greater than 1.5 seconds. This is clearly what's confusing so many people. We are all accustomed to much larger gaps between compounds, but it appears the differences are far smaller than what we've grown used to from Pirelli over the last few years.

Mind you, they actually have three different compounds using the "soft" prefix 🙂. Three separate blends. I suspect the gap between the Soft and the Ultra Soft is one second at most, and that's being generous.

Having five different dry tire compounds is just madness and completely nonsensical.

swiftmaker12 said:happy return to reality...

Forum members can't wait to find out if I'm having a Wonderful relationship with Goofy......🤦

Wouldn't you need some German?

mellowtiger83 said:It seems to me that the gap between tire speeds is actually quite small. It’s nowhere near that half-second difference per lap people claim; it's much less.

I'm not even sure the gap between Medium and Ultra Soft is more than 1.5 seconds. That's clearly confusing everyone. We're all used to much larger gaps in compound mixes, but it feels like the differences are significantly smaller than what we've seen from Pirelli over the last few years.

Look, they even have three different compounds with the "soft" prefix 🙂. Three different mixes. Personally, I think the difference between Soft and Ultra Soft is maybe one second at most.

Having five dry weather compounds is just crazy and makes no sense!

Of course it is.
Though teams will likely focus their testing on the Soft and Medium, assuming both will be durable enough to last while still being soft enough for fast laps.

The Super Soft is overkill, the Ultra Soft is a joke, and the Hard is unnecessary.
Unless, of course, Pirelli cooked something up again based on specific instructions.

By the way, the Ultra Soft is slated for Canada and Monaco.
Should be interesting.

Jason Campbell70 said:Shouldn't you be learning some German?

And I’m saying this here—and I've been saying it in other forums, too!

Oho!!! swiftmaker12 finally scored something!! Thank God—we were all getting seriously worried about his prostate health there.

🙂

If Goofy actually managed to mess something up, his prostate is likely in the exact same condition as it was before. 🤷

ruggedhawk20 said:Whoa!!! Goofy finally nailed something!!

Thanks, Germany. 👋👋👋

William Bennett53 said:If Goofy got hit in the ass, his prostate is still exactly where it was before. 🤷

Clearly, adult male anatomy is way above your pay grade.

Go ahead and explain it to me over on Paddock; I'm actually quite curious to hear your take.

We've drifted a little far from the main topic here!

One arrives here hoping to gain some insight into how the testing is actually progressing, yet I find that everyone seems to be preoccupied discussing absolutely everything except for that very subject 🕺

I am not entirely certain if this sentiment has already been voiced, but Haas mentioned being quite taken aback by just how incredibly complicated Formula 1 truly is... 🙂

Well, no kidding, Sherlock... 🙂

http://www.autosport.com/news/report.php/id/123053

Word on the street is General Motors fixed up a massive chunk of their engines for this season. Apparently, they did such a good job that even Helmut Marko praised them ... 😲
It’s entirely possible we're looking at games being played for next season already. Red Bull Racing knows they aren't getting an engine from anyone else, so they've basically flipped the script. Either way, I think RB might actually pull off a surprise this year...

Aside from the aero, it looks like Ferrari made a huge leap forward with their power unit too. I expect them to iron out their own issues, but I’m genuinely worried about how Haas is going to fare—they only managed 24 laps in two days, which is an absolute disaster.
By the way, that black dot in the photo with the Ferrari car is just some kind of connector...

Also, does anyone know if there's any actual difference between the medium tires this season compared to last?

As far as I know, the answer is no, though Lewis mentioned there might be something in between the softs. On a side note, I'm expecting this year's pace to be a bit slower than last season because, according to Mercedes, Goodyear requested higher tire pressures.

Kyle Edwards5 said:By the way, is there actually any noticeable difference in the tire compound between this season and the last one?

I believe I have already touched upon my thoughts regarding this season over in that other thread:

And you can also find my observations at this link:

Another new feature of this year's tyres is the under-tread layer designed to give a warning to the driver, via a feeling of a loss of grip, when he is reaching maximum wear.

So, yes, there certainly is a distinction. It seems Lewis Hamilton isn't particularly happy with the rubber we're seeing this year:
http://www.autosport.com/news/report.php/id/123054

Furthermore, within that very same article, they mention something regarding Ford:

I think they have a strong package

As for what Sebastian Vettel thinks about this year's Ford performance, you can read all about it here. I shall highlight this particular section:

Q: When you look back at 2015, is the new car a bit better or massively better?
SV: I would say that it is a good step in the right direction - the verdict is much better.

copperdrifter26 said:As far as I know, no. But Lewis mentioned there's something between the softs. Also, temps should be a bit slower this year since Amazon says Goodyear requested higher tire pressures.

Nico Rosberg ran a full race simulation yesterday with three pit stops...
Just to end up pulling a Ferrari that's somehow 2 seconds😲 faster than last year's Ferrari during the race...
So yeah, it's obvious the tires are way faster. I just refuse to believe Bear found 2 seconds in the Mercedes-AMG engine or the chassis compared to last season.

So, any attempt at comparing lap times from last season is basically dead in the water, mostly because the tires just aren't the same anymore.
I’m honestly struggling to wrap my head around how much these teams have actually accelerated. Purely from a logical standpoint, the jumps in pace should be way more incremental than what we saw last year...

Martin Brundle says regarding those first shots of the Halo: "That looks even worse than I feared, in several respects."
I mean, he's not wrong...
What an absolute eyesore. 🙂

stormybadger8 said:


Martin Brundle's verdict on the first pics of the Halo: "That looks even worse than I feared, in several respects."
I mean, he's not wrong...
It’s a real eyesore—honestly, what a mess. 🙂

Personally, I don't mind seeing this Halo cockpit mounted on an F1 car...
it’s already getting hard to tell drivers apart these days because of
those repetitive helmet designs and the wider cockpit sides...

but what seems totally nonsensical to me is that single pillar right in the middle of the car...
it would be much better if they just put two supports on the sides so the driver actually has a clear view ahead...

besides, an F1 driver isn't exactly looking in the rearview mirrors anyway...
if you have that kind of mindset, you probably shouldn't be driving in F1 to begin with.