2018 Car Reveal and Pre-season Testing

mellowtiger83 said:Let's look back at 2016, for instance. Do you really think Rosberg and Hamilton could afford to drive conservatively while they were neck-and-neck? Please. They were fighting for the championship and pushing Mercedes to the absolute limit.

And why would they even need to push to the max in your little scenario? 🤔
Why couldn't they just stay in conservative mode? 🤷

If Mercedes decided beforehand that everyone runs in conservative mode at 85% power, then they’re just racing to hit that pre-set 85% ceiling...
That becomes their "maximum." In their head-to-head battle, it doesn't matter because both guys have that same 85% available...
For them, that's plenty of juice to crush the competition without wrecking each other...

But obviously, that isn't the actual maximum the car is capable of. 😉

copperdrifter26 said:Toto mentioned to AMUS today that Ferrari actually has more horsepower with their new engine than they do.🍿

Yet, the folks watching from the track are saying Mercedes looks surprisingly sharp in the corners, looking even better than both Ferrari and Red Bull.

Don't sweat it. Toto was just bluffing about being terrified of McLaren and Renault. He acted like Haas is some massive threat to them, and honestly, they’re clearly sweating over Honda, too. 🙂
Honestly, I don't buy a single word of this nonsense from team principals regarding who actually has the pace or the power. And when it comes to Toto Wolff? He’s the last person on Earth I’d ever believe. ☕

You honestly have no idea what kind of game Ferrari has been playing during these tests.

They’ve done such a masterful job of masking their true performance levels that nobody even views them as a legitimate threat to Mercedes-Benz.

Everyone seems to be laser-focused on Red Bull—though, let's be real, they don't stand a chance as long as Renault is still running that power unit.

I thought Ferrari handled last year's testing quite well, but this time around, I am genuinely surprised by how much these guys from Maranello have adopted a certain German-style precision in their approach.

stormybadger8 said:Why do you think Ferrari made such a massive blunder? 🤷

From day one, Mercedes has been miles ahead when it comes to the Power Unit... plus they’re elite with aerodynamics and chassis, their organization is top-tier, and their driver lineup is solid—especially when you look at Lewis Hamilton...

Honestly, it would be a total miracle if Ferrari suddenly didn't just catch up to Mercedes, but actually overtook them. Realistically, the only actual edge they had last year was when the FIA banned the Mercedes suspension, which completely trashed their car concept....
Everything else is just "sorry, tough luck." They didn't have a more powerful Power Unit, nor was it any more reliable. It's questionable whether the car was even better to begin with, or if it just looked that way because the suspension trick sent Mercedes crashing backward while Ferrari ended up with some weird hybrid design that wasn't even meant to work with that kind of setup...

Red Bull, on the other hand, almost certainly has the best aero and chassis out of the top three teams. There's a much higher chance that Renault catches up or at least gets close to Ferrari, which automatically puts Red Bull ahead of Ferrari—maybe even right up there with Mercedes...

Even back when Red Bull was absolutely dominating, Renault didn't exactly have the strongest or best engine, but they were close enough that the Red Bull chassis and aero could carry the whole team past everyone else...

I don't think Ferrari fundamentally screwed everything up. It's more that Mercedes is so far ahead on the Power Unit side (specifically regarding reliability) that they can easily afford to focus on performance. Meanwhile, everyone else is sweating, wondering if their three Power Units will even survive the entire season. Even now, before the season kicks off, manufacturers are already planning how their engines will die and how they'll intentionally take penalties by using four Power Units (Renault and Honda are already hinting at it, and who knows, maybe Ferrari is planning the same thing too)...
Does anyone on this planet actually expect Mercedes to go out of their way to take a penalty and limp through the season on four or five engines? 🙂

Look, I’m not saying they messed up. I’m just saying I’m not buying all this speculation following the test. If anything, I’m expecting a very competitive Ferrari once we hit Australia.

Based on this article, it looks like the car's philosophy is a total pivot from last year. It seems like they're trying to beat Mercedes by actually using the Mercedes approach. 🤔
That probably means Ferrari won't have that edge on slower tracks anymore. My gut tells me Red Bull might just dominate at Monaco, Hungaroring, and Singapore instead.

By the way, why does Motorsport publish different versions of their articles depending on the language setting? Just realized that now...

Williams and their constant car struggles

The issue

Williams’s tech chief Paddy Lowe tried to rip off the cooling setup from his old team, Mercedes-Benz, just to save some time. But The Silver Arrows Concept was complex and Had too many moving parts. Certain bits needed way more cooling than others. Turns out, you can't just copy-paste that stuff and expect it to work. It didn't.

So here's the deal: if they keep the bodywork closed, the engine overheats. If they open it up to let air flow? The aero goes to hell, the car loses massive amounts of rear downforce, and the drivers end up with zero grip. Stuck between a rock and a hard place.

http://c.newsnow.co.uk/A/934580323?-2693:2149:3

jadeseal7 said:You honestly have no idea what kind of game Ferrari has been playing during these tests.

They’ve done such a masterful job of masking their true performance levels that nobody even views them as a legitimate threat to Mercedes-Benz.

Everyone seems to be laser-focused on Red Bull—though, let's be real, they don't stand a chance as long as Renault is still running that power unit.

I thought Ferrari handled last year's testing quite well, but this time around, I am genuinely surprised by how much these guys from Maranello have adopted a certain German-style precision in their approach.

Sine, you're a genius!! A total genius, bravo!!

mellowtiger83 said:Let's go, Ferrari!

mellowtiger83 said:Sebastian Vettel was the world champion back in 2018, I am absolutely certain of that after seeing how Ferrari performed, and whatever!! The man earned it, bravo Ferrari!!!, bravo Vettel!!

Bravo Simon Cowell!!!

mellowtiger83 said:Tomorrow, we get a glimpse of the marvel from Maranello, alongside whatever magic Mercedes has cooked up.

I’m feeling particularly optimistic about Ferrari, and you might ask why. It’s simple: the crew has perfectly aligned their wind tunnel simulations with reality, everything is clicking, and frankly, they pioneered the very tech everyone else is currently scrambling to copy.

I can't wait to see that red monster in action.

mellowtiger83 said:Sebastian Vettel is carrying enough fuel to power an ExxonMobil tanker, and he’s already stuck on 1.21s on the Mediums by lap 15. Come on, Seb.

mellowtiger83 said:Vettel 1.18.666 on the red tires under much harsher conditions than yesterday—track temps sitting at about 54 degrees Fahrenheit🙂

This is exactly my point. Ferrari clearly has the raw pace, they're just running their own specific agenda

Update 1.18.414🙂. The prophets are out in full force now, acting like this is some miracle, yet those hard compounds are actually performing better than when Ricciardo was out there yesterday with the asphalt at 54 degrees. What do you think, Tibac He He? Let's go, Seb, let's go

When you factor in all the variables—the rubber, the track state—this looks like a significantly better lap time

No, he's not a Ferrari fan...

neonfox65 said:

No, he's not a Ferrari fan...

Hey man, how do you say "epic idiot" in whatever language they speak over in Europe?