1444 replies to this topic

[skakavac111]

Here we go!!!!

[jrg19]

Line ups so far:

Red Bull: Vettel || Vettel || Webber || Webber
Ferrari: Alonso || Alonso || Alonso || Massa
McLaren: Perez || Perez || Button || Button
Lotus: Raikkonen || Raikkonen || Grosjean || Grosjean
Mercedes: Rosberg || Hamilton ||Rosberg || Hamilton
Sauber: Gutiérrez || Hulkenberg || Hulkenberg || Gutiérrez
Force India: Di Resta ||Di Resta || Sutil || Bianchi
Williams: Maldonado || Bottas || Maldonado/Bottas || Bottas/Maldonado
Toro Rosso:
Caterham: Pic || Pic || van der Garde || van der Garde
Marussia:

Weather:
http://uk.weather.ya...ontmelo-767669/

Live testing via Autosport:

http://live.autosport.com

Edited by jrg19, 18 February 2013 - 16:04.

[MP422]

Looking forward to this test.

[Andrew Hope]

New Williams unveiled tomorrow I think? Presumably in a gorgeous testing livery which will be traded in for something half as pretty come Australia..

[showtime]

Caterham: Pic,Pic,VdG,VdG

A more reliable weather source: http://www.aemet.es/...ontmelo-id08135

[eronrules]

no rain for first 2 days .... lucky for Kimsta

let me make a prediction for FI line up ...

Sutil,Bianchi,NK,Whover has money

[showtime]

Mercedes: ROS,HAM,ROS,HAM
Marussia: CHI,?,?,?

Edited by showtime, 18 February 2013 - 12:03.

[matthewf1]

Force India: Di Resta | Sutil | Bianchi | The Pope

[tomisumi]

Force India: Di Resta | Sutil | Bianchi | The Pope

And where is Narain???

[Owen]

http://www.autosport...t.php/id/105604
what to expect

[CrashPad]

Feels like this has been the shortest off-season ever.

...still far too long though

[WonderboyF1]

I'll be there, fly out tomorrow

[matthewf1]

Force India: Di Resta | Di Resta | Sutil | Bianchi

Looks like a shoot out.
Maybe Di Resta will get demoted to 3rd driver for financial reasons?
Maybe Sutil and Bianchi will share the second seat?
Maybe Force India will make a decision before Melbourne?
(none of the above likely)

[SealTheDiffuser]

yeah, DIR/DIR/SUT/BIA

but rain on late thursday and friday

[jrg19]

Would they be allowed to have a 2 second drivers with the swapping at each GP?

[H2H]

Waiting for the new parts....

[Rosberg]

Would they be allowed to have a 2 second drivers with the swapping at each GP?

I'm sure Red Bull did that with Klien and Liuzzi in 2005.

[ApexMouse]

Would they be allowed to have a 2 second drivers with the swapping at each GP?

I think so. I Believe the rule is for up three drivers for a car per season.
Actually, am I confusing this with something along the lines of 3 driver changes per team per season? Not sure if swapping between the two would qualify as a change past the first instance however. Somebody with a rule-book correct my ignorance

[Owen]

I'll be there, fly out tomorrow ;)

Do feel free to post any info/thoughts when you get time.

[BigCHrome]

Alonso getting 3 days?

[Francesc]

Alonso getting 3 days?

Massa got 3 in Jerez.

[sock22]

I think so. I Believe the rule is for up three drivers for a car per season.
Actually, am I confusing this with something along the lines of 3 driver changes per team per season? Not sure if swapping between the two would qualify as a change past the first instance however. Somebody with a rule-book correct my ignorance

I think a team is only allowed to use up to four different drivers over the course of a season, but there's no restriction on the number of times they can swap them around.

[ZuTiMa]

Alonso getting 3 days?

Why the ???

[ConsiderAndGo]

Why the ???

Unfair treamtment. But what he fails to realise is that Massa had three days at Jerez and overall will have one day more.

[PoleMan]

Unfair treamtment. But what he fails to realise is that Massa had three days at Jerez and overall will have one day more.

In other words, he was in a rush to get his on without benefit of the facts.

Edited by PoleMan, 18 February 2013 - 18:01.

[fabr68]

Alonso getting 3 days?

No,
3 =

[ConsiderAndGo]

In other words, he was in a rush to get his on without benefit of the facts.;)

Precisely.

[BigCHrome]

Massa got 3 in Jerez.

Unfair treamtment. But what he fails to realise is that Massa had three days at Jerez and overall will have one day more.

3 days of doing donkey work at the first test is not the same as 3 days in Barcelona.

In other words, he was in a rush to get his on without benefit of the facts.;)

Incorrect.

[tkulla]

In other words, he was in a rush to get his on without benefit of the facts.;)

No, because the tests become more and more important the closer we get to the season. The first test is the checks/donkey work test and not nearly as useful to the drivers as the Barcelona tests where the car is closer to Melbourne spec and actual setup work begins.

Therefore, giving Alonso three days to Massa's one is an unfair advantage for Fernando.

[MortenF1]

New Williams unveiled tomorrow I think? Presumably in a gorgeous testing livery which will be traded in for something half as pretty come Australia..

Yeah, that's become a tradition! Still excited to see it, and to hopefully get some positive comments on it after the test.

[HuddersfieldTerrier1986]

Poor excuse in my opinion for the thumbs down. So what? Fernando is the team leader, can do what he wants as long as the team agrees with it, and for me it's a complete non issue. Massa will still have had, and will have, plenty of time in the car AFTER the donkey work of test 1 has finished. It's hardly like out of the 12 days of testing that Alonso is going to get 10 days of testing and Massa 2.

[ApexMouse]

Yeah, that's become a tradition! Still excited to see it, and to hopefully get some positive comments on it after the test.

It wont be in a testing livery. The new livery was ran in jerez on the old car.

[Xeriks]

I love the Barcelona test, we start to see which cars look competitive or not, still it's not 100% accurate, but we get a much better picture than at Jerez, which is a bit of an unknown.

[PoleMan]

3 days of doing donkey work at the first test is not the same as 3 days in Barcelona.



Incorrect.

Erm...and this is news to you?

F1 fans have known the testing schedule and what days Alonso was doing for about a month. I guess for you and tkulla just have a really slow reaction time.

Many, including myself, were wondering why Alonso would put himself at such a DISADVANTAGE by not getting his hands on the car right away. Was he injured? What if it rains? Etc. Some even speculated that Massa was being favored. The FINAL car won't debut before the second Barcelona test, when they both split the days...but I know you can't wait until then to get your conspiracy theory excuses and favoritism accusations out in public. Ferrari want BOTH drivers to do well. Me too.

[Seanspeed]

There's positives and negatives to it. Neither driver is getting shafted. Massa gets the benefit of having driven it over a longer time scale and at different locations.

[DrF]

I love the Barcelona test, we start to see which cars look competitive or not, still it's not 100% accurate, but we get a much better picture than at Jerez, which is a bit of an unknown.

Does anyone have the time and inclination to compare 2nd test positions to wdc and wcc results for the last 3 years?

[Seanspeed]

Does anyone have the time and inclination to compare 2nd test positions to wdc and wcc results for the last 3 years?

Final times still dont tend to mean a lot. When people say that a better picture starts to emerge, its mainly found from following the stints during the day and seeing what new bits are being put on the cars.

[mclarennut]

Alonso said a long time before testing that he needed a break from the 2012 season as it was a tough one, and would not be testing the car until Barcelona, I know it seems unfair but he is the number one driver and going into the new season with a longer rest will make him a better driver. Im not a fan of Alonso but I see his point..

Edited by mclarennut, 18 February 2013 - 20:16.

[rhukkas]

Rumours were Alonso had bust a rib at Massa's karting event, hence no jerez. not uncommon injury

Edited by rhukkas, 18 February 2013 - 20:23.

[ApexMouse]

Considering the amount of biking and running he was doing at the same time as jerez I think that might be absolute whack.

[mclarennut]

I guess a lot of rumours go around but the one I trust is that he needed the break and gave Jerez a miss, when I go on holiday I do biking and running not all holidays means catching rays next to a pool, sometimes its nice just to have a break from the sport you do day in day out 9mts a year.

I was watching golf on TV the other day and two of the presenters was talking about a couple of the golfers that said its a long season playing and they was going to take a few months of before the grind started again, one of them also said he was friends with Alonso and he was doing the same. but maybe he is Whack too.

Edited by mclarennut, 18 February 2013 - 20:37.

[tkulla]

Erm...and this is news to you?

F1 fans have known the testing schedule and what days Alonso was doing for about a month. I guess for you and tkulla just have a really slow reaction time.

Sorry, have this think called a life and don't catch every little factoid.

I don't really mind this as long as at the last test it's 2-2 (I'm sure you'll let me know), but it just brings up the one thing about Alonso that I don't like. I just don't think the top drivers should need to go the Schumacher route to gain an advantage over their teammates, and I don't believe Fernando has ever had to deal with a level playing field (except 2007, but we don't need to talk about that). He's unquestionably a great driver, but he'll never be Prost/Senna great to me because he ducks and dodges the other top drivers and won't even let merely good ones have equal footing.

Edited by tkulla, 18 February 2013 - 21:13.

[crespo]

Sorry, have this think called a life and don't catch every little factoid.

I don't really mind this as long as at the last test it's 2-2 (I'm sure you'll let me know), but it just brings up the one thing about Alonso that I don't like. I just don't think the top drivers should need to go the Schumacher route to gain an advantage over their teammates, and I don't believe Fernando has ever had to deal with a level playing field (except 2007, but we don't need to talk about that). He's unquestionably a great driver, but he'll never be Prost/Senna great to me because he ducks and dodges the other top drivers and won't even let merely good ones have equal footing.

...but you know enough little factoids to form such an elaborate opinion.

[Szoelloe]

Sorry, have this think called a life and don't catch every little factoid.

I don't really mind this as long as at the last test it's 2-2 (I'm sure you'll let me know), but it just brings up the one thing about Alonso that I don't like. I just don't think the top drivers should need to go the Schumacher route to gain an advantage over their teammates, and I don't believe Fernando has ever had to deal with a level playing field (except 2007, but we don't need to talk about that). He's unquestionably a great driver, but he'll never be Prost/Senna great to me because he ducks and dodges the other top drivers and won't even let merely good ones have equal footing.

Actually Massa has been their development driver for a decade now. He is most presumably better at it than FA will ever be. Don't really see where FA is getting an advantage out of this apart from the fact that he got to get a week off from driving duties, especially after last season when he was the one who pulled the cart, and not exactly his teammate, who very nearly got sacked, and FA had nothing to do with that. Also, I can't fathom how you see this as the MS route, when MS racked up more miles than other four drivers put together pre-season, he usually worked like a dog, and he was pretty frekkin good at it too. Senna never ducked and dodged other top drivers, he ducked and dodged uncompetitive cars. This whole 'who gets to drive more' debate is blown out of proportion. This is going to be pretty similar donkey work for Ferrari like in Jerezl, and there is still another test session to fine tune for performance. So I don't see either of them getting the upper hand in this situation.

[cartaker182]

...but you know enough little factoids to form such an elaborate opinion.

I used to hate Alonso during his renault years and his Mcmistake, But I have grown to respect him as a driver and cant dispute the relentlesness of his competitive nature.

[Seanspeed]

...but you know enough little factoids to form such an elaborate opinion.

Exactly.

[HoldenRT]

I don't know what the 100% truth is, but all I know is.. there is no way Alonso or even Ferrari.. would knowingly put Alonso at a disadvantage.. so if he chose to do this.. and to skip Jerez and get an extra day here.. clearly overall it was the better option for him. It's not like Massa chose it.. Alonso chose it.

Alonso will always get the better end of the stick. It's not a complaint.. it's just the way it is.

[Shiroo]

I don't know what the 100% truth is, but all I know is.. there is no way Alonso or even Ferrari.. would knowingly put Alonso at a disadvantage.. so if he chose to do this.. and to skip Jerez and get an extra day here.. clearly overall it was the better option for him. It's not like Massa chose it.. Alonso chose it.

Alonso will always get the better end of the stick. It's not a complaint.. it's just the way it is.

Agree. Ferrari always was like that. Nr1 and Nr2 driver.

[HoldenRT]

Sorry, have this think called a life and don't catch every little factoid.

I don't really mind this as long as at the last test it's 2-2 (I'm sure you'll let me know), but it just brings up the one thing about Alonso that I don't like. I just don't think the top drivers should need to go the Schumacher route to gain an advantage over their teammates, and I don't believe Fernando has ever had to deal with a level playing field (except 2007, but we don't need to talk about that). He's unquestionably a great driver, but he'll never be Prost/Senna great to me because he ducks and dodges the other top drivers and won't even let merely good ones have equal footing.

Very very good point.

I should also say though.. that I rate Alonso the best overall driver in F1.. and he has been this way for many years. Since 2005 or 2006. It's just that he rarely has situations where he competes against a teammate in a 50/50 way.. and anytime they get close to him (even with this favourable treatment).. he cries about it and loses his composure and it affects him mentally. Both against Fisi.. and also against Hamilton. He hasn't been in situations like Lewis/Button or Vettel/Webber.. where they overtake each other fairly on track without the team intervening.. or even have contact.. and without that drama of who is pushing the team and who isn't. He always knows that it's 'his team'.. and that's a nice luxury to have. Still think he's the best overall driver in modern F1.. it just comes with an asterisk beside it.. and this is the asterisk.

Edited by HoldenRT, 18 February 2013 - 22:04.

[PorcupineTroy]

Disgusting to think that Ferrari would favour one driver over another. I don't think I will be watching any races this year if that is truly the case.