Second Barcelona Test

Second Barcelona Test - First Day

3rd & 7 37yd

Hulkenberg to debut Force India's VJM08 on Friday
ESPN F1Force India plans to debut its 2015 challenger on Friday afternoon in Barcelona, with Nico Hulkenberg scheduled to be behind the wheel - news from Force India F1

by Nate Saunders 2/26/2015 9:32:52 AM
Raikkonen sets a new personal best, a 1:29.855.

by Nate Saunders 2/26/2015 9:34:07 AM
Alan - I think you should wait and see before making such assumptions.

by Kimi_Fan 2/26/2015 9:34:11 AM
PUs can be upgraded for reliability without the use of tokens, no?

by mfbull 2/26/2015 9:34:22 AM
@mfbull: Yes, but we're talking about peformance upgrades. The 'reliability' flexibility they have on upgrading the engine really doesn't have a huge impact on performance. Same with the upgrades they are allowed for safety.

by Nate Saunders 2/26/2015 9:35:10 AM
@Nate, oh sorry. I still think Mercedes will be dominant. I think Mercedes have made this new W06 even better. I think Mercedes will go on to break records again this year.

by Alan 2/26/2015 9:35:18 AM
@Alan and @Nate : my statement was if ferrari has caught up with renault or mercedes or whoever they would have spent most of their token

by Tungath 2/26/2015 9:35:21 AM
Ferrari and Renault are likely to hold back tokens so they can assess the areas they are weak and then make changes during the year. Mercedes has the luxury of knowing it will be the team to beat again so can flex its muscles early, so to speak.

by Nate Saunders 2/26/2015 9:35:56 AM
@Nate true their reliability was good last year but using up 32 tokens redesigns nearly half the engine doesn't it? I don't think its a big stretch of the imagination to think they could make their reliability worse in doing so? and doing that after testing would mean they wouldn't have time to deal with these problems. like Renault last year they had their issues in testing and were able to fix most of them before the season. Mercedes have in my view denied themselves that opportunity in waiting and it could prove costly.

by legion777 2/26/2015 9:38:45 AM
@legion777: Here's what Mercedes HPP managing director Andy Cowell said:

"We will get to Melbourne with the best performing hardware that we believe will survive five race distances, and then we will reflect. What we don't want to do is go 'maybe there's an opportunity to delay some of that performance' and that's the risk because when the timing window moves backwards there is always the risk that you slow down. We are not doing that, we are working damn hard to make sure we are in the best place possible for Melbourne."

by Nate Saunders 2/26/2015 9:40:08 AM
Other team will win is when Mercedes cars are DNF

by Wade 2/26/2015 9:40:26 AM
Interesting pole you have running... well the results are fascinating, as usual the Ferrari fans are full of hope, I'm not as optimistic as they seem to be. I'd say a lucky solitary win at any point would be a good result. Mercedes look as dominant as last season in my opinion, McLaren look troubled (bet then again so did Red Bull at this point in 2014 but meh, this is McLaren the masters of messing things up), so that leaves Red Bull as the only hopefuls to snatch a lucky win or two again.

by Wayne Bond 2/26/2015 9:40:36 AM
@legion777 They could already be testing those upgrades, no?

by Wayne Bond 2/26/2015 9:40:45 AM
@WayneBond: They could. Engines are not homologated yet.

by Nate Saunders 2/26/2015 9:40:53 AM
McLaren didn't really test the new part, did they? Alonso's crash was very early. Should be expect them to cause some red flags today?

by Khalid@DXB 2/26/2015 9:41:00 AM
@Khalid@DXB: The MGU-K seal? Not really, no. Alonso's stint only lasted a handful of laps.

by Nate Saunders 2/26/2015 9:41:17 AM
@WayneBond - I'm a Ferrari fan but I voted for Red Bull in the poll! I just don't dare believe we'll have caught up that much in 4 months.

by TPH 2/26/2015 9:44:20 AM
The results of our poll certainly are interesting. As a neutral observer, it does seem Ferrari and the Tifosi tend to needlessly inflate expectations ahead of the season. That's why I think Arrivabene is doing a good thing by predicting two wins this year. Anything more would seem slightly optimistic at this stage.

by Nate Saunders 2/26/2015 9:45:17 AM
Merc just completely have them ALL covered... Engine tokens? They only needed to make it more reliable, in doing so they would have improved it across the board, more horse power, better efficiency etc etc... They mot only have the best engine, but they comfortably have the best chassis and aero to utilize that extra horsepower. They will dominate thus year even more than last!! All speculation about whoever may have caught up is pure wishful thinking... Honest thoughts nate??

by mick 2/26/2015 9:45:30 AM
@mick: Too early to tell but it's certainly not a stretch to think they could be further ahead this year.

by Nate Saunders 2/26/2015 9:45:49 AM
Right, so it makes sense to me for Mercedes to spend its tokens now as it will be able to address any reliability problems if they arise.

by mfbull 2/26/2015 9:45:59 AM
The full Mercedes explanation can be seen in the next link

by Nate Saunders 2/26/2015 9:46:20 AM
Mercedes targets big token spend before Melbourne
ESPN F1Mercedes is planning to spend as many performance tokens as it can on its new power unit ahead of the first race of the season - news from Mercedes F1

by Nate Saunders 2/26/2015 9:46:22 AM
@WayneBond Fair point, I hadn't considered that also @Nate thanks for that. I think I'm more excited for 2015 season than I was for 2014. things I'm looking forward to most: 1) competitive Ferrari 2) Raikkonen beating Vettel 3) Williams winning some races 4)Lotus getting points 5)McLaren Honda! and 6)Manor F1 team

by legion777 2/26/2015 9:46:24 AM
I can't work it out but I think the Ferrari has a slightly different shade of red today. It looks brighter...

by Nate Saunders 2/26/2015 9:49:47 AM
A slightly different shade?

by Nate Saunders 2/26/2015 9:50:18 AM
Hi Nate. I have just joined and see that McLaren is not running. What is their status please?

by MikeInDenmark 2/26/2015 9:50:19 AM
@MikeInDenmark: Hello Mike. We've only seen five laps from Button today, but no updates from the team as to why just yet.

by Nate Saunders 2/26/2015 9:50:35 AM
@legion777 Raikkonen beating Vettel! would love to see that, but I can't see it happening

by Khalid@DXB 2/26/2015 9:50:36 AM
Hi Nate, Jenson is 6th on time, not Kimi who is 7th

by AdiosAyrton 2/26/2015 9:50:51 AM
@AdiosAyrton: I trust the timing screens in the media centre are correct in this instance, thanks though.

by Nate Saunders 2/26/2015 9:51:17 AM
Can Force India do what Williams did last year? That is, make use of the best PU and actually move a position or two higher in the constructor's.

by racer19 2/26/2015 9:51:39 AM
@racer19: Possibly, but one of the issues it has is a lack of resources compared to the likes of Williams last year, hence why it's performance dropped off so strongly last season. We'll have to see the sort of aero package Force India has produced before we can make an accurate assessment.

by Nate Saunders 2/26/2015 9:52:41 AM
Ferrari is on its one of the fifty shades of red ;)

by speedtrap 2/26/2015 9:52:58 AM
That's the thing about a beautiful red head, she looks different every time you see her.

by mfbull 2/26/2015 9:55:25 AM
Nate what time do you think well see from the silver arrows when they decide to get fair dinkim... Pushing into the 22's seems to be about the expected time on a low fuel, supersoft run..

by mick 2/26/2015 9:55:44 AM
@mick: It's a fair guess but we won't know until we see it. But if it's doing a 1:24 on mediums you can expect to see a fair whack of time shaved off, yes.

by Nate Saunders 2/26/2015 9:56:06 AM
Honestly, what's the point of running Manor this season? With last year's Ferrari engine and a hastily modified chassis will put them dead last in every race. Almost zero chance to earn even a single point, not to mention they will have to be lapped quite frequently, making them a mobile chicane.

by CrM 2/26/2015 9:56:23 AM
@CrM: Possibly, but they want to compete and staying on the grid allows them to slowly rebuild and get back twards some sort of competitive level.

by Nate Saunders 2/26/2015 9:57:06 AM
@CrM: If Manor is last, someone else isn't.

by mfbull 2/26/2015 9:57:44 AM
@Nate. and to collect their due from last year share of the money, I think.

by MIKEB 2/26/2015 9:58:15 AM
I've got to say, I like how prominent the number is on this year's Sauber. A good example for all teams to follow.

by Nate Saunders 2/26/2015 9:58:16 AM
Are Ferrari planning to introduce a revised nose? Or will they carry on with this long one if things work out well?

by racer19 2/26/2015 9:58:23 AM
@racer19: They've not said anything about plans to run a new nose.

by Nate Saunders 2/26/2015 9:58:37 AM
@CrM and @Nate: Maybe Manor should hire Domenicalli and Whitmarsh so that they can start a team properly. hahaha

by Jason Arellano 2/26/2015 9:58:41 AM

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