Second Barcelona Test

Second Barcelona Test - Second Day

3rd & 7 37yd

@James: If you've ever seen Hamilton's tweets you'll know where I'm coming from.

by Nate Saunders 2/27/2015 9:59:06 AM
@Nate, seemingly it's a critical phase, do you think the deal will happen? I think it will cause Mercedes know how big Hamilton is so I think they will give him that massive deal. Do you think it will happen?

by James 2/27/2015 10:00:48 AM
@James: I think so. Mercedes has one of (if not the) most marketable athletes in the world. And he happens to be one of the best drivers in a generation too. It's money well spent from that perspective.

by Nate Saunders 2/27/2015 10:01:21 AM
It sure looks like kimi is back to complaining like he did during 2014... There is something about that car that kimi dont like

by Not_fun_kimi 2/27/2015 10:01:39 AM
Mercedes powered cars setting times on medium tyres that cant achieved by Ferrari powered cars even on super soft :( De ja vu 2015

by Leo edited by Nate Saunders 2/27/2015 10:01:52 AM
@Nate What is that green fluid that use to check the air flow of the cars?

by Leo 2/27/2015 10:01:58 AM
@Leo: The paint is designed to dry at high speeds, so teams can put it on their cars, run for a few laps and then come back and see how air is flowing around the car. Much like the aero sensors we saw earlier, it's all part of the essential data gathering process at this stage.

by Nate Saunders 2/27/2015 10:02:54 AM
Not a lot to report on from the track itself. Rosberg returns to the pits after what I assume was a higher fuel run on mediums.

by Nate Saunders 2/27/2015 10:03:22 AM
what is happening with ferrari ?? why their lap time is very slow??

by what is happening with... 2/27/2015 10:03:57 AM
@whatishappeningwith...: We don't know fuel loads at this stage. I would gamble Ferrari was doing a slightly higher fuel run than the others.

by Nate Saunders 2/27/2015 10:04:37 AM
I will now hand over to the very capable hands of Laurence Edmondson. Be gentle with him.

by Nate Saunders 2/27/2015 10:11:41 AM
Good morning all. Verstappen, Button and Vettel are currently on track. Good to see the McLaren back out and already well past yesterday's lap count.

by Laurence Edmondson 2/27/2015 10:13:38 AM
@Laurence: Isn't Sauber a better indicator of what Ferrari is capable of? When there's is a Sauber in the top of the time sheets, then we can bet that Ferrari will be quicker than them.... Rest not assured is the fuel loads....

by rockedin123 2/27/2015 10:13:48 AM
@rockedin123: There's little doubt that the Ferrari will be considerably quicker than Sauber this year, but yesterday's time by Ericsson was set on super-soft tyres - so it's a bit misleading. Ferrari have more updates coming for these final three days, but don't be surprised to see slowish lap times as they run aero tests.

by Laurence Edmondson 2/27/2015 10:15:05 AM
@Laurence, It might be far to early to say, but I think Mercedes will beat McLaren's race win record this season. Have you say the stints between teams? Yesterday Mercedes, Williams and Ferrari, Mercedes were always in 1.25 and 1.26's where Ferrari and Williams were always in 1.27 and 1.28's. That's like 1.5 seconds a lap faster! That's a massive gap just in one lap. So I can see another completely dominant year. What do you think? I think they will beat McLaren's record this year.

by James 2/27/2015 10:15:47 AM
@James: Although you can't always compare like-for-like in testing, trends do start to appear at this stage. Mercedes is definitely quick and that's no surprise, but Williams has shown some positive signs and Ferrari and Red Bull have big updates due this week.

by Laurence Edmondson 2/27/2015 10:17:08 AM
But the updates keep coming on the Mercedes too. Circled is the new monkey seat we saw introduced towards the end of the last test and arrowed is the new tighter bodywork around the exhaust (note the little temperature sensors too)

by Laurence Edmondson 2/27/2015 10:21:20 AM
@Laurence, I heard Mercedes are using the same Aerodynamics package as last season. I thought Mercedes would have had a completely new aerodynamics this season!

by James 2/27/2015 10:21:36 AM
@James: Mercedes was running very similar front and rear wings at Jerez to last year but has since updated the rear wing significantly. Yet to see if they have their new front wing here this week, but there will definitely be an update of some sort in that area before Melbourne. It's fair to say that much of the aero package is an evolution - it now has even more extreme versions of its novel lower front wishbones - but after such a successful year in 2014 it would make no sense to go radical.

by Laurence Edmondson 2/27/2015 10:23:35 AM
Every thing will be clear when Australian GP Qualifications happen !!!

by prabul 2/27/2015 10:23:40 AM
@James: There are far too many variables to that... reliability of the cars, driver's mischief, were at least two reasons why Merc did not win all the races last year... Besides, McLaren-Honda are still an unknown... who knows they might turn around big time to win a few races. Remember Red Bull last year?

by xxx 2/27/2015 10:24:14 AM
More aero work at Red Bull as Daniil Kvyat's car carries an aero rig around the track

by Laurence Edmondson 2/27/2015 10:27:48 AM
@Laurence Thank you. It's obvious Mercedes had best chassis and aerodynamics last season, Red Bull had little/tiny bit more downforce. I hope Mercedes have even more downforce this season. Do you think Mercedes will have the same amount of downforce as Red Bull this season.

by James 2/27/2015 10:28:34 AM
@Laurence Do u remember back in 2013 , how the mercedes had one lap pace , but had serious problem with tyre degradation... How is that changed .. because of the new engine or the new aero package

by Hole_in_One 2/27/2015 10:28:52 AM
@Hole_in_One: Mercedes learned a lot in 2012 and 2013 and were able to use that knowledge to influence the 2014 car, which as you point out, was very different to its predecessors.

by Laurence Edmondson 2/27/2015 10:29:42 AM
@Laurence. While we all are awaiting the debut of Force India's 2015 car.... what was a great livery for you, but one which was only used for one season?

by Marais 2/27/2015 10:29:48 AM
@Marais So many to choose from, but this immediately jumped to mind. BAR's split liver from its first season. It originally wanted to run one on each car but the FIA said no. Instead it ran a zip down the middle with one cigarette brand on either side.

by Laurence Edmondson 2/27/2015 10:31:49 AM
Rosberg has the whole track to himself at the moment. 35 laps completed in the Mercedes as he continues to run on medium tyres.

by Laurence Edmondson 2/27/2015 10:38:16 AM
@Laurence that looks cool. Which means multiple sponsors and loads of money?

by formulax1 2/27/2015 10:40:25 AM
@formulax1: The team was owned by tobacco company BAT, so it was promoting its own brands - much like Force India and Red Bull do now.

by Laurence Edmondson 2/27/2015 10:40:58 AM
oh man, the bad old days of grooved tyres.... *shudders*

by Wayne Bond 2/27/2015 10:41:46 AM
using aero rig isn't dangerous during testing ?? or thats why while using such devices car go slower ?

by Melhem Sake 2/27/2015 10:41:52 AM
@MelhemSake: Constant speed is what they are aiming for so they usually run slower than full speed and don't push in the corners too much. But I've never seen one come off.

by Laurence Edmondson 2/27/2015 10:42:31 AM
@Laurence. Ahh I remember that, it was great... too bad the FIA didn't approve of running two liveries. For me it has to be Gerhard Berger's 1986 Benetton.

by Marais 2/27/2015 10:43:10 AM
Good choice Marais. Here's a picture of that distinct livery on the Benetton

by Laurence Edmondson 2/27/2015 10:44:36 AM
fingers crossed; this looks like it is going to be the best test day so far for Mclaren

by barkun 2/27/2015 10:44:44 AM
The Benetton ran with coloured sidewalls on the Pirelli tyres as a special one off at Detroit that year - sadly we don't have a pic in our archive.

by Laurence Edmondson 2/27/2015 10:47:15 AM
Still no time for Red Bull ? why not ?

by IanF 2/27/2015 10:47:20 AM
@IanF: Red Bull is running aero tests with a big rig on the car this morning (see pic below) so Kvyat hasn't completed an entire lap yet.

by Laurence Edmondson 2/27/2015 10:47:58 AM
Mclaren average 23 laps per testing day so still they are short of 1 lap

by Melhem Sake 2/27/2015 10:48:05 AM
@MelhemSake: Button has just gone back out and now they are up to 25! Not great by the standards of its rivals, but progress is progress.

by Laurence Edmondson 2/27/2015 10:48:36 AM
speaking of liveries... i remember being positively surprised by Ligier at the Japanese GP of '93

by barkun 2/27/2015 10:49:46 AM
@Barkun Another very good choice!

by Laurence Edmondson 2/27/2015 10:50:10 AM
@Laurence, Which one do you think will happen? Months ago it was saying Hamilton would get a new deal worth £20 million a year and £5 million bonus if he wins the title. Now Kevin Eason from The Times is saying £150 million three year deal and £1million a week is at a critical phase, so which contract is it? I'd say the £1million a week £150 million deal is more chance of happening.What do you say?

by Steven Wilson 2/27/2015 10:50:34 AM
@StevenWilson: Clearly negotiations are getting spicy. You always have to ask who is putting pressure on who when these figures are quoted in the papers. Considering Hamilton's ability behind the wheel and growing celebrity outside F1, he is worth an awful lot to Mercedes. However, there is no doubt that he wants to stay at Merc because he knows that offers him his best chance of more titles.

by Laurence Edmondson 2/27/2015 10:52:57 AM

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