2021 F1 launch and testing topic

[Big Kev]

haha
ok here's another question..... what the blandest team you could create? Name, Team Principle, 2 drivers, a couple of sponsors and a livery.

I'm thinking Team Beige.
Rom Dennis
Nick Heidfeld and Ralf Schumacher
Sponsored by Quorn and Haemorrhoid treatment Preparation H
Livery - Matt Magnolia

[Big Kev]

[Duke]

This is a great read albeit likely a bit anecdotal in some aspects: ELIAS: Mercedes' secret weapon for the F1 preseason

[Big Kev]

[pixelboy]

Classic Mercedes sandbagging. It happens every year.

[w00dsy]

The interesting thing that's come out of testing so far is how unstable a lot of cars are at the rear now with the regulation changes. There's been a lot of spins, even Lewis has spun a couple of times. Also the Merc gearboxes have given trouble to both Merc and Aston Martin costing then nearly full sessions to fix. On the technical side McLaren have found a nifty solution to the rear diffuser restrictions and have shown genuine pace.

[Duke]

Yeah I think Merc are genuinely in trouble at the moment. Especially as the first round is this weekend which doesn't give them much time to fix the issues.
Another point is the Ferrari power-plant seems to have closed the gap significantly.
Rd 1 could be very interesting...

[richo]

While i'm a DR fan I'm really hoping Yuki Tsunoda goes well , who knows being Japanese might inspire Honda to apply some more vtecness type trickery .

[durbster]

Testing is so frustrating.

I'm always itching to see the laptimes even though I know when I look at them, I can't draw any conclusions from them.

[w00dsy]

Especially because they did afternoon and night sessions. It makes the afternoon guys like worse. Plus guys like Tsunoda were on the really soft tyres and had DRS open a lot.

[durbster]

Yeah. Here's Karun Chandhok's relative order and despite it being basically a guess, I see him as having a good head for this:

[durbster]

But I still reckon we'll see the Mercs 0.4s up come race weekend.

[Big Kev]

One crucial thing against Merc at the moment is that their non-raked setup is hindered a lot by the loss of the floor section in front of the rear wheel.

Also as part of the IP deal with Honda, Red Bull got them to fast track all the upgrades they had in the pipeline so they've got a ton more power so I really think we could finally have some competition for Mercedes this year. McLaren also look very good.

[durbster]

Let's bloody hope so. We could do with at least one season of these regulations where Mercedes are properly challenged, before another team dominates the next 5-6 years.

[Duke]

[Duke]

I think some of the F2 liveries are better than the F1 liveries...
But some are bat shit boring too.

[Big Kev]

Did they all buy a job lot of red, white and blue paint?

[KNAPPO]

Like the rims, but those covers...

[nutty]

God the covered looks like shit...

[Duke]

Yes they were ugly years ago & will be just as ugly now.
Which is why I can't understand why they decided to let covers back into the reg's.
Stick with proper wheel rims please...

[KNAPPO]

Yes they were ugly years ago & will be just as ugly now.
Which is why I can't understand why they decided to let covers back into the reg's.

I think they are making a comeback in an attempt to control/limit some of the outward air wash.

[Duke]

Yes they were ugly years ago & will be just as ugly now.
Which is why I can't understand why they decided to let covers back into the reg's.

I think they are making a comeback in an attempt to control/limit some of the outward air wash.

For sure, to be fair the covers in motion don't look as bad...