F1 testing in Jerez

[robin]

Well, McLaren managed 5 laps in AD, 6 laps in Jerez ... by the end of the season they'll make it half way through a race Of course the car is so slow that 50% distance will take them the whole race anyway

BigRon is saying it doesn't matter, but when Mercedes clocked up more than 150 laps without a hitch, you do have to wonder

[tut]

Not looking good for equality, but would love to see Ferrari back in a position to stop Mercedes dominating.

Of course I would like to see Honda dicking all of them.

tut

[Mikie711]

I fear Honda may have arrived in the fight with one hand tied behind their back.

[tut]

A whole year behind, so what are the chances of making that up?

At the start of last year with the new regs, the cars were falling down like skittles.

tut

[j2 lot]

They were initially tied into following the rules imposed on the other team but always a year behind but I think the FIA have relaxed that so they aren't so disadvantaged in the long term, but they do have a mountain to climb. It does make me wonder what Alonsos motivation was as it looks like he has gone from the frying pan into the fire

[Mikie711]

They were initially tied into following the rules imposed on the other team but always a year behind but I think the FIA have relaxed that so they aren't so disadvantaged in the long term, but they do have a mountain to climb. It does make me wonder what Alonsos motivation was as it looks like he has gone from the frying pan into the fire

Money

He pretty much knows he isn't going to win the world championship in anything that is on the grid other than a Mercedes, they are so far ahead. No point staying at Ferrari and flogging a dead horse so how much can you make in a couple, three, five years before you retire. Never know might get lucky and Honda deliver a winning engine in the next couple of years as a bonus. Japs are good with small turbo engines it will be the hybrid integration that holds them back.

[campbell]

They were initially tied into following the rules imposed on the other team but always a year behind but I think the FIA have relaxed that so they aren't so disadvantaged in the long term, but they do have a mountain to climb. It does make me wonder what Alonsos motivation was as it looks like he has gone from the frying pan into the fire

Some said that about a certain Mr Hamilton...

[robin]

They were initially tied into following the rules imposed on the other team but always a year behind but I think the FIA have relaxed that so they aren't so disadvantaged in the long term, but they do have a mountain to climb.

They've had a whole year of completely unrestricted engine development - they've known in that time what the power output and hybrid performance of the competing engines looks like. They've known all that time that the Merc layout (long shaft from turbo to generator/motor) works best. All this should have been a huge advantage (until the car does more than installation laps, we won't know whether it is or is not).

The disadvantage they were facing was that they would have to homologate (and thus freeze) an engine design for the first race, whereas the loop hole in the regs allows all the rest of the teams to race on last year's engines (which they can modify along the way) before finally homologating whatever they have when they run out of development "tokens". A ridiculous state of affairs - somebody should have been able to force the teams to homologate something before the first race and that's that. Anyway, they've let Honda use the same number of tokens (more or less) as the other teams this year on the engines that they are racing.

Cheers,
Robin

[Corranga]

Given that they have had an extra year to develop the engine, without the constraints of having to find more performance in a current car for that year, I think they should be in a good place to be competitive.

As Robin says, they knew all the tricks that made the Merc the best, and for this season aren't hampered by not being able to make any major changes for the last year like Ferrari and Renault.

Homologation wise, I don't know where I stand. On one hand, it essentially handed the season to Mercedes from day 1 last year, but at the same time, if anyone could make changes, there is nothing to say that Merc wouldn't have thrown more money at it and made their package even better..

[Mikie711]

Given that they have had an extra year to develop the engine, without the constraints of having to find more performance in a current car for that year, I think they should be in a good place to be competitive.

As Robin says, they knew all the tricks that made the Merc the best, and for this season aren't hampered by not being able to make any major changes for the last year like Ferrari and Renault.

Homologation wise, I don't know where I stand. On one hand, it essentially handed the season to Mercedes from day 1 last year, but at the same time, if anyone could make changes, there is nothing to say that Merc wouldn't have thrown more money at it and made their package even better..

It's all very well to develop an engine on a test bed but there is no substitute for race miles. I think initially they will be off the pace as an F1 car is more than just an drive train. McLaren haven't exactly set the world on fire with the merc power plant and the Honda will need time to get up to pace. We won't know for sure but all will be answered after race 1.

This years serious competition will come from Red Bull. Renault will not like being humped so badly last year but will still struggle to catch Merc I think.

[jason]

The issue for Honda (or any manufacturer) is that if they just copy what limited info they have about the Mercedes power unit then they will, likely, have a power unit almost as good as Mercedes. What'd be the point in that longterm?

They are, reportedly, trying new technologies in their effort to leapfrog others (presumably the ERS elements) - and this is why they're having a painful birth with electrical systems. Looks like it may be a long road….

[graeme]

Merc had 3 years of development before that engine was even shown to customers for them to fit into their own cars. The Merc was the only car designed around the new engine from the start.

This year, I expect Merc engine customers to have their own cars designed more around the powerplant than last year, closing some of the gap.

I hope Honda do throw something new into the mix.

[robin]

Another 6 laps ... 17 in total for the new car, 5 in AD, 6 yesterday, 6 today. BigRon will be cutting fingers off if this isn't resolved tomorrow!

[Mikie711]

Another 6 laps ... 17 in total for the new car, 5 in AD, 6 yesterday, 6 today. BigRon will be cutting fingers off if this isn't resolved tomorrow!

Wasn't it the same for everybody at the start of last season, with the exception of Mercedes of course.

[j2 lot]

Good to see that Maldonado got 45 laps in before there were gremlins - much more confident start than last year