MUFC 1,382 Posted February 24 Author Share Posted February 24 Russell not expecting much in Bahrain. Wolff said Merc are hiding a touch of pace. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Moderator Tommy 11,844 Posted February 24 Moderator Share Posted February 24 Haas have a smaller pit wall to reduce costs. Looks like a phone booth compared to Red Bull. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Subscriber RandoEFC+ 7,308 Posted February 24 Subscriber Share Posted February 24 AMuS apparently reporting that Aston Martin have made a significant jump to fourth fastest and potentially a threat to Ferrari and Mercedes . 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Moderator Tommy 11,844 Posted February 24 Moderator Share Posted February 24 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Subscriber RandoEFC+ 7,308 Posted February 25 Subscriber Share Posted February 25 Mercedes looks a handful but still in the top three. Red Bull most comfortable, Ferrari close perhaps under the right conditions but not consistently. Aston Martin the class of the midfield. Haas and Alfa Romeo looking solid. Mclaren appear to have built a bit of a dog. No idea about the Alpine or Alpha Tauri and assume the Williams is still the slowest or thereabouts. This is what I can glean from watching some testing, listening to the analysis and reading up on the underlying data and "in the know" stuff on Twitter. It can all change before the first race and during the first few rounds. It didn't take long last season for Mercedes to go from midfield to top three and for McLaren and Aston Martin to drag themselves from Q1 to the upper midfield ahead of the likes of Haas and Alfa Romeo. Overall I think Aston going up and Mclaren going down are going to be the key initial changes to the pecking order. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Moderator Tommy 11,844 Posted February 25 Moderator Share Posted February 25 Fernando Alonso making a right career choice? Unheard of. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Eco 3,008 Posted February 25 Share Posted February 25 Good run there from Sainz, currently 2nd on the softs. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Panflute 654 Posted February 26 Share Posted February 26 Really hoping to see more from Sainz this year. He doesn't have Leclerc's pace but I do think he's a more complete driver in a sense, especially when it comes to taking initiative and being on top of things. Which can be very useful in an environment like Ferrari. Alonso scoring some podiums with Aston Martin would also be mega. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Subscriber RandoEFC+ 7,308 Posted February 26 Subscriber Share Posted February 26 Alonso should have a really good chance of podiums early in the year. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
MUFC 1,382 Posted February 26 Author Share Posted February 26 Not watched testing, any hope for Mercedes? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Whiskey 1,058 Posted February 26 Share Posted February 26 Alonso getting a podium while Stroll sits in his motorhome would be absolutely glorious. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Subscriber RandoEFC+ 7,308 Posted February 26 Subscriber Share Posted February 26 37 minutes ago, MUFC said: Not watched testing, any hope for Mercedes? Looks like a rough pecking order of Red Bull Ferrari Mercedes/Aston Martin Alpine/Alfa Romeo Haas Alpha Tauri McLaren/Williams 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Panflute 654 Posted February 26 Share Posted February 26 38 minutes ago, MUFC said: Not watched testing, any hope for Mercedes? Based on what they've shown, early season looks like it might be a struggle for them once again. 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Administrator Stan 17,473 Posted February 27 Administrator Share Posted February 27 Any sandbagging going on? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Moderator Tommy 11,844 Posted February 27 Moderator Share Posted February 27 The hype is unreal. It will probably lead to disappointment. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Panflute 654 Posted February 27 Share Posted February 27 Aston Martin will probably make a leap but I don't think they'll be competing with Mercedes/Ferrari over an entire season. They just need to capitalize on their good performance early in the season before things stabilize. Kind of like Haas tried to do last year. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
MUFC 1,382 Posted February 27 Author Share Posted February 27 5 hours ago, Stan said: Any sandbagging going on? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
OrangeKhrush 261 Posted February 27 Share Posted February 27 I tend not to believe pre-season due to sandbagging, though I would absolutely love for Aston Martin to be competitive and Alpine to look like complete amateurs in their handling of Alonso and Piastri. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Eco 3,008 Posted February 27 Share Posted February 27 16 hours ago, RandoEFC said: Looks like a rough pecking order of Red Bull Ferrari Mercedes/Aston Martin Alpine/Alfa Romeo Haas Alpha Tauri McLaren/Williams What has happened at McLaren? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
OrangeKhrush 261 Posted February 27 Share Posted February 27 F1 needs a 2012 wild season where winning is an Oprah special, you get a win, everyone gets a win. pastor Maldonado won Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Subscriber RandoEFC+ 7,308 Posted February 27 Subscriber Share Posted February 27 2 hours ago, Eco said: What has happened at McLaren? They've just built a crap car this season by the looks of it. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Eco 3,008 Posted February 27 Share Posted February 27 39 minutes ago, RandoEFC said: They've just built a crap car this season by the looks of it. I just mean they have declined every year for the past few ones. 2022:5th 21: 4th 20: 3rd And now you have them on par with Williams... Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
MUFC 1,382 Posted February 27 Author Share Posted February 27 https://www.planetf1.com/news/mercedes-red-bull-10mm-lower-everyone-else/#vuukle-comments Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Subscriber RandoEFC+ 7,308 Posted February 27 Subscriber Share Posted February 27 45 minutes ago, Eco said: I just mean they have declined every year for the past few ones. 2022:5th 21: 4th 20: 3rd And now you have them on par with Williams... Yeah they looked like they were really coming along under Zak Brown, peaking with that 3rd place in 2020 when Ferrari had issues with the engine regulations and dropped back to the midfield. They built a dog last season for the new regulations and 5th flattered them really. It was more about Norris' consistency than them building a much better car. With their resources they should really be ahead of everyone apart from the big three by default but F1 isn't Mclaren's sole focus anymore. They seem happy to be about 4th in the WCC and sell sportscars and put in token entries to a load of other motorsports series to boost their brand. Shame really as it's one of the teams that should be capable of preventing domination at the front by being in the mix. They will develop their way out of being knocked out in Q1 again this season but they should be capable of so much more. 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Moderator Tommy 11,844 Posted February 28 Moderator Share Posted February 28 Pecking order predicted by F1 pundits. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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