A quick peek of Day 3 - F1 2014
Three days in and the story is developing nicely.
1. Kevin Magnussen -McLaren-Mercedes 1min 23.276secs
2. Felipe Massa -Williams-Mercedes 1min 23.700secs
3. Lewis Hamilton -Mercedes-Mercedes 1min 23.952secs
4. Jenson Button -McLaren-Mercedes 1min 25.030secs
5. Fernando Alonso -Ferrari-Ferrari 1min 25.495secs
6. Nico Hulkenberg -Force India-Mercedes 1min 26.096secs
7. Jean-Eric Vergne -STR-Renault 1min 29.915secs
8. Adrian Sutil -Sauber-Ferrari 1min 30.161secs
The overriding story of the first two days continued on Thursday as the Renault teams struggled to get any meaningful mileage on their cars. This time Red Bull's reliability wasn't just down to Renault but their own RB10 specific issue instead. Is the old Adrian Newey theme of aero-conquers-all inducing a heat risk in their new Turbo Hybrid design? Time will tell. If they have issues with packaging and heat on a 7'C day in Jeez, the Bahrain tests will be brutal. Expect a quick fix from the Milton Keynes champions.
Today we started to see the teams that have reliability on their side push the performance limits just a little bit. Times are now getting closer to those we saw in 2013, but the gap does suggest that the 2014 vintage of F1 is indeed quite a bit slower than the previous V8s. It will be quite some time before the 1.6Ts pull of the same trick that the 800cc MotoGPs managed and outpace their higher capacity predecessors.
Mercedes and Ferrari powered teams are certainly leading the way, with AMG Mercedes and McLaren appearing to be the class of the field. The Williams team put in a great effort today as Felipe Massa got his first run with his new team. Hopefully 2014's blank sheet designs will be just what the Didcot team needs to return to the form of their glory days.
But up there at the top of the times is the real story of today. For months F1 have wondered what McLaren saw in rookie racer Kevin Magnussen, but today on his first run in the McLaren we saw just what Woking would appear to have know for a while. Straight to the top of the timesheet and consistently fast. A new formula is perfect for new drivers to prove themselves. This is the once a decade opportunity where all of the F1 drivers, experienced or rookie, have to completely relearn how to drive an F1 car.
Let's not make predictions too early as we still haven't seen the pace of that RB10, but McLaren look strong. They have been reliable and consistent this week. They've attracted the most attention for their innovative rear wishbone designs and have topped the timesheets on two out of the three days.
Friday is the final day of the first test, so let's see if there are any final surprises in store. In the meantime, we continue to hope for good news on Michael Schumacher's condition. News from Grenoble is coming slowly, gradually more encouraging by the day.
And now I'm off, time to park the motorsport and pick up a camera for a gig. Maximo Park at New Slang in Kingston. Should be a good one.
1. Kevin Magnussen -McLaren-Mercedes 1min 23.276secs
2. Felipe Massa -Williams-Mercedes 1min 23.700secs
3. Lewis Hamilton -Mercedes-Mercedes 1min 23.952secs
4. Jenson Button -McLaren-Mercedes 1min 25.030secs
5. Fernando Alonso -Ferrari-Ferrari 1min 25.495secs
6. Nico Hulkenberg -Force India-Mercedes 1min 26.096secs
7. Jean-Eric Vergne -STR-Renault 1min 29.915secs
8. Adrian Sutil -Sauber-Ferrari 1min 30.161secs
The overriding story of the first two days continued on Thursday as the Renault teams struggled to get any meaningful mileage on their cars. This time Red Bull's reliability wasn't just down to Renault but their own RB10 specific issue instead. Is the old Adrian Newey theme of aero-conquers-all inducing a heat risk in their new Turbo Hybrid design? Time will tell. If they have issues with packaging and heat on a 7'C day in Jeez, the Bahrain tests will be brutal. Expect a quick fix from the Milton Keynes champions.
Today we started to see the teams that have reliability on their side push the performance limits just a little bit. Times are now getting closer to those we saw in 2013, but the gap does suggest that the 2014 vintage of F1 is indeed quite a bit slower than the previous V8s. It will be quite some time before the 1.6Ts pull of the same trick that the 800cc MotoGPs managed and outpace their higher capacity predecessors.
Mercedes and Ferrari powered teams are certainly leading the way, with AMG Mercedes and McLaren appearing to be the class of the field. The Williams team put in a great effort today as Felipe Massa got his first run with his new team. Hopefully 2014's blank sheet designs will be just what the Didcot team needs to return to the form of their glory days.
But up there at the top of the times is the real story of today. For months F1 have wondered what McLaren saw in rookie racer Kevin Magnussen, but today on his first run in the McLaren we saw just what Woking would appear to have know for a while. Straight to the top of the timesheet and consistently fast. A new formula is perfect for new drivers to prove themselves. This is the once a decade opportunity where all of the F1 drivers, experienced or rookie, have to completely relearn how to drive an F1 car.
Let's not make predictions too early as we still haven't seen the pace of that RB10, but McLaren look strong. They have been reliable and consistent this week. They've attracted the most attention for their innovative rear wishbone designs and have topped the timesheets on two out of the three days.
Friday is the final day of the first test, so let's see if there are any final surprises in store. In the meantime, we continue to hope for good news on Michael Schumacher's condition. News from Grenoble is coming slowly, gradually more encouraging by the day.
And now I'm off, time to park the motorsport and pick up a camera for a gig. Maximo Park at New Slang in Kingston. Should be a good one.
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