There's also a suggestion that the Mercedes W13 that runs in Bahrain tomorrow will look strikingly different to the one they presented back in February

Haas team will miss at least the first morning of this week's final pre-season test in Bahrain because of freight delays.

 

Technical problems with a cargo plane followed by administrative issues finding alternatives meant the team's parts have arrived in Bahrain late.

 

The team hope to get the car on track in time for the afternoon session after the test starts on Thursday morning.

 

Reserve driver Pietro Fittipaldi will be at the wheel on the first day.

Williams 2019 vibes.

 

This Haas will be rooted to the back off the grid despite throwing the entirety of 2021. Embarrassing...

So it is indeed Magnussen who gets the drive. A sensible choice I suppose if he was keen for a return. Knows the team well and imo has some unfinished business in the sport.

 

We'll also now have a much better barometer in determining how good Mick Schumacher actually is.

Edited March 9, 20223 yr by Dobbo.

KMag pulling off a second unexpected return. Wonder if it’s too late to get the Hulk back into an Alpine

no Magnussen was the worst, a danger to everybody

thought we got rid of him for good but alas :/

That new Mercedes is certainly and eye-catcher.

That side impact spar/wing mirror mount/blatant aerodynamic device is certainly interesting/questionable legally.

 

That’s gotta be outwith the scope and aims of the regulations. Nothing will happen of course like DAS but it smells fishy

But because it is part of the SIPS crash structure it cannot be removed. It only looks dodgy because the lack of sidepods, making it aerodynamic and is a formality, as with anything external on the car. Besides given that the majority of aero performance will come from the underside of the car this year, I doubt it would provide much in the way of advantage, if any.

It looks further forward than on other cars but I haven’t seen a proper side by side tbh.

 

However it does have aerodynamic bits on it that suggests it’s primary purpose is for aerodynamics

It isn't although it's deceptive. If that housing was attached to a sidepod it wouldn't seem odd at all

 

 

 

I agree if it was in the sidepod it would be no topic. But my issue is that the SIPS bar isn’t shaped like an aircraft wing and doesn’t have half a dozen turning vanes on it. It’s twisting the spirit of the rules to throw a massive aero wing in there to benefit the downstream and undo the loss from the downforce regs.

 

Clever yes, but imma run anyone who claims that’s just a safety bar instead of first and foremost an aerodynamic device over with a double decker

The Alpha Tauri has the vertical strakes by the mirrors too so that's not unique.

It doesn't look like a particularly big downforce gain either, which is probably why nobody's complained about it bar a passing comment from Ferrari.

 

Mercedes don't look particularly fast in testing either

Although it's always impossible to be certain of anything through testing, having watched all three days now, these are my impressions for the opening race or two of the year.

 

Red Bull - looking good in all areas and it's a toss up between them and Ferrari as to which might be the fastest car but Red Bull seriously upper their game on the final day. Minimal signs of porpoising which could be the difference

 

Ferrari - looks to be a genuine contender and probably the smoothest and most balanced of all the teams out there. Good over both performance and long runs.

 

Mercedes - hard to tell but began the test looking like they struggled with grip in the slow corners but improved over the weekend yet never looked like troubling the top of the time sheets. On performance runs they looked the third fastest and were only close on a softer compound than their rivals. They could be holding back but they weren't last year. The worst for porpoising

 

McLaren - Stuggled all weekend but when it came together they looked solid. Brake issues and Ricciardo contracting Covid meant a tough weekend for them could hold them back. Similar problem with porpoising to Mercedes

 

Alpha Tauri - Not looking as strong in the test as they did last year but I would probably place them with the fifth best car. Gasly and Hamilton had an interesting duel with Pierre looking capable of matching the Mercedes on that occasion

 

Aston Martin - didn't look like they were having too good a weekend overall, the main problem seems to be an overall lack of pace. Anonymous on performance runs

 

Alpine - Struggled heavily with porpoising and never looked likely to be a threat to the top of the timesheets and showed signs of having gone backwards. Watching Alonso struggle to keep it on track on a fast run suggested both under and oversteer. They looked poor but have too much in the way of resources to stay there. Edit: Alonso's run on soft tyres near the end suggested under the right circumstances it has pace, so I've bumpeed them up.

 

Haas - Tempted to place both these and Alfa above Alpine and Aston Martin as they showed more sign of outright pace than the other two but it's clear that the year sacrificed has been worth it. Magnussen may be rusty but Schumacher looked good

 

Alfa Romeo - Initially put them last but some strong performance runs from Bottas towards the end of the final day suggested there is pace there. Repeated gearbox issues might be a problem

 

Williams - Compromised running hampered them and if your car catches fire it hints you might having overheating problems. Rather than going backwards it looks more like they've stayed still whilst the others improved.

Edited March 12, 20223 yr by Severin

Channel 4 F1 Highlights Times

Qualifying

7.30-9pm

Race

7.30-10pm

Daniel Ricciardo has been cleared to race in Bahrain.

 

 

In addition the FIA have clarified the safety car rules following their unusual interpretation in Abu Dhabi.

 

The word “any” has been changed to “all”. The rule now reads: “If the clerk of the course considers it safe to do so, and the message ‘lapped cars may now overtake’ has been sent to all competitors using the official messaging system, all cars that have been lapped by the leader will be required to pass the cars on the lead lap and the safety car.

 

 

That was such nonsense anyway, any doesn't mean all :lol:

Vettel out of the Bahrain Grand Prix due to COVID, Nico Hulkenberg will take his place.

Well Hulk certainly picked the best team to be reserve driver for with all these stand ins he's had!

 

Sad for Vettel, I'm interested to see how competitive this Aston Martin is.

Well Hulk certainly picked the best team to be reserve driver for with all these stand ins he's had!

 

Sad for Vettel, I'm interested to see how competitive this Aston Martin is.

 

 

About as competitive as last year judging by the test sessions.

 

5th best car at the most optimistic, I'd say