[Monster Hesh]

Struggling to get to grips with Alpeeen....

https://twitter.com/hlawiczka/status/137...9404639244 - poor Renault engine, the lone team.

[Monster Hesh]

Ignoring all other possible factors. The wind change today has had 20kph(ish) effect on max speed today.

[forzaferrari]

Big discussions going on down in Ferrari.........should we burn this bloody car or go give Binotto a good kicking first?

   

[Jody Barton]

From these 3 days you can't really discern much. Less than usual to be honest. However, Mercedes won't be happy with their 3 days. The car looks a complete handful, like the front & rear axle's are wanting to do two completely different things to each other. The sawing on the wheel from onboard shots of Bottas & Hamilton shows things aren't where they normally are for them. But as always they're carrying boat loads of fuel.

Conversely both the Red Bull & McLaren look great on track, both seem really agile and responsive and just "look" quick. Not sure either will be ahead of Mercedes come race 1, but I do expect they'll be a lot closer than many would have predicted going into the season.

Alpine look fine. Aston Martin have hidden their pace, but also look fine. Haas & Williams will be fighting for the wooden spoon methinks, then we have Ferrari, Alpha Tauri & Alfa Romeo who all look pretty much where they were last season. Looking forward to seeing the first race and seeing what the competitive pecking order really is, because this winter testing was more useless than usual in that regard.

[Monster Hesh]

A great three days. This compact time produced constant running, rarely a quiet track. Think it should be increased to 4 day though, at least then its easier to split between drivers.

Lack of running for Merc and AM sure is a first. Will it hurt either of them? I think at the first race at the same track, yes, as what is found over these three days has a direct correlation in two weeks time. Second and thereafter, everyone resets at the tracks, so I think they will then be in a more favourable position.

Pace wise, who knows, but can echo what has been seen , and Jody's comment above.

To FP1!

[morini]

Lack of running for Merc and AM sure is a first. Will it hurt either of them? I think at the first race at the same track, yes, as what is found over these three days has a direct correlation in two weeks time. Second and thereafter, everyone resets at the tracks, so I think they will then be in a more favourable position.

I'll have to disagree with you.

Watched hardly any of it, but everyone knows what I think about making assumptions on the strength of pre season testing. Mercedes never show what they've really got (ever). Happens every year and I always hear the same things.

The fact an Alpha Tauri is within a tenth of the top time tells me the lap times are completely meaningless.

[pennywise]

Lack of running for Merc and AM sure is a first. Will it hurt either of them? I think at the first race at the same track, yes, as what is found over these three days has a direct correlation in two weeks time. Second and thereafter, everyone resets at the tracks, so I think they will then be in a more favourable position.

I'll have to disagree with you.

Watched hardly any of it, but everyone knows what I think about making assumptions on the strength of pre season testing. Mercedes never show what they've really got (ever). Happens every year and I always hear the same things.

The fact an Alpha Tauri is within a tenth of the top time tells me the lap times are completely meaningless.

Forever the pessimist.....who is just an optimist with more experience.

[Jody Barton]

I kinda agree with Morini, winter testing was more useless than ever to be honest. I think it's clear who had "bad" & "good" winter tests. But choosing a pecking order? God only knows. I do think RBR & McLaren looked good, but Mercedes & Aston Martin did not show their pace. Looking forward to the first race to see how it all actually shakes out.

[Jody Barton]

Another thing to note, which I guess we might see more of this season, is the potential impact of Checo on RBR. A few times during winter testing he came in changed things & went out again. He has given his engineers a clear direction. You saw him explaining & engineers listening. Whereas with Albion it always seemed like he was listening to the engineers. Having a driver in the second car who can give meaningful feed back & provide potential avenues for engineers to explore will only help the team further.

[Antilochos]

Another thing to note, which I guess we might see more of this season, is the potential impact of Checo on RBR. A few times during winter testing he came in changed things & went out again. He has given his engineers a clear direction. You saw him explaining & engineers listening. Whereas with Albion it always seemed like he was listening to the engineers. Having a driver in the second car who can give meaningful feed back & provide potential avenues for engineers to explore will only help the team further.

This is a underestimated factor. I always was annoyed that Albon only tried to copy the settings of Verstappen and was only listening to Verstappen his feedback (and obviously it also did not work for him). 
Getting feedback from another driver like Perez will for sure be a big help for improving the results during the season for the whole team and both cars.