F1 Winter testing

[yellowperil]

I know winter testing is usually not a good indicator of the upcoming racing season, but
it's somewhat encouraging to see some mid-pack and even lower teams topping the days fast times. Hopefully it might not be such a one sided event as seen last year. Although maybe Red Bull team is sand-bagging. Who knows. They do have a couple of great drivers AND Adrian Newey so maybe nothing's really changed. I'm hoping for a more competitive season. Any thoughts?.

[Amail]

Red Bull will be class of the field again. Newey/Vettel are a match made in heaven. Blown diffusers aside, their strength will be consistency. I don't think they'll romp off into the sunset, but they'll be at the pointy end the whole year.

McLaren aren't dogged by unreliability, unlike last year's winter testing. They're also not experimenting with unproven exhaust. I think they'll be strong out of the gate and will be serious trouble for RB, especially ultra smooth Button who seems to make tires last a lifetime.

Ferrari is working on expectation management, so I don't think they'll be improved over last year, at least not at first. If they're fighting at the front it will be due to changes in regulations dropping RB & McLaren further back into their clutches. Not likely. I'd be delighted to see Alonso tear it up again, and I dearly hope the car is up to it. I don't expect Massa to do any better than last year. I think Ferrari should have cut ties by now.

I'm looking for Mercedes to up their game. I'd really like to see them scratching their way past Ferrari a few times. I think they can do it.