F1 at Barcelona

[yellowperil]

Hard to learn anything from these tests, except usual suspects at the top mostly.

Come racing season it might be tough to pick out who's who in the Mercedes as both drivers have VERY similar yellow helmets.

Lewis and Rosberg seem to be running about 3rd or 4th in test times. Perez fastest in the McLaren, that's good. Kimi seems to be uninterested, as usual.

[tevake]

Thanks Yellowperil for the up date. All most loosing contact with F 1. Do you know if the new coverage will include prerace coverage? And what channel is doing the coverage here in the USA?
My thought is they should step up the coverage to include practice and Quali. To help new comers get tuned in to the happenings in F1. With out the back ground its hard to really understand the fine points of whats going on during the races.

Cheers Richard

[911Freak]

Coverage in the states will be on NBCsports network. Should be available on most cable providers. Not sure if its part of basic cable package. Direct TV carries the network as well. Google will give you press release, it's covered here in OT on another thread as well.

[gamin]

NBCSports is on ch 159 if you have dish. To keep up with upcoming schedules go to tvracer.co. They so a good job of listing motor sports events with dates times channels. On my bookmarks.

[gamin]

Should read tvracer.com. Sorry about that.

[tevake]

Thanks for the reminder on the channel, 911freak. Its not one that I watch, being sports talk, fishing, and darts etc. So I haven't been seeing any promos for F 1.

I'll have to start checking out the F 1 news sites online. Which are the best?

Cheers Richard

[yellowperil]

Just search F1, lots of sites come up. I like Planet F1, CrashNet, Sky,. Skynet
has a live (printout) of testing. They are British so they have a high interest.

Also ESPN and speedTV have good coverage.

[rusnak]

I think Perez in the McLaren is a few tenths slower than his team mate, Button. The fact that he's on top today (way down the list yesterday) might mean that McLaren are going to be much faster than everyone else at the first race in Australia.

Are you guys saying that NBC, rather than Speed, will be covering the races?

Ferrari might have produced a dud. Alonso seems let down, and gives his car and team faint praise: "My only optimism about 2013 is that I fought for the Championship last year with a car that was two seconds off the pace in winter and in the first four races we were struggling to get into Q3 and even in those problems we were fighting for the Championship. So we need to be positive and think we will fight this year for the Championship if we improve the car a little bit."

Red Bull and McLaren I think. Mercedes might get a win or two due to Hamilton's speed, and if they get their package right for one of the unique tracks. They don't have the speed at Barcelona, which is a downforce track.

[yellowperil]

Originally Posted by rusnak

I think Perez in the McLaren is a few tenths slower than his team mate, Button. The fact that he's on top today (way down the list yesterday) might mean that McLaren are going to be much faster than everyone else at the first race in Australia.

Are you guys saying that NBC, rather than Speed, will be covering the races?

Ferrari might have produced a dud. Alonso seems let down, and gives his car and team faint praise: "My only optimism about 2013 is that I fought for the Championship last year with a car that was two seconds off the pace in winter and in the first four races we were struggling to get into Q3 and even in those problems we were fighting for the Championship. So we need to be positive and think we will fight this year for the Championship if we improve the car a little bit."

Red Bull and McLaren I think. Mercedes might get a win or two due to Hamilton's speed, and if they get their package right for one of the unique tracks. They don't have the speed at Barcelona, which is a downforce track.

Good points. I hope Merc can be in the mix, and maybe this year Massa will be back to his old self.

[Aragorn]

Originally Posted by rusnak

Are you guys saying that NBC, rather than Speed, will be covering the races?

Basically the same crew that was on Speed will do the races for NBC sports. NBC bought the old vs. / Versus network and changed the name to NBC sports. Speed will soon become Fox Sports, look for the changing bug in the near future.

It is easier for the big networks to buy a smaller cable network and change the format then try and make a new cable channel from scratch. G4 bought TechTV (soon to become esquire.) Spike bought TNN. Happens alot lately.

[rusnak]

I have to think that Massa and Webber are placeholders for a future move. Vettel? Hamilton? I think both will be in play next year, or technically in two years. I do not think Mercedes will be a contender, and if Hamilton has a results clause in his contract (I seem to remember this being mentioned), or if someone really wants him bad enough....

Webber is rumored to be quitting later this year to join Porsche LMP program. I think the sport is about to gain a bunch of rookie drivers right as it faces an economic crossroads. Very soon, either it will look very different or go away.

[Aragorn]

Some guys a kept because they can set up the car well. I think that is why Barrichello stayed in for so long.

How has Massa kept his seat? I don't think he is good with set up. I know he had a bad injury but he just wasn't that good last year. Webber will win races for Red Bull when Vettel leaves.

[rusnak]

well, now McLaren is having trouble with setup, and Ferrari seem sorted.

I wonder if this is because McLaren and Red Bull (also having problems) took a bigger leap than Ferrari, and their cars need more sorting?

Button shows he is not a setup guy, haha.. And I found it interesting that Perez and Button, who are both really good on tires, can't seem to understand the new Pirelli tires yet.

[yellowperil]

Day four in progress, light rain, Hamilton quickest ahead of Button. Best place to view live commentary is Skysports.com/Formula 1

I would post it here but not techno skilled enough to accomplish that, sorry.

Should be an interesting afternoon as rain will jazz it up. Less than 3 wks to Australia. Bring it!

[5String43]

Basically the same crew that was on Speed will do the races for NBC sports.

Almost, but not quite. Bob Varsha is staying with Speed so he can continue hanging out at the Barrett-Jackson greedfest. Leigh Diffey will call the races with David Hobbs, Steve Matchett and Will Buxton.

Seems like I read somewhere that the NBC Sports coverage will mirror that of Speed, with practice and qualifying and everything. I certainly hope that's the case.

As for Ferrari, whereas many of the rest of the teams opted for developing last year's cars, I think Ferrari went for something completely new and different with this year's car. Hope that strategy doesn't bite them.

This year promises to be interesting, for sure - but next year, with a completely new formula, the cat will really be among the pigeons.

[sammyg2]

Originally Posted by rusnak

I think Perez in the McLaren is a few tenths slower than his team mate, Button. The fact that he's on top today (way down the list yesterday) might mean that McLaren are going to be much faster than everyone else at the first race in Australia.

Are you guys saying that NBC, rather than Speed, will be covering the races?

Ferrari might have produced a dud. Alonso seems let down, and gives his car and team faint praise: "My only optimism about 2013 is that I fought for the Championship last year with a car that was two seconds off the pace in winter and in the first four races we were struggling to get into Q3 and even in those problems we were fighting for the Championship. So we need to be positive and think we will fight this year for the Championship if we improve the car a little bit."

Red Bull and McLaren I think. Mercedes might get a win or two due to Hamilton's speed, and if they get their package right for one of the unique tracks. They don't have the speed at Barcelona, which is a downforce track.

The full article:

Fernando Alonso is "positive" Ferrari will be there or thereabouts when it comes to challenging for the 2013 Championship.

After sitting out the first pre-season test at Jerez, the Spaniard got a taste of the action in the new F138 at the Circuit de Catalunya on Tuesday and he was immediately impressed with what he saw.

The two-time World Champion was the busiest driver at the Barcelona track having completed more than 100 laps and he also posted the third fastest time of the day - a 1:22.952.

This is in stark contrast to their 2012 fortunes when Ferrari struggled during pre-season and also found themselves well off the pace of the front-runners when the season eventually got underway.

Alonso is naturally pleased with the way the Italian squad have started this year.

"I'm sure we will be strong [at the first race] in Australia," he is quoted as saying by BBC Sport.

"To improve the first part of the year is not going to be too difficult so we are relatively confident."

The Spaniard finished three points behind Sebastian Vettel in the race for the Drivers' Championship last year and he feels can definitely challenge for honours again this year given how much progress they have made.

He added: "At the end of the year we were quite far from [pace-setters] Red Bull and McLaren, in a group with force Force India and Sauber behind Lotus," Alonso said.

"We cannot be in that group; we have to be in the group with the leaders. We have to do a good job this winter.

"We are trying some new parts in this test, more in the last test and more in Australia, so Friday (practice) in Australia will be also important and we need to arrive in a better condition than we finished.

"But the competitors are doing a good job and it will be interesting.

"My only optimism about 2013 is that I fought for the Championship last year with a car that was two seconds off the pace in winter and in the first four races we were struggling to get into Q3 and even in those problems we were fighting for the Championship.

"So we need to be positive and think we will fight this year for the Championship if we improve the car a little bit."

As for massa, lots of people were calling for his replacement at the middle of last season (including me).
He surprised everyone in the last few races by kicking but in a slower car. He's back.

[kiwiokie]

Originally Posted by rusnak

well, now McLaren is having trouble with setup, and Ferrari seem sorted.

I wonder if this is because McLaren and Red Bull (also having problems) took a bigger leap than Ferrari, and their cars need more sorting?

Button shows he is not a setup guy, haha.. And I found it interesting that Perez and Button, who are both really good on tires, can't seem to understand the new Pirelli tires yet.

I have been under the impression that most of the setup work is now done by the team back in the factory on the 7-post rig and simulator. The team at the track just need to provide some baseline data on track abrasion, tire wear, brake wear, fuel consumption etc. Not surprising that Ron Dennis was a strong supporter of reducing on-track testing. Ferrari had invested heavily in their own test track whereas McLaren had spent their money on building the best simulation gear. That decision is really paying dividends now for McLaren. McLaren will get it worked out.

[rusnak]

I think they're trying to get correlation data to check the wind tunnel models, which are scale models.

Also, they are trying to understand the tires, and effect of rake on the wings. All of the simulation and wind tunnel stuff needs to be checked and assumptions recalibrated if it turns out they were off.

[yellowperil]

Final 4 days of pre-season testing coming up this week Feb 28-Mar 3 at Barcelona. No clear dominator yet, although to me, seems like Weber is MIA .