The 2015 pre-season testing thread

Backmarker · Post by **Backmarker** » 03 Feb 2015, 18:14

go_Rubens wrote:McLaren had a good day today. But every time I hear news that they think they're OK something else goes wrong.

"Ron Dennis announces new sponsorship deal with MasterCard"

andrew · Post by **andrew** » 03 Feb 2015, 18:55

Lap count after day 3

1. Mercedes 352
2. Torro Rosso 210
3. Sauber 207
4. Williams 174
5. Ferrari 151
6. Lotus 111
7 red bull 71
8. Mclaren 43
9. Force india 0

tBone · Post by **tBone** » 03 Feb 2015, 18:56

Backmarker wrote:
go_Rubens wrote:McLaren had a good day today. But every time I hear news that they think they're OK something else goes wrong.

"Ron Dennis announces new sponsorship deal with MasterCard"

The MasterCard livery was about the only thing Lola didn't do wrong back then, so that would actually be good news

CoopsII · Post by **CoopsII** » 03 Feb 2015, 19:30

go_Rubens wrote:McLaren had a good day today.

Agreed. At no point did Alonso and Dennis wish each other actual bodily harm.

Post by **DemocalypseNow** » 03 Feb 2015, 20:19

tBone wrote:The MasterCard livery was about the only thing Lola didn't do wrong back then, so that would actually be good news

Not really...there is a lot of division of opinion over whether it was a beautiful livery or a complete eyesore! And I'm sure McLaren would find a way to make the livery still be completely silver/chrome despite getting Mastercard on board...

Post by **mario** » 03 Feb 2015, 20:25

DanielPT wrote:
watka wrote:Day 3 and Mercedes are (currently) topping the timesheets, which really looks ominous. They've had a few reliability issues but they look ready to go straight out of the box, almost as if this the end of the 3rd test not the 1st. Short and long run pace is good and no one else has had the consistency to match them.

McLaren on the other hand are beginning to look like the Renault powered teams last season, they've called it a day already.

Nothing unexpected in both cases. We already know that chances of another Mercedes domination this incoming season are high. Let's hope for some surprises and that they get pegged back somewhat in order for a closer 2016. This takes me to the second point. True that McLaren have been having some issues, but the whole package is brand new. If they manage to double their laps tally tomorrow, it will have been a better test than Renault last season. There is also a plus. Apparently the car is looking fast and when the car was running (track was damp), it was running quite close to Mercedes despite their probable differences in fuel weight and within other people lap times (who weren't doing longer runs). Remember though that this car is completely new and has barely run. That must be encouraging.

It's been a better day for McLaren given that Honda seem to have got on top of the electronic issues they had yesterday - one of the other comments was that there seemed to be none of the misfiring issues from yesterday, and the fact that the car seemed to show reasonably good pace during that longer run sounds promising.

On the other hand, it does seem that McLaren are still some way short of their original targets - Boullier mentioned yesterday that McLaren had originally planned to do 60 laps on Monday. Even though today was much better, McLaren are still yet to achieve a total of 60 laps across all three days, let alone racking that up within one day, so it not an entirely comfortable situation for them.

Mind you, things do not seem to be getting that much better for Red Bull either - with the team having an unplanned engine change during the day, Ricciardo only logged 48 laps. They must at least be thankful that Toro Rosso were racking up the miles today for Renault, because Red Bull have the second lowest mileage of any team (Lotus managed to comfortably overtake them today - in fact, Maldonado covered almost as many laps today (96) as Red Bull over the previous three days combined (101 laps)).

Backmarker · Post by **Backmarker** » 03 Feb 2015, 22:56

tBone wrote:
Backmarker wrote:
go_Rubens wrote:McLaren had a good day today. But every time I hear news that they think they're OK something else goes wrong.

"Ron Dennis announces new sponsorship deal with MasterCard"

The MasterCard livery was about the only thing Lola didn't do wrong back then, so that would actually be good news

The MasterCard deal was a bad one for Lola because the money depended on people signing up for a special Lola club MasterCard thing, which depended on Lola having on-track success, which they couldn't achieve without Mastercard's money.

Captain Hammer · Post by **Captain Hammer** » 04 Feb 2015, 04:25

And also because Lola wanted a 1998 debut, but MasterCard pushed for a 1997 start.

CoopsII · Post by **CoopsII** » 04 Feb 2015, 07:48

Well, according to some British tabloids this morning Nicole n Lewis (Nicwis?) have split up. The last time that happened the silly pudding lost the plot on the race track, left McLaren and generally got on my tits with his moping about.

Advantage Rosberg :lol:

Also, I'm quite pleased with how Sauber have done. Yes, you cannot read anything into the times but the car, despite looking like my son knocked it up out of lego, works. Which I wasn't sure it would do.

Post by **Bobby Doorknobs** » 04 Feb 2015, 07:56

CoopsII wrote:Well, according to some British tabloids this morning Nicole n Lewis (Nicwis?) have split up. The last time that happened the silly pudding lost the plot on the race track, left McLaren and generally got on my tits with his moping about.

Advantage Rosberg

They split up? Wow, I never would have dreamed of this happening.[/sarcasm]

Heartbreak Hamilton is back!

razta · Post by **razta** » 04 Feb 2015, 10:16

CoopsII wrote:Well, according to some British tabloids this morning Nicole n Lewis (Nicwis?) have split up. The last time that happened the silly pudding lost the plot on the race track, left McLaren and generally got on my tits with his moping about.

Advantage Rosberg

Also, I'm quite pleased with how Sauber have done. Yes, you cannot read anything into the times but the car, despite looking like my son knocked it up out of lego, works. Which I wasn't sure it would do.

LOL!! Looks like he's already started to lose the plot.. He's spun

razta · Post by **razta** » 04 Feb 2015, 10:18

CoopsII · Post by **CoopsII** » 04 Feb 2015, 10:20

razta wrote:LOL!! Looks like he's already started to lose the plot.. He's spun

Oh no, that's his "I-hold-my-hands-behind-my-back-because-I-is-sad" pose. It cant be easy to drive an F1 car with tears of sadness in your eyes. Maybe he'll write a piece of music to soothe his soul. Or better still, do an Eddie Irvine and knock the back out of the nearest lovely he can find to get over it :lol:

razta · Post by **razta** » 04 Feb 2015, 10:24

CoopsII wrote:Oh no, that's his "I-hold-my-hands-behind-my-back-because-I-is-sad" pose. It cant be easy to drive an F1 car with tears of sadness in your eyes. Maybe he'll write a piece of music to soothe his soul. Or better still, do an Eddie Irvine and knock the back out of the nearest lovely he can find to get over it

Well according to twitter, he didn't take his helmet off as he arrived back into the pitlane..

CoopsII · Post by **CoopsII** » 04 Feb 2015, 10:37

razta wrote:
CoopsII wrote:Oh no, that's his "I-hold-my-hands-behind-my-back-because-I-is-sad" pose. It cant be easy to drive an F1 car with tears of sadness in your eyes. Maybe he'll write a piece of music to soothe his soul. Or better still, do an Eddie Irvine and knock the back out of the nearest lovely he can find to get over it

Well according to twitter, he didn't take his helmet off as he arrived back into the pitlane..

Oh well that's that then. He'll have flung his gloves at Wolff, told Lauda to "go and bollocks" then gone and signed for Red Bull straight away.

dr-baker · Post by **dr-baker** » 04 Feb 2015, 10:42

CoopsII wrote:
razta wrote:
CoopsII wrote:Oh no, that's his "I-hold-my-hands-behind-my-back-because-I-is-sad" pose. It cant be easy to drive an F1 car with tears of sadness in your eyes. Maybe he'll write a piece of music to soothe his soul. Or better still, do an Eddie Irvine and knock the back out of the nearest lovely he can find to get over it

Well according to twitter, he didn't take his helmet off as he arrived back into the pitlane..

Oh well that's that then. He'll have flung his gloves at Wolff, told Lauda to "go and bollocks" then gone and signed for Red Bull straight away.

But Red Bull already have a large roster of drivers to choose from. I would like to think that he actually stormed off to sign for Murussia for this year!

razta · Post by **razta** » 04 Feb 2015, 10:43

HAHHAHAHAHAHAHH :lol:

Is that Fernando Alonso I hear driving up to Brackley?

DanielPT · Post by **DanielPT** » 04 Feb 2015, 10:43

dr-baker wrote:
CoopsII wrote:Oh well that's that then. He'll have flung his gloves at Wolff, told Lauda to "go and bollocks" then gone and signed for Red Bull straight away.

But Red Bull already have a large roster of drivers to choose from. I would like to think that he actually stormed off to sign for Murussia for this year!

Nonsense. He signed for Williams.

dr-baker · Post by **dr-baker** » 04 Feb 2015, 10:52

DanielPT wrote:
dr-baker wrote:
CoopsII wrote:Oh well that's that then. He'll have flung his gloves at Wolff, told Lauda to "go and bollocks" then gone and signed for Red Bull straight away.

But Red Bull already have a large roster of drivers to choose from. I would like to think that he actually stormed off to sign for Murussia for this year!

Nonsense. He signed for Williams.

Oh, I see what's going on there. Lewis is upset that Nicole dumped him and he blames Toto, so he's going to Williams so he can spend more time with the lovely Susie?

Shame on you Lewis!

razta · Post by **razta** » 04 Feb 2015, 10:56

Personally.. I should have grabbed Nicole's bum when I had the chance in Yas Marina last year

CoopsII · Post by **CoopsII** » 04 Feb 2015, 10:57

razta wrote:Personally.. I should have grabbed Nicole's bum when I had the change in Yas Marina last year

It's her loss Raz

Post by **Bobby Doorknobs** » 04 Feb 2015, 11:00

dr-baker wrote:Oh, I see what's going on there. Lewis is upset that Nicole dumped him and he blames Toto, so he's going to Williams so he can spend more time with the lovely Susie? Shame on you Lewis!

Is he replacing Massa or Bottas? Because in his current mental state, having him in the same team as the Gucci Warrior could only end in tears (even more than we already get from Hamilton).

dinizintheoven · Post by **dinizintheoven** » 04 Feb 2015, 12:56

dr-baker wrote:[Oh, I see what's going on there. Lewis is upset that Nicole dumped him and he blames Toto...

"It's gonna take a lot to drag me away from you..."

...clearly not.

razta · Post by **razta** » 04 Feb 2015, 13:32

Hands behind my back pose

Sublime_FA11C · Post by **Sublime_FA11C** » 04 Feb 2015, 15:24

razta wrote:[img]pic[/img]

Hands behind my back pose

Wow. Palpatine is right behind him too! Urging him to give in to his darker feelings. Great soap opera already.

razta · Post by **razta** » 04 Feb 2015, 18:46

Sublime_FA11C wrote:

Wow. Palpatine is right behind him too! Urging him to give in to his darker feelings. Great soap opera already.

The Emperor: Good. Use your aggressive feelings, boy. Let the hate flow through you.

CoopsII · Post by **CoopsII** » 04 Feb 2015, 19:00

To me that picture sums up much of what's wrong with these modern days F1 drivers. I'm certainly not singling out Hamilton but in the olden days the driver would've set off back to the pits at a brisk walk not simply stand there waiting for some lackey on a moped to collect him. Idle c**ts.

AndreaModa · Post by **AndreaModa** » 04 Feb 2015, 19:29

CoopsII wrote:To me that picture sums up much of what's wrong with these modern days F1 drivers. I'm certainly not singling out Hamilton but in the olden days the driver would've set off back to the pits at a brisk walk not simply stand there waiting for some lackey on a moped to collect him. Idle c**ts.

Calm down grandad it wasn't all that different back in your day y'know!

dr-baker · Post by **dr-baker** » 04 Feb 2015, 19:37

AndreaModa wrote:
CoopsII wrote:To me that picture sums up much of what's wrong with these modern days F1 drivers. I'm certainly not singling out Hamilton but in the olden days the driver would've set off back to the pits at a brisk walk not simply stand there waiting for some lackey on a moped to collect him. Idle c**ts.

Calm down grandad it wasn't all that different back in your day y'know!

In Stirling Moss and James Hunt's days, the main motivation for walking back to the pits would be to find a bit of crumpet...

Wallio · Post by **Wallio** » 04 Feb 2015, 19:47

dr-baker wrote:
AndreaModa wrote:
CoopsII wrote:To me that picture sums up much of what's wrong with these modern days F1 drivers. I'm certainly not singling out Hamilton but in the olden days the driver would've set off back to the pits at a brisk walk not simply stand there waiting for some lackey on a moped to collect him. Idle c**ts.

Calm down grandad it wasn't all that different back in your day y'know!

In James Hunt's days, the main motivation for walking back to the pits would be to find a bit of cocaine...

Fixed

AdrianBelmonte_ · Post by **AdrianBelmonte_** » 04 Feb 2015, 19:53

Wallio wrote:
dr-baker wrote:
AndreaModa wrote:Calm down grandad it wasn't all that different back in your day y'know!

In James Hunt's days, the main motivation for walking back to the pits would be to find a bit of cocaine and f**k with some b****es inside the car of his teammate...

Fixed

Fixed

Post by **mario** » 04 Feb 2015, 20:02

CoopsII wrote:
To me that picture sums up much of what's wrong with these modern days F1 drivers. I'm certainly not singling out Hamilton but in the olden days the driver would've set off back to the pits at a brisk walk not simply stand there waiting for some lackey on a moped to collect him. Idle c**ts.

I would not be surprised if the team instructed him not to leave the car in order to prevent a photographer vaulting the fence and taking close up photos of the car - Darren Heath's famous photographs inside McLaren's cockpit, revealing their turning brake solution, comes to mind.

Wallio · Post by **Wallio** » 04 Feb 2015, 20:07

mario wrote:I would not be surprised if the team instructed him not to leave the car in order to prevent a photographer vaulting the fence and taking close up photos of the car - Darren Heath's famous photographs inside McLaren's cockpit, revealing their turning brake solution, comes to mind.

Ah yes the double brake pedal. Has it ever been definitively proven what it did? I've heard everything from working just the rear brakes, just one side of the rears, or both (being controlled by a switch) some people claim it was tied to TCS others that it wasn't. Do we really know?

Post by **mario** » 04 Feb 2015, 20:24

Wallio wrote:
mario wrote:I would not be surprised if the team instructed him not to leave the car in order to prevent a photographer vaulting the fence and taking close up photos of the car - Darren Heath's famous photographs inside McLaren's cockpit, revealing their turning brake solution, comes to mind.

Ah yes the double brake pedal. Has it ever been definitively proven what it did? I've heard everything from working just the rear brakes, just one side of the rears, or both (being controlled by a switch) some people claim it was tied to TCS others that it wasn't. Do we really know?

As far as I am aware, the system was used to brake the inside rear wheel of the car (so it was switchable from side to side, but only operated on one wheel at a time). I don't believe that it was tied into a traction control system, although by applying the brake to the inner wheel in order to prevent it from spinning up, the driver could control the amount of tyre slip on one side of the car.

Wallio · Post by **Wallio** » 04 Feb 2015, 20:26

mario wrote:
Wallio wrote:
mario wrote:I would not be surprised if the team instructed him not to leave the car in order to prevent a photographer vaulting the fence and taking close up photos of the car - Darren Heath's famous photographs inside McLaren's cockpit, revealing their turning brake solution, comes to mind.

Ah yes the double brake pedal. Has it ever been definitively proven what it did? I've heard everything from working just the rear brakes, just one side of the rears, or both (being controlled by a switch) some people claim it was tied to TCS others that it wasn't. Do we really know?

As far as I am aware, the system was used to brake the inside rear wheel of the car (so it was switchable from side to side, but only operated on one wheel at a time). I don't believe that it was tied into a traction control system, although by applying the brake to the inner wheel in order to prevent it from spinning up, the driver could control the amount of tyre slip on one side of the car.

That make sense, but how did it "know" what wheel was the inside? Did you have to switch it from turn to turn, or was it tied into the steering somehow?

UncreativeUsername37 · Post by **UncreativeUsername37** » 04 Feb 2015, 20:37

mario wrote:
CoopsII wrote:To me that picture sums up much of what's wrong with these modern days F1 drivers. I'm certainly not singling out Hamilton but in the olden days the driver would've set off back to the pits at a brisk walk not simply stand there waiting for some lackey on a moped to collect him. Idle c**ts.

I would not be surprised if the team instructed him not to leave the car in order to prevent a photographer vaulting the fence and taking close up photos of the car - Darren Heath's famous photographs inside McLaren's cockpit, revealing their turning brake solution, comes to mind.

It's ridiculous that all this hiding the car behind walls and people all the time, Red Bull's livery, and other crazy stuff actually works sometimes.

andrew · Post by **andrew** » 04 Feb 2015, 20:43

Lap count after day 3

1. Mercedes 467
2. Sauber 319
3. Torro Rosso 307
4.Ferrari 257
5. Williams 247
6. Lotus 164
7 red bull 133
8. Mclaren 78
9. Force india 0

CoopsII · Post by **CoopsII** » 04 Feb 2015, 22:19

AndreaModa wrote:
CoopsII wrote:To me that picture sums up much of what's wrong with these modern days F1 drivers. I'm certainly not singling out Hamilton but in the olden days the driver would've set off back to the pits at a brisk walk not simply stand there waiting for some lackey on a moped to collect him. Idle c**ts.

Calm down grandad it wasn't all that different back in your day y'know!

That's different. Senna was arseholed that day and couldn't get up.

razta · Post by **razta** » 05 Feb 2015, 05:36

http://www.autosport.com/news/report.php/id/117595

"It was damp, I was first out on slicks, and I just had a spin."

Meaning - "I had tears in my eyes"

Leyton House · Post by **Leyton House** » 05 Feb 2015, 10:45

To me that picture sums up much of what's wrong with these modern days F1 drivers. I'm certainly not singling out Hamilton but in the olden days the driver would've set off back to the pits at a brisk walk not simply stand there waiting for some lackey on a moped to collect him. Idle c**ts.

I think this may have been because they used to have a spare car to go back to, with the only Merc in Jerez sat broken what's the rush?