The Pre-Season Thread: launches, tests and all the rest!

[Dj_bereta]

My livery ranking:

Toro Rosso: Wow, very creative. I loved the blue, red and silver combination. Better than the classic livery. 10/10.
Sauber: I loved the front of the car. Classy golden lines. The white part could had been better. 8/10.
McLaren: Good livery, but could had been better in the engine area. 7/10
Mercedes: Almost the same, but still a clean and good design. 7/10
Williams: Too conservative for my taste (needs more aggressive Martini stripes), but still a good livery. 6/10.
Force India: Decent. I liked the more cleanly livery, but lacks Orange and Green. 6/10.
Red Bull: Poor man's Toro Rosso. 6/10
Ferrari: It's basically the same painting from 2010-2014. Too much white. 5/10.
Renault: For me this Renault livery very bland. Looks like the livery design team started to paint the car with Yellow, got bored, and finished the rest with black. Minardi and old Renault did it right. 5/10.
Haas: I didn't enjoy the gray livery and the shark fin painting doesn't combine with the rest of the car. 4/10

[CoopsII]

Toro Rosso is my favourite. I was never a fan of the crayon-drawing bull but this bull actually looks quite threatening.

If it ends up being extremely popular I wonder if RBR will pinch it mid-season?

[Enforcer]

The nose on the Torro Rosso is such a nice and clean shape too.

Wonder is it the final product? Hope it is.

[WeirdKerr]

Finally, our prayers for the changing of the Toro Rosso design concept were heard. This is awesome!

shame the driver's overalls haven't changed much .....

[watka]

Finally, our prayers for the changing of the Toro Rosso design concept were heard. This is awesome!

shame the driver's overalls haven't changed much .....

Noticed that too! Hope this doesn't mean it's just a testing livery, but I don't see why they would have gone to that much effort if it was.

Looks like Red Bull have some new sponsors too. Previously, they've mainly just had Red Bull itself, Rauch, TAG Heuer and Aston Martin. I see Citrix, Mobil 1 and Esso (particularly large on the front wing end plate) all on there now.

Must say, I'm loving these new cars and new liveries. The low rear wings and fins make the cars look very aggressive this year, on top of some very different interpretations for sidepods and front wings. Kudos to McLaren, Toro Rosso, Haas and Sauber all for mixing it up with the liveries this year. The Haas and Sauber in particular look gorgeous.

[Waris]

I was a little struck by the disappearance of the 'charging bull' from the Toro Rosso, but now that I've actually seen the car in proper lighting (I have f.lux on my laptop which changes the colour temperature at night) I must say that I quite like the new livery. It's not quite the shade of light blue I was hoping for, but I suppose it looks exactly like a can of Red Bull Cola now.

By the way, one thing that I read no mention of was the rebadging of the engine in the back of that car. Are they still even doing that? I see no Renault logos anywhere, so it seems they are. Then again, STATS F1 lists the engine as Renault. Any ideas? Should we just call it Ilmor? Or Mechachrome...?

[CoopsII]

McLaren have had problems this morning and not done much. Meanwhile, Button has been sat at home with his feet up and a smug expression on his face.

[pasta_maldonado]

The cars are already as fast as the fastest overall testing times last year - how quick will these things actually be?

[Miguel98]

McLaren have had problems this morning and not done much. Meanwhile, Button has been sat at home with his feet up and a smug expression on his face.

It's broken down again.

[mario]

The cars are already as fast as the fastest overall testing times last year - how quick will these things actually be?

Like for like, the best times from today are about three seconds up on where they were last year (though comparisons are always a little difficult to make at this stage in time).

As things stand, Mercedes seem to have started this season much as they have started the previous ones, with the car showing solid reliability straight out of the box: Ferrari, having racked up a fairly impressive number of laps as well, seem to be fairly solid in terms of reliability too.

Apart from the initial snapshot of reliability issues, there is not too much else to add at this stage though - the initial feedback on the new tyres seems to be fairly positive, with the drivers saying that they are more consistent from lap to lap, and Mercedes seem to have been experimenting with new cooling systems (firstly with their vented shark fin and then later with cooling gills around the cockpit area).

By the way, one thing that I read no mention of was the rebadging of the engine in the back of that car. Are they still even doing that? I see no Renault logos anywhere, so it seems they are. Then again, STATS F1 lists the engine as Renault. Any ideas? Should we just call it Ilmor? Or Mechachrome...?

I think that Toro Rosso's official entry for 2017 still does not specify the engine name (StatsF1 have probably called it a Renault by default in the absence of any confirmation from the team).

[DemocalypseNow]

[Censored image of STR12]

Finally, our prayers for the changing of the Toro Rosso design concept were heard. This is awesome!

This is a formal warning. Posting of explicit, pornographic images will not be tolerated on this forum.

[solarcold]

This is a formal warning. Posting of explicit, pornographic images will not be tolerated on this forum.

Then ban me. Ban me right now, harder, ban me with a vengeance!

[CoopsII]

Then ban me. Ban me right now, harder, ban me with a vengeance!

Take it, you bathplug love it.

Anyway.

So far so similar with regards to testing. Hamilton in a class of his own, Red Bull and Ferrari might just could maybe perhaps turn in a decent performance, McLaren are woeful (which is now standard, I must admit) and everybody else is mooching about wondering if beating McLaren is still classed as an achievement.

I'd say Bottas is probably the happiest man in F1 right now, after his team-mate anyway.

[solarcold]

I think Ferrari figured it out a bit. Hoping for a decent season for them. (Räikkönen for WDC!!)
I wouldn't want to be in Alonso's skin right now.

[Dj_bereta]

And Stroll ends the day in the gravel. Lynn must be laughing now.

[mario]

Then ban me. Ban me right now, harder, ban me with a vengeance!

Take it, you bathplug love it.

Anyway.

So far so similar with regards to testing. Hamilton in a class of his own, Red Bull and Ferrari might just could maybe perhaps turn in a decent performance, McLaren are woeful (which is now standard, I must admit) and everybody else is mooching about wondering if beating McLaren is still classed as an achievement.

I'd say Bottas is probably the happiest man in F1 right now, after his team-mate anyway.

I don't know about that - Bottas gave the barriers in Turn 9 a fairly hefty whack after losing the back end through that corner, and it did look as if he perhaps eased off slightly after that moment.

In fact, there was talk that Bottas did seem to be struggling a little bit with the balance of the car today and that, as a result, his race stint simulation wasn't great (Hamilton's stint, albeit seemingly simulating a later stage of the race, seemed to be more consistent by comparison).

Ferrari do seem to be showing decent performance so far; Red Bull is harder to judge given their frequent reliability issues, but there have been a few flashes of promise so far. That said, Motorsport Magazine are speculating that, following a recent technical note from the FIA, Red Bull might have to change their suspension design as it may be illegal (whilst, to add insult to injury, Mercedes's concept appears to be legal).

What sounds more ominous is the news that Honda might have major oil scavenging issues due to modifications they made to the design of their oil tank whilst reconfiguring their engine in the off season. It sounds as if Vandoorne had to have an engine change as well, whilst there are whisperings that, even when they are able to get it running, the engine is underperforming on track - it sounds as if things are going very badly wrong there.

[Salamander]

And Stroll ends the day in the gravel. Lynn must be laughing now.

He can laugh all he wants, he's never gonna race an F1 car.

[andrew]

And Stroll ends the day in the gravel. Lynn must be laughing now.

He can laugh all he wants, he's never gonna race an F1 car.

Crashing in your first test is no big deal. Many drivers have done it.

[Rob Dylan]

Everyone appears to be going über fast, and there's talk already that these could be the fastest F1 cars ever.

[UncreativeUsername37]

Having seen the 2017 cars on the Sky highlights, I really like the new look now. Definitely one of those cases where "it looks better when it's moving". So that's a relief.

Much like 2016, I really like all the liveries, and I don't see much point in ranking them, but I'll still talk about them very briefly. And exaggerate the negative parts of my opinions so it isn't a positivityfest.
Mercedes: The Petronas sidepods finally look good. So that's good. Other than that, it's just silver, but that's fine.
Red Bull: It's a Red Bull. Looks good. The fin is so tacked on, though.
Ferrari: It's red and white, it's a Ferrari. They gave the fin a purpose livery-wise, but it would still look better without it.
Force India: I didn't see it in much detail, so I don't know. The pattern on the sidepods is good, anyway.
Williams: They made the shark fin really work for them, so points for that. Other than that, it's Martini, it's nice.
McLaren: The fantasy of an orange McLaren being fulfilled is cool, but I still don't like the pattern. Be curved or pointed, not both.
Toro Rosso: Finally, it isn't just a worse-looking Red Bull. And besides that, it's a good livery on its own. Somehow striking and easy on the eyes at once.
Haas: I feel like white would work better than grey. Other than that, it's a solid livery.
Renault: There's a black part and there's a yellow part, and I wish they mixed a bit more. Isn't there this one Renault livery that everyone hates? I can't remember what year it's from, but I think that one is okay. This is my "how did they plug up black and yellow" Renault livery.
Sauber: The gold stripes are almost invisible in motion, which is a shame. And the white part still needs text. But it's a good concept.

[CarloSpace]

Like many others, I shall add my (seemingly unpopular) opinions on the new cars and liveries.

Mercedes - 8 - Classy livery and sleek design. I'm starting to like the Petronas turquoise and this year they've got the turquoise parts of the livery right. Not a fan of that T-wing though.
Red Bull - 7 - Basically the 2016 livery with Total replaced by not-so-good-looking white Esso logos. I also prefer the pre-'16 Red Bull logos with white stroke. Okay but not my favourite, especially with that stupid looking vacuum cleaner-like intake hole at the nose.
Ferrari - 8 - It's red, it's a Ferrari. No surprises in the livery which is in no way a bad thing. The fin could be a bit more creative but overall a good-looking car.
Force India - 4 - I like Force India and I'd really want to like their cars too but this one just is a pure trainwreck. The design is hideous and the livery makes it look even uglier. Horrendous effort from them.
Williams - 7 - Same old, same old. There's so much potential in the Martini colours but for some reason they still use the rather boring design. Looks good but could be a lot better.
McLaren - 6 - The idea of an orange McLaren is great and I really like the livery design but it's lacking that something. Now it looks more like a Spyker with an awkward white triangle on the side. One thing I really like about the car however is front wing. That thing is sexy!
Toro Rosso - 5 - This is the unpopular opinion. The livery is very dodgy and looks like it was made by a five year-old. I hope it's just a test livery and they'll revert back to the great looking old design.
Haas - 5 - Let's combine the worst parts of McLaren MP4-30 with horribly uncreative grey! I wonder who is coming up with these liveries when there are so many talented artists in the world. The fin is only thing lifting Haas from the Force India-tier.
Renault - 9 - I have a soft spot for yellow race cars and this one is no exception. Design looks very smooth and unlike many other teams the fin looks great too. The livery could always be more creative but still an excellent one, my favourite.
Sauber - 8 - The Sauber has all the potential to be the most beautiful car on the grid and it reminds me a lot of the 555-style BAR of 1999. I'm not sure if the shade of blue is the same as last year but it looks a lot better and the gold fits in beautifully. Despite not being fan of the white parts, I must admit they are incorporated well into the livery. If the fin was more creative the livery would be a clear nine.

[pasta_maldonado]

Bottas goes quickest on day 3 with a 1:19.70 on super softs, but:

I know the Mercedes has broken into the 1m19s bracket on super-softs, but watching at the fast Turn 9 right-hander the Ferrari doing 1m21s on mediums still looks the most impressive car to me. It just looks so stable and consistent.

Gunther Steiner at Haas also also been talking about how Ferrari's engine package has improved considerably this year.

*knocks wood*

[andrew]

Bottas goes quickest on day 3 with a 1:19.70 on super softs, but:

[quote="Garry Anderson, motorsport.com live feed]I know the Mercedes has broken into the 1m19s bracket on super-softs, but watching at the fast Turn 9 right-hander the Ferrari doing 1m21s on mediums still looks the most impressive car to me. It just looks so stable and consistent.[/quote]

Gunther Steiner at Haas also also been talking about how Ferrari's engine package has improved considerably this year.

*knocks wood*[/quote][/quote]

He did that on Ultra-Soft, not super soft.

[Aislabie]

Which one of you beautiful bastards made this?

Also...

Vettel on the soft tyres is 0.247s off Bottas on the ultra-softs.

[Frentzen127]

Stroll has binned it. Again.
I'll give him the benefit of the doubt until Melbourne, but so far it isn't looking good for him, or Williams. All that lost mileage's gotta hurt.

[CoopsII]

Which one of you beautiful bastards made this?

I have no idea but they are magnificent.

[pasta_maldonado]

Stroll has binned it. Again.
I'll give him the benefit of the doubt until Melbourne, but so far it isn't looking good for him, or Williams. All that lost mileage's gotta hurt.

At this point, he's got to be out of the car for the rest of the test. Williams simply can't take the risk of him binning it again - and they weren't exactly getting useful information from Stroll's slow laps, either. It's a double-edged sword - he needs the time in the car to find the limit and to cement his undeerstanding, but Williams need the mileage.

[Ataxia]

Also gonna go on record and say that any shitey "F1 Memes" about Lance Stroll will be removed. I trust all of you not to do that; everyone is usually quite respectful in their discussions of drivers, but I know things can change.

I'd be worried if Stroll WASN'T crashing right now. You have to find your limitations, and that only comes with experience. If he's still doing the same thing in three-or-four years' time, then I'd be worried.

[andrew]

Also gonna go on record and say that any shitey "F1 Memes" about Lance Stroll will be removed. I trust all of you not to do that; everyone is usually quite respectful in their discussions of drivers, but I know things can change.

I'd be worried if Stroll WASN'T crashing right now. You have to find your limitations, and that only comes with experience. If he's still doing the same thing in three-or-four years' time, then I'd be worried.

Exactly. And also Yesterday wasn't really a crash, he spun into the gravel and Williams (for some unfathomable reason) didn't have enough spares.

[CoopsII]

This is why I don't like this limited testing because you get a driver without a great deal of experience, and Stroll isn't the first and he won't be the last, give them dick-all time in the car then moan like f.uck because he struggles/causes problems in the race.

Limited testing has done nothing to improve matters in F1 and I don't think it's saved any team from going to the wall so what benefit is it?

[Frentzen127]

My point is that neither of Stroll's predecessors (rookies both) made as many mistakes as he did in their first test (or if they did they probably weren't as costly).

[Salamander]

My point is that neither of Stroll's predecessors (rookies both) made as many mistakes as he did in their first test (or if they did they probably weren't as costly).

"Giving him the benefit of the doubt until Melbourne", i.e. his first ever Grand Prix, is really freaking harsh for any rookie driver, let alone one who is less experienced than most. Stroll has already proven himself able to learn from past mistakes in F3, and has proven himself more worthy of a race seat than Alex Lynn, who despite all the experience and DAMS equipment, failed to even crack the top 5 of the GP2 standings.

Besides, this is the perfect point for Stroll to join Williams - a veteran teammate in Massa to learn from (one whom himself had his own issues in keeping the car under control), the strong possibility of being Williams' top driver for years to come, and the fact that the team needs to regroup after a disappointing season-and-a-half, while also allowing Paddy Lowe to get comfortable with the team. It's a new page for the whole team, and there will be room for teething issues for the first season or two.

[andrew]

My point is that neither of Stroll's predecessors (rookies both) made as many mistakes as he did in their first test (or if they did they probably weren't as costly).

"Giving him the benefit of the doubt until Melbourne", i.e. his first ever Grand Prix, is really freaking harsh for any rookie driver, let alone one who is less experienced than most. Stroll has already proven himself able to learn from past mistakes in F3, and has proven himself more worthy of a race seat than Alex Lynn, who despite all the experience and DAMS equipment, failed to even crack the top 5 of the GP2 standings.

Besides, this is the perfect point for Stroll to join Williams - a veteran teammate in Massa to learn from (one whom himself had his own issues in keeping the car under control), the strong possibility of being Williams' top driver for years to come, and the fact that the team needs to regroup after a disappointing season-and-a-half, while also allowing Paddy Lowe to get comfortable with the team. It's a new page for the whole team, and there will be room for teething issues for the first season or two.

Exactly, in his first season on F3 he had some stupid incidents and in his Second wiped the floor with the opposition. With the newish rules covering the superlicece you need some talent to get anywhere. So what if Stroll crashes or spins during testing (is there any evidence that he even made a mistake before lunch today?)

Verstappen made a stupid error the first time he drove an f1 car (he hit the wall doing a donut i believe) and Lewis Hamilton smashed up his car during testing in his first year. Also the cars are much harder to drive this year than previous, so the Jump Stroll has made is larger than that Made by Ocon. Shouldn't we also be laying some blame with Williams, not for the incidents themselves, rather the fact they haven't brought many spare parts to the circuit, surely they would expect their rookie driver and Massa to make errors and damage the new cars?

[Ataxia]

The undercurrent seems to be this: people don't have a problem with the rookie mistakes, but it's Stroll's background that they take the most issue with.

Let me preface this by saying that he would not be in F1 without his father's money. That's a given. However, money can only get you some of the way. Money did not get Jean-Denis Deletraz to junior series titles. Money could not help Taki Inoue avoid a safety car. Money can buy you the ladder, but you still need to climb it yourself.

Lance Stroll has been helped immensely by his background. However, has also helped himself immensely by driving racing cars bloody quickly.

He will crash a few times this year, because he'll try too hard. That said, he has proved in F3 that he can make dumb mistakes and learn from them; he made a real nuisance of himself in 2015, and came back the following year to sweep to the title.

I'm going to get very sick and tired of the critique this year, so I apologise in advance for that. Instead, I'll leave it on this note: Stroll managed 98 laps today with one other error today.

[Frentzen127]

I have no issue with Stroll's ability, or credentials, or the source of his funding through his junior carreer. I for example have nothing but immense respect for Pedro Diniz, whom the cynics might call the ultimate pay driver. But he put it best when he said that money or family don't count when you're in the cockpit, while in there you're on your own.
The point I'm trying to make, albeit rather clumsily, is that he has unfortunately made Williams end two days of testing early and jeopardised the third, just when both he and the team needed all the mileage they could get. The laps he couldn't do today or yesterday he's not going to get back.
The comparison I was doing with Maldonado and Bottas is that as far as I can remember they didn't compromise the team's running during their first test, just when you need the mileage. It's true the team need to take the blame for not having spares at the ready, but since he should have known that his first priority should have been to always bring back the car intact to the garage. Maybe I'm being too harsh on him. Maybe I'm just getting old.
What I meant about Melbourne is that for a rookie a first priority should be to see the flag on the first attempt, and to not throw the car into the scenery (by your own doing), to build confidence if for no other reason. He's entitled to stupid or unforced mistakes as any rookie is, and woe to him if he doesn't make any, for he wasn't trying hard enough. But to finish first, first you have to finish. And that goes in testing too.
And to make it emphatically clear once more: I have nothing against him, or his career, or his source of funds for his junior career. I wasn't expecting all that psychotherapy up there. I suppose we all have our favourites.

[tommykl]

Let's all remember that the first time Gilles Villeneuve drove in an F1 weekend, he spun off at literally every single corner in an attempt to find his limits. Let the young'un make some mistakes. The real question is whether or not he'll learn from them.

[Aislabie]

Okay, I'll play the livery-ranking game.

1/ Sauber (9/10)
Gorgeous colour combination just makes the car look aggressive, even as it shuffles its way around the track.

2/ Ferrari (8/10)
It's a Ferrari. It's red. Cool.

3/ Red Bull (7.5/10)
Yes, it's a Red Bull with a Red Bull livery, but damn does it work. The matte colours really make the bull stand out.

4/ Williams (7/10)
It's a Martini livery, so they couldn't really go wrong - and they didn't. Not that they went especially right either; very vanilla.

5/ Mercedes (6.5/10)
It's a Mercedes. It's silver. Not especially exciting but straight away you know what it is.

6/ McHonda (5.5/10)
It has colour! I mean it looks like a 2014 Marussia and drives like one too, but at least it's not just plain black.

7/ Force India (4.5/10)
It's bloody boring and they've done nowt with the shark fin. It is at least inoffensive though.

8/ Renault (3.5/10)
It's black and yellow. How is it possible to mess up black and yellow. Replace the black with a blue and get back to me.

9/ Toro Rosso (2.5/10)
They've finally changed the design of the STR livery and they've made it shite. All it needed was a new base colour, like the sugar free can. Let's hope this is a testing livery.

10/ Haas (1/10)
You know you've done it wrong when the car drives by and it doesn't even look like itself. Looks like a four year old got bored and threw red paint at a grey car, except that might actually make an interesting livery.

[AdrianBelmonte_]

9/ Toro Rosso (2.5/10)
They've finally changed the design of the STR livery and they've made it shite. All it needed was a new base colour, like the sugar free can. Let's hope this is a testing livery.

[mario]

Over on the Autosport forums, somebody has managed to translate the results of an interview with de la Rosa and his observations about the performance of the cars. I am quoting the translation here because I think that it makes for some interesting reading about the cars:

rackside with Pedro De la Rosa: "You can see that Fernando is driving with anger"

Fernando Alonso's McLaren comes to the end of the straight. Suddenly, a massive late braking is wrapped in a big cloud of smoke. Pedro Marínez de la Rosa smiles. Later, he climbs to a zone nearby where he can control the end of the straight and turn 5, on the other side. Alonso comes back, and again enters at full tilt at the end of the straight, resulting in a tremendous snap oversteer. Box, slow lap, attacks turn one again, and he controls with nerve another snap oversteer. He repeats the process with another slide two laps later. "Fernando is driving with anger" Martínez de la Rosa explains

Another year, El Confidencial joins the spanish driver in Montmeló to collect his impressions. This time, with the additonal value to discover the handling of a new generation of single-seaters. "The McLaren is a car way more nervous that I expected" says. Looks like it's not only about the engine.

After two frustating days, the McLaren seems to be ready to do more mileage. While De la Rosa was watching the cars, Alonso was doing stints of 4 laps at most. "I've seen Fernando work more at the wheel than I'd like in a second day of testing", explains, shaping the feelings that he's got after watching the Mclaren. "It's a car that looks very unstable in tuns one and five". Locking the front wheel coming to turn 1, with this tyre smoke. And then with the rear wheel and the oversteer several times coming out of it.

"You can feel that Fernando is fighting" De la Rosa explains, maybe in part for the frustration of running too little until now. But "the car looks like doesn't handle well and he is very eager because no one on the track is attacking so much. I still haven't seen any other driver going full beans at corner entrance, which is the weakest spot, looking for the limit of the car. We have spent five minutes here and the car has been really twitchy" Coming up to the famous turn 3, Alonso also had to lift.

"He's already driving the car at its limit in the current conditions" as he has figured out, "He knows that the car will slide, but he has done it three times, and even so, he forces it, he wants the car to come to that limit. And you can feel that he's doing it before than anyone. Because if you do this at the end of the straight three times watching how twitchy it is, you must have that really under your control. Because you can do it one time.. You can do it two times... But the third time you are on the gravel. That's why, doing this several times at the end of the straight braking from over 300 km/h.. He hasn't done a lot of laps in this car and already has found the limit. It's like a jockey that wants to get the horse by the strap to tame it well".

De la Rosa points out that "the car is still in a tune-up phase. you come out of the pits and if you have to do short stints, as he is doing, and you have to generate heat quickly, maybe the tyre is not on it's optimus window. Sometimes things are more complicated than they seem", says to remember what's the current status of the MCL32. "McLaren still not has the reliability to do a proper test, they have to dor every lap without knowing if there will be a next one. Fernando is the same as ever, the McLaren is more nervous than I expected with this tyres, and the Honda engine sounds similar to the last year.

Suddently, Christian Horner appears in a bike to watch the cars and they start to chat. Later Jos Verstappen joins them, the father of the Red Bull driver. Alonso comes by: "Fernando must be angry, isn't he?" says Horner with a smile watching the spaniard. By the way, both him and Verstappen think that Red Bull and Ferrari are in a similar level, but it seems that the italian car has less fuel at the moment. Both belive that Mercedes is superior and Hamilton will beat Bottas. Horner also has positive words for Carlos Sainz.

De la Rosa comes back. "The Ferrari looks great, seems agile in the corners, even though it may run with less fuel. But I loved it, is very nimble, maybe with less kilos. Even though it works very well". Alonso goes by followed by Sainz. The McLaren stops and pulls to the side. "Look, he let him past, you noticed it, right?" says De la Rosa with a smile "You see that you have Carlos behind and say: Wait, I'll let you go by.."

The commentator for Movistar is also doing his job. “This is essential to later commentate, I am having a clearer view", explains after watching the cars for a while. And he's impressed with Mercedes. “Here in turns 1 and 2, apart from the engine noise, you can hear the tyre working, you can see that it's the only car that works the tyre more than anybody. It's true that he's running with softs, but it makes the tyre roar because he's running a big aerodynamic load, it presses the tyres more than anybody else. You don't have to be a genius to say that's the car to beat”.

Performance of the cars aside, what does De la Rosa think of this new generation os Formula One? "I love them, I like them very much, it's a step in a good direction. But I still miss the sound. Here we are talking just by the track as the cars come by and this a few years ago was not possible".

Aesthetically, " looking at them, they have taken a step forward with corner speed. What I don't understand is why they let they have the shark fin. It was banned back then because it was really ugly. The Mercedes is beautiful, and the fact that it doesn't have one (While Hamilton was at the track) makes it even more attractive. Even though he insists. “I miss the sound, the vibrations, the emotions, the roar of a V8 or even a V10".

Coming back to aesthetics, "Toro Rosso and Mercedes are the ones I like the most”. Even though, there is some critisim to the Italian car. “It's true that Carlos is doing long stints, but you can see that it's a bit unstable in the corners. It's something very subjective. The Merc, on the other hand is spectacular...”. Sebastian Vettel comes by and De la Rosa interrupts himself: "¡Buahh, look at the Ferrari...!". Who knows what will happen this year…

[DemocalypseNow]

I can't resist, seeing as everyone else has done it.

Toro Rosso
8.5
The general concept is well executed. There is no denying on the basic level this is a stunning colour choice, a bold move away from their past. What bothers me though is that the two accent colours are given equal parity; there is too much red. The large stripes along the sidepods are just a bit too thick and knock the balance off a little bit. Having two primary colours in the same design is always a risky move, and the prevalence of the red, rather than acting as a small accent, has cost the overall design slightly.

Mercedes
7.5
I don't feel it fair to take off points for "lack of imagination" when a silver livery is an absolute must for Mercedes. It is a theme so intrinsic to their identify, any other choice would be ill advised. The green accent in deference to Petronas has always worked, and the extra minor stripe down the nosecone which bursts into the sidepods is a nice piece of detailing. What knocks it is the awkward logo placement. The integration of the Petronas brand into the livery is crucial. Designs that incorporate the bargeboard are very hit-or-miss, and this one seems a little wide of the mark. The Petronas wordmark doesn't feel compatible with it. It does the essentials well though, and I feel history will look back favourably on the look and feel of the 2010s Silver Arrows.

Renault
7
The colours are classic Renault, nothing that can be complained about there. The shade of yellow matches the tone change of the current group-wide branding implemented a few years back, and would not suit a match-up with the old Mild Seven shade blue that many people have been harking back for. What I feel it misses is just a hint of white accent to brighten up the design, giving it a bit more energy. The sponsor logos alone being polished silver alone does not achieve this, necessitating the white accent if so much black is to be used. Given how tight the coke bottles are on the 2017 cars, the floor essentially becomes part of the livery, so having both black sidepods and black engine cover makes the appearance slightly too bland.

Williams
6
The somewhat simplistic nature of the livery means the rating was always going to be erring towards the side of neutral. Minimalism can be excellent, but it seems the Martini design is deliberately limited, presumably as a consequence of their level of investment. They haven't quite figured out how to fully integrate the Martini sponsorship into the new engine cover / shark fin design for 2017, and the result is not as good as is potentially possible.

Red Bull
6
I am still a little bemused at their recent pivot towards a matte livery. Their core product is delivered in a shiny metallic can. This is their identity. With only associate partners to appease, and the team being in control of their own identity, they have pretty much the blankest canvas of any team on the grid. I feel like the effort to which they go to make the logo as large as physically possible detracts slightly from the overall look. The team sticking to its classic signifiers - the red bull and yellow sun - located on the nose and engine cover, will always keep there score at neutral or higher, but I don't feel the design is being maximised.

Sauber
5.5
I don't understand the justification for the gold. I don't see what purpose it serves. The shade is a little too dark to be compatible fully with the blue, and the implementation of the white secondary colour leaves something to be desired - the lines aren't particularly clean, the implementation is a tad blocky. I would say it is the most meh livery in the field. It's serviceable, but nothing about the design seems to have a distinct purpose.

Haas
5.5
Very similar to last year's debut livery, with the dominant change a negative one. The shade of grey used is not compatible with the red branding of Haas - a red not bright enough to compensate for the strong graphite. Either a darker grey is required, or they need to switch to a Haas logo similar to that on the rear wing - white lettering with red detailing. This configuration doesn't work. Bonus points for the shark fin however - nice detailing there that other teams could take note of.

Ferrari
4
I feel like they are letting their standards slip a little. A continuation of Rosso Corsa is the bare minimum. It's half way to being the March CG911B at Montreal. A red car with some stickers is what it feels like, the main surface area of the car strictly regimented and dictated by sponsor guidelines. They seemed to have tried to exercise what little freedom with details where they can, for example using a white sharkfin matched with white rear wing endplates - this at least creates a nice design flow at the rear of the car.

McLaren
3.5
All points scored are for the emotional connotations brought from the reintroduction of the classic McLaren orange. It scores poorly for everything else. The awkward flow of the lines looks almost deliberately designed at an attempt to offset the logo-less nature of the car. I'm surprised LVMH even signed off on the design, as the company with possibly the largest exposure on the car. Chandon and orange have no association. The driver suits have them on the traditional black backing. Why is the rear wing orange for a sponsor whose branding uses black as a deliberate allusion to elegance? The slapdash execution of the orange revival makes it look like nothing more than a cheap nostalgia grab.

Force India
2
No, no, no, no. You took a recipe that at its heart was working well, and made a mess of it. People are noticing the shark fin so much because you left it the same colour as the primary colour of the chassis. Big no-no. This should have been black, perhaps with a dash of the orange/green accents in a similar manner to what Haas implemented in that area. And in general, their classic accents are not visible enough, or have been implemented in a way that reduces their impact. The orange doesn't work when it's used as a divider for the silver that's been thrown everywhere. It's almost as if they reached the end of the nosecone and thought "Nah, f*** it, this'll do" and downed tools.