Bahrain testing 2025: lessons from the road

[AR3-GP]

not bad that Merc

Russell might be quicker than Antonelli at the start (1-2 tenths?) so not bad at all for Merc if Antonelli is matching Leclerc.

Norris uses DRS on lap 55 and lap 58 which are the laps of 1.32.503 and 1.32.390 around the "x" in his 3rd stint on C2. It was worth 4 tenths each.

[Emag]

not bad that Merc

Russell might be quicker than Antonelli at the start (1-2 tenths?) so not bad at all for Merc if Antonelli is matching Leclerc.

Norris uses DRS on lap 55 and lap 58 which are the laps of 1.32.503 and 1.32.290 around the "x" in his 3rd stint on C2. It was worth 4 tenths each.

I think he used DRS on that first one to overtake Leclerc on the start finish straight and on the second lap to overtake Antonelli. He still managed to put in a 32.3 without DRS too, so it's not like he was near the limit on those DRS laps.

[AR3-GP]

not bad that Merc

Russell might be quicker than Antonelli at the start (1-2 tenths?) so not bad at all for Merc if Antonelli is matching Leclerc.

Norris uses DRS on lap 55 and lap 58 which are the laps of 1.32.503 and 1.32.390 around the "x" in his 3rd stint on C2. It was worth 4 tenths each.

I think he used DRS on that first one to overtake Leclerc on the start finish straight and on the second lap to overtake Antonelli. He still managed to put in a 32.3 without DRS too, so it's not like he was near the limit on those DRS laps.

I didn't say whether he was pushing or not. I don't know. I just said he used DRS on those laps.

[FittingMechanics]

I have no idea how Mercedes have been able to show any kind of pace with Antonelli considering every time I've seen him driving he's locking a brake or going wide.

This is why I rate Mercedes ahead of Ferrari at the moment. Antonelli matched Leclerc race sim.

[Hoffman900]

I have no idea how Mercedes have been able to show any kind of pace with Antonelli considering every time I've seen him driving he's locking a brake or going wide.

This is why I rate Mercedes ahead of Ferrari at the moment. Antonelli matched Leclerc race sim.

Let’s see the Merc in temps warmer than 15* C before drawing conclusions.

[bluechris]

I have no idea how Mercedes have been able to show any kind of pace with Antonelli considering every time I've seen him driving he's locking a brake or going wide.

This is why I rate Mercedes ahead of Ferrari at the moment. Antonelli matched Leclerc race sim.

Let’s see the Merc in temps warmer than 15* C before drawing conclusions.

This puts everything in the correct context.

[TeamKoolGreen]

I have no idea how Mercedes have been able to show any kind of pace with Antonelli considering every time I've seen him driving he's locking a brake or going wide.

Antonelli did 9000 km of testing with the W11, 2021 and 22 cars. Between his lockups, he has put in better times than I expected anyway. He looks like a kid in a go-kart from the cockpit cam

[JPower]

Antonelli's calling card is his race pace and consistency. I don't see why people are doubting his capabilities in a test environment.

[langedweil]

Why has Lawrence a white nose !?

[organic]

Weather is nice today

[djos]

Why has Lawrence a white nose !?

Sunscreen?

[FittingMechanics]

These pundits really don't think a lot about what they are saying.

Right now they are saying there was a tyre offset for Norris on his last stint, which is true. But no one is then asking why was Norris faster in second stint DESPITE the tyre offset.

If the tyre offset is big, Norris shouldn't be faster in second stint.

[Seanspeed]

Antonelli's calling card is his race pace and consistency. I don't see why people are doubting his capabilities in a test environment.

Any professional racing driver can do consistent laps. I dont know why anybody would be impressed with that. And especially in a race sim situation where there's a lot of 'driving to a delta', it would be massively problematic if even a driver with nothing but F4 experience couldn't put a string of laps together with any kind of decent consistency in that situation.

[SB15]

Antonelli's calling card is his race pace and consistency. I don't see why people are doubting his capabilities in a test environment.

Any professional racing driver can do consistent laps. I dont know why anybody would be impressed with that. And especially in a race sim situation where there's a lot of 'driving to a delta', it would be massively problematic if even a driver with nothing but F4 experience couldn't put a string of laps together with any kind of decent consistency in that situation.

Any professional driver can do consistent laps but not at the rate that Antonelli is doing. There is no doubt that he's a very fast driver especially when you consider his age at only 18. He's only going to get much better in the future similar to how Verstappen was.

[Farnborough]

Antonelli's calling card is his race pace and consistency. I don't see why people are doubting his capabilities in a test environment.

Any professional racing driver can do consistent laps. I dont know why anybody would be impressed with that. And especially in a race sim situation where there's a lot of 'driving to a delta', it would be massively problematic if even a driver with nothing but F4 experience couldn't put a string of laps together with any kind of decent consistency in that situation.

While I can see, and agree with this, the closer to ultimate pace they come, then the more it exposes those that haven't really, really got it sorted out.

For those successful in championship terms, going back chronologically, with Verstappen, Hamilton, Schumacher all notable in the very concise application to this effect. In other words, intrinsic in the skill and characteristics of those world championship candidates.

It maybe wrong, but seem to recall Bearman in subbing for Sainz recognised just how hard that is to do in pure comparison to the regular drivers. It must be one of the particularly eye opening areas for a driver arriving in F1 with step,up in brakes, torque etc, to marshall that in extreme consistency.

These current chassis too, being notable in just how narrow that line is to tread, just escaping pace through overshoot to apex or the rear getting slightly out of line at peak brake/turn in phase, leeching away little chunks of time to give variable record.