First Impressions

[uzael]

Here are the trap speeds for practice today, taken from formula1.com

1 1 M. SCHUMACHER 14:58:03 320.4
2 2 R. BARRICHELLO 14:48:14 318.4
3 10 T. SATO 14:40:00 318.3
4 4 R. SCHUMACHER 14:24:26 318.2
5 9 J. BUTTON 14:51:53 317.2
6 35 A. DAVIDSON 14:03:29 316.8
7 11 G. FISICHELLA 14:57:46 316.8
8 12 F. MASSA 14:57:54 316.1
9 7 J. TRULLI 14:59:26 315.4
10 37 B. WIRDHEIM 14:48:09 315.3
11 8 F. ALONSO 14:17:07 315.1
12 3 J. MONTOYA 14:58:33 314.6
13 16 C. DA MATTA 14:18:46 314.5
14 14 M. WEBBER 14:19:00 314.3
15 38 R. ZONTA 14:57:49 314.1
16 17 O. PANIS 14:59:08 313.6
17 6 K. RAIKKONEN 14:09:30 313.3
18 5 D. COULTHARD 14:31:03 313.0
19 15 C. KLIEN 14:54:44 312.1
20 21 Z. BAUMGARTNER 14:52:49 310.7
21 18 N. HEIDFELD 14:46:14 309.2
22 20 G. BRUNI 14:29:46 307.6
23 19 G. PANTANO 14:35:29 307.3
24 39 T. GLOCK 14:11:47 306.7

could it be at all possible the ferrari has finally beaten BMW in the Horsepower game? And look at Sato's speed, right up there. Not too shabby for a car that was 2 seconds of the pace.

[Steven]

it's quite simple, you just can't get a car in front with a sluggish engine. Ferrari have always been very quiet during development, and compared with all the loud noises from BMW, people may underestimate the Ferrari engine.

It has never been bad, hardly a little down on BMW, but that's all we can see, and more can't really be decided, whatever time stats we have. All depends on setup. I really hope the teams can get some more testing done to find a good setup and compete with Ferrari, since it now seems quite dull

[Kempi]

You can't judge an engine's power by the topspeeds a car achieves. 1999 or 2000, Arrows had the highest topspeeds at a lot of races and noone said they had the strongest engine.

It's a question of aerodynamic efficiendy and wing angles mostly. If a car has a lot of wing mounted AND has a high topspeed, then you can start talking about a lot of power in the engine.

[Guest]

You have to notice that HONDA is right up there...

[rumpelstulskin]

Noticeably barrichello is the only ferrari driver who gets to setting the fastest speed in a sector... in fact montoya had the fastest speed in two sectors, one was barrichello and the fourth was fisichella!!!!!!
M$ never clocks highest speeds or even gets close but still manages fastest lap! Is that all due to better braking?

[West]

You might set fastest sector times, but the gap could be so marginal it really wouldn't matter. Now screw up on one sector (say you are off the fastest by a couple of tenths) and then ur lap is shot.

In other words, MS is most likely consistent in all sectors, and is extremely close to the fastest sector times (maybe off by a hundredth or thousandth).

[marcush.]

well....
Didn´t last years Ferrari also sport very high trap speeds? The interesting tweak is:Bridgestone has squared up the front tyres in Michelin style over the winter giving more drag ....
Last year ferrari was obviously more interested in L:D ratios and lost out a little on the slower stuff ...
In malaysia we will see a true picture ,but honestly it looks like Ferrari has the best tyre and the best car to complement their drivers and team...
Why obn hell did all Michelin runners complain of graining tyres?Australia
was close to winter testing conditions ,so they should know how to make their cars work at lower speeds......I always thought it was difficult to translate the speed at low ambient temperatures when the sun comes out and temps are rising one seems to loose seconds...in Australia some teams seemed to have forgotten what they did in the last 3 months testing their cars ......