Bottas is not doing a race sim, only short stints with setup work most probably.
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Pre-season testing lasted just three days and leaves many with even more questions than before the test. The same is valid for Pirelli, as weather conditions have somewhat reduced the potential usefulness of the collected tyre data.
I know that, but he still pulled a 16-17 lap stint, which is roughly similar in length to LEC's 3rd stint (actually LEC is on 23 laps now so that makes LEC's stint better in comparison). So fuel loads are likely to be in the same ballpark.
You can't be serious with some of these comments... "No evidence of Mercedes being anywhere near Red Bull"... "LEC is nearly 1s/lap faster than BOT with the same fuel load on harder tyres..." ... If you're honestly expecting to see a Bull steamroll and a Mercedes struggling in the midfield two weeks from now, you are in for a very bitter pill, just saying (I'm not basing this on history, I simply think your "analysis" is extremely biased/off).
Kimi 91 rounds!! Great 3rd stint on the C2!!
I think all we know for sure at this stage is that Red Bull is at the sharp end of the grid. Where Mercedes is is anybody's guess. Competitors aren't writing them off (see what Seidl said a few minutes ago on the pecking order), and we'd be fools to do so. However, this is Merc's worst winter testing of the hybrid era. They haven't done race sims or impressive laps on harder tyres (which would look competitive on a fuel/tyre-corrected basis, like they've always done in years past). And then, you have the 2 drivers + Wolff stating the car is tricky to handle, the various spins/off from both drivers, etc.HungarianRacer wrote: ↑14 Mar 2021, 12:48You can't be serious with some of these comments... "No evidence of Mercedes being anywhere near Red Bull"... "LEC is nearly 1s/lap faster than BOT with the same fuel load on harder tyres..." ... If you're honestly expecting to see a Bull steamroll and a Mercedes struggling in the midfield two weeks from now, you are in for a very bitter pill, just saying (I'm not basing this on history, I simply think your "analysis" is extremely biased/off).
mercedes is clearly leading the field, looking at their short stint setup work. no one else has done that sort of stints in 1m35s and 1m36s. just driving to delta and monitoring tyre deg. not a race sim, but using mercedes' history of testing, they fill it more than anyone else does. the car today has behaved well, which means there is still a lot of setup work required to get it up to speed. i won't be surprised with mercedes leading with usual gap to red bull and mclaren somewhere close to red bull.mkay wrote: ↑14 Mar 2021, 12:58I think all we know for sure at this stage is that Red Bull is at the sharp end of the grid. Where Mercedes is is anybody's guess. Competitors aren't writing them off (see what Seidl said a few minutes ago on the pecking order), and we'd be fools to do so. However, this is Merc's worst winter testing of the hybrid era. They haven't done race sims or impressive laps on harder tyres (which would look competitive on a fuel/tyre-corrected basis, like they've always done in years past). And then, you have the 2 drivers + Wolff stating the car is tricky to handle, etc.HungarianRacer wrote: ↑14 Mar 2021, 12:48You can't be serious with some of these comments... "No evidence of Mercedes being anywhere near Red Bull"... "LEC is nearly 1s/lap faster than BOT with the same fuel load on harder tyres..." ... If you're honestly expecting to see a Bull steamroll and a Mercedes struggling in the midfield two weeks from now, you are in for a very bitter pill, just saying (I'm not basing this on history, I simply think your "analysis" is extremely biased/off).
Also, the top of the midfield does appear to be closer this year, based on McLaren and AT's form.
Agree. Also Perez had a purple sector on the yellow tire in sector 3: 38.505cliffgamerz wrote: ↑14 Mar 2021, 13:01https://i.imgur.com/ny0N65x.jpg
McLaren seems to be faster, but times mean nothing honestly.
Very interesting but one would always assume that Ferrari would be carrying more fuel in those stints as compared to Alfa
Mercedes dominating could not go forever so this season may be an end of it just after most dominant season inspite of lesser rule changes and with almost freezed development. I thought this development freeze will give mercedes a free WDC/WCC again. Of course they like cheating during winter tests very much so they may be hiding their hand again. There are unexpected issues with them. They were the team that prepares best to the preseason tests. But this time it is different. I heard some commentator he was saying that they are not sand bagging this time like previous years.mkay wrote: ↑14 Mar 2021, 12:58
I think all we know for sure at this stage is that Red Bull is at the sharp end of the grid. Where Mercedes is is anybody's guess. Competitors aren't writing them off (see what Seidl said a few minutes ago on the pecking order), and we'd be fools to do so. However, this is Merc's worst winter testing of the hybrid era. They haven't done race sims or impressive laps on harder tyres (which would look competitive on a fuel/tyre-corrected basis, like they've always done in years past). And then, you have the 2 drivers + Wolff stating the car is tricky to handle, the various spins/off from both drivers, etc.
Also, the top of the midfield does appear to be closer this year, based on McLaren and AT's form.