Pyoro wrote:Definitely that nose ruining it. Otherwise I wouldn't mind it too much. Doesn't even look particularly aerodynamic, does it? Wonder what advantage there is supposed to be with that design...
It's a development of that nostril design they ran last year. It feeds air underneath the car to optimise the side pods and barge boards and create a sort of ground effect. It really worked wonders in 2016. I am half expecting that ugly boxer nose to be opened up into an air intake as well once testing begins. It would make more sense, no other teams use a silly design like that.
I don't expect much from MGP. Probably pretty much the same again + adaption to current regulations, of course. They don't strike me as going for something very interesting. ^^
Here's an extremely fair side-by-side comparison of the 2016 and 2017 cars. Look at that. The 2016 car looks like a toy car next to the 2017 car. The new car looks so aggressive compared to the old one. I am really really happy about the looks of that Sauber.
And now this.. this is a slim rear. Look at it. No shark fin either. I'll wait for the official photos before I comment further on this car, but it looks interesting from this small picture.
Interesting car, this. It's sporting some very wide but not very large air intakes, a rather compressed rear and an intriguing shark fin with a Mercedes-esque "T-wing". It clearly looks different to the 2016 car, probably not a whole lot carried over from the old challenger. The livery? Not a lot to comment on. It's typically Ferrari.
Look at this orange beast. That front wing is intriguing. That rear wing is spectacular. That car... looks beautiful. I really like it. They didn't go over the top with orange, it's a decent enough look with some black remaining. The side pods and barge boards are intricate. If the Honda engine is up for it, this car will be there or thereabouts on tracks which suit it. I am happy.
To be honest, the livery reminds me of, err, last-place cars. Probably because they usually use the "left over" colors and orange hasn't been used by a top team in ages. And maybe because it also could be true. ^^;
Chrill wrote:The livery? Not a lot to comment on. It's typically Ferrari.
One of the sponsors is a car-industry supplier from Stuttgart. They usually work with Mercedes and Porsche. Just found it kinda funny. They also have a small factory in my home town. There, a comment
(but anyway Ferrari red is just a beautiful red. Can't really go wrong with that)
Chrill wrote:The livery? Not a lot to comment on. It's typically Ferrari.
One of the sponsors is a car-industry supplier from Stuttgart. They usually work with Mercedes and Porsche. Just found it kinda funny. They also have a small factory in my home town. There, a comment
(but anyway Ferrari red is just a beautiful red. Can't really go wrong with that)
Ferrari is also sponsored by SKF which is basically the inventor of ball bearings
Of course this doesn't tell you the full picture, but something like this is how I currently see the field. Mercedes is clearly sandbagging, they are not a full second slower than Ferrari. The question is, just how much do the Mercs have in store and just how close to their limit was that Ferrari lap? Compare it to 2016, where Ferrari also set the fastest lap in pre-season. They were .2 seconds faster than Mercedes and .3 seconds faster than third placed Force India. Red Bull's best laptime was .75 seconds slower, but remember Red Bull did enter the 2016 season slower than Ferrari.
We're now seeing a 1 second gap to Mercedes, 1.1 seconds to Red Bull. Clearly the Ferrari IS more competitive. The question is simply how competitive the Mercedes is. Long runs they look about the same, perhaps with a slight tyre usage disadvantage for Mercedes. The Ferrari appears to post fairly competitive lap times deeper into stints.
Just a few more nights, this weekend we can enjoy the first race of the season. I do have to get out of bed early (for a Sunday), as it starts at 7 in the morning. Really looking forward to see the new cars in some race action.
Chrill wrote:Keep an eye on Daylight Savings. You don't want to miss an hour of the race
Thanks for the reminder. I knew there was something with DST around this weekend, as the race is at a different time than last year. So even less sleep, YAY!
Yup. We've had our first race. Time to provide an opinion on the drivers! I want your ratings on a scale of 1-10 where 1 is so utterly disgraceful you'd never rate someone that low, and 10 is absolutely magnificent (I rarely go below 3 and I rarely go above 9).
Copy the below to fill in your own digits if you're too lazy to make a template.
Mercedes:
Lewis Hamilton – /10
Valtteri Bottas – /10
Red Bull:
Daniel Ricciardo – /10
Max Verstappen – /10
Ferrari:
Sebastian Vettel – /10
Kimi Räikkönen – /10
Force India:
Sergio Perez – /10
Esteban Ocon – /10
Williams:
Felipe Massa – /10
Lance Stroll – /10
McLaren:
Fernando Alonso – /10
Stoffel Vandoorne – /10
Toro Rosso:
Carlos Sainz Jr – /10
Daniil Kvyat – /10
Haas:
Romain Grosjean – /10
Kevin Magnussen – /10
Renault:
Nico Hülkenberg – /10
Jolyon Palmer – /10
Sauber:
Marcus Ericsson – /10
Antonio Giovinazzi – /10
Chrill - Australia:
Mercedes:
Lewis Hamilton – 6/10
Valtteri Bottas – 7/10
Red Bull:
Daniel Ricciardo – 5/10
Max Verstappen – 8/10
Ferrari:
Sebastian Vettel – 10/10
Kimi Räikkönen – 7/10
Force India:
Sergio Perez – 8/10
Esteban Ocon – 8/10
Williams:
Felipe Massa – 8/10
Lance Stroll – 5/10
McLaren:
Fernando Alonso – 8/10
Stoffel Vandoorne – 5/10
Toro Rosso:
Carlos Sainz Jr – 8/10
Daniil Kvyat – 7/10
Haas:
Romain Grosjean – 8/10
Kevin Magnussen – 3/10
Melbourne traditionally is a bad barometer for the rest of the season, though. It's a very specific track, with specific track conditions and a fairly unique layout. Of course, a Ferrari win is more encouraging than not, but it doesn't have to mean anything. We'll see.