Think the way they did the launch is why most are hyped. They drove around the Maranello race track as part of the launch, so closest we've seen a car in action thus far. Personally, I think Mercedes are favs this year, very long season this time.
F1 2023 Season
- Thread starter pauldyson1uk
- Start date
WOW for me best looking car n the grid so far.
All black looks better and mean.
The logo in the first pic looks off centre.
You're right but looking at that front altogether it doesn't look like it's the only thing not perfectly symmetrical. (Not sure what to make of it).
Is pre season testing on TV this year?
Edit: Did something called "to google" and apparently it is
Edit: Did something called "to google" and apparently it is
Good look at last years Merc compared to this. I'm not sure if the photos are exactly to scale, though it appears they have gone with a shorter nose and longer wheel-base this year.
Interesting piece from Mark Hughes, who thinks RedBull will still be way ahead of Ferrari and Mercedes.
https://the-race.com/formula-1/mark-hughes-mercedes-ferraris-gamble-on-untapped-potential/
https://the-race.com/formula-1/mark-hughes-mercedes-ferraris-gamble-on-untapped-potential/
Best looking car they’ve had for me.
It's red and it's a Ferrari, finishing races is secondary..
What makes everyone love the Merc? The all black makes it a bit bland in my opinion. Nothing really special about the livery.
In all honesty I have almost no interest in the livery.
It is completely secondary. F1 is all about winning
Yeah full coverage on Sky.
You can watch live coverage of every minute of pre-season testing on Sky Sports F1, along with a daily wrap and special testing edition of Ted's Notebook.
The full television schedule is as follows:
Thursday 23 February
Session One - 06:50am-11am
Session Two - 11:50am-4:30pm
Testing Wrap - 8pm-8:30pm
Ted's Testing Notebook - 8:30pm-9pm
Friday 24 February
Session One - 06:50am-11am
Session Two - 11:50am-4:30pm
Testing Wrap - 8pm-8:30pm
Ted's Testing Notebook - 8:30pm-9pm
Saturday 25 February
Session One - 06:50am-11am
Session Two - 11:50am-4:30pm
Testing Wrap - 8pm-8:30pm
Ted's Testing Notebook - 8:30pm-9pm
Testing this week
What should you look out for?
You will only see one car from each team on track during each session, limiting traffic on the circuit. Most teams will give their two drivers a session each on each day, but some may choose to split the time differently or give running time to reserve drivers.
Cars can do as much running as they please within each session and have access to all five Pirelli tyre compounds that will be used during the season.
You are likely to see teams somewhat ruining the wonderful designs of their new liveries with fluorescent flow-vis paint, which is used to visualise air flow over the body of the car.
Another eye-catching feature you will see are aerodynamic rakes, which feature sensors designed to measure off-body flow structures, or in simple terms where the air goes after it hits certain parts of the car.
Both tools enable teams to gather further understanding of their cars, and potentially make further improvements, whether that be in the form of upgrades or just setup.
The timesheet, especially in the early stages of the three days, is to be treated with caution. Some drivers may be focusing on longer runs, or testing a specific aspect of their car, while others are looking to put down quicker laps.
Then there is also the inevitable 'sandbagging', which is teams not wanting to reveal their true pace to their rivals ahead of the opening race.
There will be a lot of interest in how reigning champion Max Verstappen and his Red Bull team get on, along with their most likely challengers, Ferrari and Mercedes, who are hoping to provide Lewis Hamilton with a car capable of contending for a record eighth drivers' title.
What should you look out for?
You will only see one car from each team on track during each session, limiting traffic on the circuit. Most teams will give their two drivers a session each on each day, but some may choose to split the time differently or give running time to reserve drivers.
Cars can do as much running as they please within each session and have access to all five Pirelli tyre compounds that will be used during the season.
You are likely to see teams somewhat ruining the wonderful designs of their new liveries with fluorescent flow-vis paint, which is used to visualise air flow over the body of the car.
Another eye-catching feature you will see are aerodynamic rakes, which feature sensors designed to measure off-body flow structures, or in simple terms where the air goes after it hits certain parts of the car.
Both tools enable teams to gather further understanding of their cars, and potentially make further improvements, whether that be in the form of upgrades or just setup.
The timesheet, especially in the early stages of the three days, is to be treated with caution. Some drivers may be focusing on longer runs, or testing a specific aspect of their car, while others are looking to put down quicker laps.
Then there is also the inevitable 'sandbagging', which is teams not wanting to reveal their true pace to their rivals ahead of the opening race.
There will be a lot of interest in how reigning champion Max Verstappen and his Red Bull team get on, along with their most likely challengers, Ferrari and Mercedes, who are hoping to provide Lewis Hamilton with a car capable of contending for a record eighth drivers' title.
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Its gotta be Mclaren right?
https://www.bbc.com/sport/formula1/64704532
Formula 1: Honda considering formal return to coincide with new engine regulations
https://www.bbc.com/sport/formula1/64704532
Formula 1: Honda considering formal return to coincide with new engine regulations
Paul, what are our fantasy league plans this season?
Aston Martin announce Lance Stroll will miss the start of pre-season testing after suffering a "minor accident" while cycling. Aston Martin announce Lance Stroll will miss the start of pre-season testing after suffering a "minor accident" while cycling. On Twitter, it was said that Stroll had a cast on his right-arm. He will most likely be out a few races.
Looks likely, I doubt Alonso will want three straight days of testing and Vandoorne has Formula E commitments.
I am amazed alonso isn't doing it all. Seems weird to give it to a rookie.
I’d imagine he’d be exhausted. They put in a huge number of laps.
I think one of the mclaren drivers did it last year didn't they? But they may have had less running time due to their brake issues
I'm sure Honda play the Hokey Cokey song at HQ. In F1, out of F1.....just stick with it Honda and see what happens!
Fair point. I'm not sure, but Alonso is 41 and worth a lot of money, so I'd imagine they'd manage him more carefully.
Norris is also half Alonso's age which certainly helps with recovery.
They'll have to ease Alonso in, these cars are very tough on your body.
Yeah there is one set up on Superbru.
There is a Red Cafe Leauge set up just need to join it.
Testing starts tomorrow who will come out in top?
It’s incredibly difficult to get a real read on standings during testing.
Agreed. What'll he more interesting is the cars themselves. We'll finally see the real ones instead of just the liveries. Although there probably will be changes to the cars between now and the first race too.
I will be watching some of it, but dont take much notice of times in testing.
Good to see the new car on track, teams are still getting to grips with a new car.
an early time sheet.
Latest timesheet
Latest timesheet
| Driver | Team | Time | Laps |
| Carlos Sainz | Ferrari | 1:33.767 | 13 |
| Max Verstappen | Red Bull | 1:34.895 | 18 |
| Pierre Gasly | Alpine | 1:36.070 | 13 |
| Zhou Guanyu | Alfa Romeo | 1:36.266 | 7 |
| Nico Hulkenberg | Haas | 1:37.060 | 8 |
| George Russell | Mercedes | 1:37.752 | 12 |
| Yuki Tsunoda | AlphaTauri | 1:40.389 | 12 |
| Alex Albon | Williams | No time | 9 |
| Oscar Piastri | McLaren | No time | 6 |
| Felipe Drugovich | Aston Martin | No time | 1 |
Thinking about it you may need an invite to the Superbru one @altodevil ?
There is also another one set up and has been for a few years now, a few used it last season, but I have to admit Superbru is a better one.
But if you want to join here it is.
http://www.fantasy-f1-league.com/
League name is RedCafe Fantasy F1 League
Password is redcafe
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I agree it's really hard to know who is going for it and who is not. But there are some things that can already make out if it. The Red Bull is riding way better than the Ferrari.
I'm not watching the coverage. Can you tell how much fuel they are carrying? Are they on comparable tyres?
No, it's impossible to call anything on testing. All we're seeing is correlation runs to validate wind tunnel and sim data. We'll hear/see some wild assumptions over the next few days and we'll probably won't know till qualifying at the first race till we see who has made any strides forward.
Is it safe to make assumptions from testing about porpoising / bouncing or is that too setup dependent? If we can, it's very minimal on the Merc down the straights.
You could probably benchmark it against last years testing, the fact its being spoken about it less is no surprise given most got their heads around it towards the end of last year.
That said, different circuits will have different impacts, street circuits will probably pose the biggest test for those that have had porpoising issues last year.
Thanks, that makes sense. It could be a plus for Mercedes if they're running the setup they want and not really getting it, as the solution for them was supposed to have been to raise the ride height beyond their ideal last season from what I understood.
That's what I thought. I suppose if teams beat their max straight line/ cornering speed from last years quali, that would be a good indicator of a decent step forward. Thinking especially about the Mercs straight line speed. Although with the rakes on and the fact that no team would show all of their potential performance at this stage, I doubt that's at all possible.
Same tyres but the Ferrari has grip issues at the back and bounce on high speed sections while the Red Bull looks planted. Ferrari are not known for sandbagging but who knows.