With the testing now begun for 2018, I thought I'd revisit some pictures I took from Barcelona testing ten years ago. I can't believe it's been quite that long ago. Heikki Kovalainen zooms round turn 3 Mark Webber, send any witty comments on a postcard for I have none Lewis Hamilton, back when he had zero world championships (yet) Kimi Raikkonen gets a slide onby J i m - F1
I think Honda have basically kept with last years concept for this season. To basically get on top of the reliability. Previously they had kind of threw their hands up in horror thinking it was all @#$%& only to end up with worse problems. It will be interesting to see how Honda and Toro Rosso fare, because if things start to take a positive step, then Red Bull will be eyeing them up to becomeby J i m - F1
gav Wrote: ------------------------------------------------------- > I'm interested that you're not rating McLaren Jim. > I think they'll be fairly hot on the heels of Red > Bull unless Red Bull have designed a peach and are > taking it to Ferrari and Mercedes. I'm thinking > perhaps 2-3 tenths down on Red Bull generally at > the start of the season.by J i m - F1
The shapes like I said all seem to be converging more than ever. It would have been nice if Williams had refreshed the Martini livery just a little bit, but it's alright. The Mercedes is always going to be 'Silver Arrows' so there's no point whining about that one as it's their definite colour as much as 'Rosso Corsa' is to Ferrari which I am delighted to seeby J i m - F1
I think more and more... if it weren't for the liveries then it would be nigh impossible but for a complete anorak to tell the difference between any of the cars.by J i m - F1
gav Wrote: ------------------------------------------------------- > Force India have been brilliant. Utterly > brilliant. Their budget must be half to 2/3 of > Williams, but they've wiped the floor with them > this year. I will guess a decent investment in > them before the end of 2018... I'm not convinced they'll manage to get more investment, but theyby J i m - F1
Best thread of each season I have two main predictions for 2018... slightly irrational and optimistic perhaps but 1) Everyone will soon get used to the halo and it'll no longer be a discussion by mid season. And 2) We will have at least a 3 way drivers / teams fight for the championship (don't let us down Red Bull & Ferrari). Mercedes will still be the team to beat, partly duby J i m - F1
I think the major factor remaining in the way of a comeback now is no longer his ultimate ability but the actual opportunity.by J i m - F1
Well.. what a bonkers race. I was actually on the edge of my seat at the end as I was genuinely willing Stroll to hang on in there for P2. Massive DRS effect.. It's seems a combination of the difficulties in clearing debris allied to the long warm up time of the tyres conspired to produce an almost Indycar style 'cautions breed cautions' race where some drivers could come from sby J i m - F1
There are elements of Indy Car Racing which are better than Formula One, particularly how it's still possible for a smaller team to nail the setup on any particular weekend and win on merit. That and the way they value the sports traditions and heritage. The worst bit of Indy for me are the cautions in how they seem to breed further cautions and turn the race into a total pot luck lotteryby J i m - F1
It's a long shot. But if anyone could do it then it's him. And it'd make a great story.by J i m - F1
I'm in two minds about the pitting under VSC.. it has potential to really screw up someone's race but at the same time rolling the dice and getting a lucky break during a safety car period has long been a part of F1 and rescue a race as well as it ruin it. This was a brilliant race... Packed with incident.. Strategy and wheel to wheel action.. It was great to see all the incidents geby J i m - F1
Only a moronic Pratt would try to argue that overtaking isn't part of F1. What we're trying to prove is that overtaking on it's own does not make an exciting race. Its's the persuit, ducking and diving, occasional wheel to wheel action and ultimately the anticipation which generates the excitement. We just witnessed what largely a procession with the field spreading out.by J i m - F1
There was definitely an element of intrigue watching Ferrari elect to enlongate Vettels first stint in an effort to out strategise Mercedes and Bottas.. and in absense of close wheel to wheel action seeing Vettel persue Bottas did retain some tension. And I did enjoy it for that. You're right... Overtaking isn't the be all and end all of racing. Some years ago at Imola, Alonso and Scby J i m - F1
I'd prefer if we kept politics to a minimum here really. Ooohkay the race was on the boring side, No overtakes! But sometimes we need the boring races so we appreciate the brilliant races all the more. I actually quite like this circuit. I think the no overtaking result was more down to a combination of the cars inherit difficulty to follow and the fact that the cars lined up largely in oby J i m - F1
It's a refreshing change to have the top three covered within a tenth of a second... I can't remember too many times it's been a close as that since Jerez 1997. Kimi should be kicking himself.. He ought to have taken the pole, but then Vettel does find that extra gear when he has the package to do so. Good effort by Bottas I think that's the first time he's outpacedby J i m - F1
Saw this coming, I did not. Thought it was a late April fools when I first saw it Pretty neat thing to do though.by J i m - F1
Not a particularly exciting race to watch, but I'm not convinced the TV direction did it any favours either, certainly watching the qualifying highlights seemed to be a bit flat and didn't really show much of what seemed to going on. A few observations... as predicted by Senor Tost, the three big teams are far out in front by the tune of 1.5 seconds per lap. The midfield seems to beby J i m - F1
I'm cautiously optimistic that Mercedes will not have it all their own way, although they must be overall favourites. I'm looking forward to it even if I have lost the overpowering excitement I once felt.by J i m - F1
Well they've already changed the engine 4 or 5 times... Each car is supposed to survive with 4 for the entire season. So far Honda have managed 5 days of little to moderate running. Tricky. 168 laps apiece today for Massa and Vettel... That's quite emense. It's pointless reading too much into things at this stage of course but it strikes me that so far the Ferrari has avoided ruby J i m - F1
Mistakes are to be expected from Stroll, it's a shame that it's resulted in a lot of down time due to lack of spares. I agree though that Williams should have had some foresight and perhaps have arranged an earlier production of parts to ensure at least some spares. His funding has enabled him some fairly extensive testing in an 2014 car after all.by J i m - F1
It's refreshing to see some substantial livery changes for once... McLaren, Renault and Toro Roso all looking refreshed.by J i m - F1
I too thought the later Williams pics were renders as they simply do not look photographic.by J i m - F1
For me the best era for Ferrari Beauty was late 80s upto and including 1995.by J i m - F1
There's the usual rather inevitable lot of negativity about these cars on the social networks. I'm not sure what people were expecting to be honest.. it's been clear for ages the changes were a slightly wider car with mainly asthestic positioning changes to the wings. Oh and of course wider tyres. We've had reasonably good graphical representations for ages and yet it still seby J i m - F1
I think... even more now than ever.. If you painted all the cars the same colour then you'd be hard pressed to tell them apart unless you were a complete and utter anorak.by J i m - F1
It basically looks like someone sat on top of the FW38 and squashed it... But still kind of badass.by J i m - F1
So ahead of the car launches and for want of a better descriptive term 'test season' it's time to talk of our expectations of the year ahead. It could seem foolish to make bold predictions before even seeing a new car but in recent seasons I've enjoyed forecasting the form before it happens instead of waiting to see it happen before I open my wise mouth. First up, I donby J i m - F1
Shame about Manor, out of all the Mosley chosen budget teams they close to being competitive and/or respectable. How sad that the mooted much needed revenue redistribution will be far too late. I sense Fitzpatrick saw Manor more of a toy than a serious proposition.by J i m - F1
Cautiously optimistic. Obviously Chase Carey and Liberty have a good track record for what they do and could bring a lot to the table. They're already saying the right things... making the revenue distribution fairer.. safeguarding the traditional European races etc. But I really approve of the decision to put Ross Brawn in charge of the sporting side. Not only does he have a proven rby J i m - F1