VetteIfan 0 Posted February 19, 2015 For what it's worth, Raikkonen has gone faster than the 2014 pole time at Catalunya, and 2 seconds faster than his personal Q3 time last year. Staggering rate of progress no matter what the conditions. Surely there's much more time in it as well, it's hard to believe Ferrari would've been running the car at its max potential this early in the first Barcelona test. Also, Nasr and Wolff have somehow managed to crash in to each other during testing :D Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
afrodude41 0 Posted February 20, 2015 VetteIfan said: For what it's worth, Raikkonen has gone faster than the 2014 pole time at Catalunya, and 2 seconds faster than his personal Q3 time last year. Staggering rate of progress no matter what the conditions. Surely there's much more time in it as well, it's hard to believe Ferrari would've been running the car at its max potential this early in the first Barcelona test. Also, Nasr and Wolff have somehow managed to crash in to each other during testing :D How do you know that time wasn't on a softer compound? Not to mention completely different track conditions (i.e. temperatures, season). They say times are irrelevant in testing, and it's the same case here. Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
VetteIfan 0 Posted February 20, 2015 afrodude41 said: VetteIfan said: For what it's worth, Raikkonen has gone faster than the 2014 pole time at Catalunya, and 2 seconds faster than his personal Q3 time last year. Staggering rate of progress no matter what the conditions. Surely there's much more time in it as well, it's hard to believe Ferrari would've been running the car at its max potential this early in the first Barcelona test. Also, Nasr and Wolff have somehow managed to crash in to each other during testing :D How do you know that time wasn't on a softer compound? Not to mention completely different track conditions (i.e. temperatures, season). They say times are irrelevant in testing, and it's the same case here. It wasn't. He was on the medium, just like last year's pole. On tyres that have changed very little. Of course the temperature can effect performance, but by two seconds? The point of my post was to point out the huge rate of progress the teams have made, which is obvious when the Ferrari can go 2 seconds faster than last year when not even running at it's max yet, and most likely with fuel onboard. Same for Lotus and Red Bull who were also in a similar ballpark on times, albeit on the soft tyre. Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
GoldenColt 1 Posted February 20, 2015 I think you'll have a good year Seb. Not necessarily 2010-2013 wise but good because you had very low expectations which will be exceeded clearly.I know that feeling from 2013 and let me tell you - it's awesome. Somehow I'd like to see Ferrari do well and Seb too. F1 with Ferrari being way off the pace is simply not the same. Of course I'd like Lewis to win the WDC again but if he does it by beating a strong Ferrari-pairing and car it would be even better. Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Syn 2 Posted February 22, 2015 Really hope Alonso is OK. From the pictures I've seen, the car doesn't seem to have sustained much damage. The front wing was missing, but the nose itself looked fine. Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
GoldenColt 1 Posted February 22, 2015 Could it be an electric-shock? Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
f1since08 60 Posted February 22, 2015 It's just speculation atm, but apparently Alonso fainted in the car - which would match what Vettel said. Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Juice29 0 Posted February 22, 2015 So the final day has finished here are the lap times and numbers Testing day four 1. Romain Grosjean (Lotus) 1:24.067 (111 laps) 2. Nico Rosberg (Mercedes) 1:24.321 (130 laps) 3. Daniil Kvyat (Red Bull) 1:24.941 (103 laps) 4. Felipe Nasr (Sauber) 1:24.956 (73 laps) 5. Valtteri Bottas (Williams) 1:25.345 (128 laps) 6. Carlos Sainz (Toro Rosso) 1:25.605 (88 laps) 7. Sebastian Vettel (Ferrari) 1:26.312 (74 laps) 8. Nico Hulkenberg (Force India) 1:26.591 (36 laps) 9. Fernando Alonso (McLaren) 1:27.956 (20 laps) Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Juice29 0 Posted February 23, 2015 Alonso is concussed after crashhttp://www.bbc.co.uk/sport/0/formula1/31575734 Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
VetteIfan 0 Posted February 23, 2015 AMuS reporting the peak g-force reached in the crash was 30G, which seems bizarre for how slow the speed was and how little the car was damaged. Beginning to worry for Mclaren and Honda. Yes, I know Red Bull pulled it together last year between the last test and Melbourne due to a long stint on the dyno, but that was Red Bull. This is Mclaren, the team who's been languishing in the midfield for two seasons and continuingly promising that they will get it together, yet never really delivering. Not to mention all of Red Bull's issues generally stemmed from one issue - overheating. Mclaren seem to have a new issue that crops up every day. So they have some job on theirs hands. Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
GoldenColt 1 Posted February 23, 2015 AMus also reporting that the reason why the peak g-force was so high was that the front right wheel didn't come off at the moment of the impact, therefore not absorbing as much energy as if it would have come off. Still, it remains a strange incident and I wonder if there isn't something fundamentally wrong with the car in terms of the safety of the driver. They didn't allow JB out on the track anymore after that, which might be an indication for that theory. Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
VetteIfan 0 Posted February 23, 2015 Mclaren have released a statement which says Alonso's crash was due to gusty winds at turn 3 after understeering on to the astroturf on the outside of the corner. Doesn't exactly match match with Vettel's description of "The speed was slow, maybe 150kph. Then he veered right in to the wall. It looked strange". Mclaren are hiding something, if you ask me, but I guess we'll only find out from the man himself. Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
f1since08 60 Posted February 23, 2015 VetteIfan said: Mclaren have released a statement which says Alonso's crash was due to gusty winds at turn 3 after understeering on to the astroturf on the outside of the corner. Doesn't exactly match match with Vettel's description of "The speed was slow, maybe 150kph. Then he veered right in to the wall. It looked strange". Mclaren are hiding something, if you ask me, but I guess we'll only find out from the man himself. No chance, McLaren will be prepping a non disclosure agreement for him to sign before he leaves hospital. Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
MBKF1 91 Posted February 23, 2015 I don't know but that gusty wind statement from McLaren seems a bit weird to me. Surely someone like Fernando Alonso would be able to cater for strong winds?Obviously at an F1 race weekend all the cars have onboard cameras and there's about a million other off board cameras and fans in grandstands filming who see any accidents. But during testing there aren't any cameras filming so it's unclear as to what could have happened. That was the same with the Nasr and Wolff collision on day 1. I wonder if they'll make onboard cameras something the cars must have in future tests, because then the teams/FIA can view it and it would be clear what happened in something like this. Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
JensonBottom 1 Posted February 24, 2015 F1.com"(Alonso's) car ran wide at the entry to Turn 3 - which is a fast uphill right-hander - allowing it to run onto the Astroturf that lines the outside of the track," read McLaren’s statement. "A consequent loss of traction caused a degree of instability, spitting it back towards the inside of the circuit, where it regained traction and struck the wall side-on. Seems perfectly reasonable to me. Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
VetteIfan 0 Posted February 25, 2015 A crash as timid as that (in F1 terms) doesn't put a driver in hospital for 3 nights. So while it's a nice and typically thorough Mclaren press release, it doesn't really explain why he's needed so many "checks". Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Liaveil 137 Posted February 25, 2015 Better to be safe than sorry. Any crash no matter how timid can cause injury to any degree. Any number of circumstances could have caused it and without footage none of us know what happened. Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
JensonBottom 1 Posted February 25, 2015 VetteIfan said: A crash as timid as that (in F1 terms) doesn't put a driver in hospital for 3 nights. So while it's a nice and typically thorough Mclaren press release, it doesn't really explain why he's needed so many "checks". 30g isn't timid. Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
VetteIfan 0 Posted February 25, 2015 As I say, by F1 terms it was a timid crash. 30G as a peak is far below what others have experienced in recent years, and only had an afternoon of the pre-cautionary checks which are needed for any crash above 15G. Hell, Alonso suffered 28G when he went off roading out of the pits in Abu Dhabi a few years ago, and he went on to complete the rest of the race. So it's just a bit weird that 30G has him in hospital for 3 nights and incapable of driving even a full week after the incident. Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
JensonBottom 1 Posted February 25, 2015 VetteIfan said: As I say, by F1 terms it was a timid crash. 30G as a peak is far below what others have experienced in recent years, and only had an afternoon of the pre-cautionary checks which are needed for any crash above 15G. Hell, Alonso suffered 28G when he went off roading out of the pits in Abu Dhabi a few years ago, and he went on to complete the rest of the race. So it's just a bit weird that 30G has him in hospital for 3 nights and incapable of driving even a full week after the incident. Yes I saw you say in F1 terms the first time. Considering the medical alarms in cars are set off at 15g as you mention, it was far from mild. Take Perez's and Massa's crash in Canada, that was 27g and definitely not mild.But that just shows that no incidents are the same (obviously). There have been far worse apparent incidents in the past e.g. Webber, Valencia 2010, that turn out to be insignificant whilst there have been incidents that don't look life threatening yet were e.g. Senna. So perhaps there is more that meets the eye in how hurt.Alternatively, McLaren could just be playing it safe especially since its their star driver that they shelled out a lot of money for and the championship hasn't started it yet. Anyway, why should it be any of our business as to how 'hurt' he is? Mclaren repeatedly mentioned he was in an ok state and that should be enough. Besides, he's left the hospital so it doesn't matter and Mclaren are still taking part in the next test which wouldn't happen if any of the tin foil hat stories were correct. Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
MBKF1 91 Posted February 25, 2015 It could be the fact it was a side impact because I know they seem to send more shock waves through the body, so it may not look big from the outside but the energy going on in the accident is massive.Allan Simonsen's crash at Le Mans a couple of years ago is quite a good example. Didn't look like a particularly big shunt but it obviously unfortunately took his life. There was also a driver of a touring car at Macau a couple of years ago who died from a side shunt, but it looked very small from the outside. It could be that. Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Juice29 0 Posted February 25, 2015 Side impacts with heavy impacts just look at Alez Zanardi Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
f1since08 60 Posted February 25, 2015 Magnussen is gonna be in the McLaren for the final test. Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
