1st Test 2017

Author
Discussion

spitfire-ian

3,829 posts

227 months

Wednesday 1st March 2017
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Isn't Nico an ambassador for Mercedes F1 now which would explain him being there?

http://www.espn.co.uk/f1/story/_/id/18492696/nico-...

red_slr

17,123 posts

188 months

Wednesday 1st March 2017
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FIA making some safety related alterations at Albert Park their estimates are corner speeds of +50kmh and braking zone to be reduced by 20m.... :O

Vocal Minority

8,582 posts

151 months

Wednesday 1st March 2017
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Or - mystery option 3 - we're all reading WAY too much into it all.

Even if he felt a hint of - looks fun - at driving a new car, I honestly don't find it hard to believe that he still doesn't regret his decision to retire.

I think the only way you could say he is covering up for something or being disingenuous is when you take the no regrets as literally as we possibly can and ignore that it is just an innocuous turn of phrase that everyone uses.

I won't stop finding this obsession with him bizarre.

As for being there, as someone said - he is a brand ambassador. And also, given that he has a small swarm of photographers round him all the time, I expect Mercedes asked him to be there.

Edited by Vocal Minority on Wednesday 1st March 11:50

PhillipM

6,515 posts

188 months

Wednesday 1st March 2017
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George29 said:
If he was "sub optimal" do you think he would have saved it? rolleyes

Only if by 'saved it' you mean 'clouted the wall and got away with it'

Cold

15,207 posts

89 months

Wednesday 1st March 2017
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F1 is littered with previous drivers who still hang around the place. Some even get paid to talk about it on telly.

HustleRussell

24,602 posts

159 months

Wednesday 1st March 2017
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Has Stroll binned the Williams again?

RobGT81

5,227 posts

185 months

Wednesday 1st March 2017
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Nice little lap from Palmer towards the end there, a good sign for Renault.

Vocal Minority

8,582 posts

151 months

Wednesday 1st March 2017
quotequote all
HustleRussell said:
Has Stroll binned the Williams again?
Yarp.

Nick_Johnson

336 posts

176 months

Wednesday 1st March 2017
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HustleRussell said:
Has Stroll binned the Williams again?
Looks like it, apparently there isn't any damage to the car. Gary Anderson has just mentioned on the Autosport Feed:

It's not completely surprising to see Stroll in the gravel again. Watching him trackside he looks OK, but isn't completely confident in the car and he keeps on fidgeting with it trying to fix the problems that aren't really there. He's correcting when the car will sort itself out, so he needs to relax a little bit and not white knuckle it. You could say he's got too tight a grasp on the steering wheel.


DS240

4,637 posts

217 months

Wednesday 1st March 2017
quotequote all
Vocal Minority said:
Or - mystery option 3 - we're all reading WAY too much into it all.

Even if he felt a hint of - looks fun - at driving a new car, I honestly don't find it hard to believe that he still doesn't regret his decision to retire.

I think the only way you could say he is covering up for something or being disingenuous is when you take the no regrets as literally as we possibly can and ignore that it is just an innocuous turn of phrase that everyone uses.

I won't stop finding this obsession with him bizarre.

As for being there, as someone said - he is a brand ambassador. And also, given that he has a small swarm of photographers round him all the time, I expect Mercedes asked him to be there.

Edited by Vocal Minority on Wednesday 1st March 11:50
Rosberg was at a Mercedes sponsors event in Barcelona yesterday. Quote - 'As i'm here anyway, I might go to the circuit tomorrow and see the new cars for myself'.

He's still employed as a brand ambassador by Mercedes, so seeing him come and go from the paddock won't be that unusual.

He's looking pretty happy and relaxed rather then trying to get back into all...

HustleRussell

24,602 posts

159 months

Wednesday 1st March 2017
quotequote all
Vocal Minority said:
Yarp.
Hot Fuzz?

Nick_Johnson said:
Looks like it, apparently there isn't any damage to the car. Gary Anderson has just mentioned on the Autosport Feed:

It's not completely surprising to see Stroll in the gravel again. Watching him trackside he looks OK, but isn't completely confident in the car and he keeps on fidgeting with it trying to fix the problems that aren't really there. He's correcting when the car will sort itself out, so he needs to relax a little bit and not white knuckle it. You could say he's got too tight a grasp on the steering wheel.
I'm watching the same feed, thought I'd give Stroll the benefit of the doubt in case it was a mechanical or similar. If driver error he needs to calm it down as nobody is scrutinizing his lap times but his spills are making him look amateurish. There didn't appear to be much damage to the car yesterday morning but it still ended Williams' running.

red_slr

17,123 posts

188 months

Wednesday 1st March 2017
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Personally I think its a good sign that he had a few offs and would not bother me if I was Sir FW. Its early days but if he is as good as I think he is we might well see a few interesting results from him this year. His main issue is going to be information overload and money.

PhillipM

6,515 posts

188 months

Wednesday 1st March 2017
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Williams main issue is if they don't get testing on a new engine, new car built to different regs and different tyre construction all coming in together.

Testing milage is far more important than him pushing the car atm.

Nick_Johnson

336 posts

176 months

Wednesday 1st March 2017
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red_slr said:
Personally I think its a good sign that he had a few offs and would not bother me if I was Sir FW. Its early days but if he is as good as I think he is we might well see a few interesting results from him this year. His main issue is going to be information overload and money.
You say that but yesterday he wrecked a 1 of 1 front wing which halted a whole days testing, these teams are fabricating new areo at the factory and ideally they need mileage and data on these parts or they won't know how effective they are. It is a very fine balance.

With regards to the money situation, I think Lance Stroll is already well acclimatised to having a few quid in his back pocket!

HustleRussell

24,602 posts

159 months

Wednesday 1st March 2017
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I'm not one of these "Grrr pay driver grumble gruble" sorts, I want to see Stroll surprise those people and expect him to do so.

However I so often see Massa being derided on here. If Massa beats Stroll it is not going to do his career any favours. This is perhaps unfair as personally I feel Massa is underrated, but such is the way of F1.

bobbo89

5,151 posts

144 months

Wednesday 1st March 2017
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HustleRussell said:
However I so often see Massa being derided on here. If Massa beats Stroll it is not going to do his career any favours. This is perhaps unfair as personally I feel Massa is underrated, but such is the way of F1.
One of the most experienced drivers on the grid against a young rookie in his first year! I somehow doubt it'll effect his career at all if Massa were to beat him!

entropy

5,403 posts

202 months

Wednesday 1st March 2017
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Impressive from Merc so far by giving Bottas a run on the ultra soft tyres. IIRC Merc haven't done this before by sticking ultra softs this early in the testing program and knuckled down with data gathering. It's not just the seeming confidence Merc have - it seems more like they're taking the piss out of everyone else!

LH to do GP sim in the afternoon?

tommunster10

1,128 posts

90 months

Wednesday 1st March 2017
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Regards in fairness (imagine that) to Nico the question would be is he glad he's retired, he would answer 'yes'. If the question was "do you fancy a go in the new Merc" his answer would be, i imagine "yes". I'm pretty sure as the WDC and Merc ambassador if he wanted a go in the Merc he could and maybe he already has, just not in testing.

I imagine there isn't level of pressure as a race weekend, but still I'm sure there's enough that he's glad he's not driving around being measured against Lewis from the first lap.

NRS

22,080 posts

200 months

Wednesday 1st March 2017
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HustleRussell said:
call me an optimist but I don't believe either of the McLaren drivers have completed anything close to a representative lap yet. I'm looking forward to seeing them go for it for a few laps.
I think they have posted representative laps, just it's when the car breaks, wink In terms of outright speed then no, but it seems like the same as previous years. Car falls to bits and they don't get much testing done. Then maybe have to detune for the season so they can actually sometimes finish.

Hopefully not, but it does seem familiar.

RobGT81

5,227 posts

185 months

Wednesday 1st March 2017
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entropy said:
Impressive from Merc so far by giving Bottas a run on the ultra soft tyres. IIRC Merc haven't done this before by sticking ultra softs this early in the testing program and knuckled down with data gathering. It's not just the seeming confidence Merc have - it seems more like they're taking the piss out of everyone else!
Is it that impressive? 1.5 seconds quicker than a Renault on tyres 2 compounds harder.