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  • HeartfeltdawnHeartfeltdawn Frets: 22096
    Some of the shit on Twitter is hilarious, people claiming it's Alonso's driving style that keeps breaking the McLaren. Piffle. 

    Williams don't sound happy. Kubica was meant to drive today but stood aside to let the others have more track time. 



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  • simonksimonk Frets: 1467
    Is it my imagination or do the cars sound louder this year? They’re a bit raspier and more mechanical sounding than the ‘whooommpphhh’ of the last couple of seasons. I like it.
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  • HeartfeltdawnHeartfeltdawn Frets: 22096
    Yerp. Several trackside watchers have commented on this. 



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  • ColsCols Frets: 6953
    Some of the shit on Twitter is hilarious, people claiming it's Alonso's driving style that keeps breaking the McLaren. Piffle. 

    Williams don't sound happy. Kubica was meant to drive today but stood aside to let the others have more track time. 
    His way of saying “Looks like the kids need the practice...”
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  • GarthyGarthy Frets: 2268
    3 laps into final day of testing - another McLaren breakdown! Marshalls dropping sand on the tracks, so suspected oil leak. They'll be praying this latest 'little issue' doesn't keep them in the garage for 5 hours like last time...
    I think this is showing that many of their problems in the last year weren't down to Honda after all. An oil leak last year or a hydraulic failure 'was because Honda'. Now there's two other Renault teams running like clockwork and one of those is a legitimate championship contender and Mclaren are still having issues. Oh and the Honda in Torro Rosso is reliable and pretty quick too....
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  • FretwiredFretwired Frets: 24601
    Garthy said:
    3 laps into final day of testing - another McLaren breakdown! Marshalls dropping sand on the tracks, so suspected oil leak. They'll be praying this latest 'little issue' doesn't keep them in the garage for 5 hours like last time...
    I think this is showing that many of their problems in the last year weren't down to Honda after all. An oil leak last year or a hydraulic failure 'was because Honda'. Now there's two other Renault teams running like clockwork and one of those is a legitimate championship contender and Mclaren are still having issues. Oh and the Honda in Torro Rosso is reliable and pretty quick too....
    Renault have been having gearbox problems.

    Remember, it's easier to criticise than create!
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  • stickyfiddlestickyfiddle Frets: 26749
    Fretwired said:
    Garthy said:
    3 laps into final day of testing - another McLaren breakdown! Marshalls dropping sand on the tracks, so suspected oil leak. They'll be praying this latest 'little issue' doesn't keep them in the garage for 5 hours like last time...
    I think this is showing that many of their problems in the last year weren't down to Honda after all. An oil leak last year or a hydraulic failure 'was because Honda'. Now there's two other Renault teams running like clockwork and one of those is a legitimate championship contender and Mclaren are still having issues. Oh and the Honda in Torro Rosso is reliable and pretty quick too....
    Renault have been having gearbox problems.
    Yeah but not really. Also, McLaren are using their own gearbox, not Renault's.

    Red Bull and Renault have been averaging 100+ laps every day. McLaren have spent half the time in the garage with the car in bits. 

    With TR looking no slower than last year and with decent reliability using the apparently-same-spec Honda as McLaren had in Abu Dhabi, there comes a point where you have to question whether there's something seriously wrong with the way McLaren are running all the internals *other* than the PU, in terms of cooling, electrics, gearbox etc. 
    The Assumptions - UAE party band for all your rock & soul desires
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  • ColsCols Frets: 6953
    3 laps into final day of testing - another McLaren breakdown! Marshalls dropping sand on the tracks, so suspected oil leak. They'll be praying this latest 'little issue' doesn't keep them in the garage for 5 hours like last time...
    Adrian Newey’s excellent book “How to Build a Racing Car” gives a fascinating insight into the inner workings of McLaren.  Apparently Ron Dennis was furious about Newey threatening to leave for Jaguar (only headed off by McLaren offering to match the Jag salary offer, which was 2.5 times his current salary).  

    The fallout was Dennis wanting to insure that no employee became indispensable again, the solution being the introduction of “an unnecessarily complex and wretchedly unworkable system of department heads and ‘performance creators’”.

    I’m not sure if this system is still in place, but if it is it might explain McLaren’s current malaise.
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  • FX_MunkeeFX_Munkee Frets: 2477
    And then Alonso punches in a 1:17 time, second fastest of the day.
    Just in case anybody else had thought they had their fantasy F1 team set up properly. Like me.
    Shot through the heart, and you’re to blame, you give love a bad name. Not to mention archery tuition.
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  • chillidoggychillidoggy Frets: 17136
    /\ I’ve just read that, where did that come from? 


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  • FretwiredFretwired Frets: 24601
    FX_Munkee said:
    And then Alonso punches in a 1:17 time, second fastest of the day.
    Just in case anybody else had thought they had their fantasy F1 team set up properly. Like me.
    Good time but I think there's been a fair amount of sandbagging going on ... Hamilton seems relaxed even though he didn't trouble the top of the time sheets. The same goes for Red Bull. They have a much better car than McLaren so I expect them to do better.

    Remember, it's easier to criticise than create!
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  • BoromedicBoromedic Frets: 4700
    edited March 2018
    Its always "testing" to figure out the real pace and Mercedes never ran the new hypersoft either. The general thought among the pundits is Merc > Ferrari > RBR, the midfield who knows but Haas look genuinely quick. I think Mercedes will be champions again, their car won't be as touchy as last year. Ferrari supposedly have a fuel consumption issue, if thats true its because they are trying hard to close the performance gap.

    My head said brake, but my heart cried never.


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  • GarthyGarthy Frets: 2268
    /\ I’ve just read that, where did that come from? 
    3 lap hyper soft run with the juice turned up (confirmed by Alonso) on a very rubbered in track at pretty much the very end of testing. Renault and Haas still had better long run pace. 
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  • ColsCols Frets: 6953
    Garthy said:
    /\ I’ve just read that, where did that come from? 
    3 lap hyper soft run with the juice turned up (confirmed by Alonso) on a very rubbered in track at pretty much the very end of testing. Renault and Haas still had better long run pace. 
    Probably the right thing to do, given that the team had a miserable and demoralising two weeks.  Pumping in a fast lap at the end lifts everyone’s spirits.
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  • chillidoggychillidoggy Frets: 17136
    So, a false dawn, then. 


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  • simonksimonk Frets: 1467
    Yes and no... it hints at some potential there. Ultimately though that was a banzai couple of laps on low fuel and the fastest tyre, with an end of life engine turned up to 11, during the closing minutes of testing when the track was the most rubbered in. Christ, they had to do something! The most prominent sponsor on the car appears to be Alonso’s own clothing brand... they need/needed some good news.
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  • stickyfiddlestickyfiddle Frets: 26749
    Apparently Boullier looked worried during his "very brief" press interviews. I assume he's working on the assumption that he's convinced his higher-ups that Honda was 100% of the problem and if he's proved wrong he'll be the one get a P45.
    The Assumptions - UAE party band for all your rock & soul desires
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  • FX_MunkeeFX_Munkee Frets: 2477
    From what I read Mercedes development has mainly been about making their car less temperamental to differing conditions. Making it less of a "Diva" so to speak. Which might explain their testing approach, ie they wouldn't have discovered much by banging in fast laps on soft rubber.
    Shot through the heart, and you’re to blame, you give love a bad name. Not to mention archery tuition.
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  • 57Deluxe57Deluxe Frets: 7329
    edited March 2018
    So, if I were Toro Rosso, I would be a bit miffed that have had to give up the Renault engine and get the landed with the crappy Honda instead...
    <Vintage BOSS Upgrades>
    __________________________________
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  • GarthyGarthy Frets: 2268
    57Deluxe said:
    So, if I were Toro Rosso, I would be a bit miffed that have had to give up the Renault engine and get the landed with the crappy Honda instead...
    Yet they are jumping for joy. It's been reliable, its been fast and they are plying STR with millions. It was only crap while it was in the Mclaren and now the Renault is crap in the Mclaren while ace in the Red Bull, hence Boullier having the panic fueled sweat of a man who just cost a barbaric dictatorship $200m.
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