Raikkonen Fastest In Final Day of Testing

[Bethonie Waring]

Ferrari’s Kimi Raikkonen topped the timings in the final day of testing, despite stopping on track in the second part of the day.

It was another tough day for McLaren. Fernando Alonso stopped twice with the same electrical problems teammate Stoffel Vandoorne encountered the day before, bring out the red flag on both occasions.

“Various electrical components in the PU and chassis were changed overnight, and the team are making further changes to eliminate variable and identifying the sources of the problem,” McLaren said in a statement.​

Alonso did manage to get back out in the afternoon and didn’t bring out any more red flags. The Spaniard managed a full 43 laps before the chequered flag fell on preseason testing.

As always, McLaren weren’t the only team with problems.

Red Bull’s Max Verstappen started the day with fast laps, setting the team’s fastest lap of the preseason so far, but second on the timing screens is only half the story. Verstappen completed 71 laps over the course of the day, the team’s testing limited by a turbo problem.

The Red Bull junior team also ran into problems, with Carlos Sainz stopping on the start finish straight towards the end of the day with a currently unknown problem, bringing out the red flag. The Spaniard had been running race simulations after setting the third fastest time of the day earlier in the session.

Surprisingly, the Ferrari powered teams also faced problems.

Haas’ Romain Grosjean was the first to bring out a red flag on the final day of testing when he ran into the gravel at turn five. That may be due to driver error – though there is yet to be any official confirmation for the cause of the off – and the team will be a little more worried about the second stoppage. Grosjean stopped on the back straight not long before lunch, bringing out the red flag again.

The Ferrari works team almost made it to the end of the session, before the team hit problems. Raikkonen’s SF70H suffered problems whilst out on track, The Finn was on his way back to the pits when the rear tyres locked and he span to a halt on a disused section of the track.

Mercedes, one of the few teams to not suffer problems, could only manage fourth and fifth in the final day of testing. They’re still favourites going into the first race later this month, but Ferrari might just be able to bring the fight to them.

For more thoughts on Formula One and the latest news, head to the Formula One sub forum here at RaceDepartment.

Will Ferrari bring the fight to Mercedes? And who do you think will be leading the championship after race one? Let us know your thoughts in the comments below.

 

[FirecrazyCZ]

OMFG, I am so disappointed of Honda.... Now McL and their drivers will have to drive GP2 in Formula 1 series... what a great year. I think these Honda engines are just joke. I bet that entire year we will have another Alonso theatre show, with types of sentences like ,,We are still improving'' and ,,Our chassis is very good''. Ferrari is only team I hope that can beat Merc now and I think they are looking very fast and i am sure Ferrari will fight Mercedes in the first half of this season.

 

[yusupov]

after going into last year with very high hopes (i dont recall them being this 'dominant' in testing, but i know they looked very good after making huge gains in 2015) i am keeping very low expectations for the red team...i suppose the bar has been raised to "expecting disappointment" but i remain a pessimist.

i never heard about james allison's replacement, what's the scoop there? i also worry about merc development moving a lot faster than ferrari, who spent all last year playing catch up with them & then red bull after being passed.

 

[Nick Gregory]

Ferrari took all the sandbags off. Just wait until Red Bull and Mercedes does too.

 

[yusupov]

except that makes no sense & is only plausible if somehow someones job was on the line if they didnt top timesheets in test sessions, which is completely insa--hmm

 

[racelover]

Red Flag for putting a car in the sand???

 

[Mark Aalberts]

Honda is excellent in making combustion engines, that has never really been the big issue. Its mainly the hybrid systems around it they clearly don't master (enough) and which I doubt they ever will. Last year they where roughly 100hp short just on the Electrical systems alone. Just look at Renault how much they have been struggling to keep up on engine development. The Mercedes engine was already on the bench even before the new engine format was discussed/approved way back in 2010 or even before (cant remember exactly). Mercedes have been a step ahead of everybody all the time, they just go fast enough to stay ahead and create some sort of an illusion. And when you see how easy they rack up the laps in winter testing without problems it is pretty scary to watch and deep inside you know what is to come this year.

In my opinion there is really only one team that possibly could take on Mercedes on the power unit side and that's Ferrari. RBR is dependent on Renault who struggle to keep their engine within shooting distance of the Mercs. If they can stay within 30-40 hp deficit RBR most likely can make that up on the chassis side during this year, but I have such a feeling that Renault felt further behind again. And Honda, I don't think they will ever catch up simply because they are 2-3 years behind on development.

Anyway we will find out in a couple of weeks.

 

[kondor999]

It's looking more and more like the McLaren MCL32 is the Footwork FA12 of its generation. The only difference being that Footwork/Arrows was always a backmarker, whereas McLaren is one of the all-time greats.

But when it comes to the engines, the analogy between Honda 2017 and Porsche 1991 really does seem to hold up, and can be summarized in just a few words:

Oh, how the mighty have fallen...

 

[TheSourceOfTheNile]

View attachment 178427 Ferrari’s Kimi Raikkonen topped the timings in the final day of testing, despite stopping on track in the second part of the day.

It was another tough day for McLaren. Fernando Alonso stopped twice with the same electrical problems teammate Stoffel Vandoorne encountered the day before, bring out the red flag on both occasions.

“Various electrical components in the PU and chassis were changed overnight, and the team are making further changes to eliminate variable and identifying the sources of the problem,” McLaren said in a statement.​

Alonso did manage to get back out in the afternoon and didn’t bring out any more red flags. The Spaniard managed a full 43 laps before the chequered flag fell on preseason testing.

As always, McLaren weren’t the only team with problems.

Red Bull’s Max Verstappen started the day with fast laps, setting the team’s fastest lap of the preseason so far, but second on the timing screens is only half the story. Verstappen completed 71 laps over the course of the day, the team’s testing limited by a turbo problem.

The Red Bull junior team also ran into problems, with Carlos Sainz stopping on the start finish straight towards the end of the day with a currently unknown problem, bringing out the red flag. The Spaniard had been running race simulations after setting the third fastest time of the day earlier in the session.

Surprisingly, the Ferrari powered teams also faced problems.

Haas’ Romain Grosjean was the first to bring out a red flag on the final day of testing when he ran into the gravel at turn five. That may be due to driver error – though there is yet to be any official confirmation for the cause of the off – and the team will be a little more worried about the second stoppage. Grosjean stopped on the back straight not long before lunch, bringing out the red flag again.

The Ferrari works team almost made it to the end of the session, before the team hit problems. Raikkonen’s SF70H suffered problems whilst out on track, The Finn was on his way back to the pits when the rear tyres locked and he span to a halt on a disused section of the track.

Mercedes, one of the few teams to not suffer problems, could only manage fourth and fifth in the final day of testing. They’re still favourites going into the first race later this month, but Ferrari might just be able to bring the fight to them.

For more thoughts on Formula One and the latest news, head to the Formula One sub forum here at RaceDepartment.

Will Ferrari bring the fight to Mercedes? And who do you think will be leading the championship after race one? Let us know your thoughts in the comments below.

I'm glad to be a Ferrari fan. This season is showing great promise for the team. Although, I would like to see Vettel beat Kimi in the championship.

 

[betterstranger]

Red.is.faster.