GateCrasher

I'm happy to get general admission and walk around

Rumor has it that most of the grandstand seating will not be ready for the first race, time will tell.

A 2

Lotus F1 pulls out of the Barcelona test because of chassis problems
http://www.autosport.com/news/report.php/id/97616

Team boss Eric Boullier added: "Not running this week has been a tough decision to take, but we feel that our choice is the right one. On the positive side, we have quickly identified the issue with the chassis and our design office has already devised a solution. We will be present at next week's test in Barcelona.

"We draw faith from the fact that the E20 was quick out of the box in Jerez and showed its reliability there. We have a lot of work ahead of us over the next week but everyone at Enstone is ready for this challenge."

Although the team has not revealed the exact nature of the chassis fault, AUTOSPORT understands it is in an area towards the front of the car.

A 2

Barcelona Day One results
http://www.autosport.com/news/report.php/id/97612

Pos Driver Team Time Laps
1. Vettel Red Bull 1m23.265s 79
2. Hulkenberg Force India 1m23.440s +0.175 97
3. Hamilton McLaren 1m23.590s +0.325 114
4. Ricciardo Toro Rosso 1m23.618s +0.353 76
5. Alonso Ferrari 1m24.100s +0.835 75
6. Schumacher Mercedes 1m24.150s +0.885 51
7. Perez Sauber 1m24.219s +0.954 66
8. Senna Williams 1m25.711s +2.446 97
9. Kovalainen Caterham 1m26.035s +2.770 31
10. Grosjean Lotus 1m26.809s +3.544 7
11. Pic Marussia 1m28.026s +4.761 121

A 2

Autosport's opinion of what may be wrong with the Lotus

http://www.autosport.com/news/report.php/id/97620

Speaking to AUTOSPORT about the Lotus situation, Anderson said: "The aerodynamic loads on the car are higher in Barcelona than in Jerez, so that could explain why the problem didn't manifest itself at Jerez.

"Reading between the lines, I would say it was likely to be something to do with a mount rather than the front suspension, as if it was a suspension problem you could have a good go at patching it up at the track with a glue injection and fastenings to hold it in situ.

"The fact that Lotus has pulled out of the whole test rather than going back to the factory to patch it up and then run later in the week suggests it's a serious problem. Unless it is something that is too severe to fix so quickly or that you need to produce new parts to solve."

Anderson believes that the confirmation that Lotus also detected a potential problem that will require modifications to chassis 1, which completed almost 1,000 miles of testing at Jerez two weeks ago, supports the hypothesis that it is related to an attachment.

"Lotus wasn't as quick on the final day of that test, though, so maybe there was a little deterioration," he said.

"Barcelona is a very different challenge. There was a pretty vicious bump around the start finish line in the past, so it's possible this has caused a problem. Alternatively, it could be the long right-hander at Turn 3, where there is a huge amount of torsional stress on the chassis.

samerthehammer

Mercedes AMG W03:





The nose is similar to FI's but pretty ugly haha. A new wing that shows hints of the older wings. What does everyone else think from these pictures. Currently the second day of testing at Barcelona is occurring right now.

egotzm

I'm not sure why Newey thinks Mercedes will have an advantage this year but as with all things in F1, we will only find out what people actually have come Q3 at Melbourne. I will be interested to see the function of the vent in Red Bull's step nose, in my mind it logically must go under the car to the diffuser as fixed aero dynamics to have passed the regulations. I refuse to believe it's just for driver cooling.

ytdlite

oh, i definitely think that letter vent is dumping onto the lower air splitter behind the front wheels. but i'm not so sure it produces the same soothing music as in the video GC posted.

GateCrasher

Sometimes it's Sylvester Stallone humming (http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0132245/)


Morning times:
Pos Driver Team Time Laps
1. Hulkenberg Force India 1m22.608s 63
2. Perez Sauber 1m22.648s +0.040 51
3. Vettel Red Bull 1m22.891s +0.283 31
4. Ricciardo Toro Rosso 1m23.639s +1.031 45
5. Alonso Ferrari 1m23.640s +1.032 52
6. Hamilton McLaren 1m24.040s +1.432 45
7. Rosberg Mercedes 1m24.555s +1.947 75
8. Bottas Williams 1m25.858s +3.250 69
9. Petrov Caterham 1m26.605s +3.997 36
10. Pic Marussia 1m28.092s +5.484 47

abechien

Probably doesn't really belong in this thread, but for any interested, the official F1 season edit is out:

http://www.formula1.com/video/?uid=2012022120R

Enjoy.

svann

Chances are the main grandstand facing the pit complex, turn 1 and stadium section grandstands will be finished for the first event. In these sections CotA is hawking the PSL seats. The original plan was to erect temporary stands in other areas to lessen the environmental impact. I'd agree than general admin will not be a bad way to go considering the number of berms and other natural seating opportunities as part of the track design. If I find a reasonably priced seat in a turn complex I'll go for it. I'm not at all interested in the PSL seating on the long front straight however. General admission tickets go on sale in early summer.