Andicis

Reportedly they had a hybrid system issue this morning that they were resolving, would agree that they did less laps than they planned. Russell's long run stint on the C1 tire is actually quite impressive, he was consistently putting out 1.35s/1.36s. Max was averaging 1.37s in last year's Bahrain GP so seems a very competitive time (factoring in the impact of traffic etc slowing down Max in race conditions). Could be wrong, but seems to be encouraging at least. I reckon Merc will put out the glory laps on Friday and have Hamilton testing distance tomorrow as well

Fair point on the testing. You did get a sense last year that Aston had stumbled there way into a half decent car, and also that Ferrari were nowhere near as good I remember Leclerc being extremely unhappy after testing. Hopefully we see something entertaining!

I've definitely missed the F1, although if by lap 10 Redbull are sat 15 seconds ahead, I'll probably revise that statement! Testing starting tomorrow, so hopefully we should see early glimpses of which teams look competitive.

Our friend Helmut Marko is as usual, quickly on hand to immediately complain about any team that can threaten Redbull...

Looks like Merc have a fairly innovative new front wing set up: Hopefully James Allison has built a car capable of competing. He is probably the only designer capable of rivalling Newey.

Not quite sure why you appear so annoyed about a game we won? Whether you thought the performance was good or not, as a supporter I would have expected you to be pleased that we won the game.

Really important result, a game that looked very tricky and did prove so on the day, but it was vital that we got three points. It would be great if that winner can give Sibley some confidence. He is one of our most technically gifted players, with a clear eye for goal but his form recently has not been up to it. He can help cover the absence of Collins if he can step up.

Games in hand are not points on the board.

I think that game at Barnsley away is going to be a real toughie. It would be amazing if we can come out of that with 3 points, but I'd take a point now provided we can beat Stevenage.

Excellent result and performance in a potentially tricky away tie, well done to the players and Warne. Important to win tonight given the Portsmouth and Bolton results, hopefully we can build on this against Stevenage.

Should have scored there. Good chance, well played by Wilson.

The reason Bolton, Barnsley and Peterborough aren't running away with it, because they are also poor. Hence why people like myself call the league poor. Do you genuinely believe that the league is as good this year?

Wednesday got 96 points. Plymouth got 101. These teams are miles better. No team will come close to that this year.

It's relevant when appraising the team and the manager. I sincerely do not believe we've gotten better since last season, I just think the competition is worse. As a result, I find that concerning because on that basis we haven't made progress. Which leads me then to question why that is. The eye test shows we've been poor. We can all look at the league table and stick our fingers in our ears and pretend that everything is brilliant, but it isn't is it? The football we play is largely rancid, and only by the virtue of being less shocking then these other crap teams we come up against, we pick up points. It's not about being especially good to get promoted against better teams, it's that I want long term success for this club. In the short term, we may well get promoted. I have a horrible feeling about what will happen if we do though. I don't think we're close to good enough to playing in the league above. I want long term, sustainable success for the club. And yes it has to start somewhere, but I actually don't think we're going in the right direction for that. It's a genuine concern.

I genuinely believe the only reason we are anywhere this year is because the division is the worst it's been in years. The likes of Ipswich, Plymouth and Wednesday last year were levels above any team in league one this year. I think this crappy division masks just how poor we are. We're rubbish, I don't care if we're sat in second. The eye test is a complete giveaway.

Yeah Ferrari is a bit of a graveyard for former world champions at this point... I doubt they would prioritise Charles over Lewis, but I do worry about their ability to provide a car or sensible strategy enough to actually compete at the top.

Lewis has always wanted to drive for Ferrari. He's said it in interviews for years. Him and Leclerc is an absolutely formidable driver pairing if it works, hopefully he brings Bono with him to help on the strategy mind...

I don't mind this really. I don't think Max Bird is that special, and if he doesn't want to sign a contract we don't lose anything anyway. If the fee is good we've done well in this deal.

It should directly correlate. There will be a few outliers, but I bet if you plotted it on gridlines you'd find a very strong trend line. And the outliers are due to abnormally good recruitment, or abnormally bad recruitment.

I specifically mentioned post Wigan, and was discussing performances not results. Helps if you read the points that are being outlined before you reply. Results and performances in December were good, including and after the Peterborough game we have been pretty crap. That's a negative trend.

Witty as always Tyler. Notice how you always try the snide reply, rather than ever addressing points made. Once again, I'll leave replying to you after this.

My generalisation of football fans wanting to be entertained really isn't a controversial take. Yes, fans also want to see their teams win as well. However, when contrasting this season when we're at the top, and the McLaren era of football, it's evident which the fans enjoyed more. Fans want to see good football. This is not good football.

So you were entertained yesterday? I wasn't. It was s****. The direction I can see is based on performances in the last month. Which have dipped significantly since the levels shown in the Wigan game. The recent trend is not positive, our results have stayed positive as since Peterborough we've had a comparatively easy run of fixtures. Burying your head in the sand is not the answer. Nobody wants to lose. The two options are not s**** football and win or good football and lose. There is a middle ground. Again, nobody expects us to play like Liverpool or Man City. But we can expect better than what is being produced.