Andicis

I'm kind of hoping that with DRS being enabled earlier, if the second place runner can maintain within a second of Max early on, they might be able to stick to him a little more easily with the tow that it'll give. Merc, Ferrari and Mclaren are certainly where my interest is this season. They were all close last year, Ferrari and Merc look to have made good steps forward, can't tell for sure mind.
After a fairly poor season last year, we need something to look forward to. I don't mind which of the three teams, if one can fight Redbull I'll be delighted. 

Bit of a nothing story this. Their tax expense is low as they claimed tax relief against losses made elsewhere in the group. Meh.

I'm more hopeful that merc have some better pace than the test showed as they always sandbagged in their best years, so a lot of full tank running. Ferrari will probably still be fast on one lap the question is can they manage stints this season and not ferrari the strategy.
Of course with testing, there's also no end of factors in terms what they wanted to test which not have been the set ups to get the best time around that track as well as fuel loads, engine modes etc.
We'll see over next weekend when we get to Q3, i wouldn't bet against Max pole/win but the gaps will be interesting, especially ferrari, mclaren and merc.

Very interesting - looks like Merc have built a car that they can alter the suspension on much more than typically is possible.
 

Some folk rate him, but I think he's just creepy climber who slings a lot of poo hoping some might actually stick. He also seems to get as much wrong as he gets right, which does not exactly enhance his claims to credibility. 
 

I'm certainly hoping that Merc and Ferrari are a little bit closer than the sims. Fingers crossed next weekend we'll get a pleasant surprise and it'll be a good battle. Impossible to tell what it real and what is made up at this stage though. 

I'm not convinced red bull are quite that far ahead, I do think out the box (in Max's hands anyway) red bull will be clear of the field but i'm clutching my hopium vape that "it's only testing" and there's a bit more to come from some of the teams.
I'm kinda worried it'll be a season like last year again, but as a motor racing fan, I do enjoy the racing all down the field and as an F1 fan of course I love all the behind the scenes stuff that goes into the edefice.
 

Our financial expert back then is now the current CEO. It might then be fairly surmised that those who have actually worked with the guy, do not share your opinion, or do you suppose Clowes to be as 'thick as a Boxing day turd' too? 

Bit of a nothing story this. Their tax expense is low as they claimed tax relief against losses made elsewhere in the group. Meh.

The ref is the least of our problems...I've just done some research and it turns our Conor Hourihane used to PLAY FOR BARNSLEY! Seriously, I've checked it in a couple of places, he played 112 times for them.
Can someone who still uses twitter send this out please? People need to know.

This forum is nuts sometimes. 
 
Slagging off Steve Evans last week for his comments on referees then suggesting Madley might be biased against us.
I despair.

Just seen Madley in a pub in Barnsley. Having a pint with Toby Tyke. Wearing full Barnsley kit, cleaning his red cards, and he was practicing how to write "Mendez-Laing" in a little black book. On the dart board was a ram.
Make of that what you will.

A bit late for that isn’t it? Some folk on here are already convinced that the referee fraternity in general have it in for us. Worst still, they think it’s driven by the EFL.😅

This is a little embarrassing. Madley does not have a bias against us, and is a decent ref. Better than the usual ones we get in league one. 
Let's not become conspiracy theorists.

Keep trying mate as I could really use something to cheer me up lol. Not sure I can stand another 20 race wins for RBR while every other team flounders in their dust 🤣
One thing I did read was that the racing seat is a full 10 CM closer to the rear wheels this season and this ought to suit Hammy's style a bit more. Ironic that the car has probably been designed a tad more in his favour than George's and he's now off up the road.
Anyway, no point in stressing too much just yet I guess and there's always a chance we can amuse ourselves with the aftermath of Horner's sacking. Not a peep from Red Bull on that as yet, which to my mind means they're likely getting their legal ducks in a row.

There were faster laps in testing last year (later days, faster than day 1 like you said), and in qualifying trim it's a couple seconds of last year, factoring in all cars will be quicker, I think it's too early to say. RBR will be quick undoubtedly, but their laps on the soft tire with potentially different fuel loads and engine modes than Mercs make it difficult to draw conclusions. I'm potentially deluding myself with pre-season optimism!

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!

Always the way, absence makes the heart grow fonder.
Testing is always easier to figure out who has messed up than who is really good becasue the teasm who are really good are tootling round on full tanks not showing their hand, but, it's always exciting to get a first proper look at the cars. I do agree with Alonso thay should allow more testing, mayby just having 2 or 3 pre-season tests, Barcelona and Bahrain (assuming they're going to stay as the first race) are both good tracks for testing and it wouldn't add that much to the calenda.

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. 

I like the cleverness of the merc front wing, it's the kind of thing that makes F1 what it is, and I do hope it gets them back to fighting for wins.
I know the off season is nothing compared to times gone by (it's probably at least 2 months shorter than it used to be) but finally as the daylight starts to return and the weeks tick by we can start to look to the month of March when most of the main motorsports start up again (F1 and MotoGP), i need to check the calendar for things like BTCC.
We did have rally Sweden this weekend just gone, although the highlights show isn't on itv yet.
There's World Superbike highlights fro Philip Island (Australia) which I hadn't realised was on. I'll give that a watch after dinner I think.
https://www.itv.com/watch/world-superbike-highlights/2a4431/2a4431a0110

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.
 

Just a loathsome outfit from top to bottom. I really hope someone takes them down a few pegs, but I still think the RBR will be near impossible to beat. That said the Merc car is sexy AF and might well have Hammy wishing he'd not jumped ship.

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