This forum contains threads to discuss teams themselves. Anything not technical about the cars, including restructuring, performances etc belongs here.
Norbert is never going to provide even a general answer to these questions. He will speak in great broad generalities speaking words but not really answering anything so don't be surprised if everything he says is confusing. It's like a presidential speech, lots asked but not much really said.
13:18 Norbert says: "Every team can improve in every area, but I cannot see specific issues on the tyre front for us."
13:17 David Surgenor asks: According to your drivers it seems that the new Mercedes package is continuing to have difficulties with tyre degradation. Is this due to aero issues caused by Michael Schumacher’s preference for extreme front-end grip?
He says they have issues with the front tyres, not that their sandbagging there.
Don't misinterpret what he's saying. By him using the word 'front' he means 'on the horizon'. And no, he's not going to answer anything tire related specifically during an interview like this, ever. We may hear about it next year.
All he has said that they will have to wait and see if they can fight with the top 3 teams so how is that Sandbagging ?[/quote]
Sorry, here..
13:18 Norbert says: "Every team can improve in every area, but I cannot see specific issues on the tyre front for us."
13:17 David Surgenor asks: According to your drivers it seems that the new Mercedes package is continuing to have difficulties with tyre degradation. Is this due to aero issues caused by Michael Schumacher’s preference for extreme front-end grip?
[/quote]
That way if you ask Peter Sauber where his team stands then even he would say that they would have to wait until Melbourne to find out where his team stands so does that mean that even sauber would fight with the top 3 ?
Every car on th grid has scope for improvement but fundamental issues like heavy tyre wear could take time to resolve and WILL waste precious time.
There is no point in sandbagging, theese last 2 days all teams are going to do qualy sims and we will see who is fast and whos not (on this track at least).
The W03 was launched late, that is not really encouriging considering they started early developing it. And if late to give more development time you expect something special, but no nothing really. The slim sidepods can be credited the long wheelbase.
The tire degradation issue is really pathetic, i don´t even think i need to elaborate on it.
I think there is not enough talent back at the factory, bell,willis,costa is senior management, is there some quality engineering left?. I think it would have been much wiser for Merc to buy Sauber but i guess that was not an option at the time.
Well, I think people need to calm down. The car certainly looks like an improvement but tyre degradation might be an issue. Consider that most of the guys setting their fastest laps today did one lap while Rosberg's was done at the beginning of a 13 lap stint. This is only testing and no points are given out during testing.
"I think we're ready," he said. "It's important for us this year to progress from last year, and we're definitely able to do that. From that point of view I'm pleased, and it's exciting now to go to the first race and see where we are, and finally the talking stops.
"It's still going to be the teams from last year that we need to beat, but I think we have a good chance to annoy them a few times early in the season."
While the Mercedes' tyre degradation is one of the talking points of the test so far, Rosberg shrugged off claims that the car is using its tyres too quickly.
"It's been a positive day, on the longer runs and the shorter runs," he added.
"For the long runs, it's looking okay. No, no concerns. [Degradation] is always a limitation, but it's difficult to know where everyone is. We put in a decent long run today, and we can't really compare. But it's a good base to start off with for us. We're heading in the right direction."
Ganxxta wrote:Why should they do glory laps in testing? Only to please hardcore fans here in F1T?
Until now they are concentrating on long runs, which is very good, remember you get points only for the race, not qualy and definitely not testing.
Yes you only get points for races and not quali/testing but to score points in races your race pace has to be good and the way mercedes is using up its tyres it directly effects the strategies and the race results.
"Also Nico [Rosberg] is going fast in the Mercedes, so he is quick and Mercedes is very fast. They are the guys who are extremely strong."
That was when talking about McLaren, Ferrari and Lotus. He seems to think Ferrari are a mystery but Mercedes is "extremely strong". I honestly think Mercedes is playing games here and have not shown their real hand. We will all know in a couple of weeks so not long now.
