Hamilton quickest on day one of test as McLaren’s troubles continue

2017 F1 season

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Lewis Hamilton set the quickest time on the first day of in-season testing at the Bahrain International Circuit.

Bahrain test in pictures
Two days after finishing second in the Bahrain Grand Prix, Hamilton lapped the Bahrain track two-and-a-half seconds slower than last weekend’s pole position time on the first of two days of running.

Ferrari ran two cars in the test as Sebastian Vettel began Ferrari’s 2018 tyre testing programme. He will continue until 9pm this evening as technical problems limited his running earlier in the day.

The team’s other car was driven by Antonio Giovinazzi, who returned to action for the first time since his race for Sauber in China.

Toro Rosso used the opportunity to give Formula Two racer Sean Gelael his first run in an F1 car. However McLaren test drier Oliver Turvey’s running was limited as the team had to perform another power unit change on their car.

Daniel Ricciardo set the third-fastest time but his day was also cut short by a power unit problem. This prevented him from carrying out planned long runs.

Pos.Car numberDriverTeamModelBest timeGapLaps
144Lewis HamiltonMercedesW081’31.35897
299Antonio GiovinazziFerrariSF70H1’31.9840.62693
33Daniel RicciardoRed BullRB131’32.3490.99145
48Romain GrosjeanHaasVF-171’32.4521.09487
519Felipe MassaWilliamsFW401’32.5091.15156
627Nico HulkenbergRenaultRS171’33.6242.26674
718Lance StrollWilliamsFW401’33.7292.37135
838Sean GelaelToro RossoSTR121’33.8852.52778
95Sebastian VettelFerrariSF70H1’33.8942.53689
1034Alfonso CelisForce IndiaVJM101’33.9392.58171
119Marcus EricssonSauberC361’34.5503.192106
1247Oliver TurveyMcLarenMCL321’35.0113.65317

2017 F1 season

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Keith Collantine
Lifelong motor sport fan Keith set up RaceFans in 2005 - when it was originally called F1 Fanatic. Having previously worked as a motoring...

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56 comments on “Hamilton quickest on day one of test as McLaren’s troubles continue”

  1. 17 laps.. that’s about… two Honda engines?

    1. OmarRoncal - Go Seb!!! (@)
      18th April 2017, 17:54

      @seth-pace check this out
      https://hasmclarenbrokendown.com/

      1. Racerdude7730
        18th April 2017, 18:45

        That’s awesome. We should start a prediction challenge for what that number will be at the end of the year. I’m going for 40 lol

        1. I made an Bet if Alonso finish once the first 4 races i pay 1000 Euro to an friend if not i get 100 euro and his summer house for the summer vacation. So only Baku left.

          1. he was classified for the last race…. does that count?

          2. @macleod think your stuffed on that bet!! He kinda finished last weekend

          3. Luckly it’s under friends and he has to finish under the checker flag otherwise it doesn’t count. Otherwise he does 1 round stops and he is classified as last. The bet is he has to finish under the checker flag so I am still on course. I almost made the bet that McLaren didn’t finish for 4 rounds but that would be really an small chance.

      2. OmarRoncal - Go Seb!!! (@)
        18th April 2017, 20:51

        @seth-space

    2. until they have any professional stand test they won’t able to run in reality.

    3. When will Honda stop wasting our time and the F1’s time and just go away! If you can’t sort it out in 3 years you are not up to par.

      1. Seriously! I am so sick of reading about Honda limping around…GO AWAY!

    4. I must be missing something. Can someone explain why Honda can’t put their engine in an old F1 chassis or even a “totally not F1” chassis and test the hell of it on Okayama International Circuit, Auto Polis, Tochigi Proving Ground or even their Test Track in Ozu? They surely have the resources to do so.

      1. You’re not allowed to test any part of a car/engine that will go on a Formula 1 car unless it’s an official Formula 1 test.

        1. Then test a VERY similar engine :)

  2. At this point you have to wonder whether Honda would be better off reverting to last year’s engine. At least it was capable of finishing a race.

    1. You’d have to wonder if they should bring out the old 1980’s turbo and give it a run……

      1. @holdenv8 or maybe seek help from Mugen… those 90’s Jordans were very fast!

  3. At least Oliver was able to quickly return to his regular job. Things don’t dry themselves, you know.

    1. OmarRoncal - Go Seb!!! (@)
      18th April 2017, 17:52

      @ironcito he can dry Alonso’s tears.

    2. I’m not sure why, but Oliver’s 1:35.011 was faster than Alonso’s fastest lap of the race (1:35.595).

      1. @drycrust Why would that be a surprise?

      2. OmarRoncal - Go Seb!!! (@)
        18th April 2017, 20:54

        @drycrust warmer track I guess. But anyway now Turvey can claim those 2 laps were the best of his life!

      3. @drycrust Apple’s and oranges mate. Alonso and Vandoorne both drove a low 1:32 in quali and we don’t know the fuel loads of Turvey, so what’s your point? That Turvey managed to go slightly faster than Alonso was at some point?

      4. The guy asked why because he didn’t knew. No need for to become all agressive. Calm down people. I’m sure @drycrust appreciates your help

  4. This had to be the last chance for Honda. Get the hell out of F1!
    Going on 3 years and absolutely no improvement – unbelievable!
    Now they have approached Mercedes for help! Do they really think Merc will give them enough info to get them anywhere close to being competitive?
    And how long would it take Honda to redesign and get it running reliably?
    McLaren is screwed. The FIA should do something to help. Let them use a Merc or Renault power unit for the rest of the season. Honda should pay for those engines.
    Honda can design a new engine and when or if it shows any capability they can rejoin if they so choose.
    They have screwed many Alonso and McLaren fans and it has hurt F1.
    They have had enough time and consistently failed. Something has to be done and now.

    1. @Walter The reality is they cannot just slap in a Merc or a Renault mid-season. The car isn’t designed for those pu’s. It simply doesn’t work that way.

      1. It’s possbile to redesign car midseason aroun new PU, but in case of McLaren without Honda they woldn’t have money to do so.

        1. McLaren are plenty rich enough – it’s the time and effort that would make it unfeasible, as it wouldn’t be ready until around USA or Brazil!

        2. @zukman McLaren has enough money. No main sponsor, no paid drivers and no issues whatsoever regarding team size and spendings.

      2. Renault is not faring much better themselves. Both RBR and TR had engine failures today. Apparently, besides the MGU-K’s not working properly, they have destructive vibrations in high performance modes, which is a serious flaw and can only be permanently fixed by redesigning the engine. So no, not a viable solution.

        Oh, I got it! Let them all have Merc PUs rebranded according to the team’s affiliation, and Honda will foot the production bill.

        1. I’m pretty sure that Renault are extremely thankful that Honda’s woes are so public.

          They truly have been fairly poor this year in terms of pace and reliability but are happily flying under the radar at the moment.

        2. Where did you get that information on Renault from?

    2. Is it possible that Honda has designed an engine that is so “avante-garde” that it would take four years to realize its potential….

      I will sit back and insults fly….

      1. It’s so avant-garde that they’ll need their own racing series by the time they’re ready. Maybe Formula D . (Destruct)

  5. Only an idiot does the same thing over and over hoping for a different result. That thingfor Mclaren is just running the car, just Park it up for Bahrain testing and don’t waste your money.

    1. I completely agree. It’s absolutely idiotic to run an engine in the back when the head of the engine department doesn’t know what is wrong with the power unit and how to fix it.

  6. So Vettel circulating on his own for the whole evening? Should be finished in a few minutes though.

  7. It’s getting harder to wear my McLaren shirts, even here in the US. Luckily most are from the pre Honda Team McLaren days; so I can use it for GT racing…

    Haas seems to have had a good day evaluating new brakes while compiling good mileage and speed. GRO and MAG are fun to watch and are both capable of scoring points. They seem to be good for consistent midfield battles on merit this year. It’s fun to see a new team grow and seem to make marked improvements.

  8. This is not 100% my idea but im surprised Jenson is not testing before the race. They are just running him in the simulator but how do you really replicate getting ready for the race? Letting him run and on lap 20 unplug the simulator?

    1. @racerdude7730 Jenson is experienced enough. Besides that: he is one of the drivers who actually experienced the V10 era with similar downforce and therefore g forces.

      1. Racerdude7730
        18th April 2017, 21:35

        @addvariety He will do fine just had to do the joke.

      2. Dont switch the similator on just sit in the seat, make engine noises with his mouth and turn the wheel. Same as an actual race weekend. At least its Monaco, he will be paid a lot, won’t have to drive then can go to a few parties.

    2. @racerdude7730 this is my unpopular opinion. He just doesn’t care or isn’t taking it too serious. He will turn up on the day, have a great weekend in Monaco do a little race and that is it, there isn’t pressure for results, so he just needs to have some fun. I would do the same to be honest

      1. Racerdude7730
        18th April 2017, 21:36

        He will do fine I think on the fitness also bc he don’t stand a very big chance of doing all the laps in fp1,2, or 3 or the race.

  9. Jensen might want to consider using his triathlon racing cycle for Monaco. While it is almost certainly slower than his McLaren Honda at least we know it will finish the race.

  10. Why are Honda so poor? It’s not like they have no budget or racing pedigree. They even build V6 engines for Indycar.

    1. Who knows? My guess is that there is a particular issue that’s been giving them trouble since the start. Maybe it’s faulty equipment at the factory that’s feeding them wrong information and is difficult to trace. Maybe they’re using the wrong approach to some aspect of the engine. Something like that. I think that they will have a eureka moment one day, and they will evolve rather quickly after that.

    2. @david-a Those V6 Indy engines are built in America by people who know how to build racing engines. The Honda F1 engines are being built in Japan, seemingly by people who don’t know how to build racing engines. Personally, Honda should have swallowed their pride, and build those damn things in the UK. Maybe they could give Ricardo (McLaren’s road car engine maker) the IP for their engines and some money, and say, please build for us our engines!

      1. They don’t seem open to the idea of leveraging expertise from outside their organisation.. which is a shame because they have zero expertise of making a racing engine in Sakura.

        I think their ego is large enough for them to retire from a sport rather than seek outside help.. which is a real shame because they have destroyed the careers of 2 drivers and tainted the legacy of a historic Formula 1 team in the process.

  11. It wouldn’t be fun to watch a 100 pound weakling fight Floyd Mayweather in a boxing match…. The exact same way it isn’t fun to watch Honda compete in Formula 1.

    If Mclaren want their 2018 campaign to get off to a good start, they would need to have a Mercedes engine at the back of their car sometime this season. I think they need to focus all their efforts and resources on negotiating with Mercedes instead of testing an engine that hasn’t had any modifications done to prevent it from blowing up.

    I think Mr.Hasegawa still hasn’t figured out the problem on Stoffel’s car from day 2 of the 1st pre season test, so, he can keep himself occupied with his never ending list of problems up until he gets a memo saying that their services are no longer required.

    1. Fukobayashi (@)
      19th April 2017, 9:52

      Great analogy.

    2. I’d guess a switch for next season is being negotiated with Mercedes. This won’t be allowed to go on. 2015 was bad enough but they were given the benefit of the doubt with it being their first year. Now Honda’s third year could be even worse which would’ve been unthinkable two years ago.

      1. To be honest.. Honda have almost redefined the word ‘failure’. I haven’t seen this sort of dismal performance from any engine manufacturer in any form of motorsport in my lifetime.

    3. Nicely said……although wish you had used another boxer in your analogy as I dislike Mayweather! ;)

  12. Has Button been finalized for Monaco appearance??

    1. nvm, just found the news piece. Had completely missed it somehow.

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