Charles Leclerc, Sauber, Circuit de Catalunya, 2018

“Surprising start” to 2018 season predicted after disrupted tests

2018 F1 season

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Sauber team principal Frederic Vasseur predicts surprises in the opening races of 2018 because of the difficulties teams have had in testing.

The combination of a new track surface and Pirelli’s expanded range of tyres has made testing more complicated. Cold conditions at the track last week also restricted the teams’ chance to achieve representative running.

With the first race of the season being held at an atypical circuit, Vasseur believes some unusual results are possible.

Robert Kubica, Williams, Circuit de Catalunya, 2018
Pictures: F1 testing day seven
“We need to understand the tyres but if you consider Melbourne is not the easiest one because it’s not a proper track it could be a surprising start,” he said.

“I think it’s tricky for everybody mainly due to the fact that we have too many compounds, or a lot of compounds,” Vasseur explained. “I spoke with a couple of my colleagues we are more or less in the same situation that it’s very difficult to understand each compound.”

The new surface at the Circuit de Catalunya has created added headaches because it is still evolving, Vasseur added.

“Even during the four days the Tarmac changes a little bit. Now we are putting some rubber on track there’s a huge change on track and it’s difficult to do a proper correlation between what you are doing on Friday and what you did on Tuesday.

“When you have only one or two compounds it’s not easy but now this morning we’ve used medium, soft, super-soft, ultra-soft, hyper-soft. At the end of the day you are doing two or three laps with it, it’s not easy to be honest. Also even if the track conditions are OK the first two or three stints the track is very cold.”

Vasseur added the new hyper-soft tyre had proved more durable than expected in its first runs. “I think it’s more or less the case for everybody that everybody’s performing with the hyper soft,” he said. “In the middle between hyper-soft and medium it’s a bit unclear.”

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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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3 comments on ““Surprising start” to 2018 season predicted after disrupted tests”

  1. Ben Rowe (@thegianthogweed)
    8th March 2018, 17:08

    When I looked at the picture of this page before opening it, I wondered why it had a picture of a Williams when it was about Sauber. Then you look more closely and it is a Sauber. Seeing these pictured on small screens are very hard to identify the difference from some angles. On TV though, I don’t think there will be as much of an issue if you have a big clear screen.

    Anyway, I am hopeful for Sauber to make an improvement this year if they have some new sponsors as well as a current engine.

    1. @thegianthogweed – I think that the Sauber halo would look good in their red

    2. At first I thought Sauber Alfa wanted to lure Martini.
      Sky’s been reporting the same tyre woes. Also there was that news Pirelli was delaying their Canada allocation.

      I’m not convince by Sauber. When I first saw their car, I had the impression that it was below other team’s level of engineering. I think in spite of today’s Ericsson time Freddy is bracing himself for a really hard start of a season.

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