#F1Chat Preview – looking ahead to Mugello
This week, the teams and drivers are heading to Mugello for the in-season test that splits the first four fly-away races from the European leg of the season. With testing in mind, and the first four races behind us, here’s what’s coming up on this week’s #F1Chat…
While the majority of the teams head to Mugello to test and further develop their cars to ensure they are fighting for wins come Barcelona, HRT have announced they will not be testing. What are your thoughts on this decision? The team will be using this time to instead move into their new headquarters in Spain, to further develop their car and to get ready for Barcelona. Is this a wise decision? Do you expect rival team Marussia, and of course, Caterham, to gain a big advantage by attending the Mugello test? Will time gained by the top teams mean HRT will be more likely to fail to meet the 107% rule when they next go out in qualifying?
What are you expecting from the top teams when they head out on track in Mugello? Do you think McLaren can find their pace once again, or will the gap get even tighter as the top teams move closer together?
Ferrari said after the Bahrain Grand Prix that they feel they were able to limit the damage in the first four races, and with a win already under their belt from Malaysia, are now looking ahead to the in-season test and the European leg of the season. What will Ferrari be looking to do in Mugello? Was Ferrari’s damage limitation helped more by Red Bull’s lack of dominance than their efforts in the first four races?
Talking of Red Bull and lack of dominance… This time last year, Vettel already had a comfortable lead against his nearest rival, whereas this year he is only a handful of points ahead of Hamilton. In the last week, Sebastian Vettel has said that Red Bull are lacking confidence after failing to dominate the start of the 2012 season as they did the 2011 season, yet, the team are currently leading both championships. What do you make of this? Are they just playing mind games with the opposition? What can we expect from the 2012 season? Will there be a new championship leader come the end of the Spanish Grand Prix?
Join us tomorrow at the usual time of 4pm Eastern US, 9pm UK. Don’t forget to use the #F1Chat hashtag to answer the questions – we look forward to seeing you there.
