Day 3 pre season testing

(Originally Posted: March 14th) 

Things are only a tiny bit clear after spending upwards of 20 hrs of watching testing. Eh, I needed that after the winter break. Anyway, let’s take it by teams then. My thoughts at the end of pre-season testing: 

Mercedes - yes, they had problems. Yes, the car was unstable. Yes, Lewis did not seem himself at all out there. No, I'm not worried for them yet. I'm willing to bet they will be ahead of the bunch by Bahrain, albeit maybe not as ahead as they were the last few years. 

Redbull - this team has me excited ngl. Max is in superb form, topping the charts once again, and Checo got quite comfortable by the end of his morning run as well, topping his own chart. Some good racing expected from them!

Mclaren - maybe had their poorest day today but still looks strong. DannyRic looks very comfortable in his new car. Maybe Mclaren still has a lot of the old Renault controls? Or Daniel is just that good at adapting? Or their controls are similar regardless, which might explain Fernando taking to the Alpine so fast as well? We shall never know.

AM - now this team has me worried. Nail biting going on over here until we see them race. Seb got the least number of laps done over the entire three days (not counting Nissany) and that is less than the Williams drivers running only 2 sessions each. Ended Day 3 both drivers at the bottom of the chart. Um. 

Alpine - Alonso is back baby! Both Ocon and Alonso had smooth runs today! Car looks way more reliable than last year as well. Let’s see if they can put up a real challenge for Mclaren! 

Alpha Tauri - Yuki mothafudgin Tsunoda! That was quite a way to end 3 days of testing! Granted, he was on the C5 compared to Max's C4 and DRS-ed early, but damn boy has got some speed! With Gasly looking solid and Tsunoda showing so much promise, this team looks like they're ready to bring it to the mid-midfield!

Ferrari - I feel like my thoughts about my team are too personal to share. I am not entirely too sure what to think about them yet. Carlos looks comfy in the new car by day 3, Charles had that fastest laptime in the morning for majority of the session. Yes they had the hydraulic issue today but they came back from it quite quickly with Carlos putting a quick laptime not long after, so. We shall see, shan't we?

Alfa Romeo - they are going to be comfortably top of the tailenders this year. Kimi, got to give it to him, he definitely still has the stamina of an F1 driver. He might stick around for a couple years yet.

Haas - Unpopular opinion but I wish Mick would have left the MSC alone. As a Michael Schumacher fan, it's just too weird to see it up on the chart even though I know it's his son and everything. Also, Mazepin did not earn any points for saying "Ha ha" over the open radio when Lewis spun, even if he wasn't laughing at Lewis. Just, keep your head down and nose clean, son, your reputation is not at it's best right now.

Williams - I am hurting for George Russell, he must be reminiscing about the last time he was in Bahrain. I would say his day was only okay, not much different to Latifi’s day yesterday. They will have to wait for the Mercedes parts next year to have any real improvement in car performance methinks. On the plus side, I don’t see Haas putting up much of a challenge so they got to seize the odd chance at points.