2012 Lotus E20

True but if Webber WOULD win the championship then I can't see him being kicked from the team. But most importantly why ruin a strong duo if they bring home to teams championship each year?

The issue was never that though.

Me and a few other people want to see what Vettel would do against Alonso or Hamilton in the same machinery.
So it wasn´t a matter of when it will happen or what the scenarios in that would be, it was merely a wish from a certain group of people not entirely convinced Vettel really is the baby jesus that so many likes to think.

With that said, i don´t doubt Vettel being a great driver. I just think that he would get spanked by Alonso or Hamilton in the same car.
There´s no doubt that the Red Bull has been in it´s own class since late 09.
You don´t put your car 0.8 seconds clear of everyone else in the first race of the season if you don´t have a superior car.
Nor is any human on this planet quick enough to put 0.8 seconds inbetween him and the rest of the great ones.

Getting this thread back on topic...

how do we think the E20 will do at Barcelona this week?
Will the team remain consistent? Or will the top 4 show their true capability?

It's still testing. layin your cards on the table for everyone to see is just dumb and pointless as you don't gain anything from doing so.

True. Always fun to tray and predict though.

Yea no doubt about that, it was more geared to the last question.

I think the Lotus will run fine here too, it looks very reliable.
Hopefully it's quick as well!

Mercedes pretty much laid all their cards on the table at the last Barcelona test last year, and since they said that the car they'll bring to the next test will be the final one, it seems they are going to do it again. Sure, they might be lying, but in this case, I don't believe that. Last year, they had big troubles setting up the car properly at the first races, so it would make sense to avoid that mistake this year by bringing the final version of the car even earlier.

About the Lotus: I read that even Adrian Newey acknowledged that it's a very good car. And that's obviously as if god himself had given the thumbs up :-p Unfortunately I don't have an english source for it

Google can translate it.

Depends on what you mean by "final one" seeing as F1 cars evolve over the season.

There is no "final car" until we get to Brazil.

I meant the one they bring to the first race <.< When asked after last year's Barcelona test, whether Mercedes still had some reserves, Schumacher responded that they had gone all out. Given that they didn't even reach the same level they had in Barcelona in the first races, the statement seems credible.

What level did they have in Barcelona? Everyone except Rosberg and Massa was sandbagging.

You mean Schumacher. Rosberg mostly had a rainy day. They said that they are roughly able to estimate the fuel loads everyone was running and therefore also their speed. That led them to the conclusion that they were second to Red Bull. However, once the season got underway, that turned out not to be the case because they weren't able to set up the car properly. By China, they had figured most of it out, but it took them even longer to set the car up in a way it wouldn't eat up the tires anymore. Basically, that's the reason why Mercedes had a bad start to the season.
And therefore it seems logical that the car they are going to test next week will indeed be the car they race in Australia.

http://www.patronisef1.com/index.php/f1-2011/pre-season/4776-barcelona-test-combined-times

I mean Rosberg, Schumacher was slower then then him by around 4 seconds across the 4 days in Barcelona.

That's the first test at Barcelone. I meant the second one.

http://www.patronisef1.com/index.php/f1-2011/pre-season/4910-barcelona-test-ii-combined-times

Lotus packs their bags and heads home. Cancelling the rest of the days in Barcelona due to chassis-issues.

http://www.autosport.com/news/report.php/id/97616

Thats bad for Lotus missing the entire test.

What´s even worse is that they have to crash test the tub again.
According to Autosport it seems to be an engine mount that is causing the trouble.

The two Autosport articles contradict each other. One quotes Eric Boullier as saying that they will have it fixed and ready for next week, while the analysis article speculates that they might have to rebuild the chassis and won't even have two of them ready for Australia

Also, if I remember it correctly, Renault already had problems with the chassis last season, because it deformed a tiny bit which would then have a huge impact on the car...