Now I could be OVER ANALYSING this but I noticed two things interesting
1. Lack of initial wheel spin from the Mclaren. The other cars are bahbahbahbah bbbaaa whereas Hamilton's car isn't
2. He waits a considerable time before moving of the line. Now call me an idiot but this look like he's simulating being on pole and waiting for the grid to form Are McLaren expecting to be on pole in Oz. TBH though I would have thought everyone would actually follow this procedure (measure temps and shizzle), and it may just be a procedure from McLaren and nothing more. but it is 'interesting' nonetheless
Lol I have a feeling that its not the McLaren thats slow but the drivers that are taking it easy or keeping the real pace secret. Look at those starts, it's kinda clear that Hamilton wasn't actually pushing it...
I think you're right, he bogged it down the first time.
The second effort at 3:50ish was a lot better.
He does wait around a lot longer than the others, they're obviously not just practising starts, but as Intrepid says, testing the car in start conditions.
Some cars are hammered off the line a couple of times, big revs, wheelspin, and then the next time they're smoother, no, or little, wheelspin. Hamilton seems to be trying the latter each time.
I'm not sure what we can learn from the actual race offs at the start line in terms of who got first to T1. As I've always said you can learn much more from just watching the cars and not bothering by times and results.
The most interesting part of that video was how Hamilton approached the start procedure, and the traction of the Macca
There is something slightly eery about that McLaren watching it go round. This time no surprises and looks pretty solid, but something is weird with that car which I can't put my finger on. For a car with 'traction issues' it doesn't seem to do a lot of movement or tyre slip under acceleration. We saw this in the above video on the start line. Just lazily accelerated away without 'any get up and go'. Watch the body language of the Renault, it's totally different.
If Hamilton was running Renault pace today driving like that all the time then if they do find some magic solution then they could be a lot quicker than they look on the time sheets. However if that is all the drivers can do with the car - not touching the throttle - because it's really that bad then they are really in sh1t.
I can't figure it out I guess we'll have to wait for Oz
Alonso looks a bit 50/50 in that Renault. he pushing but it just lets go on him. The actual chassis looks OK tho. Similar to how the Mclaren looked last year at the start. The BrawnGP (could be light) did look pretty goddam solid through the chicane later on the video.
Don't see the point in doing it tbh, especially if someone like you can tell hes not even attempting to use his right foot earlier (no offense) Only advantage would be the other cars not seeing the pace but the whole cover story, just throws me off a little. Does sound like hes just tickling it, mat indeed be a bluff but can't see the point in making storys up.
I am not denying they could be in trouble. However the way the McLaren car has behaved during the test leads me to believe something isn't right.
I don't take offence, not at all. What is a mystery is why more 'journos' haven't picked up on it. Apart from James Allen saying "they wait 50m more than anyone else".
Every other car I've seen on video has be pretty predictable. You can see what each driver is trying to achieve, it's pretty clear. You can see them loading the tyres etc...
The McLaren however is a whole new story. The actual car has never looked that tail happy and never looked under stress from the drivers apart from once or twice. It's had it's weird moments like the spin in Jerez.
Of course rear end problems, especially aero ones manifest themselves in many different ways. Many ways that I can't even begin to understand.
But this Jerez video continues the odd behaviour we see from that car and it's drivers. In that video Hamilton looks like he's driving like a pussy! That isn't his style, not in the slightest.
Of coruse it will make sense in Oz when we see the car pushed proper for the first time tho
It seems, strange as it may sound, that the Maclaren is driven by a newbie...unsure of where and when to open the throttle and how much. The other cars seem certain of when to put the power down, but in the Maclaren there looks an 'unease' for want of a better word.
Undoubtedly they will find a solution as the circus enters Europe, but till then I doubt we will see a Maclaren on the top spot, but maybe with Lewis driving he could snatch a podium (although I hope not as he will be one of the driver I'm laying in Oz)
But surely we would see in the videos the rear popping out from time to time instead of the this constant flow of McLaren videos where they appear to be coasting!
At no point does the McL look even remotely twitchy, in fact towards the end at the weaving part it sounds like shortshifting. Hard to believe that's them pushing for laptimes.
Right now I am going to make the bravest decision of my life and note this down everyone
Date: 17th March
Location: LFS Forum
Event: LFS User 'Intrepid' predicts Lewis Hamilton to win the Melbourne GP by 30 seconds from ..eerr... Sutil (may as well)!
yeah...maybe, but then as the "areo problems" could manifest it's self in a number of ways I can only speculate as to whats going down.
1) It's some kind of masterploy to throw everyone into a curve
Why would they do this? What possible reason could they have. First of all testing time is restricted this season even more, and all they are doing is wasting valuable time on track. Secondly it is rather un-Mclaren like.
2) There is something amiss in Mclaren.
With the big RD of the pit wall (Again, thank you God for that one...I owe you one) there could be a case that the new boy has made some errors which has lead the car to be underdeveloped. If we look at Ferrari since Jean Todt and Brawn left, it can safely be said that standards have dropped and mistakes have been made more regularly. However do I think this is the case, yes and no. Too early to tell yet.
3) Other cars have caught up and passed Mclaren.
Well it wouldn't be the first time that a team which won the championship one year....totally fecked it up the following year. Teams seem to have there ups and downs, maybe this is Mclaren's down year, or even the start of one
4) We are reading far too much into this, it's only testing for crying out loud....stop over analysing it and step away from the YouTube videos. It's less than 2 weeks till they race in anger, then we will know.
......nothing more to add to that, other than it does me a fat lot of good
Overall I have a fair idea of who I think is going to be the front runners. The overall rule of thumb for me is look at the specialised bookies...the one who have far better sources than we do. As I said, I don't expect the Mclarens to be front runners in Oz, although a podium for them is still obtainable due to the unknown factor of reliability
However for me the winter development is the far more interesting part nowadays. After last years disgrace I can't be doing with following the racing part. My season now ends after Australia and begins in October time lol
Barrichello did his fastest lap on the third lap of a 9-lap stint (and his first lap of that stint is only one tenth slower than his fastest lap) while Alonso did that fastest lap on his second lap on a 2-lap stint.
.
McLaren still seems to be failing though heh.
(although I hope not 
as he will be one of the driver I'm laying in Oz)