The Winter Testing thread

PJ-FFL
The wing shattered more than once today, it looks like the wing itself is designed too low to the ground.
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That was my first thought! I saw a photo of the car riding a curb, and the front wing was so close to hitting the curb.
 
Virgin have gone back to the drawing board with their wing... no more running til Friday.

http://news.bbc.co.uk/sport1/hi/motorsport/formula_one/8510697.stm

Might be cos they spread too much carbon fibre round the track - and the other teams complained!!

PJ-FFL
Anyone else notice the unusual device on the left side of the McLaren? What is it there for?
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dmk1010fe39.jpg


I suspect that it's used for measuring data of some sort... either that or it's the FIA's new onboard camera system?!

C.

PS it does look mean though - like they're going to introduce Wipeout style weapons!!
 
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it's clearly a TV aerial so he can watch the live broadcast while driving! But has no-one told button about digital switchover??

It seems to be some sort of aerodynamics measuring device. As to how it works, I have no idea
 
Videos of testing forbidden by FOM. Are FOM broadcasting it? NO. Are they making money off showing fans videos? NO. Do FOM provide any way of watching the testing on tv or online? NO. Are they complete and utter idiots? yes.
 
Today's times...

Unofficial Friday times from Jerez:
1. Jaime Alguersuari, Toro Rosso, 1:19.919, 76 Laps
2. Pedro de la Rosa, BMW Sauber, 1:20.736, 58 Laps
3. Adrian Sutil, Force India, 1:21.428, 48 Laps
4. Felipe Massa, Ferrari, 1:21.603, 72 Laps
5. Sebastian Vettel, Red Bull, 1:21.783, 59 Laps
6. Vitaly Petrov, Renault, 1:22.000, 68 Laps
7. Nico Rosberg, Mercedes GP, 1:22.820, 53 Laps
8. Rubens Barrichello, Williams, 1:23.217, 120 Laps
9. Lewis Hamilton, McLaren, 1:23.985, 68 Laps
10. Lucas di Grassi, Virgin, 1:37.107, 8 Laps

Sauber up there again...

And Virgin got some more laps out there too.

C.
 
Wow, when has Sauber not been amongst the top 3? Seriously, I don't know if they are only testing fast stint laps, but they are showing some great pace!
 
Alex.
Videos of testing forbidden by FOM. Are FOM broadcasting it? NO. Are they making money off showing fans videos? NO. Do FOM provide any way of watching the testing on tv or online? NO. Are they complete and utter idiots? yes.
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Why should they? The amount of people interesting in watching testing is relatively low and there is nothing interesting about it to encourage the average viewer to watch.
We still can get footage on youtube anyway, so I don't see the problem.

Bram Turismo
Wow, when has Sauber not been amongst the top 3? Seriously, I don't know if they are only testing fast stint laps, but they are showing some great pace!
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Its not just about if Sauber are running on low fuel, but also whether everyone else has done a low fuelled glory lap too. But its certainly good signs for them anyway. In my opinion, there is very little to choose from any of the teams really, should be close in Bahrain. There doesn't appear to be a Brawn in the field anyway.

Looking forward to when Virgin and Lotus can start serious laps to see how far off the pace they are. They are certainly going to be backmarkers initially but it will be interesting to see how fast they can make up the lost time.
It will be interesting to see if Lotus have the same intallation problems as Virgin too, not that its a mark of professionalism (or lack thereof), just interesting to see if reliability hits them early or not. If so, then I think its safe to say USF1 and Campos are looking rather worrying if they do indeed turn up with no testing miles..
 
Todays times...

Unofficial Saturday times from Jerez:
1. Lewis Hamilton, McLaren, 1:19.583, 113 Laps
2. Adrian Sutil, Force India, 1:20.180, 84 Laps
3. Rubens Barrichello, Williams, 1:20.341, 90 Laps
4. Robert Kubica, Renault, 1:20.358, 86 Laps
5. Michael Schumacher, Mercedes GP, 1:20.613, 84 Laps
6. Sebastian Vettel, Red Bull, 1:21.203, 90 Laps
7. Felipe Massa, Ferrari, 1:21.486, 160 Laps
8. Pedro de la Rosa, BMW Sauber, 1:22.134, 105 Laps
9. Lucas di Grassi, Virgin, 1:22.912, 63 Laps
10. Jaime Alguersuari, Toro Rosso, 1:24.072, 98 Laps

Glad to see that the Virgin is on a similar pace to the other cars... and that they got some decent laps in today...

Great work form Lewis... Might be very little between all of the teams this year - so it might all be down to driver skill and tactics...

Can't wait... 4 weeks today we'll know who's quickest - 4 weeks tomorrow we'll have our first winner!! HURRY UP TIME!

C.
 
SUPER NUMBBER
What testing sessions are left?
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Jerez next week and Barcelona (Catalunya) the following week.
8 days total left, Lotus are running at both, unknown about Campos or USF1.

yeti
4 days next week at Jerez apparently...

Although USF1 are testing in USA though... not sure how that will be reported.

C.
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USF1 are having a private shakedown at Barber, there will be little to no reporting on times or anything like that, but we can probably hope for some spyshots.
No idea when the test will actually take place though...
 
yeti
Cheers for the info - Why does all the testing take place in Spain?!

Very odd.

C.
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For the better weather is the main reason, and its chosen over other places with good weather because its also the closest and each of the tracks provide a good variety of corners.
Ironically though, they probably would be better off at Silverstone at the moment! :lol:
 
1st day, 2nd Jerez test times:
1. Sebastian Vettel, Red Bull, 1:22.593, 99 Laps
2. Lewis Hamilton, McLaren, 1:23.017, 72 Laps
3. Felipe Massa, Ferrari, 1:23.204, 72 Laps
4. Sebastien Buemi, Toro Rosso, 1:23.322, 79 Laps
5. Pedro de la Rosa, BMW Sauber, 1:23.367, 76 Laps
6. Michael Schumacher, Mercedes GP, 1:23.803, 111 Laps
7. Adrian Sutil, Force India, 1:24.272, 28 Laps
8. Paul di Resta, Force India, 1:25.088, 74 Laps
9. Vitaly Petrov, Renault, 1:26.237, 55 Laps
10. Rubens Barrichello, Williams, 1:27.320, 109 Laps
11. Fairuz Fauzy, Lotus, 1:31.848, 76 Laps
12. Timo Glock, Virgin, 1:34.453, 10 Laps

Another wet day, but with some dry times managed, so the difference in times should be taken with a pinch of salt. Conditions were always changing.

A good first day for Lotus, plenty of laps in, no problems on track but apparently they have no power steering due to supplier issues.
They appear to be roughly 2 seconds off the current team pace, which is pretty good for a brand new team and a car made in just over 5 months. That is a guess going by the comparative stint times when both the Lotus and another car were on track, as naturally conditions were constantly changing.
Seems the conservative design approach has paid off, as well as having such an experienced group of people. 👍

I think it would be fair to expect some faster pace from the Lotus by Bahrain, especially from Trulli..but I also think its optimistic to think that anything more than Q1 in Bahrain qualfying is possible.

Disappointing to see the Virgin still struggling, hopefully they will be coming out more often at Barcelona and get some decent laps in, as Lotus appear to already be overtaking them despite launching later.
 
Ardius
Disappointing to see the Virgin still struggling, hopefully they will be coming out more often at Barcelona and get some decent laps in, as Lotus appear to already be overtaking them despite launching later.
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That's where only using CFD and no wind tunnel gets you.
 
To be fair, it was a reasonable idea and would have worked better with the budget cap. But yeah, the reason everyone uses both windtunnel and CFD is that they can cross-check the data and refine. Only using one or the other further increases the risk of getting it all wrong.
But I think perhaps its still too early to judge, testing is meant for finding problems like this and getting them out of the way for the start of the season. The Manor team is a good team with quite some credibility, so I do hope they aren't screwed by Wirth's experiments.
 
Some video, check out the Williams and other mechanics having a nosey at Lotus' diffuser! :lol:
 
Today's times:

1. Webber Red Bull-Renault (B) 1:19.299 115
2. Alonso Ferrari (B) 1:20.115 132
3. Button McLaren-Mercedes (B) 1:20.394 101
4. Hulkenberg Williams-Cosworth (B) 1:21.432 138
5. M.Schumacher Mercedes GP (B) 1:21.437 79
6. Kubica Renault (B) 1:21.916 100
7. Sutil Force India-Mercedes (B) 1:21.939 69
8. Kobayashi BMW-Sauber (B) 1:22.228 28
9. Alguersuari Toro Rosso-Ferrari (B) 1:22.564 120
10. di Grassi Virgin-Cosworth (B) 1:23.504 34
11. Kovalainen Lotus-Cosworth (B) 1:23.521 68


According to Button's analysis of the day, Ferrari has the best car, the more consistent one. So, probably Webber's time, almost 1 second better than 2nd placed (Alonso), was made in quali conditions that no one else tried today?
 
Yeah, I was watching the live timing and the Ferrari is very impressive 👍
That lap by Webber was probably a qualy run, whereas the Ferrari has extremely consistent and quick pace.

But its all guessing still, the conditions were constantly changing again today, the track was drying all the time so the times kept coming down. Those that didn't run so much at the end like Kobayashi didn't get much of a crack at the best conditions.

At least Lotus and Virgin are looking fairly respectable now.
 
Ardius
Yeah, I was watching the live timing and the Ferrari is very impressive 👍
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Next time don't forget to share the link with the fans that don't even consider that there could be live timing available somewhere :D
 

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