Pre-Season Winter testing : 2014 Season

[Mephistopheles]

The teams don't the FIA does, and I can't see it being a problem for them to get the go ahead, after all the last thing the FIA want is to have a bunch of burnt out Renault powered cars smoldering at the side of the track and a load of unauthorized fire trucks dashing about the place any which way but loose in a willy-nilly fashion..

 

[sushifiesta]

freytheviking Ted Kravitz had some speed trap numbers on his notebook yesterday. From memory the Mercedes teams were top in general, with speeds up to about 330km/h or 208mph but the fastest speed of anyone so far came from Alonso with the help of a tow.

I think Ferrari are behind Mercedes with the development/reliability/driveability of their power train, but it's too early to say who has the most power when everything is working as it should I think.

 

[rufus_mcdufus]

I believe today is the day engines are homologated for the 2014 season, so no spec changes except where reliability is an issue. Wonder if there's some last minute engine modifications being rushed in?

 

[Bill Boddy]

The information that I have Mephistopheles is that upgrades can only be made for safety, reliability and cost-saving but only if the FIA, Ecclestone and the teams all agree to them. There is going to be a meeting of the F1 strategy group today to discus an extension before homologation. Renault want an extension of 28 days, i.e. they are not in a position to be even near competitive.

From http://www.bbc.co.uk/sport/0/formula1/26380181

"Renault had indicated on Thursday that they were not worried about the deadline, but it seems they were being a bit disingenuous, as Auto Motor Und Sport are reporting it was the French company that asked for the extension."

 

[Bill Boddy]

It's lunchtime so RBR have had to put their succession of installation laps on hold.

 

[Kewee]

The information that I have Mephistopheles is that upgrades can only be made for safety, reliability and cost-saving but only if the FIA, Ecclestone and the teams all agree to them.

That's correct Bill. That is how the ruling has been applied in recent years and there have been no changes made to the rule for this season as far as I'm aware. Ferrari made changes in 2012 from memory, for reliability but need to get the approval of all the other teams first.

 

[RasputinLives]

Welcome to apex freytheviking!

Ferrari are my dark horse for Australia as Fernando is being unusually quiet about this years car. If he thinks the cars going to be bad he's usually let the world know by now.

 

[RasputinLives]

Good to see Red Bull have not lost their sense of humour with their front running pace.

http://www.infiniti-redbullracing.com/article/update-spy-0

 

[Greenlantern101]

Sebs got a unicorn, amazing.

 

[teabagyokel]

Yeah, no-one knows who Banksy is

 

[The Pits]

I wont see Seb as a top unicorn rider until he has won the Grand National on a
Narwhal

 

[Bill Boddy]

It looks like the engine homologation is going ahead today as planned. The ironic thing is that the engine configuration is the one that Renault wanted.

 

[Blog Zbod]

In 2009, the FIA granted Renault and Honda a reprieve from the 2006 engine freeze, but only because none of the FOTA teams objected. Being as the FOTA officially have closed up shop, the FIA probably will take whatever decision they bloody well please. Logic would seem to indicate no good can come from having 1/3rd of the grid so severely handicapped at the start of a new season and new era, but where the FIA are concerned, one often is better served looking for signs in the entrails of a freshly-killed rooster than by applying logic.

 

[sushifiesta]

I think it's pretty ridiculous that the engine freeze starts this season in the first place. It was always likely that there would be significant reliability issues with at least one of the manufacturer's power trains. All the issues were never going to be ironed out after 8 days of testing (considering the homologation deadline is today I don't think you can really count this week's test in the time they've had).

 

[F1Yorkshire]

Don't worry Renault powered teams. There's always next year!

 

[rufus_mcdufus]

Incidentally FOTA ceased to be today.

 

[Bill Boddy]

The F1 Strategy Group consists in Ecclestone (6 votes), Todt (6 votes) and six teams (1 vote each). Why Ecclestone and Todt need six votes each I do not know, but certainly engine homologation needs to be unanimous, as do other decisions. Are there any where unanimity is not required?

 

[F1Yorkshire]

So if our Bernie doesn't want anything to go through he'll just split his votes.

Which teams get the vote?

 

[mjo]

Red Bull, Ferrari, Mclaren, Mercedes, Williams and lotus (I think)

 

[Quintessentially]

Homologation does not prevent the teams from addressing reliability issues and the rules allow design changes to be made based on reliability, safety or cost. . They've had over a year's lead time to familiarise themselves with the new engine changes and some of these teams run complex dynos to the point that track time is sometimes just an added bonus to what they already know. The problem with Renault's approach has already been picked up by a few websites in the relatively poor integration between the chassis and engine design teams compared to Mercedes. This sudden outpouring of grief because of the belief that homologation will somehow handicap teams struggling with engine reliability is laughable and no surprises Renault have now agreed to homologate their design. It's difficult enough policing other technical rules as it this and this is one area FIA must stand firm because the alternative is total chaos like the farcical situation we had 2 years ago with Redbull allegedly running complex engine settings to maximise performance.