If I were a team manager and were testing the car for a new season what I wouldn’t at some point during the 12 days of testing is point at a driver and say “Oi go out there on low fuel and we’ll turn the wick up to the max stick as fast a lap as you possibly can in, I really want you to give it the full beans.” And the reason I wouldn't do this is because it would be of very little benefit to the team and at the same time broadcast exactly what my car is capable of and another reason I would not do it is because it just is not necessary as the same information can be achieved much more efficiently by other means without giving anything away to the other teams.
This is my take on testing and how I think it is done this may not be true but it makes sense to me.
First Test
Just used for bedding in systems check and gradually putting some miles on the car collecting and collating that data with the results from the simulators wind tunnel and test rigs nothing to heavy just getting a feel for the car.
Second Test
I bit more intensive maybe putting in some race distances for reliability purposes also trying out different settings and aerodynamic body work for comparisons maybe putting in a few fast sector times but not a complete fast lap from this it can be deduced what the car is capable of without giving anything away.
Third Test
Assuming everything has gone to plan then this test will be about development and set up work towards the first race I would make sure that some quick sector times were put in to try and understand what the ultimate lap would be without actually doing one it would also be for more race simulation work and tyre analyses which would be a theme throughout the three tests at no time would I allow a driver to do an out and out fast lap because it just is not necessary.
This is a very simplistic view of what I’m trying to get at and every team apart from the ones who have had big problems will now have a pretty good idea at where their cars are without once taking that car to the limit and without trying to break an engine just to see where the breaking point is because for most of the teams they do not have control over that aspect of the car let the engine manufactures worry about that and let the teams get on with evaluating the rest of the chassis.
This is why I say none of us sitting in our rooms coming up with pet little theories can possibly derive any information about who is fastest simply by looking at testing, even the teams won’t know that all they will know is what their own package is capable of.
So you can shoot me down and spank my bum all you want for saying this but if any of you think you know what is going on up until now about who is in front, trust me you don’t and neither do I but it is fairly obvious how is struggling.
But like I said if I were doing the testing this is how I would go about it and Kewee it wouldn't make a jot of difference about the all new engines and the all new regs I would stick to the plan…
By the way this is a serious and unusually long winded post from me so give me a break..
This is my take on testing and how I think it is done this may not be true but it makes sense to me.
First Test
Just used for bedding in systems check and gradually putting some miles on the car collecting and collating that data with the results from the simulators wind tunnel and test rigs nothing to heavy just getting a feel for the car.
Second Test
I bit more intensive maybe putting in some race distances for reliability purposes also trying out different settings and aerodynamic body work for comparisons maybe putting in a few fast sector times but not a complete fast lap from this it can be deduced what the car is capable of without giving anything away.
Third Test
Assuming everything has gone to plan then this test will be about development and set up work towards the first race I would make sure that some quick sector times were put in to try and understand what the ultimate lap would be without actually doing one it would also be for more race simulation work and tyre analyses which would be a theme throughout the three tests at no time would I allow a driver to do an out and out fast lap because it just is not necessary.
This is a very simplistic view of what I’m trying to get at and every team apart from the ones who have had big problems will now have a pretty good idea at where their cars are without once taking that car to the limit and without trying to break an engine just to see where the breaking point is because for most of the teams they do not have control over that aspect of the car let the engine manufactures worry about that and let the teams get on with evaluating the rest of the chassis.
This is why I say none of us sitting in our rooms coming up with pet little theories can possibly derive any information about who is fastest simply by looking at testing, even the teams won’t know that all they will know is what their own package is capable of.
So you can shoot me down and spank my bum all you want for saying this but if any of you think you know what is going on up until now about who is in front, trust me you don’t and neither do I but it is fairly obvious how is struggling.
But like I said if I were doing the testing this is how I would go about it and Kewee it wouldn't make a jot of difference about the all new engines and the all new regs I would stick to the plan…
By the way this is a serious and unusually long winded post from me so give me a break..
Last edited:
