2012 Testing: Mugello

[Bill Boddy]

In 2008 at Hockenheim the decision to not pit Hamilton at the safety car was obviously totally ludicrous. Anyone could see that it was disastrous, except for the tacticians back at base.

Later on in the same season the McLaren tacticians once again made a ludicrous decision regarding the rain in the final laps. It was obvious to any armchair expert that they had lost Hamilton the WDC.

 

[Lewywo4]

Personally I think Jenson's got a point there is no need for the drivers to carry out extreme set up testing that's what test drivers are for, the race drivers wont learn anything from it.

It seems as though Vettel, Webber, Rosberg, Schumacher, Alonso, Massa and Hamilton, don't share Jenson's view that there is nothing for race drivers to learn by testing at Mugello, because they all will be their driving except.......Lewis.

http://www.f1pulse.com/news/20120425101/driver-line-up-for-mugello-test

 

[Cookinflatsix]

In this age of limited testing I would think every driver would grab the extra chance to drive the car, even if just for a day and at a track that is not part of the WC

With these tyres and the race to understand them and setup the car for different conditions, I would think that a driver who has less testing time has a disadvantage compared to the one who has even an extra 100 laps

McLaren must be gaining a big advantage over the top teams by not taking their top drivers at all, maybe the top teams have miscalculated, and don't understand how much more important it is for the reserve drivers to do all the testing especially when the battle for points amongst the top drivers is so tight

I am sure this will be hailed by everyone as a genius move later in the year for example if each team loses its top drivers and McLarens reserves are the ones with most testing under their belts

 

[Mephistopheles]

Well that would depend on what the other teams are testing wouldn't it Cookinflatsix like McLaren said all they are doing is calibration work with no major upgrades I don't see what all the fuss is about, If you feel the best way to spend a drivers time is to potter about a track they never race on setting up the car to extreme settings to get accurate calibration data then email McLaren about it, but maybe they feel their time is best spent making sure the sponsors are happy to guarantee future investment...

 

[FB]

Mod comment

So the criticism of Mclaren has moved from their own thread to here. Any further comments about Mclaren's choice of drivers for the Mugello tests will be deleted as it has been discussed to death. I think we know everyone's point of view by now...

Thanks

FB

 

[Cookinflatsix]

There are about 24 hours of testing allowed next week, not having the top drivers extend their knowledge by using some of those hours could mean that the caliberation and other technical objectives will give the team a massive advantage come Spain

 

[Mephistopheles]

I think I'll wait until the test starts before posting on this thread again and anyway a geezer on the Cube has just won 50 grand..

 

[landogeorgelewis1]

Woo hoo

So excited about seeing D'Ambrosio back in an F1 car this week. Hopefully he'll show in the day he's testing what he's capable of.

 

[Jos the Boss]

It seems like we may be seeing some wet running, not sure what time the tests are, but rain is expected for the evenings around 4

 

[FB]

Useful info Jos - note to all team managers, only need to take slicks for the test

 

[Jos the Boss]

And I would have thought it would have been nice to tell pirelli this...

 

[landogeorgelewis1]

He's a question, who will benefit more from this test?

I'm thinking Ferrari will improve a far bit after this test.

 

[Slyboogy]

Caterham with their 5 second upgrade

 

[landogeorgelewis1]

Slyboogy

. If Caterham find 5 seconds then i'll eat my hat.

 

[Slyboogy]

Well they've been banging on about a 1 second upgrade every year.

Maybe the genie will grant them their wish this time around

 

[landogeorgelewis1]

Nah i don't think so! Caterham have just got to work their butts off to get too the top.

 

[Slyboogy]

Someone doesn't have faith in the genie then

Think Lotus will be the one to watch, hot temperatures suit them, plus they've been good at every track.

And they've got Kimi

 

[landogeorgelewis1]

Well the Kimster is a god to be fair .

 

[Brogan]

Does anyone have any useful links for following the testing?

We do of course have the site Twitter feeds and the News page, which should provide some insight.

http://cliptheapex.com/pages/news/

Edit: To answer my own question, GP Update are doing live text.
http://www.gpupdate.net/en/testresults/1444/formula-1-test-at-mugello-1-may-2012/

 

[FB]

For those too lazy to click on the link above here's the driver line up for day 1.

Red Bull Mark Webber
McLaren Oliver Turvey (morning) and Gary Paffett (afternoon)
Ferrari Fernando Alonso
Mercedes Nico Rosberg (morning) and Michael Schumacher (afternoon)
Lotus Jérôme d’Ambrosio
Force India Jules Bianchi
Sauber Kamui Kobayashi
Toro Rosso Jean-Éric Vergne
Williams Valtteri Bottas
Caterham Rodolfo González
Marussia Charles Pic
HRT Not attending
(Elected not to attend as team relocates premises to Madrid)

5 teams running test drivers.