Pre-Season 2013 F1 Winter Testing: 3 - Circuit de Catalunya, 28 February-3 March

[Mephistopheles]

Button seemed to cope with the McLaren pretty well in the wet I seem to recall, in fact in the wet he proved to be the best driver out there, but lets not start an argument over it....

 

[Galahad]

However it is interesting that once the track dried Lewis was simultaneously lapping at the same pace and often quicker with more fuel on board than Felipe.

We don't know that he had more fuel on board though...do we?

 

[RickD]

I did notice that they don't use the whole GP circuit while testing, there is a section near the end where they seem to use an escape road instead of the GP circuit. Its much narrower than the full circuit.

 

[Mephistopheles]

Basically we know nothing about what the teams are doing and what fuel loads they are running so there is point in speculating in that area....

 

[Lewywo4]

Only if Hamilton had lied.

I guess that Lewis may have learned his lesson with Dave Ryan.

Lewis had made an attempt to commuicate with Sutil, and seems to had been rebuffed by Adrianne. If that happens to be the case, well then to hell with him, which unfortunately Hamilton probably wouldn't do.

 

[teabagyokel]

I think Sutil needs to be more upset with himself than with Hamilton, if he's honest. Unless he didn't do it...

 

[Lewywo4]

Then him!

 

[snowy]

We don't know that he had more fuel on board though...do we?

Absolutely we do, he and Felipe were doing race simulations starting with enough fuel to complete a race distance. The pit stops were just long enough to change tyres, in order to top up the fuel they would have had to be pushed into the garage. I have the HTML files from http://f1tests.info/2013.php?rev=on if you would like to check the precise intervals between in laps ending and out laps beginning. There are no gaps. Felipe finished his race simulation then ran out of fuel and stopped out on track.

 

[Titch]

That RBR nose is not a pretty thing.

 

[Mephistopheles]

Yes snowy but we cannot compare because we don't know what fuel loads other teams were running, even if a team does a short run it does not necessarily mean they were on low fuel, we don't know what engine map they are running and we don't know what aero parts they are running or even what sensor equipment that is bolted to the car, or for that matter how old the tyres are or what compound the teams are running and we certainly don't know what gear ratios the teams have and a thousand other variables....

 

[Kewee]

Interesting comment from Alonso just now on Sky, in which he stated that Ferrari are seven or eight tenths behind McLaren and Red Bull.

Possibly a misquote Paul. The same comments from Alonso appear on Autosport where he says the Ferrari "was" 6 to 8 tenths behind at Brazil, not that they are now. He refers to them being 200 times better of, no doubt somewhat of an exaggeration, and closing the gap by Melbourne. It seems to me all the top teams, plus Lotus, Mercedes and Williams, have all looked very strong at different times during these tests. I think this season could be even closer with the biggest difference being made by the driver and slick pit work as opposed to some clever technical development. Looking forward to it, even more to 2014.

 

[Brogan]

It wasn't a misquote - I watched and heard him say it on live TV.

 

[Kewee]

Really, interesting considering how happy he and Massa appear to be with the car's development this year and the way it responds predictably to any changes they make. All within Ferrari appear to be happy with the progress they're making also. Looking forward to Australia regardless.

 

[Boyle]

Yes snowy but we cannot compare because we don't know what fuel loads other teams were running, even if a team does a short run it does not necessarily mean they were on low fuel, we don't know what engine map they are running and we don't know what aero parts they are running or even what sensor equipment that is bolted to the car, or for that matter how old the tyres are or what compound the teams are running and we certainly don't know what gear ratios the teams have and a thousand other variables....

So like a normal race weekend then?

 

[snowy]

Lewis Hamilton sets the fastest lap of Barcelona testing so far, with a 1m21.534. Unfortunately he set it on a set of unmarked tyres!

 

[snowy]

"Hamilton using prototype SOFT for his time. Tyres are identical to 2013 range, just back up production location."

A bit more info on Hamilton's tyres, in case you weren't around yesterday. The tyres are produced at Pirelli's Romanian plant as a back-up in case the rubber cannot be transported from its main Istanbul factory. Unmarked batches are brought to tests for quality testing. Each team has four sets, which do not count against their testing allocations.

 

[Jos the Boss]

That is an impressive time, but it's only testing!

 

[snowy]

Yesterday Button and Grosjean were noting that the Mercedes was looking very consistent, this morning they are looking very quick...

At Jerez Gary Anderson was saying that the Mercedes looked sparse and unrefined aerodynamically compared to the Red Bull, McLaren, Ferrari and Lotus. The last time Ross Brawn fielded a brick was in 2009 and we all know what happened that year...

 

[snowy]

Oh dear...

Now Lewis has done a 1m20.817 on Mediums!

 

[Jos the Boss]

Oh my... That is awesome! But it's only testing...!