Pre-Season Barcelona Test 25-28 Feb 2010

[Brogan]

Thanks for all the updates and running commentary throughout the testing sessions snowy

 

[snowy]

My pleasure Bro.

Yesterday Fernando's race simulation was possibly 15-17 laps on the softer compound followed by 43+ on the harder ending with mid to high 1m24s. Today Lewis did 20 laps on the harder compound followed by 20 laps and 22 laps on the softer compound ending with laps in the low 1m23s and high 22s.

So in a race a two McLarens with soft tyres could be hunting two Ferrari's with hard tyres at a rate of 1.5-2 seconds a lap. Throw two Red Bulls and two Merc's into the mix and the prospect is absolutely mouthwatering

Track position is going to be so important this year, as overtaking is still going to be nigh on impossible at most circuits. So qualifying well on the harder compound is going to be crucial and the McLaren might well have an edge there as historically it has been able to get heat into the tyre a lot quicker than most.

Ferrari may have been testing out, soft qualifying, short soft stint, long hard middle and a quick soft at the end and that may well suit a lot of circuits but it's not going to suit all of them...

 

[Galahad]

Thanks so much for this snowy, much appreciated.

Hopefully the teams will have come to different conclusions about strategy and we'll see some more varied racing. It looks (well, it appears) very close indeed.

 

[cider_and_toast]

It's a shame that the silly "one of each type of tyre" rule remains in force this season.

Thanks for the updates Snowy.

2 weeks still seems like it's going to be a long time.

 

[Boyle]

Yeah, thanks for all the info snowy! The Beeb could do with your online services! Hopefully you don't abandon us though because this is some really great stuff

 

[McZiderRed]

I'd just like to echo everyone's sentiments and thank you Snowy!
All the stats on the pre-season testing gives a lot of interesting info on the up coming season!
It'll be really interesting to see how it all stacks up, come the start of the season...

 

[siffert_fan]

Thanks for your herculean efforts, Snowy.

Now that testing is over, I must confess that I don't see how the tail-enders, the new teams in particular, can hope to move up the order with the testing ban. I think that the new teams should have their testing limits raised or eliminated entirely so that they can hopefully overcome the established teams head start.

 

[Brogan]

Now that testing is over, I must confess that I don't see how the tail-enders, the new teams in particular, can hope to move up the order with the testing ban. I think that the new teams should have their testing limits raised or eliminated entirely so that they can hopefully overcome the established teams head start.

I think I made a similar point a while ago.

It seems unfair that the new teams have only a few days of testing under their belts and yet the established teams have years of data, not to mention all the data from last season which will be invaluable considering the design rules haven't changed that much.

 

[snowy]

Thanks amigos

Comparing Lewis and Jenson's race simulations should explode the myth that Lewis is too hard on his tyres and that Jenson will have an advantage over a race distance. Conditions were different for them with a less than ideal drying/green circuit for Jenson and a dry, nicely rubbered in circuit for Lewis. Nevertheless the only place where Lewis' pace appears to fall off is actually due to getting stuck behind Michael Schumacher mid way through his final stint.

HAMILTON  		BUTTON



----			01:27.432

01:27.534		01:27.438

01:27.624		01:27.718

01:26.770		01:28.333

01:26.306		01:27.501

01:26.266		01:28.302

01:26.062		01:29.181

01:26.480		01:27.646

01:25.975		01:29.026

01:25.871		01:30.928

01:25.958		01:32.543

01:25.877		01:29.683

01:25.675		01:28.073

01:25.458		01:27.314

01:25.545		01:27.422

01:25.554		01:27.606

01:25.220		01:27.501

01:28.679		01:27.708

01:25.279		01:28.179

01:25.123		01:28.323

01:24.908		----  

---- 			01:28.323

01:24.384		01:26.623

01:24.756		01:26.469

01:23.992		01:26.827

01:24.065		01:26.497

01:23.728		01:26.488

01:23.607		01:26.837

01:23.704		01:26.688

01:23.663		01:25.899

01:23.361		01:25.653

01:23.298		01:25.762

01:23.402		01:25.511

01:23.529		01:25.718

01:23.608		01:25.430

01:23.407		01:25.605

01:23.467		01:25.676

01:23.237		01:25.778

01:23.357		01:25.861

01:23.455		01:25.972

01:23.223		01:25.875

01:23.782		01:25.987

----			----  

01:23.700		01:25.987

01:23.499		01:24.913

01:23.110		01:24.670

01:23.007		01:24.734

01:23.218		01:24.651

01:22.421		01:24.270

01:22.793		01:24.147

01:23.111		01:25.351

01:24.531		01:24.108

01:25.119		01:23.891

01:24.941		01:23.903

01:25.182		01:23.935

01:24.252		01:23.840

01:23.585		01:24.200

01:23.398		01:24.950

01:23.182		01:25.118

01:23.038		01:25.136

01:23.320		01:25.112

01:23.606		

01:23.699		

01:23.644		

----

 

[Brogan]

Oh man, I can't wait for this season to start

 

[snowy]

Ted Kravitz contends that the Ferrari and Red Bull are the strongest cars on the form shown at Catalunya, with McLaren and Mercedes slightly behind. Here is his assessment of the McLaren post Barcelona testing, citing tyre wear as a particular problem for the McLaren:

McLaren engineers have been investing a lot of time in tyre management - a key component this year as most races will be done on a one-stop strategy following the banning of in-race refuelling.

Success in the first few races will come from being easy on the tyres and keeping them in good shape. In short, McLaren are not where they want to be yet, but they're close and they believe they'll get there.

Compare Lewis's first stint of 22 laps on the harder compound and his second stint of 22 laps on what I believe to be the soft, with Michael's two stints 14 and 15 laps on the soft. It seems clear to me that the Mercedes and the McLaren are poles apart in performance and management of tyres.

If McLaren are struggling with tyre wear why have they not done - as Ferrari has - any runs of 30+ laps? Surely if McLaren are struggling in that area they need to test in that area. Whilst Ferrari have regularly put in 40+ laps in a stint the most laps completed by a McLaren in one stint in Jerez and Barcelona has been 25.

Fenderman tells me that the teams enjoy taking Ted into their confidence and keeping him informed, because he believes everything they tell him! I am beginning to believe this is the case since clearly Lewis's race simulation was substantially quicker than Michael's and as - if not more - consistent than Ferrari's efforts in Barcelona.

I stand to be erected.

 

[Boyle]

Yeah, I just read that myself snowy but I think it looks as though Macca are going to adopt 2 stop strategies to minimise tyre degradation and with their single lap pace are hoping to get as many poles as possible (I know, you want pole every time) so they can scamper away on the quicker softs and not get caught behind those on the 'slower' tyre.

Two weeks really can't come soon enough so I better keep myself busy!

 

[snowy]

I suspect Lewis set his quick qualifying lap time on the harder compound and set off on his simulation with that tyre. Whereas Michael set his quick time on the softer compound. It isn't known what the Ferrari and Red Bull were using for their qualifying type runs yesterday, however Ferrari's race sims have usually started with a short stint on the softer compound followed by a very long stint on the harder.

If Ferrari are very easy on their tyre then it is fair to assume that they will more often than not be forced to qualify on the softer compound.

Lewis's lap times in his middle stint were too quick to have been using the harder compound but there was no sign of excessive wear - in fact the complete opposite appeared to be the case.

 

[snowy]

Some lap charts posted by Pup and Antitomm at F1Technical.net clearly showing Lewis's simulation standing out from others by Sebastian, Felipe, Jenson and Fernando.

 

[snowy]

Some people (Ted Kravitz) have been stressing that we still don't know what amount of fuel the cars have been testing with. However I fail to see the logic of conducting a race simulation with anything more or less than a full tank at the start, a half empty one in the middle and an empty one at the end....

 

[snowy]

Another interesting comparison between Jenson and Felipe's race simulations from Saturday (day 3):

From http://f1around.wordpress.com

 

[snowy]

Here are spreadsheets for all stints for all days, (except before noon on day1.) giving time of day lap was completed:

http://spreadsheets.google.com/pub?key=tJgotByJ1qA5VpAXCj7NrZQ&output=html



Posted by Imightbewrong on F1technical.net 2010 winter testing thread.

 

[Brogan]

Excellent stuff snowy.

I was planning to do some spreadsheets and charts myself but didn't have time so glad someone else has done it.

 

[snowy]

Qualifying simulations

Lewis		Mark		Felipe:		Sebastian	Micheal:	Rubens:		Kamui:		Adrian:		Alonso	

																(Day2)

01:20.660	01:20.496	01:21.345	1:21.951	01:21.318	01:21.441	01:22.412	01:21.514	01:21.127	

01:20.653	01:20.669	01:21.304	1:21.713	01:21.039	01:26.458	01:21.954	01:21.471	01:20.738	

01:26.604	01:20.797	01:21.384	1:22.072			01:21.299	01:21.601	01:21.305	01:20.792	

01:20.592			01:21.475	1:21.660	01:21.180							01:22.150	

								01:20.920	01:22.091	01:21.229	01:21.533	01:20.801	

01:24.451			01:20.891	1:20.821			01:21.339	01:20.910	01:22.312		

01:21.469			01:20.834	1:20.667	01:20.835	01:20.986			01:21.220	01:21.038	

01:30.535					1:20.917	01:20.804	01:20.925					01:20.896	

01:20.472			01:20.567	1:20.842							01:21.199	01:23.104	

				01:20.539			01:20.745	01:20.917			01:21.203	01:21.014	

01:24.292							01:20.772	01:20.870					01:21.219	

01:23.800													01:20.611		

01:20.818													01:20.620	01:20.876	

																01:24.276	

																01:21.050	

																	

																01:20.637	

																01:20.658	

																01:21.678

Nico Rosberg

01:21.330
01:21.193

01:21.260
01:20.891

01:20.824
01:20.686

 

[cider_and_toast]

Now that list really throws up some questions.

The Force India 2 tenths quicker than Alonso in Qually trim?

Scumacher's Merc only 1 tenth quicker than former team mate Rubens' Williams?

Lewis and Mark seperated by less than 3 hundreds of a second?

Who knows.